5 things that could happen on RAW next week

The second episode of the new year was a pretty quick and easy show to get through. It wasn’t necessarily a very good show, but it wasn’t a bad show either. The wrestling was below average for what has been par for RAW recently, but the show didn’t drag, which is a win in my book. And they got some stuff done! That’s always good to see, especially with only two more episodes of RAW to go before the Royal Rumble after this week. Last week, I thought these things would happen…

- Asuka makes Nia Jax tap out

The match was indeed scheduled, so I’m giving myself a half a point for that, and it will be taking place next week. I’ll retroactively give myself another half a point if Nia taps out next week. Instead of a match, Nia attacked Asuka from behind and beat her down before her music even finished playing. It was a continuation of the Nia/Alexa on-again-off-again relationship. It was annoying how they did it, though. Asuka speaks English ALL THE TIME. That’s a really terrible mistake.

- No Cruiserweight Title match… again

The title match did end up taking place this week, and it was a pretty decent contest. It’s tough to tell if Enzo actually got hurt on the dive that ended the match, but as well acted as it was, the finish didn’t appear to be changed, so I’ll assume they just did a really good job of selling the hurt ankle. He did take a hell of a shot to the face that busted him open around his eye, though. I found it off that none of the members of the Zo Train came out with him. I don’t watch 205 Live but I’ve read that there has been some infighting in the group. Maybe they broke up. I don’t know.

- Jordan, Reigns & Rollins vs. Joe & The Bar

“The Champions Club” took on the reunited Gallows, Anderson, and Balor in the main event of RAW this week. I can’t really give myself a point for them having a match. Samoa Joe talked about Roman Reigns but appears to have moved on at this time (to leave the Miz to take his place). Hopefully, Joe’s possible injury doesn’t ruin his run, because it looked like they were setting up a possible Joe vs. Cena match at WrestleMania. That would be fantastic.

The Bar lost to Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil in a somewhat baffling move, because it’s not going to lead to anything real for Titus Worldwide, so why bother? Sheamus and Cesaro will get their rematch with Jordan and Rollins at the Rumble PPV and probably lose, thus ending this saga once and for all, I hope. Or they’ll win the titles back as a way to further the Shield/Jordan angle. I’m not really sure where any of this is going, and I like that.

- Matt Hardy enters himself in the Royal Rumble

As expected, both Matt and Bray entered themselves into the Rumble match this week, so I’m giving myself a point and a half for this one. They actually went face to face in the ring, in an in-person version of the back and forth laughing that they did on the screen a few weeks back. Nothing groundbreaking or even all that entertaining, but it’s slight progression. One would assume they will eliminate each other from the Rumble match and eventually face off one-on-one at WrestleMania. Chances of it being worse than Bray’s match against Randy Orton last year, thankfully, are very low.

- Balor, Gallows & Anderson are guests on Miz TV

I was wrong about this one, and as I wrote last week, I’m very glad. Instead, the reformed Balor Club defeated two-thirds of The Shield and Jason Jordan in the main event. Is there any plan for Balor and the Good Brothers? It’s tough to say. But there was no interaction with Miz’ buffoons, so that was great. Miz TV, by the way, was fantastic, and Miz is amazing. A great start to the year, and hopefully he will win the IC Title in a couple weeks at the 25th Anniversary of RAW.

Overall, I went 2 for 5 this week. Well, I got 2 points. One half-pointer and one that I gave myself an extra half a point because I’m allowed to hand points out to myself however I please. In any event, after what happened this week, let’s see what might happen on the penultimate episode of RAW before the Royal Rumble.

#5 Jordan and Rollins lose to The Miztourage

jordan reigns and rollins — Jordan, Reigns, and Rollins prepare for battle with the Balor Club

To advance on the story that they played up this week, an overzealous Jason Jordan will somehow end up costing his team a match to Miz’ henchmen. Interference from The Miz will definitely take part in helping his team gain the victory, but the story will be Jason Jordan making another mistake and causing his team the match.

I think it’s a bit of an odd angle to take with the story, as Jordan has been portrayed as overconfident but proficient over the last few months. He’s excitable, but doesn’t do stupid stuff in matches and doesn’t really wrestle like a “rookie”. That was completely flushed down the drain this week, and unless it turns out that he did it on purpose for some reason, it’s the way they are going to go until Jordan and Rollins lose the belts.

#4 Bray Wyatt loses to Curt Hawkins thanks to Matt Hardy

wyatt hardy — Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt face off in the ring

I think what is more likely to happen is Bray defeating Hawkins just like Matt did this week, followed by Hardy confronting Wyatt like Matt did last week. It’s more like what WWE’s predictable machine would do, which is why I expect that will really take place, but it would be a nice change of pace to see an unexpected win. Hell, it could even turn Hawkins face! Not that it matters much.

It’s a shame that Hawkins isn’t a face because playing up his losing streak and then eventually getting a big win could be a good RAW moment. Plus, the guy is a good talker and wrestler. It wouldn’t hurt to switch directions and turn him face and end up doing that, actually. They could probably get a good few months out of him chasing The Miz for the Intercontinental Title and make some money off some merch. It won’t happen, but it would work.

#3 Continued boring lack of story progression for the Women’s Rumble

Nia Jax took out Asuka before they could have their scheduled match

One thing that has prevailed since the women’s Royal Rumble match has been announced has been, well, nothing. A bunch of women are fighting each other in repetitive matches and pretty much everyone is spinning their wheels. The only actual story being built is the possibility of a triple threat between Alexa Bliss, Asuka, and Nia Jax. Outside of that, it’s just completely skippable because everything that happened last week is the same as everything that happened last week.

It’s a shame, and it just goes to show that it was only going to take so long until the “Women’s Evolution” became a complete buzzword. I mean, we have to be fair. From the very beginning, it was just a PR move from WWE because female athletes were in the spotlight big time a couple years back, so they capitalized on it. But if you look at what’s happening in the women’s division now and compare it to everything from before they were given their brief spotlight, and it looks eerily similar. We’re back to status quo, just with a peppering-in of “first time” matches and “historic” events. That’s all it has become. They aren’t being treated equally. WWE is just selling that to us and we’re buying it.

And even sadder, I’m not even sure if WWE realizes they’re doing it. With everything company-wide being so homogenized and sterilized, they might think that they really are giving the women better treatment than they were a few years ago. The thing is, the bra & panties matches, Thanksgiving gravy bowl crap and all of the other demeaning, degrading stuff had already been gone for quite a while before the “Women’s Revolution” began. WWE just quietly slipped back into that territory, and nobody seems to have noticed because the men’s stuff isn’t all that much better.

#2 Jordan and Rollins are guests on Miz TV

This could play right into exactly where they are going with the Jordan heel turn storyline and the tension between Rollins and Jordan. It’s probably going to be the way we get to the match with Jordan and Rollins taking on Dallas and Axel. The Miz will call them out for being dysfunctional champions and say they have no chance of retaining against The Bar at the Royal Rumble, and in fact, they don’t even have a chance of being his solid team of Dallas and Axel, because his team is on the same page.

The Miz and his guys didn’t destroy these two last week. They focused on Roman. That’s why Reigns can’t be the guest on the show because he’s going to be out for blood. Miz will make sure that it’s very clear that he only wants the Tag Champs out there, not the IC Champ. It will all break down and at some point in the night Miz will end up eating a spear from Reigns, but I don’t think it will be during Miz TV. Shortly after, probably.

#1 Kane gets the upper hand

Two weeks ago, Kane attacked Lesnar, who ate a chokeslam and sat up like it was a joke. The two then proceeded to have a brawl with nobody coming out ahead. This week, Kane and Brock fought again, leading to Strowman ambushing them and dropping a random scaffolding-like set piece on top of them. It was an act of freakish strength (even though those things didn’t look very heavy) and an act of brutal aggression (even though it didn’t appear that Kane nor Brock were touched by the falling object).

This week Kane will finally grab himself some momentum by somehow standing tall over one or both of the other men, probably doing something extreme to make it happen. The following week at RAW 25, the last episode before the pay-per-view, they will all brawl and nobody will come out on top. I wouldn’t be surprised if their brawl became a giant brawl with a ton of guys from the RAW and SmackDown rosters to close the show with chaos. They love doing that on the last RAW before the Rumble.