WWE News: Preview For First ‘Monday Night Raw’ Of 2016

Every week, WWE posts a “Five-Point Preview” for Monday Night Raw. As the only live show WWE currently produces, no WWE show other than Raw is available without spoilers. WWE.com’s preview highlights five different storylines in the WWE world that will get some attention on Raw. With Royal Rumble less than two weeks away and very few details being confirmed, it is likely that additional competitors and matches for Royal Rumble 2016 will be revealed.

The one match that has already been confirmed for Raw is Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus for the title with Vince McMahon as the referee. For more, we can turn to WWE’s official Raw preview page. All five points are below.

• “No Chance in Hell” for Reigns? For all of the WWE fans who have been crying for a product more like that of the heralded “Attitude Era,” the story around the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is eerily familiar to what helped boost “Stone Cold” Steve Austin into legendary status. Vince, in full-on “Mr. McMahon” mode, is allowing himself to be hated in an effort to help get Roman Reigns over as the WWE champ. And, at least at the outset, it appears to be working. As he always did with Austin, McMahon will be doing everything he can (short of simply stripping The Big Dog of the title) to make sure Roman’s title reign ends tonight. If there’s any truth to the rumors that we are going to see Roman Reigns vs. Triple H — either at Royal Rumble or at WrestleMania — it seems like the result of tonight’s match will help lead right into a match with a returning Triple H.
• Does another U.S. Title opportunity await Cena? Last Monday, John Cena returned to WWE television after taking some time off for non-wrestling projects. Having already coaxed current WWE United States Champion Alberto Del Rio into putting the gold on the line last week, the “Raw Five-Point Preview” gives every indication that Cena is still focused on recapturing the mid-card belt. It also happens to be the only part of the preview that explicitly mentions WWE Thursday Night SmackDown being moved to USA this week. John Cena in a title match is a great way to kick off a new WWE relationship, so something like that could end up being the focus on Cena’s Raw time tonight.

• Royal Rumblings. Last week, The Big Show became the first wrestler to announce his entry into the 2016 Royal Rumble match. Now, as What Culture reports, Curtis Axel will be in the Rumble match again this year, making him just the second official entry. Unfortunately for Axel’s career, his gimmick from last year’s Rumble — claiming he was never technically eliminated — is the most recent thing many people remember about the son of Mr. Perfect. With the most exciting battle royal of the year less than two weeks away, expect a lot of WWE Superstars to be added to that list tonight.
• From Cuteville to Splitsville. Although they officially broke up on last week’s WWE SmackDown, the fact that Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae are taking up one of the five preview points at WWE.com would indicate that there’s more to this story. Expect heavy drama from either of these blonde beauties on Raw tonight.

Suited. @NaomiWWE strikes again pic.twitter.com/yA2Qgtmp3c

— Summer Rae (@DanielleMoinet) December 30, 2015

• No respect for The New Day? Still upset that they didn’t win a Slammy Award, The New Day continues to be one of the biggest draws in the WWE. There is obviously going to be another title match between The New Day and the The Lucha Dragons, but WWE is acting like Kofi and friends will be in the Rumble match as well. While Sin Cara is on the mend, will another team help pick up the slack? Or will the status of the tag titles be an afterthought until the Royal Rumble event is a thing of the past?

The Raw Pre-Show begins at 7:30/6:30c on the WWE Network. WWE Monday Night Raw airs live on the USA Network at 8/7c. A 90-minute version of WWE Raw can be streamed online the following day with a Hulu Plus account.

[Image via WWE]