SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
RAW PREVIEW
JANUARY 15, 2018
SAN ANTONIO, TEX. AT AT&T CENTER
By Joey Galizia (@RamJam89), PWTorch contributor
ANNOUNCED BY WWE.COM
- The Empress Asuka clashes with the GIANT Nia Jax in singles action.
- How will Roman Reigns repay The Miz and The Miztourage after their 3-on-1 attack?
- Possible Paige Update.
- Highlights of Braun Strowman’s destructive nature
- Will “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt Collide?
“I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET”
Can Braun Strowman get any better? Since his departure from the Wyatt Family Braun has catapulted himself to superstar status, main eventing PPV’s, receiving title shots, and causing INFINITE DESTRUCTION. Last week he achieved another feat of strength when he pulled down an entire set on his Royal Rumble opponents… with a FREAKING grappling hook. A GRAPPLING HOOK! The Beast was escorted out of the arena in an ambulance (Heyman kept him company) while the Big Red Machine stood up and slowly stumbled away into the darkness. Lesnar is not scheduled to appear tonight so there’s another opportunity to make this the Braun Show before the big Raw 25 next week. To answer the original question: Can Strowman get any better? JUST WAIT AND SEE.
“TRAGEDY IS ABSOLUTE”
While nothing has been confirmed 100 percent by the WWE yet, the stories going around are that Paige’s in-ring career with the company are over. A sad set of circumstances considering the fact that Paige just returned to television after missing roughly 12 months of time, and that she’s still got most of her life in front of her at only 25 years of age. This also throws a hiccup into her faction consisting of Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose. Since the debut of Absolution the group had found strength in numbers but Paige was the center-man for that operation. With the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble coming up it’s safe to say that Rose and Sonya’s jobs are safe…but post Rumble? I fear they may be lost in the shuffle.
Also in the women’s division for this evening will be the undefeated Empress Asuka taking on her former NXT rival Nia Jax. Nia has been dealing with a lot as of recently. Her bae Enzo Amore is in tough predicaments but so is her friend Alexa Bliss who has relied on her as muscle during the duration of this most recent title reign. Eventually she may have to choose what is more important for her future. As for Alexa, she seems safe for now without a challenger to her title, but there are still two weeks left before the big show in Philadelphia.
“TAKE BACK WHAT’S YOURS”
After a brutal six-man main event that saw the newly reformed Balor Club defeat two-thirds of the Shield with Jason Jordan the Miz made his move, beating down Roman Reigns with the assistance of his lackeys. Miz has been sour ever since Roman defeated him to capture the Intercontinental Championship and looks to claim the white strap for an impressive 8th time. That would put him one shy of Y2J (you know, that young upstart making waves in Japan) for the most I.C. Title reigns in WWE history. Will the Big Dawg respond to Miz’s cowardly actions? Or will he give him a fair rematch? With destiny calling for Roman and Brock to clash at Mania, any and all option are on the table.
“AS FOR THE REST…”
-Balor Club may be back, but what their purpose or direction is seems to be up in the air. The faction has been getting great responses on television and on house show circuits, but will they use that momentum to tell a meaningful story? I hope so, because Balor deserves another shot at the main event scene, and this may be the best way to get him there.
-Another supremely over act that appears to be stuck in Limbo is “Woken” Matt Hardy. He may be defeating Curt Hawkins (what a streak) and a goldfish in chess but neither he nor his new rival Bray Wyatt seem to be making any attempts to kick-start the Great War. They keep trading odd promos, and laughing at each other when they come face to face. I’m not saying I’m not enjoying this, on the contrary, I’m very sports entertained, but eventually…. fists must be thrown.
-The entire reason that “sort of” the Shield lost last week was because Dean Ambrose’s replacement Jason Jordan could not get on the same page as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. The dissension among the group and the lack of experience is creating a unique conflict, and Jordan continues to be one of the most intriguing (if not annoying) characters on Raw. Very interested to see what they have in store for him and Seth tonight.
-Besides Paige and Ambrose, Samoa Joe has succumbed to another injury, this time in his foot. While nothing concluding has been released yet, the fear is that the pop he felt was a severe break or tear of some sort that could possibly sideline him for up to four months. Fingers crossed that it’s not that bad, since Joe declared himself for the Royal Rumble last week, and called out John Cena in the process.
After a wild weekend of divisional playoff games in the NFL (WOW THAT VIKINGS FINISH) it’s time for some old school rasslin. You watching?
NOW REMIND YOURSELF OF LAST WEEK’S HAPPENINGS: KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 1/8: Reigns IC Title reign continues, Enzo vs. Cedric, the return of Miz, Lesnar responds and get crushed
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