By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Raw TV preview 1/7

After two weeks of taped, holiday-themed shows, WWE Raw returns live Monday night from Tampa, Florida.

Opposed by college football's much-anticipated BCS National Title game, WWE will be looking to kick off Royal Rumble and WrestleMania hype season in a significant way, while also trying to rebound from a TV ratings swoon at the end of 2012.

Specifically, The Rock's journey to the WrestleMania 29 headline match begins Monday night. Rock is advertised for his TV return on Raw, and is advertised for several TV episodes in January and February to build to Mania on April 7.

The other big item on Raw is C.M. Punk making his first WWE Title defense of 2013 against Ryback in a TLC match. This will also be Punk's first wrestling match since November when he was written off television to sell the effects of knee surgery.

On last week's Raw, WWE set up the possibility of Paul Heyman defending the WWE Title against Ryback. However, WWE "cleared Punk to compete" mid-week, setting up Punk vs. Ryback for WWE's top title on Raw.

Out of the title mix is WWE's top star, John Cena, who is expected to continue his Royal Rumble quest after entering his name in the Rumble last week and continue his feud with Dolph Ziggler and A.J. Lee.

On the Smackdown side, the World Title picture currently features champion Big Show and potential challengers Sheamus and Randy Orton.

For the live crowd in Tampa, the advertised main event tag match is John Cena & Sheamus vs. Big Show & Dolph Ziggler.

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