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With SummerSlam concluded for the year, it is now time for the company to move towards the Clash of Champions PPV and build up stories for it. There is still a little under a month left for storylines to be built and the next episode of RAW will focus on that.
Last week, there were some interesting developments on both brands. On the red brand, the OC attacked Seth Rollins when the Universal Champion took on the US Champion AJ Styles. The Architect was helped out by Ricochet and Braun Strowman, who was then challenged by Styles on Twitter to a match where the Phenomenal One would defend his title.
Meanwhile, WWE announced the return of the King of the Ring tournament with the likes of Ali, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Buddy Murphy, Cedric Alexander, Cesaro, Chad Gable, Drew McIntyre, Elias, The Miz, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe and Shelton Benjamin taking part in the tournament.
Keeping all of this in mind, here are 5 things that we could see on RAW in the next episode…
#5 OC interference in the US Championship match
As mentioned earlier, AJ Styles challenged the Monster Among Men to US Title match on RAW – and Strowman gladly accepted it. The former Wyatt Family member is yet to win a singles title in the main roster, and some are hopeful that that might change after his match against Styles.
While it is difficult to say for sure whether the title will change hands, what we can be certain of is OC’s interference in the match. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have been quite supportive wingmen to AJ Styles in recent weeks.
The Phenomenal One was helped out by the pair against Seth Rollins last week as they were laying a beat down to the Universal Champion before Ricochet and Strowman came along.
So there is little to no chance that Anderson and Gallows will let Strowman and Styles have an uninterrupted contest.
#4 Samoa Joe and Cedric Alexander winning their respective KOTR matches
The King of the Ring has brought some excitement to the fans, as this competition is like a shower that washes the people in nostalgia. After all, fans can never forget how the KOTR gave birth to the Austin 3:16, and would be hoping for a Superstar of now to come up with a career-defining moment of his own in the tournament.
The early favorites to win the competition are Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin. The first two matches to take place will be on RAW between Samoa Joe and Cesaro, and Cedric Alexander and Sami Zayn.
While all four of them are excellent performers, Samoa Joe and Cedric Alexander look likeliest to win their respective bouts. The Samoan Submission Machine is going to lock horns against Cesaro, and while the Swiss Cyborg might be one of the best Superstars in the company and is deserving of a major push that has been long overdue, it is difficult to see him going over instead of Samoa Joe.
The Samoan Submission has had a solid few weeks recently and also won his match against Kevin Owens on SmackDown Live last week (with help from Elias, it must be added).
Cedric Alexander, too, has momentum in his favor from recent weeks and will almost certainly beat Zayn.
#3 Lynch-Banks brawl
Last week on RAW, Sasha Bank made her return on TV for the first time since she disappeared right after the conclusion of WrestleMania 35. Fans had been eagerly waiting for her return for months now and she finally showed up in Canada following SummerSlam.
Banks went into a hiatus as a face and returned to attack Natalya – the homegirl – when she was having her moment with the crowd. Her vicious assault on her forced Becky Lynch to come out and interfere, but it turned out to be a wrong move on The Man’s behalf as she was beaten down by a chair by The Boss.
Following the brawl, Lynch took to Twitter and posted: “Let the games begin.”
It is only indicative of one thing: Banks being the number one contender for Becky Lynch’s RAW Title at the Clash of Champions. The time now is to build up the feud to make it as exciting as possible.
The seeds of this feud were sown subtly by Lynch before Banks’ return when she said:
“If Sasha Banks could hack it and she didn’t just get her jacket – she’s off crying like Ronda Rousey – then I would love to face her. But, unfortunately, she couldn’t take losing. She lost the Tag Team Championship and she was gone. Some people can’t hack losing, they can’t step up. They can’t realise that when you lose, it’s just a chance to get better, it’s a chance to learn, it’s a chance to grow.”
As a result, we could expect the two to have another brawl on the next episode of RAW, but not before one – or both – of them cuts a promo to turn up the heat.
#2 The Fiend’s new victim
Last week at SummerSlam, The Fiend stole the show with his incredible performance. From his entrance to the way he carried himself in the ring, Bray Wyatt looked like a million bucks and instantly became the hottest thing in WWE (if he wasn’t already).
After the conclusion of his performance, fans were eagerly waiting for him to make an appearance on RAW the following night, but it wasn’t to be as The Fiend/Bray Wyatt was nowhere to be seen.
Even though it was quite the shocker, the WWE Universe was pretty much convinced that the Eater of the Worlds would show up on SmackDown Live the following day but that didn’t happen either.
And according to reports, Wyatt wasn’t shown on TV because WWE wanted to keep the mystique around him intact and keep him unpredictable in the sense that nobody will know when he strikes next.
However, there is considerable momentum with Bray Wyatt right now and not having him appear on three straight TV episodes would be a waste of the great character development done at SummerSlam.
The iron is now hot with regards to Bray Wyatt and WWE will have to strike it now and gain as much from it as possible. As a result, there is a good chance that he could appear on RAW – either in a Firefly Fun House segment or as The Fiend attacking his new victim (who could be The Miz).
#1 Rollins’ new feud
Seth Rollins won back the WWE Universal Title from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam after picking up a clean win against the Beast despite not being fully fit. This has now allowed the company to build a new feud for the Beastslayer, but we are yet to go down that direction.
Last week on RAW, Rollins faced AJ Styles in a Champion vs Champion match. However, the OC’s interference cut the bout short. While the villainous trio were having a go at the WWE Universal Champion, Ricochet and then Braun Strowman came to Rollins’ aid.
There was a moment after the match when Braun Strowman held the Universal Title in his hand and looked at it with intent before giving it to its owner. That moment felt like WWE teasing a title shot for the Monster Among Men.
In fact, Dave Meltzer reported that Strowman has been picked as the next challenger for Rollins’ title, so could it be that Strowman loses his bout against Styles for the US Championship and then gets overpowered by the OC 3 on 1 when Rollins comes in to make the save before announcing that he chooses Strowman as his challenger (like Bayley picked Ember Moon to be the number one contender for the SmackDown Women’s Title)?
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