WWE Monday Night Raw: 5 Predictions for Tonight's Show

The WWE Universe has anxiously anticipated the 1/2/2012 episode of Raw, the "It Begins" promos teasing the return of a "familiar force" who would return to reclaim what is his. Never have so many adults been intimidated by children reading Bible scriptures at a prep school.

Aside from the rampant speculation of who the mystery man is, there's plenty more going down on Raw tonight worth discussing. The resurrected masked Kane cut a promo last week that laid the foundation for Kane being a tool in John Cena's character development, and Dolph Ziggler is set to challenge CM Punk for the WWE Championship. 

The first Raw of 2012 is set to get the ball rolling into the new year, and barring any sort of WWE Creative catastrophe, it should go off without a hitch.  

Bleacher Report is here with the top five things you should expect from tonight's WWE Raw. Share your thoughts on our picks and predictions of your own in the comment section!

Jerry Lawler Gets a Match in Memphis

Jerry Lawler returns to his hometown of Memphis, TN tonight on Raw, and considering how much time will be given to the major angles running tonight, giving Lawler some ring time early in the show makes for good filler.

At least, that's what the writing team will think.

Although knocking around WWE Creative is fun, they're at least smart enough to tie in a mid-card Superstar to get him over with the Memphis crowd. This sounds like a job for Zack Ryder.  

My prediction is that we'll see Lawler and Ryder team up against some heels and win. My money is on this being part of John Laurinaitis being "exciting" and "unpredictable."

Air Boom Builds a Feud with Primo and Epico

This isn't a particularly exciting prediction, thanks to Air Boom getting deflated after Evan Bourne was suspended for 30 days, and Awesome Truth was dismantled thanks to R-Truth being suspended 30 days as well.  

The tag team division isn't what it used to be, but that doesn't mean you don't keep the titles relevant. Primo and Epico have actually made quite the team and have been doing far better work than I believed they could.  

Air Boom needs a purpose other than just being the babyface tag team champions, and I predict, and hope, that WWE gives them that tonight in the form of Primo and Epico beating them in a match tonight. 

Kane Continues to Provoke John Cena

Last week on Raw, Kane ended the show with a promo, where he told John Cena that he needs to embrace the hate inside of him. It was slightly cheesy, and Cena's facial expressions were unintentionally humorous, but it gave fans some hope.

There's been far too much talk about John Cena turning heel. What a logical fan should hope for is that in the end, John Cena's character develops past this "Love me or hate me, I'm John Cena and I work hard regardless!" rut that he's fallen into. Regardless of what side of the fence Cena stands on in the end, I hope he's a little more "pro wrestling" than he has been lately. Being neutral in pro wrestling is a character's death sentence.

On to my actual prediction. Since Kane's goal is to get under Cena's skin enough to manipulate him, he's going to have to continue to provoke him. Last week was verbal, and I'm predicting that this week will be physical.  

I predict that Kane will destroy Cena backstage before a match of his, then come out to replace him and destroy whoever he was supposed to take on. This serves to keep pushing Cena to take action against Kane and builds Kane's credibility as a monster.  

Chris Jericho Is the "It Begins" Mystery Man

WWE better not try to swerve fans just because it's become obvious that Chris Jericho is the returning man from the "It Begins" videos. I know that I certainly won't mark out any less just because I already figured it was him.

My prediction is one that has been echoed all over the Internet, sorry I'm not going to be original here, but it just makes too much sense.

Chris Jericho will interrupt CM Punk's match with Dolph Ziggler or interrupt Punk's celebration. He'll then cut a promo on Punk in his "new character" and most likely wrap up the show.  

Dolph Ziggler Defeats CM Punk for the WWE Championship

None of my earlier predictions have been too bold, so let me throw this one out there.

Dolph Ziggler will defeat CM Punk to become the WWE Champion. the "It Begins" man's distraction will allow for Ziggler to take advantage of the situation, and get the win.  

It's not particularly logical (you don't bring back Chris Jericho to feud with a non-champion), but this is the WWE we are talking about here, and that makes an illogical decision all the more likely.

Any of you Bleachers care to play oddsmakers and figure how likely this would be?