Raw airs tonight (Mar. 9) with a live show from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. This is the second episode of Raw during the seven week build to WrestleMania 42, which takes place on April 18 and 19.
Brock Lesnar might have to cancel his open challenge for WrestleMania 42
Paul Heyman recently issued an open challenge for Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42, and nobody on the WWE roster was brave enough to answer the call. After what happened last week, though, Lesnar might have to take it back and pick his own opponent.
That’s because Heyman got his head brutally
stomped into the ring mat by masked mystery man Seth Rollins, and was then kidnapped in an ambulance by LA Knight. I don’t know what kind of strange torture the megastar inflicted on Paul’s body over the last week, but it seems safe to assume The Vision’s number one priority will be to make Rollins and Knight pay for what they did to Heyman.
The only problem with this goal is that Logan Paul and Austin Theory aren’t exactly the most reliable ass kickers in WWE. Heyman’s closest ally who can dish out maximum pain is Lesnar, who should also be irate about what happened to his advocate. I think that puts Seth and LA right in Brock’s crosshairs for a WrestleMania match. Rollins and Knight should both get some promo time on Raw tonight, so maybe they’ll drop a major hint about possibly fighting Brock at WrestleMania.
Lesnar doesn’t return to Raw until next week, so there’s still a chance for this equation to change again on tonight’s episode. Enter Oba Femi, who has a match against Rusev. If Brock stays true to his word on the open challenge, then Femi can make a huge statement tonight by destroying the Bulgarian Brute and proving he belongs in a big match at WrestleMania 42.
Tune into Raw tonight to see if it becomes a little more clear who WWE is lining up for the Lesnar fight at WrestleMania between Rollins, Knight, and Oba Femi.
The rest of the card
There is a 6-woman gauntlet match to determine the number one contender for Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee. The participants are Ivy Nile, Bayley, Raquel Rodriguez, IYO SKY, Lyra Valkyria, and Asuka. Bayley is desperate not to miss the WrestleMania card this year, and this may be her best path to get there. I suppose that can be said about all of these women, actually. Ivy Nile’s stunning upset loss on Main Event makes me wonder why she’s even in this match. AJ said she will defend the title the next time we see her in the ring, which means she very likely won’t appear in the ring on Raw tonight, and this title defense will take place in the next couple of weeks. Is that when Becky Lynch will return to attack her?
Penta is the new Intercontinental champion, and his first title defense takes place tonight. The challenger is El Grande Americano Original, a babyface (at least in the USA) who wished Penta good luck last week. See that, sometimes being nice pays off with a title match. It might not pay off by the end of the night, however, if the Judgment Day or new El Grande Americano decide to interfere and attack.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Jey Uso returned from the hospital last week to help his brother Jimmy put a beating on Austin Theory and YouTube douchebag Logan Paul. Could WWE be planning for this to be the world tag team championship match at WrestleMania 42?
– I bet Roman Reigns has something to say about CM Punk’s dead dog Larry after the way Punk mocked Roman’s dead father Sika last week. However, I don’t think the part-time Tribal Chief is scheduled to be on tonight’s show. Will Punk spend his time continuing to trash Roman as a lonely man who can’t win without his family’s help? Does another heel plan to confront the world heavyweight champion so that Punk can kick someone’s ass while Roman is away?
– Liv Morgan has been running her mouth about Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer ahead of their match at WrestleMania 42. Will the champ find a way to run her fist through Liv’s face tonight?
– Is Finn Balor on his way out of the Judgment Day after he stopped JD McDonagh from cheating on behalf of Dirty Dom last week, which led to Mysterio’s loss of the Intercontinental championship? Or will Finn remind his stablemates that it was actually Danhausen’s curse that doomed Dominik from the start?
– Does Rhea Ripley have any business left to deal with on Raw between now and WrestleMania, or will she be strictly on the blue brand to build her match against WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill?
– Does Nattie’s absence from the women’s gauntlet match indicate that her feud with Maxxine Dupri is far from over?
– How does Je’Von Evans plan to get onto the WrestleMania card? Is he mulling over Brock Lesnar’s open challenge, or would he rather have a match that he can actually win?
– GUNTHER needs a career to kill at WrestleMania. Will old man Rey Mysterio step up to the plate after the way GUNTHER defeated Dragon Lee and ripped off his mask last week?
– Is the jabroni army of masked mystery man now a thing of the past so that Seth Rollins can get back to showing off his ridiculous fashion sense, or will the army of nobodies continue to help him confuse and distract The Vision?
– Can Chris Jericho get out of his AEW contract in time for a match or appearance at WrestleMania 42?
– Where the f*** are the Bella Twins?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
