RAW Preview: 3-Time World Champion returns, Top babyface injured ahead of KOTR match

Welcome to this week's edition of WWE RAW Preview! We're at the penultimate episode of RAW before WWE Clash of Champions 2019 and as stated above - tensions keep rising. It has been a rather interesting couple of weeks in the main event scene.

For one, the two men who are supposed to face each other in the main event of WWE Clash of Champions find themselves in a rather odd partnership - one that's bonded by the RAW Tag Team Championship.

As for the King of the Ring tournament, the first round is officially complete and tonight, we'll be tackling the quarter-finals from the RAW end of things, but it may be more interesting than you realize.

As for the women's division, Sasha Banks continues to gain momentum in a big way following her in-ring return last week. We even saw the formation of a brand new tag team in Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode.

Without further ado, let's take a look into this week's RAW and what you need to anticipate heading in!

#5. Ricochet looks to displace Samoa Joe to step ahead in King of The Ring

It's been a couple of months now since Ricochet won the United States Championship. The man he defeated? Samoa Joe, of course. It's been a while since the two locked horns and The Samoan Submission Machine will look to get revenge on Ricochet to progress to the King of the Ring tournament semi-final, where he may face either Cedric Alexander or Baron Corbin.

Things are certainly going to get interesting and barring Ali vs Buddy Murphy, this has been the most interesting match in the tournament so far. With that said, we expect the up-and-coming King Ricochet to truly cement his name and pick up the win to move one step closer to glory.

#4. Cedric Alexander takes on Baron Corbin, but there's a twist

Cedric Alexander has spent the last two months regaining a whole lot of lost momentum. Being absent on RAW didn't help, but victories over Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn and Cesaro last week have propelled him into the conversation of potential dark horses in the tournament.

Alexander faced Cesaro last week in an intense contest and he managed to snatch a victory from the clutches of defeat. Unfortunately for Alexander, it came at a price. That price happened to be his leg which Cesaro incessantly hyperextended throughout their match last week.

Knowing he weakened his thigh and leg, Cesaro continued to go after it but it wasn't enough. This week, Alexander faces a huge challenge in Baron Corbin. However, his leg injury is clearly going to present a lot of problems for him and we wouldn't be surprised if Corbin ended up getting a free pass to the semifinals.

With that being said, Alexander is not the kind who backs away from a challenge and he is going to give it his all against the former United States Champion. Unfortunately for him, the odds are too stacked up and Corbin will very likely end up going through without much of a problem.

#3. Sasha Banks to make another big statement?

Sasha Banks opened the show last week and played a significant part in it. It was, of course, her in-ring return for the first time in over four months and she came out in the start to address that period of time.

She did admit to burning out and taking a few vacations, all while Becky Lynch was making her name as RAW Women's Champion. Apart from the week of her return, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks have had little to no interaction.

However, Lynch did put out a very stern warning to her next title challenger. To nobody's surprise, Banks brutalised and defeated Natalya in emphatic fashion last week, probably putting her out of order for a few weeks at the very least.

Tonight, expect a full-fledged face-to-face confrontation between the RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. While their match hasn't been made official yet, it seems inevitable that it will be announced for WWE Clash of Champions 2019.

Will The Boss get the better of The Man this week or will we see them lock horns to a stalemate? This is by far the most exciting Women's feud since WrestleMania and we can't wait for their match!

#2. Rey Mysterio returns

It's been a rough few months for the legendary Rey Mysterio. After getting squashed in less than two minutes at WrestleMania, he ended up getting some redemption by beating Samoa Joe at Money in the Bank to win the title.

However, an injury forced him to vacate it and Joe got the title right back without having to compete for it. Since then, he's slipped in terms of momentum and a humiliating 2-out-of-3 falls defeat to Andrade meant that Mysterio was ready to call it quits.

He was about to take off his mask and truly reveal that he is far past his prime, but he was stopped by the most important person in his life - Dominick. His son pulled him out from near retirement and two weeks following that, Mysterio is ready to return.

He's set to take on all comers, but who will be the one to step up and challenge the legend? Will Mysterio be able to hang on with the current generation or will age truly catch up to him? What role will Dominick play in his return and how soon will we see him in the ring?

There are a lot of unanswered questions that we're yet to find out about!

#1. What awaits the tag team champions?

Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman must be under a tremendous amount of pressure. Not only do they have to face each other in the main event of WWE Clash of Champions 2019, but they also have to defend the RAW Tag Team Championship against the new team of Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode.

But the pressure doesn't end there! AJ Styles is somehow still in the mix and without a United States Championship match. As you can probably imagine, that adds to a lot of confusion. Corey Graves did mention that if AJ Styles enters the mix, it'll likely be a match that is contested for both the United States and Universal Championship.

Braun Strowman has been a particularly busy man and last week, he once again challenged AJ Styles for his title. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work out again and he got disqualified. Styles tried to get nasty once more, only to face the wrath of the Monster Among Men.

This week, Seth Rollins will undoubtedly be present, so what's in store for the tag team champions? Will they find themselves surrounded on all sides? Tune in to find out!

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