A boss and a pair of heavy-hitting heels will have their eyes on gold on the Nov. 28 edition of WWE Raw.
The red brand is poised to deliver two championship contests. Sasha Banks has another crack at the Raw Women's Championship ahead of her. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will look to end The New Day's historic reign as tag team champs.
Title bouts, bad blood and the early build to the Roadblock: End of the Line pay-per-view on Dec. 18 will highlight WWE's trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday night.
Will the cruiserweights get some extra spotlight ahead of the debut of 205 Live? Will Rusev face the wrath of a big man? Will fans get more word on the Royal Rumble?
Backstage news, the Raw preview on WWE.com and storyline analysis help provide those answers. Read on for a full preview of Raw before it hits the airwaves on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network.
On Tap
Charlotte Flair will once again take on Banks with the Raw women's title up for grabs. The Boss will get her rematch after losing the belt to Flair at Hell in a Cell in October.
This time around, there will be no cage, steel chairs or tables. Instead, two longtime rivals will clash in a standard contest, likely adding another quality bout to their resumes.
Flair has twice lost her title to Banks. Each time came on Raw. It would be surprising for WWE to switch the championship over again so soon, but this feud has been marked by ample title changes.
The New Day is fast approaching Demolition's 478-day record as the longest reigning WWE tag champs ever. Gallows and Anderson may be the last duo with a chance to prevent that.
The Club earned another shot at The New Day by blasting The Golden Truth last week.
Can Gallows and Anderson join fellow New Japan Pro Wrestling alum AJ Styles in winning a title in their first year with WWE? They will have to do what no one has been able to do in over 460 days—take the belts off The New Day.
News, Potential Spoilers
The Royal Rumble field landed another titan.
Goldberg announced last week on Raw that he will enter next year's Royal Rumble match. His Survivor Series opponent will reportedly enter the annual Battle Royal as well.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet wrote, "Multiple sources confirm that Brock Lesnar has been booked for the Alamodome on January 29 for the Rumble."
The Beast Incarnate or his advocate, Paul Heyman, could make an official announcement on Monday's Raw. WWE, though, has plenty of time to reveal that news before the PPV.
A potential trade between Raw and SmackDown continues to brew. The blue brand's general manager, Daniel Bryan, has repeatedly made his interest in Raw star Cesaro clear.
Bryan hinted at his interest in the Swiss strongman when he tweeted the following:
The GM also promised Cesaro he would be on every poster if he was on the SmackDown roster. Combine these messages with how contentious things are between Bryan and The Miz, and it's not hard to imagine a deal happening in the near future. WWE could plant seeds for that story on Monday night.
A day before the cruiserweight showcase show 205 Live premieres, Raw may welcome some of that program's stars. PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson reported, "Akira Tozawa, Gran Metalik and The BollywoodBoyz are all slated for the first 205 Live taping this Tuesday in Columbia, South Carolina."
WWE may want to hype the show by bringing these wrestlers aboard in Charlotte, too.
Raw Streaks
Ahead of challenging The New Day, Gallows and Anderson have been on quite the roll. The two bruisers' win over The Golden Truth last Monday marked their fourth win on Raw in a row, per CageMatch.net.
Gallows and Anderson have long been the victims of poor booking. This recent run has them looking more formidable than they have since arriving to WWE earlier this year.
Even if The Club fails to dethrone The New Day on Monday's Raw, WWE seems to have found a groove in presenting the heel squad.
Darren Young hasn't been so lucky.
After getting a gimmick tweak and having Bob Backlund take over as his manager, Young was in the midst of a solid push. That ended suddenly. He's been a ghost of late.
Per CageMatch.net, Young's last match on Raw came on Halloween. He has missed three consecutive editions of Raw since. And Young has wrestled on WWE's premier show only twice total since September.
It looks as if the company has given up on him, sliding him and Backlund far into the background.
Rivalries in Their Early Stages
A new challenger is on the chase for the Cruiserweight Championship.
Rich Swann won a Triple Threat match last week to become the No. 1 contender. The high-flyer earned the right to face The Brian Kendrick in a title match on Tuesday's 205 Live.
Before that bout, these two are bound to meet on Monday's Raw. WWE will want to hype the match and its new show.
Plus, Swann and Kendrick's animosity is still in the seedling stage. The company would be wise to have Kendrick attack the popular Swann to make their upcoming clash more personal.
Rusev steamrolled one of The Realest Guys in the Room. The other is sure to come charging after him.
Last Monday, Rusev crushed EnzoAmore in a quick match. The Bulgarian Brute then tried to break the babyface in half after the bell. Big Cass chased him off, however.
A Big Cass-Rusev feud looks to be in the works. That's good news for both men. A series of hard-hitting battles will boost Big Cass and Rusev, two powerhouses in need of new stories.
Seth Rollins has no shortage of enemies right now.
He continues to tangle with universal champion Kevin Owens and deal with Owens' best friend, Chris Jericho. On last Monday's Raw, Rollins looked to have KO beat when Jericho ambushed him while wearing Sin Cara's mask.
The Architect is sure to seek payback. The Raw preview stated, "Rollins isn't one to let things go lightly, and he's definitely going into Raw with retribution on his mind."
But who will he go after? Should Jericho and Rollins engage in a full-fledged feud, that would open the door for Roman Reigns to step up to Owens. WWE would refresh these narratives by going in that direction.
Rollins has battled Owens several times now. Jericho offers something new and will likely lead to some stellar matches. A hunt for Y2J's head has big-time potential.