Latest Rumors, Preview for Final WWE Raw Before Backlash 2018

There is no time to recover from the Greatest Royal Rumble for the stars of the WWE Raw brand. Team Red is headed to Montreal as Sunday's Backlash pay-per-view nears.

So Roman Reigns has to shake off his latest loss, ignore the bruises of his battle inside a steel cage and get ready for a new challenge. Intercontinental champion Seth Rollins has a Backlash match of his own to prepare for following his success in a ladder match on Friday.

Raw has work to do in terms of both filling out the PPV lineup and cranking up the hype ahead of the show.

For some Superstars, they have plenty of momentum coming out of the event in Saudi Arabia but don't know their role at Backlash yet. Braun Strowman, the last man standing in the main event, is on that list. The same goes for Raw's new tag team champions.

What's in store for a travel-weary roster? Storyline projections, the Raw preview on WWE.com and news updates help provide an early look at the go-home show before it airs on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network.

News, Rumors

There may have been some confusion at the end of the Universal Championship match in Saudi Arabia, but it wasn't created to stir up controversy for the sake of a storyline. 

Reigns speared Brock Lesnar through the cage. The champion fell first, but his feet didn't touch the floor. The referee awarded The Beast Incarnate the win anyway while the announcers scrambled to explain everything.

That left one to wonder if it was a means to leave the door open for Reigns to challenge Lesnar again. That doesn't appear to be the case, however.

Mike Johnson and Paul Jordan for PWInsider noted: "Since this seems to be the subject of a number of questions, that was indeed the planned finish to Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns."

Drew McIntyre's absence at the Greatest Royal Rumble wasn't injury-related. There's no need to worry about the former NXT champion's health, though.

Dave Meltzer reported on Figure Four Online: "McIntyre wasn't on the show because they didn't decide to call him up in time to have a visa ready for him."

In an interesting note, Bray Wyatt made a call to Curtis Axel and his brother Bo Dallas to join him as an ally:

Axel and Dallas had previously been The Miz's lackeys. With The A-Lister now on SmackDown, they have no clear role. 

Raw Streaks

When he's not facing Strowman, Elias has a good chance of coming out on top.

During his recent feud with The Monster Among Men, Elias often felt the sting of defeat. He's fared better in the past few weeks against other foes.

The guitar-strumming grappler was on a three-match winning streak before the Greatest Royal Rumble event, per CageMatch.net. The Drifter took down Bobby Roode, Heath Slater and Rhyno in that stretch.

It's not clear what spot Elias occupies in the Raw hierarchy, but the numbers say it's not at the bottom.

Jinder Mahal, meanwhile, is in the midst of less favorable trend. His transition to Raw has been tough on his win-loss record. He is 0-3 since switching brands including two losses to Jeff Hardy, per CageMatch.net.

His position on the Backlash card will be a good indication of where he's headed next.

Last Stretch of Backlash Build

More spotlight is coming for Strowman.

The wrecking ball is fresh off a win in the 50-man Battle Royal in Saudi Arabia. WWE played it up as a big deal, awarding him a championship belt.

The WWE.com Raw preview teased that a follow-up to his win is coming when it asked: "Who or what will Strowman destroy next after this monumental victory?"

On the other hand, there will be no celebration for Reigns who lost to Lesnar again. This time, he came up short in a steel cage match. Whether The Big Dog's pursuit of the Universal Championship is over or not, he's got other pressing matters to deal with.

He has to now shift his focus toward Samoa Joe, his Backlash opponent. Those two are sure to cross paths in Montreal and given their bad blood, it won't be a civil meeting.

Rollins, like Reigns, has to shift gears after the Greatest Royal Rumble.

The Kingslayer survived a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at the big event and is now set to face The Miz at Backlash.

It will be interesting to see how WWE hypes this bout seeing that The Miz is now on SmackDown. Rollins may sharpen his sword against another opponent or else we may see The A-Lister make a trip to the red brand via taped promo.

Wyatt and Matt Hardy don't have a Backlash match yet, but that is likely to change. The pair won the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship in Saudi Arabia.

The Deleters of Worlds now become the Raw tag team division's marked men. Teams such as The Revival or Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler will be charging toward them as soon as Monday night.

Ronda Rousey will be in someone's target sights, as well. Last Monday, the former UFC star saved Natalya from a beatdown by doling out an armbar to Mickie James.

James is bound to seek payback. For that reason, she will probably be Rousey's next foe, be it at Backlash or elsewhere.

WWE hasn't had much time to create buzz for Sunday's PPV with the Greatest Royal Rumble getting so much attention the past two weeks. Some condensed storytelling is on the way to make up for it.

And with only six scheduled bouts for the PPV, there promises to be some additions to the card by the end of Monday's Raw.