With WWE Extreme Rules looming around the corner, the denizens of Monday Night Raw would be eager to consolidate their momentum heading into the event. The Fatal Fiveway match to determine the challenger to Brock Lesnar’s WWE Universal Championship would, of course, dominate the headlines but that’s not to shortchange a number of other storylines that are developing simultaneously.
How will Bayley respond to Alexa Bliss’ vicious attack with a Kendo stick last week? This feud has every marking of shaping up into a bruising encounter at the pay-per-view if their opening salvo was any indication to go by.
And what of Dean Ambrose? Not only did he prevent Miz from using ‘underhanded’ tactics against him, he also returned the favour with a stiff kick to the grapefruits. The Hollywood A-lister is as conniving as they come... rest assured, he won’t let it slide.
And finally, Goldust embraced his dark side by springing his unsuspecting partner R-Truth on last week’s episode. Will he address his actions this week and if so, who’s to say R-Truth won’t be looking for a spot of payback of his own?
For answers to all of this and more, read on as we preview Monday Night Raw!
A series of unfortunate events
This past week has, unfortunately, played host to two heel turns, what with Goldust finally snapping and attacking his former partner R-Truth and Tommaso Ciampa also turning on Johnny Gargano after their match at NXT Takeover: Chicago.
The underlying reason for each of these breaches of trust, however, is that both Goldust and Ciampa weren’t content to share the limelight with their former tag team partners.
Now that Goldust has exactly what he wanted – the attention of the WWE Universe centred on him, will he be able to progress up the ranks without being hindered by R-Truth?
Or like in the case of most bust-ups, was Goldust’s startling move merely a result of his own insecurities at not being able to string together a substantial run of victories?
A cornered lunatic
Dean Ambrose is an unstable personality at the best of times... but when his back is against the wall, he becomes especially dangerous. And by pressing for the ridiculous stipulation that Ambrose will forfeit his Intercontinental Title should he get disqualified at Extreme Rules, The Miz has put him in exactly that position.
Ambrose is a character that revels in chaos and anarchy, and a pay-per-view like Extreme Rules is right up his alleyway.
But The Miz is a cerebral worker, chipping away at one advantage after the other on Ambrose’s side, all the while fortifying his own chances at the same time.
How will Dean Ambrose respond to the gamesmanship of The Miz? Will he manage to hold his own until Extreme Rules where he can let his fists do the talking? Or will he fall further into the Miz’s web of deceit and be goaded into doing something that he would regret even more?
Ball in Bayley’s court
Bayley’s Im-just-happy-to-be-here attitude on Raw has been severely tested at the hands of Alexa Bliss of late. The Raw Women’s Champion has had no qualms whatsoever in adopting any means necessary to glean some measure of advantage over her opponents, even if it means resorting to a weapon like the Kendo Stick to punish Bayley.
Alexa has shown beyond any doubt that there is no depth she won’t sink to and now, the ball is in Bayley’s court.
Will the perennial babyface stick to her guns and trust that her straightforward means will still be enough to overcome the Champion’s in-the-trenches mentality? Or will she do whatever it takes to get revenge for last week’s attack?
And in the middle of all of this, Nia Jax’s presence lurks ominously.
The Bar needs to be raised
Cesaro and Sheamus ditched their nice guy personas and popularity with the fans in the blink of an eye so that they may be able to finally get the edge required to overcome the Hardy Boyz.
And it seemed to be working perfectly for them as they survived the Tag Team Turmoil to be re-elected as the number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championships. But their upturn in fortunes didn’t last long as Cesaro was yet again defeated by Jeff Hardy in singles competition last week.
This caps the latest setback in a long and fruitless stretch that has seen Cesaro and Sheamus earn several shots at the Hardyz – both in singles and tag team competition – and not even managing to win one.
The challengers are understandably desperate to set right that ignominious record... but the recently returned Hardy Boyz show no signs of slowing down just yet.
What curveball, then, will this episode of Monday Night Raw hold for both the teams?
Too many cooks don’t spoil the broth
Bray Wyatt put an exclamation on last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw by standing tall after laying out both Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe with the Sister Abigail. Will his dominance continue this week in the push to earn a shot at Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire?
In all honesty, however, it’s pretty much impossible to predict what or who will give, considering that all five of the men in the mix are legitimate contenders in their own right and certainly not to be trifled with.
While Rollins and Joe will understandably looking to settle the score with Wyatt, the animosity and loathing between them haven't been resolved one bit. The same can be said of Finn Balor, who would no doubt be out for revenge after Reigns beat him clean last week.
The interplay between five of these contenders is tantalisingly poised...one wrong move and each one of them risks getting taken out for good even before the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
Eyes in the back of your heads and full speed ahead, gentlemen.
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