5 things you need to know before tonight's WWE Monday Night RAW (December 17, 2018)

4: The Road to the Royal Rumble begins

Shinsuke Nakamura, after winning last year's men's Royal Rumble match.

With WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs now in the rear-view mirror, everyone across both RAW and SmackDown Live are looking to January, and the annual Royal Rumble event.

But whilst we have our number 30 spots taken, these are by SmackDown's R-Truth and Carmella, who defeated RAW's Alicia Fox and Jinder Mahal at TLC in the finals of the Mixed Match Challenge.

The Rumble matches are a huge deal, having seen shock returns, stunning betrayals and the most unlikely of Superstars win.

Who knows, perhaps tonight we will see the first Superstars from RAW announce their intentions to compete in the match.

Or maybe even qualifying matches will take place for a coveted spot in the prestigious Rumble.

Either way, we are all on the path to WrestleMania 35.