WWE RAW Preview - April 1st

Hello everyone, and welcome to the RAW preview. WrestleMania is less than a week away, which means the WWE has only one episode of RAW and one episode of SmackDown left to drive the point home. The build up to this WrestleMania hasn’t been great to say the least, with a lot of things still left incomplete. Although the WWE set feuds for their top stars, the feuds were hastily tangled, and no proper explanation has been given for them. The main feuds going into WrestleMania are Cena – Rock for the WWE title, The Undertaker – CM Punk for the streak and HHH – Brock Lesnar with HHH’s career on the line.

Tonight’s RAW will come live to us from the Verizon Center in Washington DC. All the performers on the WrestleMania card are expected to be present, which includes The Rock and Brock Lesnar. Let us quickly go through what can happen on the explosive episode of RAW, merely days before the mega event.

CM Punk – The Undertaker

The most hyped, and arguably the most anticipated match on the card, is likely to open the show once again. RAW has been doing very strong numbers for the opening segment thanks to Punk and The Undertaker. Last week, we saw physicality between the two, with The Undertaker getting the better of CM Punk. Expect CM Punk to repay the favour to the deadman by attacking him, and laying him out, which will show Punk as a strong contender, and a likely candidate to end the legendary WrestleMania streak of The Undertaker.

Team Hell No (With Kaitlyn) – Ziggler and Big E (With AJ Lee)

This match has been thrown into the mix, as none of these guys had any feuds going into the mega event. Expect Ziggler and Big E to distract Kane and Daniel Bryan during their possible match against The Prime Time Players, and lay them out after the match. Ziggler and Big E haven’t had many victories on RAW, which will definitely hurt their credentials going into WrestleMania. Expect the WWE to show them as strong contenders by laying out the champions a week before WrestleMania. Also, the feud between Kaitlyn and AJ Lee will culminate at WrestleMania with a match for the Diva’s title. Expect AJ to attack Kaitlyn and lay her out, showing her dominance before the mega event.

Wade Barrett – The Miz

This feud has been one of the most poorly booked feuds in recent memory. It has no meaning, and neither of the two performers is going in with any credentials, and the crowd doesn’t care about this match. Wade loses about 90% of his matches, and The Miz has been a poor face, to say the least. Expect an angle to be set up where Barrett attacks The Miz and lays him out with the Waste land. I’m going with a Miz victory at WrestleMania, and the only reason for it is the predictable outcome for every other match on the card. WWE might try to swerve us by booking Miz to win the IC title.

Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyles – Rhodes Scholars and the Bellas

The only interesting thing about this feud is the return of the Bella twins. There has been some animosity between the two stables for a while now, and expect things to get heated up. The Rhodes Scholars might try to do a sneak attack on Tons of Funk during a likely tag team match, and put them down. The match also includes the Funkadactyles, and this gives Naomi a chance to show her talent at the grandest stage. It’ll be interesting to see how the Bellas will be booked, considering they are both dating top stars in the company.

Chris Jericho – Fandango

A lot of people are predicting Fandango to be a flop in the near future. I don’t think so; Curtis has good in-ring talent and enough charisma to pull off this gimmick. Last week, Jericho was attacked by Curtis, and was beaten down. This week, expect the reverse to happen, as Jericho drops Fandango with a code breaker. Going into WrestleMania, Fandango should be shown as a legit threat to Chris Jericho, and that can be achieved only if Jericho treats him like a threat, which is how it should go.

The Shield – Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show

Show has apparently turned face, and the trio has been getting the upper hand over The Shield recently. Expect the same to continue, with Shield trying to interfere in one of their matches, and the cavalry comes down to dispose of The Shield. This will not only set up the team of Orton, Sheamus and Show as a threat to end Shield’s reign of tyranny in the WWE, but is also the orthodox way for WWE to show that The Shield will be put over at WrestleMania. Rumor has it that Orton will be turning heel soon, and this week might lay the foundations for that.

Mark Henry – Ryback

Ryback was taken off the 6-man tag match and now faces Henry at WrestleMania. Mark Henry recently attacked Ryback on SmackDown, and expect Ryback to repay the favour this time around on RAW. The battle of the behemoths seems to be interesting, and a good lead up to their match at WrestleMania will put some doubts in people’s minds as to who will win the match. This feud has the potential to be big if booked properly, as Henry is a former World champion, and a win over him will do wonders for the career of Ryback.

Alberto Del Rio – Jack Swagger

Last week saw Swagger attack a defenseless Ricardo, and ADR snapped. This week, ADR will be looking for retribution, and might finally get his hands on Swagger to build their match at WrestleMania. Their feud has been underwhelming, and ADR might have a thing or two to change that before we go to the mega event. Jack looks set to become the new World champion, and this week might see ADR getting the upper hand against the All American American.

HHH – Brock Lesnar

This is the second most hyped feud going into the mega event. HHH has signed on the dotted line, which now puts him in a match that he has to win, or otherwise say goodbye to the fans, and mark an end to an illustrious career in the organization. HHH has warned Brock to bring his A-Game, and this week, we might finally see another stipulation, regarding HHH’s wife Stephanie McMahon. Expect an attack by Brock to drive the point home, and show the fans just why he was once called “The Pain”.

The Rock – John Cena

The match that will likely close WrestleMania is between Rock and John Cena. While Rock hasn’t been able to show up on RAW regularly, this is arguably the least hyped main event in WrestleMania history. They have 2 more episodes to close the feud before WrestleMania. Last week, Rock gave Cena a Rock bottom. This week, expect Cena to retaliate, but get laid out by The Rock once again. This would put doubts in Cena’s, and Cena’s fans’ minds about Cena’s chances at WrestleMania. This is Rock’s ‘giving back’ match, where he’ll put Cena over and hand over the WWE title.

Those are my previews and predictions for today’s Monday Night RAW. Although the hype has been very less, this RAW can drive the point home by establishing the respective feuds and who’d go into WrestleMania with the upper hand. We will wait and see how RAW plays around, thus setting up the foundations for WrestleMania 29.