WWE RAW PRIMER 3/26: Will Strowman pick a partner? Will there be Ultimate Deletion follow-up? Will Undertaker answer Cena?

RAW PREVIEW
MARCH 26, 2018
CELEVELAND, OHIO AT QUICKEN LOANS ARENA
By Joey Galizia (@RamJam89), PWTorch contributor

ANNOUNCED BY WWE.COM

• John Cena will face off against an old rival in Kane.
• Will Roman Reigns be 100 percent for WrestleMania?
• Nia Jax’s pursuit of Alexa Bliss continues.
• Braun Strowman still needs a tag team partner.

“STRIKE DOWN UPON THEE”

The build-up to WrestleMania 35’s main event has certainly been a unique one. Seven days ago challenger Roman Reigns was handcuffed by U.S. Marshalls for breaking his suspension, and may serve more time after handing those U.S. Marshalls an ass whooping for trying to arrest him. (A great segment to give Roman the allure of a good guy I suppose?) His triumph didn’t last long though. The Beast and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar finally appeared after weeks of dodging Monday nights, and he used the situation of Reigns being handcuffed to his full advantage. Lesnar would go on to decimate Roman, nailing him with a German suplex and then destroying his body with a steel chair. The Big Dawg would be stretchered out of the arena and Lesnar would bounce around shirtless looking scarier than ever. Regardless of how you feel about both men, the match itself on April 8^th is going to be a BLOODY BRAWL, and I for one cannot wait. The Beast and his advocate are scheduled to appear this evening in Cleveland, but will we see another physical altercation?

“I DON’T LIKE BULLIES”

While the women’s division is on a roll for “history breaking” moments and “first time ever” scenarios, the set-up for the Raw women’s title match at the show of shows is as old school as it gets. Alexa Bliss, the bully, will be defending her prestigious title against the underdog Nia Jax. One of them, a smoldering giant who could even give Curt Hawkins a challenging bout, the other, a tiny hard hitting child who has manipulated situations to her advantage. Funny enough, the giant is the HERO in this story because she has to deal with body shaming. I wish I could say that both of these ladies have the potential to surprise us in New Orleans, but my fear is the lack of in-ring skill possessed by the current champion. We’ll worry about that when the time comes. As for tonight, expect Alexa to play mind games with Nia, perhaps by using her lackey Mickie James as bait once again.

“THEIR TIME IS NOT NOW”

-One of the major marquee matchups for tonight according to WWE.COM is the franchise John Cena taking on the brother of the man he keeps calling a coward, Kane. The Big Red Machine left Cena on his back last week with a chokeslam after John continued to berate and taunt the Undertaker for not answering his WrestleMania challenge. Will we see the Deadman tonight?

-Braun Strowman had quite a clash with Cesaro last week in singles action, but he still doesn’t have a partner to stand next to him to challenge the Bar for the tag titles? Most likely, that partner may not be revealed until the show on April the 8^th anyway, but in the meantime where does that leave this storyline? Routine tells us that Sheamus will now get a crack at the Monster Among Men, but with Braun already proving he can fend for himself is it even worth building up the suspense towards a partner? Look for the Bar to take advantage of the numbers game and force Braun to seek help.

-The Intercontinental Champion The Miz must be shaking in his boots. Not only will he be defending the gold against two of the very best in New Orleans, but the GOAT Daniel Bryan has returned to in-ring action and still hasn’t forgotten all those terrible things the A-lister taunted him with back in the day. I’m sure DB will probably be wanting his moveset back as well.

As for the Miz’s Mania opponents: Seth Rollins and Finn Balor have show quite a good amount of respect for one another, but Seth still wishes to avenge the loss to Balor from a couple of weeks ago. Will Balor and Seth square off in the ring ahead of their triple-threat? Something tells me this feud that dates back to the first Universal Championship match will be a story told over a long long time.

-The Ultimate Deletion that main evented the show last week was…. DELIGHTFUL. Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt have kept the story going as strong as they can via Twitter, but with an already stacked WrestleMania card, this may be an angle that only plays itself up on T.V. Will Wyatt return to his old wicked ways? Is the Great War OVA? There is one way for this blood battle to continue:

-Not too many superstars have declared themselves for the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. The Revival declared last week that they will be the first ever tag team to win the match. Expect to hear more entries from the lower totem pole of the card.

-Same thing for the women’s battle royal. We already know that Sasha Banks and Bayley will be entered into the match, and their relationship as tense as its ever been.

Live from Ohio it’s Monday Night Raw! Two weeks until Mania! You watching?

NOW CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS UPDATE: WWE RAW PRIMER 3/19: Ultimate Deletion segment with Woken Matt and Bray Wyatt, will Lesnar no-show again, Asuka’s streak at stake, more Braun