5 Surprises that may happen on WWE RAW after the Royal Rumble- Major heel turn, Drew McIntyre names WrestleMania opponent

Honestly, WWE Royal Rumble 2020 was a show that far exceeded my expectations and then some, with all its twists and turns. But the Royal Rumble is in the rearview mirror and we must now look ahead to WrestleMania 36 and beyond!

And while that is the next big pitstop in this calendar year, there are many mini-stops along the way, including RAW this week. A lot of surprises could potentially take place at the show and I will list 5 of them for your reading pleasure.

Leave a comment and share your thoughts in the section below, even if you think that my surprises are too ridiculous. As we saw from the return of Edge this week, just about anything can happen in the WWE Universe.

And now that we have established this, let's jump straight into the surprises we could potentially see!

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#5 Samoa Joe turns on Kevin Owens

There has never been a friendship in WWE that has not shown cracks, over a long period of time. Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens, by those terms, haven't even been the best of friends for very long and both men came to blows at the Royal Rumble, where it was every man for himself. They do have a mutual enemy in Seth Rollins, but they're both driven and motivated singles performers too!

And this is why I think Samoa Joe could turn heel again and destroy Kevin Owens on this week's episode of RAW.

And then, he could shockingly ally with Seth Rollins and join his faction in the same way that Buddy Murphy did, getting an instant reward. Samoa Joe has been left out of the conversation for too long and may want a little taste of the spotlight.

#4 Drew McIntyre names The Fiend as his WrestleMania opponent

Sometimes, when WWE makes something very obvious and very evident, they tend to swerve us in the process. Case in point, they made us think that Shayna Baszler was going to win the Royal Rumble match based on how quickly she eliminated the field, but she succumbed to Charlotte Flair soon after.

While it is a remote possibility because of how all the pieces have lined up, there's always the chance that Drew McIntyre will choose to go after The Fiend and not Brock Lesnar. There are rumors about Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez coming back to WWE for another run, and if that is Brock Lesnar's big WrestleMania match, McIntyre could definitely tussle with the supernatural.

If Drew McIntyre does become the first person to defeat The Fiend, it would certainly establish him as the face of the blue brand and could even set up a feud with Roman Reigns to be the face of the company. It is unlikely, but then, when is a surprise ever likely?

#3 Edge returns to attack Randy Orton, setting up their WrestleMania match

Anyone who's been watching WWE for any length of time knows that Edge and Randy Orton used to be a tag team. And during the men's Royal Rumble match, they even pretended to be on the same page for a while, before the ruse was revealed, as Randy Orton tried to eliminate Edge.

And then I read this Tweet from Sportskeeda's own Alex McCarthy and it makes me think that there may be plans in the works for Randy Orton and Edge at WrestleMania 36. The two men obviously know one another quite well and Edge trusts Orton to be a safe opponent for his big comeback match.

So maybe Edge seeks retribution against Randy Orton on this week's show and ends up attacking him from behind or even delivers a spear in the middle of the ring while Orton is cutting a promo. Maybe Edge interferes in the match Randy Orton is competing in, in some way.

Whatever the case may be, it will help set up a momumental comeback match either for WrestleMania or (this is a possibility) for Saudi Arabia.

#2 Charlotte Flair names Rhea Ripley

So, Charlotte Flair is the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match and everyone either expects her to choose Becky Lynch as her opponent or Bayley. I don't think either scenario is too appealing right now. Charlotte Flair is definitely one of the all-time greats in the WWE Women's Division but she's been booked so strongly for so long, she may actually turn Bayley face if she were to square off with her.

She's had some epic encounters with Becky Lynch thus far, but we've seen those matches so many times that the sheen may have worn off by now. And this is why I think that Charlotte Flair may decide to do something very unconventional and challenge NXT Women's Champion, Rhea Ripley.

This is definitely a dream match in many ways and if Ripley defeats Flair at WrestleMania, she would have definitely become the next breakout WWE star.

Of course, this is a very rare possibility, but at the same time, weirder things have happened in WWE, have they not?

#1 Nia Jax returns to confront the RAW Women's Champion

I know that a lot of people were disappointed at the fact that Nia Jax did not return in the women's Royal Rumble match this year. There's already a readymade storyline for her in place based on the fact that she had accidentally busted Becky Lynch's face open a long time ago, and the two women could certainly have a great feud.

But maybe the surprise was being saved for RAW. Maybe, the big story was that Becky Lynch, having taken care of Asuka and with Charlotte Flair focusing her attention elsewhere, is looking for brand new opponents and Nia Jax returns to break her face again.

The audience reacts very strongly to Nia Jax, both positively and negatively, depending on whatever character she is portraying at the moment. And because she's most likely to return as a heel, it is only going to get Becky Lynch even more over as a babyface.

Who wouldn't want to see these two women renew hostilities in an actual feud?