WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW - April 3rd, 2017

PREVIEW

THE HEADLINER
It’s been happening for a few years now, but with their recent WWE/24 documentary special promoting the anything goes world of the Raw after WrestleMania, expect the company to be all in on making tonight memorable, and beating us over the head with how memorable they think they’re making it.
From Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton telling us how wacky the audience of fans around the globe can be, to potential big surprises, it should be quite a night in central Florida at Amway Center, just miles away from Camping World Stadium where last night’s “Ultimate Thrill Ride” occurred.
And while we wonder if Kurt Angle might show up as the new General Manager, or if Finn Bálor might finally make his return to television, one thing we know to watch for (because WWE.com’s preview for the show tells us so) is some indication of what’s next for Roman Reigns after he not only defeated Undertaker, but quite possibly sent the Dead Man into retirement.
It would pretty shocking if The Big Dog’s plans didn’t include going after new Universal champion Brock Lesnar, the only other person to defeat The Phenom at the Showcase of the Immortals. While we watch to see if WWE plainly states Taker is done, we’ll also be looking to see if the man Brock beat last night, Goldberg is riding off into the sunset. Even before he dropped the strap, the WCW legend indicated he’d at least be taking time off after ‘Mania, so Lesnar will need a dance partner for whenever he’s next scheduled to work a pay-per-view (PPV).
There’s a lot of moving pieces to Roman and Brock’s stories. They’re not rumored to collide until next year’s WrestleMania in New Orleans, but we’ll be watching for teases of that, and hints of what they might do in the interim, tonight.


THE TITLE SCENE

► Brock isn’t the only new champ coming out of “The Ultimate Thrill Ride”. We knew Matt & Jeff Hardy were coming back at some point, but nobody was sure it would be on April 2. It was, and not only did Team XTreme return, they captured tag team gold in their first appearance. What’s next for the maybe-formerly “Broken” brothers?

► He’s been around for a while, but Kevin Owens never held the United States title until he beat his former best friend Chris Jericho for the belt at ‘Mania. Y2J isn’t expected to head off for some concerts with his band Fozzy for a few weeks, so it’s a safe bet we’re going to drink in some rematches, man.

► Two Raw Superstars held onto their titles in Camping World Stadium. Bayley teamed up with Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks to eliminate Nia Jax from their 4Way, then watched as the Queen took out the Boss before proving she still has Charlotte’s number and keeping her Women’s championship. Which off those women will challenge the Hugster at Payback in her hometown of San Jose later this month? Or will a new name emerge?

► And at the very start of a loooong day/night of wrestling, Neville put his thumb in Austin Aries eye to retain the Cruiserweight title. Expect A-Double to tip his cap, but also keep coming at the King.


OTHER STUFF TO KEEP AN EYE ON:

► Not only did Seth Rollins slay the king, his former mentor Triple H, but he sent him into his wife, commissioner Stephanie McMahon, and the Billion Dollar Princess through a table. Will there be retribution for that? And can the Architect just go get his injured knee back to 100% now that he’s ensured he wouldn’t miss two WrestleMania’s in a row?

► After a very disappointing showing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, what will Braun Strowman do to resume working his way back toward the top of the card?

► Can Sami Zayn, who fared better than Braun, but still didn’t factor in the finish of The ‘Dre, get some momentum on his side? Or will it just be back to hoping the protege of deposed GM Mick Foley gets traded to SmackDown?

► Might we get any hints about the rumored draft/brand refresh which is alleged to be moving a few folks from Tuesday to Monday and vice-versa?

RED VAGINA