A lot has happened in the WWE Universe since last week’s episode of WWE RAW . Dean Ambrose managed to earn himself a shot at Triple H’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship as the main event of WWE Roadblock , which could absolutely change things for WrestleMania 32 . Is the No Holds Barred Street Fight between Ambrose and Brock Lesnar still going to happen? Will Triple H be defending the WWE title against Roman Reigns during the last match on April 3? Will there be any changes to the Hell In A Cell Match between future owner Shane McMahon and arguably the most important wrestler in WrestleMania history, The Undertaker ?
After a beatdown by the #LeagueOfNations , @TheDeanAmbrose still had a few punches leftover for @TripleH ! #RAW https://t.co/gRO7E9vT9N
— WWE (@WWE) March 1, 2016
On Thursday Night SmackDown , The Lunatic Fringe remained the central point of focus, as Ambrose ended up facing WWE Intercontinental Champions Kevin Owens in a non-title main event. Also, as a result of the DQ finish that aired last Thursday, it was announced that the WWE Divas Championship Match at WrestleMania 32 will now be a Triple Threat Match that includes both Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch challenging for the gold in Dallas.
While we’ve known for a full week that The New Day will be putting up the WWE Tag Team Championship on tonight’s Raw , little else has been revealed for the live WWE Raw from Chicago. Below is a look at WWE.com’s official Monday Night RAW preview and the five storylines that are most likely to be addressed at tonight’s Raw .
WWE Monday Night RAW Preview
Once again, the WWE will be without Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, or The Undertaker, all of whom are scheduled for one of the three main event matches at Mania . Will the “Road to WrestleMania” be enough to make up for tonight’s lack of star power?
There goes the money?
As we saw last week, the stipulations for Shane-O-Mac’s match against The Dead Man continue to pile up. On top of it being a Hell in a Cell Match, Shane gains full control over WWE Raw if he defeats Taker at Mania .
However, if Shane fails, he will have no power within WWE, and he will be written out of Vince McMahon’s will. Losing to The Undertaker means that Shane gains nothing from the WWE and will effectively have no inheritance from his billionaire father. With Shane returning in person this week, could his match with The Undertaker become even more nuanced on Raw ?
New champs rock
While the gimmick didn’t connect with the WWE Universe right away, The New Day stuck with their plan and are now the most over tag team in the WWE. AJ Styles, it could be argued, is the most popular new WWE signing of the last several years.
Is a win for @AJStylesOrg and @IAmJericho “in the cards?” #RAW #TheNewDay #GotHisNumber https://t.co/quISLJifIg
— WWE (@WWE) March 1, 2016
Both parties crash into one another tonight as Styles and Chris Jericho — Y2AJ — challenge The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Could this be AJ’s first WWE gold? If they drop the titles Monday, will The New Day get a rematch at WWE Roadblock ?
Will #KOMania take shape?
Based strictly on what we’ve seen Owens doing on-camera recently, there seems to be an eventual Kevin Owens vs. Big Show match-up for the IC title in the works. But based on WWE’s preview of Raw , it’s beginning to look more and more like the WWE Intercontinental Championship could be defended in a multi-man bout, similar to last year’s 7-Man Ladder Match.
Kevin Owens Messages Fake Social Media Account Pretending To Be Him (Details: https://t.co/3ZxZQaqrMV ) pic.twitter.com/scwPwwGGN5
— IWNerd.com – WWE Predictions! (@InnerN3rd) March 4, 2016
Could The Big Show get a singles title shot on Saturday at Roadblock , leading to a title match at Mania that includes the likes of Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, and Stardust in addition to Owens and Show?
Three’s a crowd
It really should come as no surprise that WWE has announced a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 32 between champion Charlotte and challengers Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. Collectively, these three ladies represent three-fourths of the Four Horsewomen and the driving force behind the WWE Divas Revolution.
With less than a month before the big showdown in Dallas, is there any way that NXT Women’s Champion Bayley gets called up (perhaps as a result of something at Roadblock ) and makes the match a Fatal 4-Way?
Is Dean Ambrose the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion?
It seems inevitable that Ambrose will one day hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At a time when such major players as John Cena , Seth Rollins, and Randy Orton are on the sidelines with an injury, the idea of The Lunatic Fringe as the face of the company makes more and more sense.
Will Dean take another beating on Raw tonight, whether at the hands of Triple H — or anyone else? During the week that culminates in the last major event before WrestleMania , will Ambrose have enough momentum on his side by Saturday that he leaves Toronto as the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion? And if so, how does that change the card for April 3 at the AT&T Stadium?
Where To Watch
WWE Roadblock will air live exclusively on the WWE Network on Saturday, March 12 at 8/7c. WWE WrestleMania 32 airs live on the WWE Network on Sunday, April 3 at 7/6c.
WWE Monday Night RAW airs live on the USA Network at 8/7c. Replays of WWE RAW aren’t made available on the WWE Network until several weeks after the original air date. However, a 90-minute version of Monday Night RAW is available to stream on-demand the following day with a Hulu Plus subscription.
[Image via WWE ]