10 Booking Steps For WWE Raw (Jan 16)

This coming week's episode of Raw is the penultimate broadcast for the brand before WWE presents Royal Rumble on 29 January. Already, the creative team have booked four title matches to go along with the titular Rumble attraction, including bouts for the WWE, Universal, Raw Women's, and Cruiserweight Titles.

The latter trio of belts listed belong to the Raw brand, and there's a chance at least one will change hands come the pay-per-view. The most likely appears to be the Universal strap, currently draped over the shoulder of Kevin Owens.

After Roman Reigns lost the WWE United States Title to Chris Jericho on last week's show, speculation only heightened that he will capture the Universal Title from KO come Royal Rumble.

Right now, that's simply conjecture. Regardless, Raw's writers have to promote the match (during which Y2J will be locked in a shark cage dangling high above the ring) better than they have done. There's a simple way to do that without making the heels look weaker.

Let's dive in and see what WWE could realistically have in store come the next episode of Raw.

Last week, Chris Jericho became WWE United States Champion for the first time in his storied career. Beating Roman Reigns in a handicap match also involving Kevin Owens, Y2J now has a championship of his own to crow about each week.

It makes sense that Owens would want to congratulate his good buddy on becoming a champion just like him, meaning a Championship Celebration may just be in order come Monday Night Raw. If nothing else, the segment would be surefire comedy gold.

Gushing with praise, KO would be in a party mood come Raw. Joining in on the fun, Jericho could flash a beaming smile and say the only list he's worried about now is the list of title belts he's won during his amazing career.

At that precise moment, General Manager Mick Foley would emerge to spoil the duo's fun. Armed with a big announcement, Foley wipes the smile clean off JeriKO's faces in one fell swoop.