Raw airs tonight (Apr. 13) with a live show emanating from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. This is the final episode of Raw during the seven week build to WrestleMania 42, which takes place this weekend (April 18 & 19).
WWE is hiding a big secret about the final Raw before WrestleMania
The road to WrestleMania 42 is coming to an end this week. Like usual, all the top stars involved are expected to be on WWE programming this week to hype up the biggest event of the year, with less than one week to go until show time.
GM Adam Pearce posted a video on social
media yesterday explaining what he has planned for tonight’s show. He says that Roman Reigns, World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, GUNTHER, Seth Rollins, Oba Femi, and Brock Lesnar will all appear live on tonight’s broadcast. It is no surprise that they will all be there, because it’s the go home show for WrestleMania.
However, Pearce was careful not to announce anything else besides these obvious things for tonight’s Raw. The GM even said that he’s “holding my cards very, very close,” which suggests he has plans in mind but simply isn’t telling fans about it yet. So, what exactly is the big secret that he’s hiding? I don’t really know, but one good starting point would be an actual match. Once again, WWE has announced zero matches on a show this close to WrestleMania 42.
Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar have not competed in an official match since the Royal Rumble, well over two months ago. CM Punk has not competed in a match since Elimination Chamber in February. Rollins hasn’t wrestled since last October when he suffered an injury that required surgery. GUNTHER hasn’t wrestled since early March, and Oba Femi also hasn’t wrestled in over one month. I don’t see WWE risking any injuries for these top stars just days away from WrestleMania, so they are probably going to keep talking trash and throwing office chairs at each other, while the rest of the guys lower on the roster actually duke it out in the ring in between their segments.
What secret matches does Adam Pearce have planned that he isn’t telling us about yet? Tune into the final Raw before WrestleMania tonight to find out.
The rest of the card
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Roman Reigns are both under one roof again, which seems like a pretty normal thing to happen between two opponents in pro wrestling. Will Punk have another pipe bomb response for Pat MAGAfee, after the former NFL punter called out CM’s hypocrisy on SmackDown? Will Roman laugh at how distracted old man Phil is by the other WrestleMania main event? Does Roman get some revenge on Punk for powerbombing him through a table two weeks ago, or does payback for that have to wait until WrestleMania?
Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi are both in the building tonight, as has been in the case for several consecutive episodes of Raw. Will The Beast finally lay out The Ruler ahead of their WrestleMania match? Will it take more than Triple H’s arms and suit to keep them separated this time?
Seth Rollins and GUNTHER are also both scheduled to be on Raw tonight for one final appearance before their WrestleMania match. Will the Ring General offer any more insight as to what favor he plans to get from Paul Heyman for helping rid him of Rollins? Will Seth find a way to put down GUNTHER on the go home show and get his hands on Heyman one more time?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Rey Mysterio returned to Raw last week to add himself to Penta’s Intercontinental title defense in a ladder match at WrestleMania. Will another surprise name pop up tonight to also join the party? If not, will the rest of the stars in the match (Dragon Lee, Je’Von Evans, Rusev, JD McDonagh) pair up to fight each other in a tag match tonight?
– Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer put some giant bumps on the heads of Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez via last week’s backstage attack. Will Liv confirm that Dirty Dom nursed her back to full health and she’s cleared to take Vaquer’s title this weekend at WrestleMania?
– Speaking of Dirty Dom, how badly is he shitting his pants now that Finn Balor is bringing back The Demon to kick his ass at WrestleMania? Will someone in The Judgment Day remind this little shithead that all it takes to beat The Demon is to sabotage the top rope?
– It really bothers Becky Lynch that her daughter’s favorite wrestler is Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee. Is it too late for The Man to add a clause in the contract for their WrestleMania match that AJ has to go away for a very long time if she loses, so that Becky’s daughter can find a new favorite wrestler in the meantime?
– Is WWE ready to make an official announcement about whether or not Nikki Bella is cleared to wrestle in the WWE women’s tag team championship match at WrestleMania 42? If not, will Asuka attack Nikki backstage to make sure she is out of the picture and that the Kabuki Warriors can replace the Bella Twins?
– Is there anything IYO SKY can do tonight to get her own match at WrestleMania 42, or is the best women’s wrestler in WWE stuck playing the role of Rhea Ripley’s side kick in Las Vegas this year?
– Will there be some kind of training montage video of World Tag team Champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory preparing IShowSpeed for the ass-kicking that’s coming his way at WrestleMania when he steps in the ring against The Usos and LA Knight?
– What’s taking Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods so long to kick Grayson Waller out of their group? He adds nothing of value to the table, based on his extremely lopsided win-loss record. If Danhausen wants to improve upon his undefeated record in WWE, he should get GM Adam Pearce to book him in a secret match against Waller tonight.
– Is there any chance that WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Pat McAfee, and Jelly Roll bring their truly terrible storyline from SmackDown over to ruin Raw tonight?
– Where the f*** is Maxxine Dupri?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
