The Monday Night Raw immediately following Sunday’s Battleground should be one hell of a night. The WWE’s latest pay-per-view marks the end of the most recent era of WWE and ushers in the age of both Raw and Smackdown Live.
Although an episode of Smackdown Live has already aired, it was more like the usual with the added bonus of the first part of the Draft being on air. Superstars were picked – some were picked ahead of others and some who haven’t debuted yet were picked too. Factions were split up, the women warriors were selected by both brands and some names were conspicuous by their absence.
Once Battleground is over, Superstars on both brands will be poised to bring in a new order and things could start off with a bang the following night at Raw. Here are 5 of the likely surprises fans can expect from this Monday Night Raw:
5. Cruiserweight Division
Stephanie McMahon has already announced she’s bringing the Cruiserweight division back to the WWE on Raw but will she surprise us and make it as soon as the night after Battleground? It will be Raw’s first episode after the brand split and draft and what better way to start off than with a new division on the roster?
The Cruiserweight Classic has been a huge hit with fans on the WWE Network and with Cruiserweight stars already on board, there is no real reason for Stephanie to wait. After all, she would love to get a head start on her brother, Shane, who is Commissioner of Smackdown.
4. Finn Balor’s debut
Fans have been waiting for Finn Balor’s debut on the main roster for some time now – it was initially expected sometime after Wrestlemania. When that didn’t transpire, he was expected to head to the main roster after NXT Takeover: The End, but alas, that wasn’t meant to be either. But now that he has officially been drafted to Raw, it can only be a matter of time before he shows up.
And what better time than the night after Battleground. With many superstars possibly injured and in need of a time out, Raw has the perfect opportunity to unveil the Demon to Raw fans.
3. The Balor Club
The WWE may have dropped its trademark on the name ‘Balor Club’, but it doesn’t rule out the possibility of Balor teaming up with his old friends Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows from New Japan. Since the arrival of Gallows and Anderson, they have teamed up with AJ Styles to form a new version of their Bullet Club from Japan simply called The Club.
But now that Styles has been drafted to Smackdown and the other two are in Raw with the arrival of Balor imminent, fans can look forward to Balor teaming up with them. After all, before Styles it was Finn Balor who was their leader in the Balor Club.
2. Roman Reigns turns heel
Roman Reigns is not loved by the fans. The management doesn’t have much love for him either. His reign as World Champion was pretty short lived too since both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were present at the right time to rain on his parade. At Battleground, all three are part of a triple threat match for the WWE World Championship and the result could make all the difference.
If Reign fails to win, everything till that point is poised to enable to him to make that turn from face to heel. His recent suspension can only have added fuel to the fire and fans could be surprised by a returning Reigns who is now a heel at a brand new Raw.
1. A brand new title
Irrespective of who wins the main event triple threat match at Battleground, one of the brands, either Raw or Smackdown will be left without a world title. While a single title suited the current set up, both Raw and Smackdown will need separate titles like they had before.
It’s hard to guess the outcome but it seems likely that if Dean Ambrose retains his title, and he deserves to since he’s barely had a chance to hold on to it, Stephanie McMahon and her new General Manager Mick Foley will ring in the latest era of Raw with the announcement of a new world title. Maybe she’ll bring back the old Heavyweight title which her husband, Triple H most famously held.
