What should you watch for on WWE RAW, Jan. 30 as fallout from the 2017 Royal Rumble?
The 2017 WWE Royal Rumble has come and gone and, frankly, it wound up being a bit more disappointing than it should have been when it comes to the Rumble match itself. With the opportunity present to surprise the fans in a big way, WWE largely held all of their punches. The most pleasant surprise of the night was Tye Dillinger—which was nice, but damning of what they did in the match. However, what it did set up for is an interesting WWE RAW on Monday, Jan. 30.
Obviously the biggest reason for that is Roman Reigns entering the Rumble match at No. 30. After losing earlier in the night to Kevin Owens (thanks, Braun Strowman), Reigns seemed to set up something with The Undertaker and made every fan cringe at how unsurprising it was of a surprise to see him walk out.
Now that WWE RAW will take over Laredo, TX on Monday night, though, there is a great deal that could and should happen as WrestleMania season kicks into full gear. With that in mind, here are the three things you need to watch for on the Jan. 30 episode of RAW:
1. Are We Really Getting Reigns vs. Taker?
Roman Reigns isn’t Universal Champion and he didn’t win the Royal Rumble match (again). These things we can be thankful for. However, all signs now point to The Big Dog going into WrestleMania to take on the Deadman. They squared off during the Rumble match and Reigns eliminated the legend, much to Taker’s dismay. So the writing is definitely on the wall.
But how quickly are they going to start building to this? With Undertaker not exactly able to go night-after-night in the ring, it might be silly to bring him out in Laredo to start jawing with Roman. In fact, they should probably just let these two not talk at all and just star menacingly at one another and nod in understanding that they want to fight. Even if that’s the route, they go, it’ll be interesting to see if they pull the trigger on that on Monday at RAW or if they wait a bit.
2. Who’s Next for Owens?
With the unexpected assistance of Strowman, Kevin Owens remains the WWE Universal Champion. But with Randy Orton winning the Royal Rumble and Reigns losing yet again, it’s hard to say as to who will be the next one to challenge for Owens’ title. Then, of course, there are those pesky rumors circulating about what might be on the table.
The word going around is that Goldberg will be the one challenging for Owens’ belt leading up to Fastlane and actually winning it on the pay-per-view. Yes, that is as senseless as it sounds. Perhaps the most mindless part of it is the exclusion of Brock Lesnar in all of it. If you’re going to have Goldberg challenge for the title, he’s going to have to start on Monday in Laredo. But after Brock was embarrassed by Goldberg again at the Rumble, leaving him to not come and try to maim someone is a bad move.
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3. Maybe Now We Get Surprises
WWE has made a distinct emphasis on their Big-4 PPVs and the RAW/SmackDown shows following them. So considering that there weren’t any major surprises during the Rumble match, does that mean we are going to get some in Laredo on Monday night? Could we see Joey Samo-ey? Will the King of Strong Style make an appearance? There’s nothing certain of course. However, to make up for the obvious letdown on Sunday night, let’s hope WWE does the right thing and makes it so.