WWE Raw preview for next week is already shaping up to be a great show as WWE announced three matches for the card, including a women’s world championship title defense. On tonight’s Raw, WWE began advancing storylines for Clash in Paris. Becky Lynch seems to have her PLE challenger in Nikki Bella whereas a rematch of Dominik Mysterio and AJ Styles (perhaps in a triple threat or fatal 4way) seems likely following Styles’ declaration he’s not done pursuing the title. SmackDown saw its tag titles defended at SummerSlam and from the looks of it, Raw’s tag title scene will take center stage this time around.
CM Punk is opening tonight’s show. Punk has a lot to get off his chest after Seth Rollins ended his extremely brief run as World Heavyweight Champion with a surprise Money in the Bank cash-in at SummerSlam. Things only got more frustrating for CM last week on Raw when he was laid out by The Vision. Last week, Sami Zayn somehow got caught up in the never-ending brawl throughout the building between between Sheamua and Rusev. Now it’s Zayn vs. Rusev tonight, where Sami will likely receive another incredible pop from the live fans in Quebec. Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri is also booked on tonight’s show. This match came about after Natalya confronted The Man, and Becky cowardly opted to fight the inexperienced Dupri instead.
Then there’s the world title picture. This week, Seth Rollins and his faction stood tall with stomps to LA Knight, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk. It seems likely Rollins will defend the title against one of these men at Clash. It seems too early to do Rollins/Reigns or Rollins/Punk however as those feel destined for a big four PLE. However, Knight has a case given he only lost on Monday thanks to interference from Punk. On the women’s side, Stephanie Vaquer has her guaranteed shot but who it’s against remains to be seen following the announcement made on tonight’s Raw.
