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The wrestling business is at cross roads right now after Spike TV pulled the plug on TNA. The company folding could change the entire face of the professional wrestling business and WWE might be looking to pounce on the opportunity that open ups.Building up to SummerSlam will be an important phase for the same. Next stop on the road to the biggest pay-per-view of the year would come at Frank Erwin Center in Austin for Monday Night Raw.Last weeks show ended up being more than disappointed thanks to the lack of good matches and progression in storylines and its a mistake that WWE might try to rectify this week. So here is a look at some of the things that we could expect on this weeks edition of Raw.
#5 AJ Lees status
Last weeks SmackDown tapings was just supposed to raise the amount of heat that AJ Lee and Paige had so far. However, it turned out to be more than that when AJ picked up an injury which has left her status up in the air for SummerSlam.
It will be a big creative disappointment for the company if AJ will be taken out of the pay-per-view as the company was just beginning to give their divas division a good push.
There is no official word on how AJ is recovering from the fall that he had on SmackDown and hopefully the company would give us some information on this weeks Raw.
As far as the alternatives are concerned, there is an option of the title being vacated with a tournament placed in order to determine the new champion.
#4 Girls gone wild
Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella headlined last week’s Raw and came out pulling off an impressive segment that set up their match well.
The fact that they managed to do the same on a male dominated business made it look even better and the company now has a job of carrying their golden goose all the way to SummerSlam. Stephanie came out of top last week after a well-placed transition and Brie will be seeking her revenge.
Having Brie on the payroll however is going to give Stephanie the advantage as she can now book any kind of match that would give her an advantage at SummerSlam.
Till now, it was Nikki Bella who suffered for her sister going against the Authority. From this week it will be a different story altogether.
#3 Rebuilding the tag team division
WWE’s tag team division was at one of its lowest points of the year after Usos retained the tag titles on Battleground. The fans were concerned how the creative team would handle the situation heading into a big pay-per-view like SummerSlam.
Well, all those concerns were put to bed recently after the addition of two new teams. First came the odd pairing of Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil, that might not go on to win the Tag titles, but keeps the entertainment quotient high.
Then there is the Big E – Kofi Kingston team managed by Xavier Woods which is yet to unveil what their real motives are. There are rumors making the round suggesting that Wyatts will be taken out of the title scene which opens the door for the remaining teams.
Dust Brothers, Slator Gator, Rybaxel, Usos and Big E- Kingston teams would be enough to have a good SummerSlam with the only question being: How WWE is planning to use all of them?
#2 Lunatics on the loose
Attacks without prior notice are turning out to be an activity of high frequency in the WWE as the company is resorting to that option to progress their major storylines.
The most curious case from the lot will be that of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as the duo has been doing the same for almost more than two months now. Ambrose was absent from last week’s Raw making an impactful return imminent as well.
On the other hand, there is also the Wyatt Family and Jericho who still don’t know the reason why they are fighting for.
Last week, it was Randy Orton and Roman Reigns who stole the show with their table breaking heroics, and both superstars would be present this week as well to have a shot at the prestigious lunatic of the week award.
#1 The Absence Syndrome
WWE has booked a big main event for SummerSlam with John Cena and Brock Lesnar set to fight for the WWE World Heavyweight championship.
It’s the company’s poster match for the pay-per-view and one thing that they usually do is give some credible build up. However, Lesnar and Cena skipping shows every now and then have hurt this leaving the creative team red-faced about their “big” main event.
Paul Heyman was supposed to filling in for Lesnar but apparently it also proved ineffective this week as Cesaro stole the show with his match against Cena.
Lesnar being absent like this, has left the fans asking how he would fair if he wins the championship while Cena’s movie commitments aren’t doing anything good either. WWE needs to have both the superstars together this week to ease up their desperation.
