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The road to the WWE Royal Rumble premium live event got shorter on this week's episodes of RAW and SmackDown. The event will take place on January 29, with next week's episodes being the final shows leading into one of the most exciting night's on the annual wrestling calendar.
The card is shaping up nicely with some blockbuster matches. It has already been announced that the Men's and Women's over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble matches will take place and the winners of those respective matches will earn a main event match at WrestleMania.
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Other matches currently scheduled include Becky Lynch vs. Doudrop for the RAW Women's Championship, Roman Reigns vs. Seth 'Freakin' Rollins for the Universal Championship and Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship.
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Another match that is booked to take place is Edge teaming up with his wife Beth Phoenix to take on The Miz and Maryse, and that's where we'll start on this week's five WWE Superstars who impressed this week.
#5 The Miz and Maryse impressed this week on WWE RAW with their cunning tactics
It's fair to say that The Miz & Maryse/Edge & Beth Phoenix feud has been fairly entertaining over the last few weeks. From a renewed vows ceremony, to Maryse seemingly turning on her husband, to this week's episode where the "it couple" finally got the better of their rivals.
Maryse was in the ring on RAW and wanted to talk to Beth Phoenix alone. Phoenix and Edge emerged as the former two-time Divas Champion wanted to cancel the Mixed Tag Team match at the Royal Rumble. Phoenix didn't accept this and wanted to take the fight to the French-Canadian superstar.
As the Hall of Famer entered the ring, The Miz - who Maryse had stated was not there - appeared to attack Edge. Whilst the melee was ensuing outside the ring, Beth took her eye off Maryse. In turn, Maryse hit Beth over the head with her purse.
As the couple exited, they revealed it was all part of the cunning plan, as the former Divas Champion revealed a brick from her purse. She and The Miz laughed as Beth Phoenix was still laid out in the ring with Edge tending to her.
All in all, it's the kind of heel plan that we love to see, and it was executed perfectly with Maryse goading Edge and Phoenix. Kudos to all involved for turning the soap-opera storyline into something engaging. Plus, credit to Maryse for getting the upper-hand this week.
#4 Sheamus once again impressed on WWE SmackDown
With Ridge Holland back by his side in WWE, Sheamus got his hands on Ricochet once again on SmackDown. This time, it was a little more personal as Ricochet broke Ridge Holland's nose at the Day 1 event.
Holland barked orders at Sheamus throughout the match at ringside to ensure the former United States Champion would suffer.
The turning point in the match came when Ricochet attempted to hit a Suicide Dive through the middle rope onto The Celtic Warrior outside the ring. Instead, he was met with a knee to the body. A devastating Brogue Kick resulted in Sheamus coming out victorious to cap off another excellent showing.
#3 There's no stopping Omos on WWE RAW
Who will be able to topple the giant Omos? Since parting ways with AJ Styles, Omos has been on a reign of terror.
On RAW, The big man dealt with R-Truth and Akira Tozawa who were attempting to get the 24/7 Championship from Dana Brooke. Tamina, however, did not dare go toe-to-toe with him.
Reggie ultimately felt the wrath of Omos as he secured another win as a singles competitor.
#2 The Viking Raiders looked strong on WWE SmackDown
The Viking Raiders picked up another important victory on WWE SmackDown this week.
As it stands, they are currently the No.1 contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. It looks like they are ready to do battle with The Usos after showcasing their exceptional teamwork against Los Lotharios.
Erik and Ivar looked like the total package. It is sometimes hard to forget that they teamed together long before their time on SmackDown and even NXT. It's going to be very interesting to see how far the company will push them in the coming weeks.
#1 Austin Theory picks up a crucial victory on WWE RAW
In his quest to win over Vince McMahon, Austin Theory picked up one of the biggest wins of his career so far.
The young superstar defeated Finn Balor. He then proceeded to attack Balor after the match, before taking his trademark post-match selfie. Of course, there was added pressure on Theory, as he had earlier spoken to McMahon about the upcoming match.
The Chairman went as far as threatening the superstar with what he might do to him if he hadn't won the match. He suggested that once he had finished beating the sense out of Theory, that he'd send a selfie to his mother.
Either way, Austin Theory got the job done in impressive fashion. You can sense something big on the horizon is coming for the RAW Superstar.
