RAW Preview: Bobby Lashley's first WWE title challenger possibly revealed, Top star to have big character change ahead of WrestleMania 37?

Welcome to this week's edition of RAW Preview. Last week was perhaps the biggest episode of RAW in a long time, and we saw the crowning of a new WWE Champion to end the show.

This week's RAW could open with the new WWE Champion as well, and if it is, there is an 'Almighty Celebration' waiting to happen with The Hurt Business:

#5. Bobby Lashley to commence RAW with an Almighty Title Celebration

If The Hurt Business wasn't successful enough already, last week's episode of RAW cemented it. It's incredible to think of how far MVP has taken Bobby Lashley, Cedric Alexander, and Shelton Benjamin in just a year. The three of them went from being afterthoughts to Champions.

For Lashley, his World Championship dream was realized on RAW last week when he finally defeated The Miz to win the WWE title. It took him three attempts, as The Miz backed out of the first match due to a "cramp", and ran away for the second one.

Shane McMahon gave The Miz an ultimatum - defend the WWE title against Bobby Lashley in the main event of RAW, or get stripped of the Championship while the latter would be crowned.

The Miz might as well have taken the second option, as the lumberjack stipulation on RAW ensured that he couldn't escape. Bobby Lashley finished The Miz within minutes and ended RAW as the new WWE Champion.

He is set to host an 'Almighty Celebration' on RAW, presumably opening the show. But who will confront him? After his victory over Sheamus last week, Drew McIntyre could be the one to confront Bobby Lashley as a WrestleMania title challenger.

As much as we would like to think that it will be Brock Lesar who interrupts, it seems unlikely. As of now, there's no news of Brock Lesnar returning to RAW, or even signing a new WWE contract, for that matter.

A Lashley vs. McIntyre confrontation on RAW could be imminent.

#4. Charlotte Flair's pursuit of the RAW Women's Championship continues

Charlotte Flair made her intentions for WrestleMania known on RAW last week. She declared that with Lacey Evans out of the picture, she wants to face Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship at The Grandest Stage Of Them All.

It would be a rematch from WrestleMania 34, but this time, the roles might be reversed a bit. Last week on RAW, Charlotte Flair got interrupted by Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. This led to a match between Flair and Baszler which the former ended up winning.

What was interesting was the fact that Charlotte Flair showed a different side to her personality. She isn't a heel, but she wasn't trying to be a white-meat babyface either. She's adding an edge to her character and going through a major change while not necessarily turning heel.

We can see a gradual character alteration from Charlotte Flair on RAW as WrestleMania 37 approaches. We hope to see the RAW Women's Champion Asuka back this week, as it may confirm the match for WrestleMania.

However, Asuka may still need to defend the RAW Women's title at Fastlane.

#3. Riddle has a big problem in his hands on RAW

Riddle suffered a defeat last week to Mustafa Ali

Riddle teamed up with The Lucha House Party on RAW last week to defeat RETRIBUTION. Mustafa Ali's faction losing on RAW seems to be a weekly occurrence, but the difference last week was that RETRIBUTION's leader took matters into his own hands.

He challenged a worn-down Riddle to a non-title match on RAW and defeated the United States Champion thanks to some help from his fellow RETRIBUTION members.

As a result, Mustafa Ali will get a United States title shot - either tonight on RAW or at Fastlane. Given that it's the penultimate RAW to Fastlane 2021, we hope that the match is announced soon.

Mustafa Ali needs to win the title to regain momentum for himself and RETRIBUTION, but should it be at Riddle's expense? The story will unfold on RAW tonight, and Riddle may have to enlist help from the likes of The Lucha House Party and Ricochet - who was previously targeted by RETRIBUTION.

#2. Shane McMahon to apologize to Braun Strowman on RAW?

Does Shane McMahon owe Braun Strowman an apology?

Shane McMahon and Braun Strowman had yet another clash on RAW last week. McMahon made Strowman team up with authority figure Adam Pearce to challenge Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander for the RAW Tag Team Championship.

Braun Strowman was close to single-handedly winning the match and his third RAW Tag Team Championship, but Shane McMahon messed it up. He forced Strowman to tag in Pearce despite having the match won, and Benjamin was quick to take advantage - rolling up Adam Pearce to retain the titles.

It was a narrow call, but Shane McMahon may have to apologize to Braun Strowman this week. The seeds seem to have been planted for a WrestleMania match between the two, and we're interested to see how it plays out on RAW.

We expect a tense back-and-forth between the two, and Adam Pearce could be involved in a big way as well. Will Shane McMahon apologize to Braun Strowman on RAW tonight?

#1. What awaits Randy Orton in another hell-ish week of RAW?

Things seem to get increasingly bizarre by the week on RAW for Randy Orton. After getting rid of 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt at TLC 2020, he was haunted by Alexa Bliss, who keeps insisting that 'he' will return stronger than ever.

After segments on RAW involving shooting fireballs, black liquid from the mouth, satanic references, and more, Randy Orton isn't the same Superstar that we know. He admitted that failure has been following him in recent months and it's a feeling that he isn't familiar with.

Alexa Bliss has continued to haunt him, and last week on RAW, things got a bit surreal. Randy Orton looked at the television screen and saw himself. From what the indication was, it could be The Fiend taking Randy Orton's form to send his message.

It's quite the supernatural story on RAW, and we wonder when The Fiend will eventually return. Until then, we will have to get a month more of Randy Orton getting spooked by Alexa Bliss.

Edited by Kaushik Das