What to Expect From Raw: Rise of the Strowman Empire

We’re a week removed from the dullest pay-per-view of 2016, but nothing stops Monday Night Raw from rolling on! With the Christmas season behind us, it’s time for WWE’s flagship to set the course for the road to WrestleMania start booking matches for the Royal Rumble in January.

Tonight’s Raw broadcasts from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL, so expect a rowdy crowd and the highest annual likelihood of “CM Punk” chants. It airs on the USA Network at 8PM Eastern/7PM Central.

What’s on deck for tonight? Here are the points WWE is advertising.

Last week, Braun Strowman ran in to destroy a not-insignificant portion of the Raw roster, mercifully saving us from a Titus O’Neil vs Sin Cara match and destroying the biggest (sorta) babyfaces, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. We’re expecting more pain to be unleashed from Strowman, especially as he gets positioned as a Royal Rumble favorite.

Meanwhile, the Universal Champion Kevin Owens is already booked for a singles match at the Rumble which will see his “best friend” suspended above the ring in a shark cage. WWE knows that it’s Jericho rather than Reigns or Owens who is carrying the main event feud right now, so tonight’s episode is all about Jericho overcoming his fear of heights.

But not every title battle is focused on people outside of said feud. Bayley got one over on the Women’s Champion Charlotte last week, and she’s certainly going to try and parley that victory into an opportunity at the championship.

Neville returned at Roadblock to put the beatdown on the Cruiserweight division, and his amazing talent at making very ugly faces is finally getting some heat on the purpled matches. Is he the next Cruiserwight Champion? Given his success so far, there’s little reason to think his opportunity will wait for long.

Finally, there’s Enzo Amore, who’s finally picking up where Roman left off to be an accidental heel against Rusev. The Certified G is straining the crowd’s natural love in his quest to denigrate Rusev’s marriage, and while the Bulgarian Brute totally did use his wife to nearly murder Enzo, he’s still coming off as the more likable dude in this scenario. Also, Jinder Mahal is involved for some reason, which means that Raw’s 2016 is likely to close with an incredible dream match: Enzo & Cass versus Rusev & Mahal. Please, try to contain your excitement.

We’ll have live coverage of everything as it happens, so stick with us tonight, both here and on Facebook!