Raw airs tonight (Feb. 16) with a live show from FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. This is the third episode of Raw during the four week build to Elimination Chamber, which takes place on February 28.
GUNTHER knows exactly who he needs to beat at WrestleMania 42
After sending Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles into retirement, WWE needs to book GUNTHER in a really big match at WrestleMania 42. On last week’s episode of Raw, the Ring General revealed what his road to WrestleMania looks like.
It begins tonight on Raw when he competes in an Elimination Chamber qualifying
triple threat match against Je’Von Evans and Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio. When GUNTHER prevails tonight, all he has to do is outlast the likes of Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and LA Knight inside the Chamber, and then a match against WWE Champion Drew McIntyre awaits at WrestleMania 42. GUNTHER already pinned McIntyre in a mid-card title match at WrestleMania 39, and he plans to do it again for a much bigger prize this time at WWE’s most important show of the year.
That’s all well and good, but GUNTHER’s plan for his road to WrestleMania could easily be turned upside down tonight. The nature of a triple threat match is that there are no disqualifications, which means that little shithead Dirty Dom can get away with all kinds of shady and cowardly tactics that disgrace the sacred sport of professional wrestling. That includes finding a way to steal the pin on Evans after GUNTHER obliterates the Raw newcomer with an extra bouncy powerbomb.
Will GUNTHER’s road to WrestleMania 42 play out exactly as he predicted last week by first qualifying for Elimination Chamber, or will the greatest Mysterio of all-time take that win away from him tonight? Tune into Raw to find out.
The rest of the card
The women’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match tonight is Bayley vs. Nattie vs. Asuka. There are a lot of ways WWE can go with this one. Asuka is generally pushed better than Nattie and Bayley, and also has a rival waiting for her in the chamber in the form of Rhea Ripley. But you never know when Kairi Sane’s help may backfire again on The Empress again. That could open the door for Nattie to win, as her new heel persona would seemingly thrive at the chance to decimate five other women inside a dangerous steel chamber. Bayley is an underdog in this one, especially with two other babyfaces (Ripley, Alexa Bliss) already qualified for the chamber.
AJ Lee is scheduled to appear on Raw tonight, one week after she returned to set up a match against Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch at Elimination Chamber. Will AJ get her hands on The Man tonight after Becky’s sneak attack last week when she was tending to Maxxine Dupri?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– The main event of WrestleMania 42 is supposed to be World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns. Finn Balor has a chance to ruin things for WWE if he beats Punk for the gold at Elimination Chamber. What will Finn do tonight to stop fans, and even his own Judgment Day stablemates, from viewing him as an afterthought on Punk’s road to WrestleMania?
– Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer is running out of patience with Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan taking so long to make her WrestleMania decision. Dirty Dom took a slap to the face over it last week. Will Morgan be the one who feels Vaquer’s wrath tonight if Liv continues to make her wait for an answer?
– The Vision has major problems with GM Adam Pearce after his series of terrible decisions apparently led Bron Breakker to train too hard and injure himself, requiring emergency surgery. Bronson Reed says the Raw GM is now his problem to deal with. I imagine that means Adam Pearce is getting Tsunami splashed through a car some time soon, unless LA Knight is around to once again thwart Paul Heyman’s evil plans.
– Jimmy Uso is hyping up Jey’s potential return to a world title match at WrestleMania. That means WWE must have plans to book Jey in an Elimination Chamber qualifying triple threat match. Will Adam Pearce announce his two opponents during tonight’s broadcast?
– Similarly, Rhea Ripley implied that IYO SKY will have a chance to join her in the Chamber match. Who does IYO have to beat to get there?
– Oba Femi is scheduled to destroy Kit Wilson on this week’s SmackDown. But before that happens, will some lower card jabroni or tag team be dominated by The Ruler tonight?
– El Grande Americano is having all sorts of problems now that El Grande Americano Original is back in WWE. Will these Mexican lucha libre stars eventually have to settle their beef in a mask vs. mask match?
– The Bella Twins are reunited and plan to win the WWE women’s tag team championship. Will they wait until after Elimination Chamber is over with before trying to turn that dream into reality?
– Royce Keys wrestled in a dark match before SmackDown aired last Friday night. Is this a sign that he’s earmarked for the blue brand?
– When will Pat McAfee be back in WWE to take Corey Graves’ job again?
– Where the f*** is Omos?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
