RAW before Royal Rumble Preview: Huge first-time-ever match for Drew McIntyre, Dominik faces WWE legend after nearly 2 years (January 22, 2024)

It's the RAW before the Royal Rumble - which means that this is the final RAW before the road to WrestleMania 40 officially begins. Naturally, there's a lot of hype around what awaits tonight, this weekend, and the next few months altogether.

To capitalize on that hype, WWE has announced an action-packed episode of RAW filled with various matches and segments. So let's jump right into what you need to look forward to on the go-home edition of the Monday Night show before Royal Rumble 2024:

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#6. Drew McIntyre takes Damian Priest in a long overdue match-up

In a first-time-ever match-up, two-time WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will face Damian Priest - one-half of the Undisputed Tag Team Champions as well as Senor Money in the Bank.

Damian Priest's Money in the Bank cash-in attempts have become a bit of a running joke in the WWE Universe due to the sheer number of attempts that have backfired. His most recent attempt on the Day 1 edition of RAW saw him try to capitalize during the Seth Rollins-Drew McIntyre World Heavyweight Title match, and it was the Scotsman who thwarted his attempt.

But their tensions go a bit back to WarGames, where Damian Priest and The Judgment Day's game plan failed, and their teammate Drew McIntyre blamed them for it. Tensions come to a head tonight in this first-time-ever clash!

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#5. Dominik Mysterio faces The Miz on RAW after nearly two years

The Miz is 4-1 against "Tom and Nick" Mysterio

Dominik Mysterio, or "Tom & Nick" like R-Truth calls him, had a rivalry with The Miz a couple of years ago. In fact, it was their rivalry, along with Rey Mysterio, that gave Logan Paul his in-ring debut.

Between January 31 and April 4, 2022, The Miz and Dominik Mysterio faced each other a total of five times - three of which were on RAW. The Miz holds a 4-1 record, which is 2-1 when you only count televised matches.

But the funny thing is that their televised matches have never exceeded 130 seconds. We're sure that tonight's match is likely going to be longer than all of their previous matches put together - especially considering that it's been nearly two years since they faced off.

Will The Miz extend his record over Dominik, or will The Judgment Day star get the better of him?

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#4. Ivy Nile faces Valhalla

Ivy Nile recently fell short to Rhea Ripley

Ivy Nile, to many, has been the most impressive superstar in the women's division in the last couple of months. She has quickly risen despite having only a limited number of matches, but she has never failed to make an impact.

That even translated to a title shot against Rhea Ripley, where she fell short but put in a good effort anyway. She will be looking to get ahead in the women's division once more with a win over Valhalla tonight.

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#3. Chad Gable takes on Ivar in a grudge match

Even Akira Tozawa managed to get a win over Ivar

Last week on RAW, Akira Tozawa picked up a shocking upset over Ivar, only for him and Maxxine Dupri to get assaulted by Ivar and Valhalla post-match.

Chad Gable will be looking for a measure of revenge on behalf of his Alpha Academy recruits as he faces the imposing Ivar in a singles match.

Will Gable end up getting the win over a considerably larger opponent? And will we get to see him suplex Ivar as well? It's going to be an intriguing match-up tonight.

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#2. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes go face-to-face

In what might be the most highly-anticipated segment of RAW tonight, the two Royal Rumble favorites, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, will be going face-to-face in the ring.

They've interacted on WWE TV before, albeit briefly. There seems to be a lot of mutual respect between the two men, and although Punk has yet to wrestle a televised match since his WWE return at Survivor Series 2023, he is a big favorite to win the match - as is Cody Rhodes, who won the 2023 Men's Rumble match.

What will the two have to say when they meet in the ring before the Royal Rumble?

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#1. Seth Rollins to address his future in the opening segment of RAW

The Visionary sustained a devastating injury in his title defense last week

Seth Rollins reportedly sustained an MCL-related injury last week on RAW during his title defense against Jinder Mahal. It reminds us of seven years ago when Rollins' WrestleMania 33 match against Triple H was in jeopardy as a result of a knee injury.

He went on to defend his title successfully anyway, but everybody wants to know what awaits the Visionary and what the doctors have told him. To open RAW this week, the World Heavyweight Champion will be addressing his future - one that everybody wants to know about.