10 Booking Steps For WWE Raw (Nov 28)
Seth Rollins must be given the chance to rid himself of Chris Jericho on Raw...
The next pay-per-view stop for Monday Night Raw occurs on December 18. There, the red brand will present Roadblock: End Of The Line, the last supershow before both Raw and SmackDown come together for the Royal Rumble in January. This week's show should be all about setting the scene for Roadblock.
It seems likely that Seth Rollins will still be handed a rematch for the WWE Universal Title on that show by Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley. After all, Chris Jericho defied Foley's orders last week and did interfere in the No Disqualification bout between Rollins and reigning champ Kevin Owens.
Elsewhere, exactly what's happening with the Raw Women's Title at Roadblock must be nailed down. Raw will feature a Sasha Banks challenge opposite Charlotte Flair for the belt, so booking that singles match again on the pay-per-view may be a little redundant.
Meanwhile, characters like Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman and The New Day all need an indication of what they will be doing come Roadblock. Raw has an awful lot to get through in terms of booking.
Let's look at what WWE could realistically have in store...
10. Rich Swann & Noam Dar Beat Brian Kendrick & Ariya Daivari
The debut episode of 205 Live on the WWE Network airs right after SmackDown Live finishes this coming Tuesday. On the first edition, Rich Swann will challenge Brian Kendrick for the WWE Cruiserweight Title. The writing team still have Raw to flesh that story out a little more and add credibility to Swann's challenge.
Kendrick has also had his problems with Noam Dar, stretching back to Dar's debut in his native Glasgow, Scotland. Putting Swann and Dar together against Kendrick and another loner in the Cruiserweight division could be just the ticket for Raw. Ariya Daivari is the kind of heel who doesn't really have a big story currently, so he'd fit in without much distraction.
Ideally, Swann would be the one to beat Kendrick during the tag bout. That sets up for his big challenge nicely. Better yet, it also plays some reverse psychology with WWE's usual telegraph booking.
For example, if Swann does pin Kendrick on Raw, most fans would be expecting the champ to retain at 205 Live. However, that's a debuting show for WWE, so the result feels more open-ended.