WWE Monday Night Raw Preview, 16 December 2013

The WWE finally recovered from their poor pay-per-view business by giving a solid show at TLC. The year ending PPV made the headlines for all the right reasons and sowed the seeds for an exciting WrestleMania season.

There are a lot of questions left in the mind of fans after TLC and this week’s Raw will make the whole picture clearer as the road to WrestleMania is around the corner. The feud built up to the Royal Rumble will be instrumental for the grand event and the inception of all the major storylines is expected to take place this week. So here is a look at the possible rollercoaster ride that the show could give us.

Is Big E Langston going for a Goldberg streak?

Hot streak

Though the WWE built up Damien Sandow as a credible contender for the Intercontinental championship, Langston came out as a dominating champion when he retained his title.

Ever since he won the championship, he has been showing the traits that remind the fans about the undefeated streak that Goldberg once had. There are not many mid-carders in the company who would be next in line for a title shot but names like Dolph Ziggler, Sin Cara and Alberto Del Rio rings many ideas.

A good old five way feud for the title would always be a welcome scene for the fans and it would also be the best decision for the creative to ignite some fire in the degrading mid-card.

The Tale of the Beards

Daniel Bryan is who the fans wants!

Daniel Bryan fell helpless in front of the creepy guys and proved again that he is not one of those wrestlers that could win against all odds like John Cena.

On a sadder note, the match also epitomized the bad booking that Bryan has been getting over the past few months. It’s clear that the WWE fans want to see him in the title scene but the creative is playing deaf and ignoring the ear piercing yes chants.

There is still a tease of Bryan joining the Wyatts but that won’t happen for sure since he is the most popular star among the fans. The feud between Wyatts and Bryan continuing is the most possible thing to happen or the Wyatts could find a new target with John Cena being the favorite.

Turmoil in the Shield

Roman Reigns: Heel today, face tomorrow?

The eventual split of the heel faction was moved one step forward at TLC where CM Punk utilized the divide and conquer motto.

Roman Reigns gained a lot of sympathy for his eye injury and was the reason why his team lost the match. The only way that this storyline would go is to turn Reigns a face by making Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose turn against him. Along with that Punk also exposed the secret of beating The Shield and made the Wyatt family the top heel trio in the company.

To sum up, The Shield is certain to breakup but it is to be seen that how the creative is planning to do the same.

What next for CM Punk and John Cena?

Out of the title picture?

Both the stars were involved in highly contrasting storylines. Cena lost his opportunity to have two titles around his waist while Punk finally revealed the code to beat Shield.

Cena’s clean lose to Orton at TLC might hint on the feud being continued between the two at the same time, it open a minimal possibility of him coming out and saying that he had his chance and is giving up on the title. If that happens, Cena could be utilized elsewhere like putting the Wyatts over or working more on the split of Shield.

Meanwhile, Punk closed his storyline with Shield and served the purpose of making chaos among the trio. He definetly deserves a go at Randy Orton and could be propelled into that position this week. He has nothing else to do as the Shield angle would be stale if he carries it till Royal Rumble.

The “Unified” Champion and his direction

Backed by the Authority

In what proved to be the biggest surprise of TLC, Randy Orton was seen holding both the major titles after winning his match fair and square. Refreshingly, Cena took the fall but still there are two titles and one champion in the company. The show also showed the return of Vince McMahon to television.

Do we need any more reasons to tune into Raw this week? The whole Authority – unification angle has been boosted to the core by the involvement of Vince McMahon and it’s to be seen whether he pulls of another Attitude Era like storyline making John Cena or CM Punk take the role previously depicted by Steve Austin.

Another aspect to look forward will be the amount of time that the Authority gives Orton before he will be put to the test. Daniel Bryan is also rumored to be waiting for a title shot and what we have in our hands is a complete mess which opens many doors for the creative to thrive.