Raw airs tonight (Mar. 18) with a live show from PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is the fourth episode of Raw during the six week build towards WrestleMania 40, which takes place on the weekend of April 6 and April 7.
Seth Rollins might as well kiss the world championship goodbye
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins has a full plate right now. He’s juggling two different WrestleMania feuds against Drew McIntyre and The Rock / Roman Reigns, respectively, while also needing to keep eyes in the back of his head 24/7 for any Damian Priest Money in the Bank cash-in attempts. Oh, he also suffered a torn MCL and partially torn meniscus earlier this year that he’s just coming back from now, following last year’s reveal that his back is broken.
With all of that in mind, my eyebrows raised last week when Seth told Drew McIntyre point-blank to his face that Drew is the least of his concerns right now heading into WrestleMania 40. That got under Drew’s skin, of course, but McIntyre (barely) showed just enough self-restraint to walk away from the scene without kicking Seth’s head off.
If Seth is telling the truth about overlooking Drew at WrestleMania, then he’s making a huge mistake that will almost certainly cost him the world title. McIntyre has basically said as much in recent weeks, pointing out that all of Seth’s distractions from their WrestleMania match will be his undoing on the grand stage.
If Seth is instead just playing mind games with Drew, then his insulting remarks will only cause Drew to become more desperate to work out a deal with TKO Board member Dwayne Johnson to screw Seth over at WrestleMania. Either way, Seth isn’t helping his own cause at all when he tells Drew that he’s the least of his problems right now.
Now that Drew has had a full week to calm down and think about how to properly respond to Seth, what will he have to say tonight? McIntyre’s response is guaranteed to include another verbal shot at CM Punk, who is returning to Raw next week. As for Seth, I have a feeling that Drew’s response to him will be a lot more violent than that.
If Seth’s words truly crossed the line in Drew’s view, then maybe Drew will also cross the line tonight by looking to badly injure Seth ahead of their WrestleMania match. Seth’s goal last week was apparently to cause Drew to snap, so maybe that’s what will actually happen tonight. That might be the only way Seth can retain his title beyond WrestleMania, if he is once again not medically cleared to compete thanks to another injury. I guess we’ll find out tonight just how pissed off Drew is about the whole thing.
Tonight’s card
The main attraction for tonight’s card is a Last Woman Standing match between Becky Lynch and Nia Jax. The match they had earlier this month was ruined by Liv Morgan. But after Lynch beat Morgan last week and they squashed their beef, there’s now a better chance that Lynch can definitely vanquish Jax before getting in the ring with Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 40.
Sami Zayn won a gauntlet match and will now challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania 40. The official contract signing for their match takes place tonight. Is Sami walking into a trap with GUNTHER’s henchmen outnumbering him, or will Zayn have a backup plan for when things inevitably break down into chaos?
The following three tag team matches will take place tonight, with each of the winners earning a spot in the Six Pack Ladder Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 40:
- Awesome Truth vs. Indus Sher
- New Day vs. Alpha Academy (Otis & Akira Tozawa)
- DIY vs. The Creed Brothers
Awesome Truth, New Day, and DIY look like the favorites to me. Then again, I was pretty sure that Chad Gable was going to win last week’s gauntlet match and that didn’t happen, so what the hell do I really know?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez don’t have an obvious direction for WrestleMania 40. Is it too late for them to team up again to make a run at the WWE women’s tag team championship?
– Bronson Reed and Ivar are definitely on board with the idea of a Meaty Men Invitational at MeatMania. Will they make their case to Raw General Manager Adam Pearce tonight?
– Where is Chad Gable’s head at after he flopped in last week’s gauntlet match?
– Cody Rhodes has a face-to-face confrontation lined up with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns later this week on SmackDown. Will the Tribal Chief send his underlings Jim Uso and Solo Sikoa to Raw tonight to send Cody a painful message ahead of time? If so, will Jey Uso be lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on The Bloodline?
– Rhea Ripley has only wrestled two matches thus far on TV or PLE in 2024, one on Jan. 1 and the other on Feb. 24. Is that enough ring time to already be prepared to fight Becky Lynch at WrestleMania?
– Where the f*** is Jade Cargill?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
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