Tonight starts anew for WWE as it is the first Raw after last week’s ‘Superstar Shakeup’ with the show taking place from the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Last week’s Raw provided so many memorable moments including the incredible beating Braun Strowman gave Roman Reigns, as well as superstars like The Miz, Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt switching over to the red brand.
There are a lot of unknowns heading into this evening’s Raw. Here are the four burning questions going into the first show after the ‘Superstar Shakeup’:
1) How do you follow up the angle between Strowman and Reigns?
This was an angle for the ages on last week’s show. Strowman tossed Reigns' gurney off the loading dock onto the floor. Then with Reigns in an ambulance, Strowman tipped the vehicle over to its side.
WWE has stated that Reigns is recovering from multiple injuries even though he appeared at house shows over the weekend to give Strowman spears to send the crowd home with some semblance of a main event.
It would be best to keep Reigns off the show until after Payback since such a beating would require a lengthy recuperation. But remember, this is WWE and they have a habit of doing things that usually make little sense.
2) Do superstars that have matches that are on Smackdown Live appear on the show heading into Payback?
As of now those would people would include Kevin Owens who defends the United States title against Chris Jericho and the newly acquired Bray Wyatt who challenges Randy Orton for the WWE title.
Wyatt appeared on the titantron on last week's Smackdown after Orton’s match against Erick Rowan. Jericho didn’t appear on the show.
It would make sense for the four talents involved to be doing this until Payback. Have to keep the feuds progressing and give the fans a reason to care. If not, the winners of the match would be far too obvious.
3) Will Finn Balor appear on the show?
The first Universal Champion’s status is up in the air after suffering a concussion during his match on last week’s Raw against Jinder Mahal. First, the move was inexcusable, a result of Mahal being careless. Balor will be in Columbus to undergo a series of tests before the show begins to see where he is. Hopefully, this was just a minor setback for Balor and he is on this evening’s show. He’s had a rough time since being on the main roster, seemingly unable to shake the injury bug.
4) Is Bayley vs. Nia Jax the next women’s title program? It certainly appears to be the case after Jax took out the women’s division including the champion last week. Many feel Jax isn’t ready for the spot considering how she almost hurt Charlotte badly on two occasions during their match last week. Bayley and Jax wrestled in NXT when “The Hugger” was the NXT champion. The matches weren’t bad but they also weren’t Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat from 1989.
