WWE Raw: Potential Spoilers, Rumors, News and Preview for April 6

The first WWE Raw in April will be built around championship chases.

Challengers will position themselves for shots at the titles that Seth Rollins, Nikki Bella, Daniel Bryan and John Cena currently hold. Cena is the only one of those champs with a match set for Extreme Rules. Expect the rest of that pay-per-view card to begin to take shape as WWE travels to Austin, Texas.

After a hugely successful Raw last week, the company will have plenty of competition for viewers this time around. Baseball's Opening Day and Duke's clash with Wisconsin for the right to be called college basketball's champion threaten to pull viewers away.

How will WWE look to counteract that? What gimmick matches will officials dream up for Rollins, Bryan and the company's other titleholders?

Backstage reports and foreshadowing courtesy of WWE.com's five-point preview give fans plenty of potential peeks into the future.

News, Potential Spoilers

In the biggest WWE story over the weekend, AJ Lee walked away from wrestling. WWE announced on its official website that "AJ Lee (April Mendez) has decided to retire from in-ring competition with WWE."

AJ also tweeted a farewell message to fans:

Before that announcement, it looked as if WWE was setting up AJ for another go at the Divas title. She had been battling The Bella Twins alongside Paige. Now the company has to adjust its storylines and look for someone to make up for AJ's absence.

That could mean more chances for Paige, Naomi and others. Otherwise, the surprise ending of AJ's career could expedite Charlotte's or Sasha Banks' move to the main roster. 

If Raw features Zack Ryder at some point, he will likely be sporting some new gear. Ryder tweeted a sneak peek at some Ghostbusters-themed trunks:

Change may soon be coming for Cena's championship as well. PWInsider's Mike Johnson writes, "There is talk of a new United States championship belt being made and/or the current belt being updated for Cena."

There's no word on whether this will be a spinner version of the title like Cena had during his first reign years ago. It certainly sounds like he will be a champion for a good amount of time, though.

Fans can count on Cena playing a big role in Austin just as safely as they can count on The Beast Incarnate not showing up. Last week, Brock Lesnar did his best Godzilla impression, destroying everything in his reach.

That led to a storyline suspension that is reportedly going to stick for a while. Johnson writes on PWInsider, "Based on WWE sources we have spoken to, Brock Lesnar will be 'indefinitely suspended' for some time."

The men he injured will be around, however. WWE.com reports, "Cole confirmed that he will be back at the announce booth on Raw this Monday." This article also states that John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Booker T are returning to their commentary duties on Monday's Raw.

On to Extreme Rules

Cena vs. Rusev is the first and only match officially on the Extreme Rules card, per WWE.com. Being that the clash will happen at the gimmick-heavy pay-per-view and will be their third collision, one would expect things to move beyond standard wrestling.

The WWE.com preview hints at that, asking, "What special stipulation, if any, will this match have? Will we find out on Raw?"

Credit: WWE.com

Announcing what kind of match Cena and Rusev will have can create buzz for Extreme Rules. It can also give the WWE writers more to play with, as they can play up a theme of escape if it's a steel cage match or one of forcing one's foe to their breaking point if it's an I Quit match.

It doesn't look as if it will be long before fans also find out who Bryan will be defending his title against.

The Raw preview hints that Sheamus will step up to face Bryan when it asks of him, "Is his ultimate endgame the Intercontinental Championship? Will he be the first Superstar to officially challenge Bryan for the title?"

That makes a lot of sense, as Sheamus just earned a count-out victory over the champ and was especially aggressive with him in that match. Don't count out Bad News Barrett, though. He was involved in that melee on last Thursday's SmackDown, hitting a stunned Bryan with a Bull Hammer.

Naomi has gone about moving herself into a No. 1 contender's spot in a different way. She pinned Nikki on last week's Raw before defeating Natalya on SmackDown.

The WWE.com preview assures fans that "we can definitely look for Naomi to continue to prove that that she's up to the challenge." 

That's more expected now that AJ is gone. Paige is sure to be lurking around the title picture, but Naomi offers a change of pace.

As for Rollins, he doesn't have to worry about Lesnar taking him to Suplex City just yet but has plenty of enemies to contend with regardless. The five-point preview discusses the fact that both Roman Reigns and Randy Orton are coming after Rollins.

Both men have their issues with the world champ. Reigns just missed out on winning the title at WrestleMania but left the bout woozy courtesy of a Rollins Curb Stomp. Orton has a claim to a title shot with a victory over Rollins at WrestleMania.

Who gets the first crack at Rollins and who the other ends up facing at Extreme Rules will be key plot points to watch for on Monday's Raw. Elsewhere, the company's other titles are sure to garner ample spotlight as well.