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The WWE Championship picture heated up on RAW last week as Bobby Lashley dominated Braun Strowman to make a statement. Lashley will face Drew McIntyre on this week’s RAW before the three men collide at WrestleMania Backlash.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Flair talked her way into the match between Rhea Ripley and Asuka at WrestleMania Backlash. Will Flair’s new friendship with Sonya Deville lead her to another RAW Women’s Championship victory?
Karrion Kross came out on WWE NXT to find a worthy challenger for his new title. The Herald of Doomsday came across multiple possible challengers for his NXT Championship, including the returning Finn Balor.
Raquel Gonzalez and Mercedes Martinez had a backstage interview session before their NXT Women’s Championship contest. Who will walk out as the NXT Women’s Champion on Tuesday night?
Jimmy Uso returned to WWE Smackdown after a long absence. He sided up with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso at first but was left double-minded by the end of the show. Which side will Jimmy end up on in the months to come?
Let’s take a look at the five things that must happen on WWE RAW, NXT and SmackDown this week.
#5 Lily must continue to stalk superstars backstage on WWE RAW
Alexa Bliss enjoyed playing second fiddle to ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt for quite some time on WWE RAW. Bliss was seen as the backbone in The Fiend’s extended rivalry with Randy Orton.
However, Bliss cost The Fiend his match against Orton at WrestleMania 37, and has been building her own storyline on Alexa’s Playground ever since. The Goddess has revealed a brand new character called Lily.
The evil doll seems to be in control of Bliss, and the former RAW Women’s Champion made a big revelation on RAW last week. Bliss claimed that Lily had her eyes on someone backstage on RAW. This helped build excitement around the storyline.
Lily was seen stalking Sonya Deville and Angel Garza backstage, and both superstars could fall under her spell in the coming weeks. However, WWE must stretch the angle further this week and allow Lily to stalk a few more big names.
RAW has had some ordinary segments over the past few weeks, and WWE could use Alexa’s story to make things a little more interesting. Garza should have a more aggressive attitude while Deville partners up with Charlotte Flair.
Lily must continue to target a few more RAW Superstars before choosing her next victim. Will Bliss and Lily ultimately target the new redhead on RAW?
#4 Eva Marie must tease the return of a major superstar on WWE RAW
Eva Marie made a surprise return to WWE RAW last week. A vignette aired to announce the return of the WWE Superstar. She was previously released from the company around three years ago.
Marie had a decent time during her first tenure, and she could end up doing much better this time around. There are many ways Marie could make her return to WWE in the coming weeks.
She could return to the ring and turn her attention to the RAW Women’s Championship. Alternatively, she could form a partnership to go after the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles.
However, Marie’s return could see her manage some top superstars and make things more interesting on RAW. Bobby Lashley is currently holding the WWE title, and fans could end up seeing a familiar face return to the top to take him down.
Marie must cut a backstage promo this week where she puts the WWE Champion on notice. The returning superstar must warn whoever wins the title at WrestleMania Backlash that a former superstar is returning.
This will allow Marie to tease the return of Brock Lesnar to the middle for a possible rivalry for the WWE Championship. This could get fans excited about the WWE title match at WrestleMania Backlash as the winner could come face to face with The Beast.
Paul Heyman is busy working with Roman Reigns on SmackDown. So WWE could use Marie to manage Lesnar and give fans something different to look forward to. This could lead to a potential debut of Parker Boudreaux down the road as well.
#3 Karrion Kross must run through Austin Theory on WWE NXT
Karrion Kross faced off against Finn Balor for the WWE NXT Championship at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Kross was able to impress once again as he defeated The Prince to win the NXT title for the second time.
Kross has been open about facing anyone from the NXT roster to defend the title. Last week, Kyle O’Reilly, Pete Dunne and Balor decided to step up to The Herald of Doomsday but failed to make an impact.
Instead, Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory managed to lay out the NXT Champion together. Theory will face Kross on this week’s NXT in a one-on-one match. WWE must allow Kross to continue his dominant run and squash the young superstar.
Gargano must try to help Theory out during the contest and also face the wrath of Kross in the process. This will help NXT build towards a future storyline between Kross and Gargano.
Kross will need a few more dominant victories to stay on top of NXT before coming across O’Reilly or Dunne. Therefore, WWE must put Theory down to help elevate Kross before he can move on to some major challenges.
#2 KUSHIDA must retain his WWE NXT Cruiserweight Championship
KUSHIDA surprised the WWE Universe on the NXT after TakeOver: Stand & Deliver by pinning Santos Escobar for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Escobar had a great run with the title and unified it with Jordan Devlin’s title at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver after defeating him.
While fans expected Escobar to stretch his reign even further, WWE decided to pull the trigger and give KUSHIDA the NXT Cruiserweight title. This week, the Japanese Superstar will defend the title in a 2-out-of-3 falls match against the leader of Legado del Fantasma.
KUSHIDA had to wait a long time for his first title in WWE. Even though he has been part of several championship matches since beginning his NXT career, he failed to hit a home run until a few weeks ago.
Now that KUSHIDA has the Cruiserweight Championship with him, WWE must allow him to have a memorable reign with it. Therefore, WWE must allow him to defeat Escobar after a hard-fought contest filled with interference.
The angle will allow Escobar to move onto some other rivalry and possibly get in contention for the NXT North American Championship. At the same time, it will allow KUSHIDA to begin his reign and get the heels of the cruiserweight division to target him.
#1 Roman Reigns and The Usos must leave Cesaro in a heap before WWE WrestleMania Backlash
Cesaro has been flying high on WWE SmackDown for the past few months. The Swiss Superman got his first singles match at WrestleMania 37 and defeated Seth Rollins to make a statement.
Since then, Cesaro has been one of the most prominent superstars on SmackDown, and it looks like WWE is finally willing to take him to the top. Last week, Cesaro defeated Rollins in a WrestleMania rematch to get a shot at Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship.
Later in the night, Cesaro attacked Reigns, Jey Uso and the returning Jimmy Uso to show that he’s ready for the fight. Cesaro will get his shot at The Tribal Chief’s title at WWE WrestleMania Backlash next week.
Before the event, WWE must build up this rivalry a little more to make it more exciting. This week on SmackDown, WWE must allow Cesaro to come out for an interview before being attacked by The Tribal Chief and The Usos.
The three men must beat down The Swiss Superman, possibly with the help of Rollins, and injure him in the process. This will make Cesaro the underdog for his contest against Reigns at WrestleMania Backlash and make the storyline even more intense.
