Every week, WWE releases so much televised content that it can be a little overwhelming to sort through. Luckily, we publish a preview every week of what WWE has to offer from Monday Night Raw to 205 Live to Pay-Per-Views. This week sees Cruiserweight Championship action, the return of the Miz, and more.
Monday Night Raw (1.8.18)
Tonight’s episode of Raw features returns, debuts, and championship matches. First is the return of the Miz. The A-Lister was away filming the latest installment in the Marine movie franchise, but now that filming has wrapped up, he has returned (just like Becky Lynch returned last week). It will be interesting to see what The Miz does next. Does he pursue the Intercontinental Championship, does the Miztourage feud with Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson? Time will tell.
Next is an in-ring debut. Well, sort of. For the first time since being “woken,” Matt Hardy will be competing in a match. Hardy has been feuding with Bray Wyatt through very weird promos. Wyatt built some momentum last week by defeating Apollo Crews and now Hardy has his chance to do the same.
Another return this week is Cedric Alexander’s Cruiserweight Championship match against Enzo Amore. Amore was supposed to defend his title last week but the match was canceled because Amore was suffering from the flu. Now that Muscles Marinara is back and healthy, he faces one of 205 Live’s best Cruiserweights.
Expect some continuation for the feud between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe, build for Braun Strowman and Kane’s triple threat Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar, and what is next for the Raw Women’s and Tag Team Championships.
SmackDown Live (1.9.18)
So far, there is only one thing advertised for SmackDown Live this week: Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder in the first round of the United States Championship Tournament. Rawley and Ryder broke up after being annihilated by the Bludgeon Brothers and Rawley snapped. Ryder lost to his former Hype Bro on the Clash of Champions Kickoff Show and now he has a rematch that could lead to his second United States Championship run.
Speaking of the Bludgeon Brothers, they face Breezango yet again next week.
Last week, Daniel Bryan announced that AJ Styles will be defending his WWE Championship against both Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble in a handicap match. We should get more details on that this week while building the feud between Shane McMahon and Bryan as well.
Because of the Riott Squad and the Royal Rumble, the SmackDown Women’s Championship has taken a backseat yet again. Hopefully, there will be a new challenger for Charlotte Flair’s title soon or else the WWE Universe may forget about it entirely. The SmackDown Tag Team Championships also don’t have challengers since the Usos defeated Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin in a championship match last week.
On both Raw and SmackDown, more Superstars should start to be declaring their entrance in the men’s Royal Rumble match because as of this writing, only a handful of stars (including John Cena) have been officially put in the match.
205 Live (1.9.18)
After seemingly falling off of the face of the earth, TJP returned last week to attack Akira Tozawa. Both former Cruiserweight Champions were pretty regularly featured last year so this is a good way to bring them back into the fold. Gentleman Jack Gallagher is still feuding with Hideo Itami and for some reason, Goldust is on the Cruiserweight’s show helping out Cedric Alexander.
WWE NXT (1.10.18)
This is the first episode in the last set of tapings before NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. As usual, things should get more and more exciting. There are two matches confirmed for this week. First, Shayna Baszler (Mae Young Classic runner-up) will make her in-ring debut after attacking Kairi Sane and other women at the WWE Performance Center. Also, SAnitY will have a chance to regain their NXT Tag Team Championship when they have their rematch against Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly of the Undisputed ERA.
