“The Beast” Brock Lesnar is back! Having Lesnar back on Raw should give the show a much-needed shot in the arm (let’s be real, Raw has been god awful since the abortion that was the Slammy Awards edition of the show two weeks ago). With so many injuries to so many top-level stars, there is no wonder why WWE has chosen to pull the Lesnar card so close to the Royal Rumble. It may have been more exciting for Lesnar to just show up at the Rumble as a surprise entrant, but if they want people to tune in you have to show at least a few of your cards now.
Lesnar’s arrival on Raw may lead to a few different scenarios. Lesnar could be there to declare that he will be in the Rumble or this could be the beginning of whatever feud Lesnar will be in come WrestleMania time. There has been rampant speculation that Lesnar will be facing either Kevin Owens or the Rock at WrestleMania, so don’t be surprised if whatever Lesnar or I should say, Paul Heyman has to say gets interrupted by one of the two. Obviously it’s more likely to be Owens, but still.
Since it’s a Lesnar return, look for him to re-establish his dominance by destroying an entire faction at some point during the show. The Social Outcast should all call out sick Monday.
Over the past few weeks, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry. As this feud heats up, it is obvious that they are heading to a collision course at the Royal Rumble. The unclear part is what type of match it will be. There is no way a crazy and potentially life-threatening (isn’t everything crazy and potentially life-threatening with Ambrose?). Since we are only on month two of the feud it will most likely be a No Holds Barred match or something along those lines. Pay close attention to how Owens is booked during all of this. So far he looks like an unstoppable killing machine. Seriously, this was savage!
If Owens dominance persists, the rumors of an impending battle with Lesnar may actually be true. WWE would need to make Roman… err… I mean Owens look as strong as possible to give the impression he is a legitimate threat to Lesnar. All that said, if that is the case Ambrose would be left floating I obscurity after all of this ends. When is Ambrose going to catch a break?
John Cena is going to miss WrestleMania due to injury, which is awful news. Not only does it throw WWE’s WrestleMania plans out of whack, it leaves Alberto Del Rio without a legitimate adversary. Last week on Smackdown, John Cena put over Kalisto in route to Kalisto beating Del Rio in a non-title match. Kalisto will eventually get a title shot, most likely at the Royal Rumble, but can he actually win?
Roman Reigns stood tall last week after his victory over Sheamus. Well… until Mr. McMahon dropped the bombshells of all bombshells on him- Reigns has to defend the WWE title in the Royal Rumble match. A stipulation like this is unheard of and a clear sign that it may have been fun to cross the boss at first but in the end, it totally wasn’t worth it. Let’s not harp on how potentially cringe-worthy the Rumble could end up being now, we will save that for another day. How will Reigns retaliate? Reigns is in an unenviable position with his back up against the wall. The best-case scenario is that he pulls a Stone Cold Steve Austin circa the 1998 Rumble and strikes before he can be stricken. Look for Reigns to go on a Superman punch and Spear rampage of anyone who gets within 15 feet of him for the next week or so. Being the champion already puts a bullseye on your back. That bullseye just got bigger.
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