WWE Monday Night Raw: 5 Predictions for Tonight's Royal Rumble Go Home Show

Bleacher Report is gearing up for the Jan. 23 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw, and in preparation, we've rounded up the top five predictions for tonight's show. 

Last week on Raw, the feud between CM Punk and John Laurinaitis began to reach a boiling point in the final minutes of the show. Both men were in prime form, Punk pulling no punches while assaulting Laurinaitis' character, and Laurinaitis openly admitting that he planned to screw Punk at the Royal Rumble.

Punk left with a threat that if Laurinaitis dared to cost him his WWE Championship, he'd tear him apart. Mick Foley witnessed the entire exchange from inside the ring with the two of them, and then began to get under Laurinaitis' skin. Laurinaitis snapped and flattened Foley with a microphone to the skull.

Laurinaitis wasn't the only one losing his cool last week, as John Cena unleashed the hate that Kane has been trying to coax out of him.  

Zack Ryder lost the United States Championship to Jack Swagger despite doctors not clearing Ryder to perform. This set Cena off, and he gave Laurinaitis' a piece of his mind. Laurinaitis appeased Cena by giving him a match with Swagger.

The match never began. Cena jumped Swagger early and threw him from the ring. After slamming Swagger's head into the announce table repeatedly, Cena threw him into the steps and was on the verge of bringing the steps down on top of the motionless Swagger.

Kane interrupted, pleased with Cena's actions, and Cena realized exactly what he was doing.

This is the go-home show for the Royal Rumble, and hype is reaching a fever pitch.

Share your thoughts on our picks and predictions of your own in the comment section!

Randy Orton Makes an Appearance

Word has leaked that Randy Orton is back and healthy. Not only that, he is likely to be a participant in the Royal Rumble, which conveniently takes place in his home town of St. Louis.

Expect Orton to make his return on Raw, to build interest in SmackDown this week and let people know that he's back.  

Wade Barrett has been on Raw recently, so it'd not be a shock to see Orton interrupt a match of his or something. He'll get a massive pop when he returns, and I suspect he'll be wanting revenge for being tossed down a flight of stairs by Barrett. 

Zack Ryder and Jack Swagger's Feud Becomes Legit

The foundation has been laid over past weeks for a feud for the United States Championship between Zack Ryder and Jack Swagger.  

With Swagger now the United States Champion, Ryder will be in hot pursuit of what he feels is rightfully his. This is a prime opportunity for Ryder to show his serious side, which he has been showing a little bit of lately.  

Ryder would be wise to not cash in his guaranteed rematch until the Royal Rumble, but he and Swagger will tangle somehow. How about a mixed gender match with Ryder and Eve Torres taking on Swagger and Vickie Guerrero?

What? No one wants to see that?

Mick Foley Sticks Around for Another Episode of Raw

Mick Foley didn't play the biggest role in last week's episode of Raw, but he's always had the potential to be used in a big way on the show.

When Foley first came back to the WWE, the consensus was that he'd make a great Anonymous Raw GM, but it never panned out, and the Anonymous Raw GM gimmick evaporated. He's still a great candidate to fill the role of Raw GM, considering that John Laurinaitis is only the interim GM.

Laurinaitis embarrassed Foley last week, dropping him with a hard shot with a mic. Foley should make an appearance on Raw tonight to touch on the subject and possibly officially support CM Punk. No matter how he's used, it'd be nice to see Mick on WWE television two weeks straight without dressing up as Santa Claus. Is that too much to ask for?

Probably.

Kane Goes to Great Lengths to Get Cena to "Embrace the Hate"

Kane struck pay dirt last week in regards to his pursuit of Cena acknowledging the hate within himself.

We won't talk about the poorly delivered and timed pre-taped promo Kane delivered last week, but his words obviously had an effect on Cena.  

It seems likely that tonight, Cena will regret his actions from last week, and Kane's task will be to do everything in his power to keep Cena from regressing into his good guy act.

With these two set to clash at the Royal Rumble, expect fireworks. Will Cena keep his edge from last week? I'll say no.

CM Punk and John Laurinaitis Throw Fuel on the Fire of Their Feud

Last week, CM Punk delivered on of the best promos since his "shoot" promo last year, and John Laurinaitis was truly exciting.

I was skeptical about the feud early on, but Punk has found something in Laurinaitis that wasn't in Triple H or Kevin Nash. Laurinaitis' character is a walking parody of the failure who couldn't achieve his dreams, so he climbed the corporate ladder by kissing as much ass as possible. He's a man so desperate he'll go to great lengths to keep control.

CM Punk makes for a great foil to that character; he's living the dream that Laurinaitis only got to see in his sleep. Last week, these two gave us a taste of their potential.

Where this feud goes from here remains to be seen, but it's safe to say that tonight on Raw, they won't be slowing down. As much as Punk hates them, the perfect setting for a final confrontation before the Royal Rumble is a contract signing. I'd hope that WWE Creative could be creative enough to come up with something so bland, but they'll get these two in the ring together for a promo one way or another.

Expect them to try and top what they did last week, and expect them to succeed.