WWE Monday Night Raw Preview: December 30, 2013

WWE Universe

The whole WWE universe is early waiting for the New Year to come, but 2013 is not over yet as the company will be bringing one last Raw to end the year with a bang.

After an almost disastrous Christmas themed outing the creative will be playing with fire once again when they put the superstars in more precarious situation with the old school theme. Despite the theme, the expectations are still high when it comes to the show.

The last episode of NXT saw a technical masterpiece between Antonio Cesaro and William Regal which also showed Cesaro’s deviation towards being a face. Paige teased a feud with AJ Lee while Sami Zayn and Bo Dallas gave interesting promos.

If the WWE worked so much with NXT definetly the Raw would disappoint either. So here is a look at the things that could turn out in this week’s show.

The Animal

Hunting again

Batista’s return does not come until January 20 but expect a lot of fireworks this week.

Apart from the news of his return, nothing else has been clarified about The Animal. The buildup to his return could give up something on whether he will be returning as a face or a heel.

Expect some of the stars to give some opinion about the same. The likely opponent for Batista at the time is Randy Orton. Due to the involvement of Orton, the Authority could also be dragged into the proceedings.

Anyhow, the Rumble buildup will be exciting to see with Batista thrown into the mix. Orton and John Cena still remain without much of a storyline to talk about so a jealous angle with Batista could be on the cards soon.

The big baby

Baby Show

I cannot even stress how much I’m disappointed as a fan to see wrestlers like Big Show and Kane being used as puppets to camouflage with the “theme”.

The largest athlete in the world was seen in a giant diaper last week and worst could be expected this time around.

The whole family friendly change to the business maybe getting popular among the fans below the age of ten but it is definetly not fooling anyone else. The people who stick around the product only because of their loyalty are being disappointed week in and week out with such segments.

One would’ve never imagined seeing a legend like Mick Foley using his three faces to sell merchandise or see Kane fighting with dolls. The direction of the product is definetly down with such idiotic ventures and 2014 could be a good year to change things around.

The exciting title bout

Highlight- Unpredictability

Fandango earned his chance to face Big E Langston for the Intercontinental championship last week when he defeated a buried Dolph Ziggler. For many Fandango might just be another wrestler who could be in front of the freak train called Big E Langston but in the current situation this is the most unpredictable match on this week’s Raw.

In the last couple of weeks, Langston proved that he deserves the main event scene even if he is not the intercontinental champion. So keeping a midcard title around Langston for so long wouldn’t be a long run. The title will only affect his bigger push and hold him back from going for the big prize.

At the same time giving Fandango the title could rejuvenate his career and can bring some life into the midcard. If it happens the only way for both superstars is up and if Langston retains expect his run to last less than what we imagined.

John Cena- only a Rumble entrant?

Relegated ?

After losing out the title to Randy Orton at TLC, Cena was expected to ask for a rematch at the Rumble but he went a different direction and turned out to be a well-wisher of Daniel Bryan.

Many thought that Bryan would go for the title with Cena’s backing but he was pulled back into the feud with the Wyatts leaving Cena lost.

The Cenation leader then went on to work with the Shield alongside Big E Langston, CM Punk and Mark Henry. Till now he is not involved in any storylines and has only the relevance as a rumble entrant. The decision to use Cena only in the battle royal at such a big pay-per-view could hurt the company.

With the star quality he possesses, he deserves to be in a main event outside the Rumble. Putting him back into the title picture for the time being or a feud with Shield could solve the problems and it is to be seen where Cena is heading.

After effects of NXT

A credible opponent to AJ’s domination

As said earlier, the last NXT episode of the year had a lot of talking points. Though it only had one match to showcase there were many promos which revealed the future plans of WWE.

The shield was seen on the same page surprisingly but Roman Reigns showed his lack of skills with the microphone. Meanwhile, Bo Dallas revealed that he was ready for the main picture.

But the show was stolen by William Regal, Antonio Cesaro and Paige. Regal showed the fans that he still got it and went out with his heads raised high though he lost against Cesaro.

Paige teased a dream feud with AJ Lee to which AJ is yet to respond. The anti-diva gimmick coupled with her in ring skills make her the best candidate from NXT to be called up to the main roster. AJ is running out of opponents and Paige would be a fresh addition to the divas division.

Meanwhile, Cesaro gained a lot of cheers from the fans for the respect he showed to Regal. The tease for his face turn was at the epitome and it will be interesting to see whether the WWE decides to break up the Real Americans or turn the whole team into baby faces.