RAW Preview: Big in-ring return after 6 months, Unpopular babyface to interfere in ladder match? (January 20th, 2020)

Welcome to this week's edition of RAW Preview! This isn't just any ordinary edition - it's the go-home show to Royal Rumble 2020! That's right. We're less than a week away from the Rumble, which subsequently means that we're a week away from the road to WrestleMania beginning.

It's already that time of the year again and if this is the last show before the Royal Rumble, expect the red brand to go out with all guns blazing. RAW has turned out to be one of the better shows to begin the year and dare we say - they've been a bit more consistent than AEW Dynamite.

Not that it's easy to keep the momentum alive, but one can only hope. Either way, this week's episode of RAW will follow the aftermath of a shocking ending to last week as well as the final build towards the Royal Rumble. Before the road to WrestleMania begins, let's start with what you need to look forward to tonight!

#5. A mixed tag team match to settle the grudge rivalry

We've seen Bobby Lashley vs Rusev on a couple of occasions before and it was thanks to Lana's interference that Lashley got the better of his rival. Last week, Liv Morgan came out but Lana just needed to splash Pepsi on her face to cause enough of a distraction.

Rusev and Morgan declared a challenge to the couple next week and Lana was more than happy and confident to accept. This was, of course, much to the dismay and anger of Lashley, who felt he had done enough by putting Rusev away again.

This match is important as it features the in-ring return of Liv Morgan on television after six months away. It's going to be a big one!

#4. A ladder match to settle the United States title feud

It feels like we've been watching Andrade and Rey Mysterio feud for a long time now - going back to when Andrade was still the newbie on SmackDown. They both moved to RAW and their rivalry spilled over there too.

It was in a Madison Square Garden House show where Andrade had his big moment - defeating Mysterio to end the latter's reign as United States Champion. They faced off again on RAW but it was a relatively dusty finish.

A lot of harsh words have been traded and Andrade has disgraced Mysterio by removing his mask. Things will finally come to a head tonight on RAW in a ladder match and we anticipate Andrade walking out still the Champion.

However, it won't be without interference. There were rumors of Humberto Carrillo returning soon and feuding with Andrade and we could see a scenario where he interferes during or after the ladder match to save Mysterio and become El Idolo's next title challenger.

Whether he's ready for that spot - we can't be sure. But perhaps from WWE's perspective, it's worth a shot.

#3. Becky Lynch has a final standoff with Asuka

Last week, the contract signing for the RAW Women's Championship took place. Becky Lynch was as professional as ever, putting over Asuka despite The Empress being nothing but disrespectful.

Kairi Sane even went in and taunted Lynch, trying to irritate her by poking her with her umbrella. The night ended with both women signing the contract to make their match official - as well as Asuka, spitting green mist in Becky Lynch's eyes.

This isn't the first time it's happened to her and knowing Asuka, it probably isn't her last. The numbers game doesn't favor Lynch and Charlotte Flair rightfully has no interest in renewing her alliance with Becky Lynch, choosing to focus on the Women's Royal Rumble and Sarah Logan instead.

Tonight, The Man has one final standoff with Asuka and Kairi Sane, and she's going to have to risk getting mist spit in her eyes again. Either we'll see that, or a generic backstage promo. We'd rather see the two get into an altercation to hype up their Royal Rumble match.

There's already more anticipation than there was for their bout last year, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

#2. Brock Lesnar's back again

Brock Lesnar has had an unusually active start to 2020. Sure, he always appears at Royal Rumble - either to defend his World title or appear in the Rumble match itself. It's only the fourth time in his career that he'll be entering the Royal Rumble match and to add to the excitement - he's going to be entering at #1.

Last week, he had a confrontation with R-Truth, who declared himself in the Royal Rumble. He thought that Paul Heyman had entered but once he learned that it would be The Beast Incarnate was the one entering, he "undeclared" himself from the Rumble - perhaps the first time we've ever seen that.

Lesnar showed R-Truth "What's up" when he assaulted him, allowing Mojo Rawley to pin him for the 24/7 Championship. This week, we expect Lesnar to come out again and have a confrontation of some sort. Whether it's a "smaller" name or a "bigger" name, you're likely going to hate Lesnar a lot more after it.

One of the biggest things that people are looking forward to in the Royal Rumble is to see who could eliminate Brock Lesnar.

#1. What will be the aftermath of Buddy Murphy joining Seth Rollins

It's not often in WWE that you lose a match only for your stock to grow. It happens to a select few superstars, with only some of the elite names looking great in defeat. Buddy Murphy has looked great in all three of his defeats to Aleister Black, but anything less than a victory wasn't going to do for Murphy.

As a result, he sat ringside after losing to Aleister Black and almost two full matches took place while he was still sitting at ringside. During the chaos of the main event that was the Fist Fight, Seth Rollins went to Murphy and pleaded with him for help. While Murphy didn't respond at first, he helped Rollins and AoP by hitting Big Show with a low blow.

As a result of that, the four men were able to neutralize the World's largest athlete, giving them the win. Rollins embraced Murphy and he joined the trio, making them a faction. We won't be surprised to see the faction making a big impact and using the numbers advantage to attack Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe.

Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE