WWE Raw Preview: 5 Things to Look for in Tonight's Episode (April 23)

It's time to go home.

Tonight's episode of Monday Night Raw is the go-home Raw to Extreme Rules, and not only that, but it's a "special" three-hour show as well.

No matches have been announced for the show thus far, but we can all expect to see the latest progression of the WWE's top storylines and the final build to the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

That's just generally speaking, though, so what are the specific things we could/should see during tonight's show?

Here are five things to look for in the April 23rd edition of Monday Night Raw.

5. The 'Big Plans' for the Miz

In a backstage segment on Raw two weeks ago, John Laurinaitis told The Miz that he had "big plans" for him as a reward for The Miz getting the win for Team Johnny at WrestleMania 28.

But where was The Miz on last week's Raw? Nowhere to be found.

It remains to be seen whether this is just another one of those storylines that the WWE completely forgets about or if it was simply a minor blip in its continuation.

Will The Miz ever get his reward for helping Laurinaitis out? Will this lead to a push for The Miz, or perhaps even a feud with Laurinaitis?

I really don't know at this point, but I do hope that the WWE actually gives us the courtesy of addressing it on tonight's Raw in some way, shape or form.

Come on, WWE. Is it too much to ask for a little fluidity in your storylines? 

4. An Announcement Concerning the WWE Draft?

For a while, tonight's Raw episode was expected to be the 2012 WWE draft show.

But here we are about eight hours away from it, and there's been absolutely no indication that the draft is going to take place.

Not a hint. Nothing.

While the draft isn't going to happen tonight, perhaps the "special" feeling of tonight's Raw will result in an announcement concerning the draft, which may take place on next week's Raw or at some point over the summer.

Then again, the 2012 WWE draft might not happen at all.

If that's the case, maybe we will see some sort of inexplicable swap of superstars on tonight's show (a trade, basically) or announcement that certain stars have switched shows (without any real explanation).

I know that the draft doesn't mean much these days, but some stars (guys like The Miz and Dolph Ziggler) could use a relocation, and maybe tonight's show will see those relocations happen.

3. What's Next for Lord Tensai?

Lord Tensai has made one hell of an impact in just three weeks.

Although he only wrestled two short squash matches in his first two Raw appearances, he competed in the main event of last week's episode of Raw against John Cena...and he won it.

Not many superstars get victories over Cena, and even if his win was a little tainted, Tensai took a huge step up the WWE's pecking order by beating Cena last week.

But that leaves me with one question on my mind: What's next for Tensai?

Since Cena is feuding with Brock Lesnar, that doesn't leave much room for Lord Tensai, so I have to wonder if that match was just a foreshadowing of a Cena/Tensai feud way down the road.

Perhaps Tensai will bide his time without a feud until after Extreme Rules, or perhaps he'll insert himself into the Lesnar/Cena or Punk/Jericho feuds in some way.

Whatever the case may be, Tensai has me intrigued.

2. The Contract Signing Between Brock Lesnar and John Cena

Contract signings are perhaps the most overdone and predictable events in pro wrestling.

Whenever we hear the words "contract signing," it's clear that the WWE is trying to make some match seem like a big deal by having the two participants sign a contract before it actually happens.

And you know what else the WWE is doing with these contract signings? Setting up for an obvious brawl.

When Brock Lesnar and John Cena meet in the ring tonight for their contract signing, it's almost inevitable that they will come to blows, be separated, break away from whoever is holding them back and then be separated again.

This can be effective at times, but like CM Punk says, it's way too damn predictable.

I just hope that the WWE can make this Lesnar/Cena contract signing different from all the others in some sort of way, even if I have no idea how they will actually be able to do that.

1. A Lot of Nonsense and Pointless Backstage Segments

Three-hour episodes of Raw are supposed to be "special," but how often is that really the case?

Almost never.

While you would think that a three-hour show would lead to more time to build up the big pay-per-view bouts or, most importantly, a couple of long TV matches, that rarely happens.

Instead, these "special" Raws result in shows that somehow feel even more rushed than two-hour shows and are filled with a bunch of short matches and ridiculous backstage and in-ring segments.

Why? At least to me, it seems like the WWE uses these three-hour Raws just to get more people on TV.

It's nice to see that, but it also really hurts the show.

Here's to hoping that this three-hour Raw "special" really is special and not just an extra hour of bad comedy and bad matches.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him onTwitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.