WWE RAW Preview: January 7th, 2019

Who's set for a much-anticipated episode of Monday Night RAW? We're not ones to try and blindly raise your expectations, but the rumbling is that something big may happen on this show, or it's just going to be an epic episode, period.

First and foremost, we'd like to pay tribute to the late great "Mean" Gene Okerlund, who passed away last week. He was an integral part of wrestling programming for decades and not just in WWE.

Just to give a quick recap of last week, here's what happened: Drew McIntyre ended his feud with Dolph Ziggler by beating him in a steel cage, Apollo Crews became #1 contender to the Intercontinental title but fell short, Seth Rollins had a tense confrontation with old rival Triple H (and then snapped later in his match with Bobby Lashley), and to end the year, Ronda Rousey and Natalya defeated Nia Jax and Tamina.

With all that out of the way, let's take a look at what should be an outstanding episode of RAW.

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#7 Hulk Hogan returns

We were met with the unfortunate news that WWE Hall Of Famer "Mean" Gene Okerlund is no more. This was a tragic way to start the year for the wrestling community, who all paid tribute to the legendary announcer and interviewer in unison.

"Mean" Gene was so much more than an announcer. He was the absolute best at what he did and added so much emotion to the segments he was involved in. Hogan and "Mean" Gene were no strangers to each other, which makes it perfect that the Hulkamaniac returns to pay tribute to the legend.

Hopefully, it will be a proper tribute and not something that's interrupted by a younger superstar looking to make his name off Hogan!

#6 Elias takes on Baron Corbin

Last week, Baron Corbin began yapping off again, and Elias gave him a taste of his own medicine. With Elias officially having put his feud with Bobby Lashley behind him, his focus has rightfully shifted on the man who inflicted a lot of pain during his GM tenure - Baron Corbin.

Elias will look to seek revenge against The Lone Wolf, who had a rotten end to 2018. Who's going to stand tall?

#5 A moment of Bliss debuts

Alexa Bliss will officially host the first-ever WWE talk show hosted by a woman. As mentioned last week, it'll be called "A moment of Bliss", and her first guest will be none other than the RAW Women's Champion "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey.

Rousey stood tall with Natalya to end the new year, and with Nia Jax (and Tamina) behind her, she's likely going to be scouting for her next challenge. Will someone from RAW step up to face her at Royal Rumble or will one of the two women on the blue brand make the jump to get their revenge?

#4 A lumberjack RAW Tag Title match

The Revival get another opportunity at the gold

The Revival have gotten another opportunity to capture the RAW Tag Team Championships. Having won the right to face them, they had a title match on Christmas Eve...except there was controversy.

Chad Gable had pinned Scott Dawson for the win, but technically, Dash Wilder was the legal man! It's clearly the referee at fault here, but it does make sense for The Revival to get another title shot. With AoP likely to be among the lumberjacks, it could lead to them costing Roode & Gable the titles! What better way to start off a year than with a title change?

#3 Where is Seth Rollins' focus at?

Seth Rollins' old rival questioned him last week

Last week, Seth Rollins' old foe Triple H came out to confront him, questioning his drive and where his head has been at. It's clear that immediate rematches are a thing of the past. Rollins argued back and things were about to get tense, but Shane McMahon came out to defuse the situation.

Rollins even snapped later in his match against Bobby Lashley, disqualifying himself. With his target clearly being to get back the IC title, will his head be in the right place this week?

#2 The Beast Incarnate returns to confront Braun Strowman

Brock Lesnar returns after quite some time. Unsurprisingly, after winning the Universal title, he's gone back into "hiding". He will, however, make his return to RAW for the first episode of the year, and he's set to confront his challenger Braun Strowman.

What's going to happen when the two behemoths go toe-to-toe in the ring? It's clear that things are going to get physical and it's uncertain if even the ring will be able to handle the weight of the two superstars colliding!

#1 John Cena's back!

It's not been long since we've seen Cena, because we technically did see him on SmackDown Live this past week, as he teamed with Becky Lynch to take on Andrade 'Cien' Almas and Zelina Vega.

Becky Lynch made it very clear to Cena that she's aiming to topple him if he gets in her way as well. He had nothing but good things to say about her afterward. It's likely for the best that he avoids her on SmackDown Live for the time being.

He's set to appear on the red brand..and you know that there's someone willing to step up and challenge him. Will it be one of the upcoming NXT call-ups? Follow us on RAW tonight to find out!

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Edited by Riju Dasgupta