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The first episode of WWE RAW in 2019 is stacked. John Cena, Hulk Hogan and Brock Lesnar will all be on the show tonight - Hogan to pay tribute to the late Gene Okerlund who passed away recently.
WWE RAW also sees the return of the 'Monster Among Men' Braun Strowman who will challenge Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble.
RAW also sees Chad Gable and Bobby Roode defend the WWE RAW Tag-Team Championships in a lumberjack match against The Revival.
With WWE RAW being a little predictable of late, what twists could we see on the first RAW of 2019?
#5 WWE tease a future match for Hulk Hogan
The WWE Universe was met earlier this week with the devastating news that legendary backstage interviewer 'Mean' Gene Okerlund had passed away. WWE legend Hulk Hogan returns to WWE RAW tonight to pay tribute to his longtime friend
However, it is definitely possible that a heel interrupts Hogan. This could either lead to Hogan either single-handedly or with the help of another babyface, giving the heel his comeuppance or, WWE could tease a future match for the Hulkster possibly even at WrestleMania 35.
#4 New tag-team champions
Tonight's episode of WWE RAW will see the RAW Tag-Team Champions Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defend their titles against The Revival - Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. The match was recently turned into a lumberjack match and will see a number of RAW Superstars surrounding the ring.
This match could possibly see a title change. While I do agree that Chad Gable and Bobby Roode have just recently won the titles, the title change could facilitate the debut for a couple of NXT Superstars. More on that at #3.
#3 A debut for Heavy Machinery
It's no secret that WWE RAW's tag-team division desperately needs a breath of fresh air. The RAW tag-team division was not on the same level as the tag-team division on SmackDown Live in 2018 where The Usos, The Bar and The New Day brought their A-game month after month.
As for RAW's tag division, The B-Team were champions in 2018 and their run was terribly forgettable and AOP's run as champion barely lasted longer than a sneeze. The team that was most successful in 2018 was the dominant pairing of Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler.
With the RAW tag division needing something new, this could be the perfect time to debut Heavy Machinery on the main roster. Although Heavy Machinery hasn't done much on NXT, they definitely seem like the kick of an NXT act who will do better on the main roster like Elias and Alexa Bliss.
#2 A new challenger for John Cena
As announced Vince McMahon on the Christmas-eve episode of WWE RAW, John Cena is back and the 16-time champion makes his return to WWE RAW tonight.
He made his SmackDown return earlier this week where he teamed up with former SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch before Lynch threw him out of the ring during the match and made Zelina Vega submit. After the match, Lynch mocked Cena with his 'You can't see me' hand gesture.
There's a good chance that Cena could have another open challenge tonight on WWE RAW and we wouldn't be surprised if a certain Superstar from NXT answered it and even beat John Cena. That man is none other than the "Top 1 Percenter" EC3.
EC3 has also been announced for a main roster debut and what better way to debut than to confront John Cena and then have Cena put him over ala Kevin Owens?
#1 Brock Lesnar wrestles on WWE RAW
Hold your horses as your hear this stat - the last time Brock Lesnar wrestled on WWE RAW was way back in 2002 when he beat ECW legend Tommy Dreamer.
With Vince McMahon promising to shake things up in 2019, what better way to actually send a message than actually have Brock Lesnar wrestle on WWE RAW for a change. It doesn't even have to be a title match or anything - Lesnar could just destroy a Superstar in the match and it will still be a massive change from what fans are used to. Although I agree its unlikely, it could still happen.
The closest Brock Lesnar has come to wrestling on WWE RAW since 2002 was on the night after WrestleMania in 2015 where he was supposed to face Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship before Rollins backed out.
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
