WWE Raw: Burning Questions to Address After April 24 Show

What awaits the WWE Raw Superstars at the Payback pay-per-view Sunday?

Bray Wyatt's rhetoric suggests that he will be torturing Randy Orton in body and soul. What how much of what he has proclaimed will actually happen in the House of Horrors match?

Monday's Raw offered the slightest of clues about what to expect in that contest, but the macabre contest remains Payback's biggest question mark.

Elsewhere within the Raw brand, Finn Balor has a minor role ahead of him at Payback, and Roman Reigns could be set to deflate Braun Strowman at the event. Monday's Raw also saw Titus O'Neil continue his attempted enlistment of Apollo Crews.

What lies ahead for all these stories and Superstars? Read on for a look at all those questions ahead of the Payback PPV.

Where Is the O'Neil-Crews Partnership Headed?

Crews accepted Curt Hawkins' latest open challenge Monday. The high-flyer kicked Hawkins senseless before putting him away in a short outing.

O'Neil emerged to celebrate with Crews. He raised Crews' hand in victory, and they shared an awkward moment where the former NXT star looked unsure of the situation.

Crews later tweeted:

Is an O'Neil-Crews tag team in the works? Will The Real Deal end up being Crews' manager? Or will O'Neil's attempt to recruit Crews to his brand lead to a rivalry?  

The fact that folks are asking these questions is already an improvement for Crews, who was largely a nonfactor on SmackDown. 

Credit: WWE.com

Crews has long needed some character depth and direction. Any kind of alliance with O'Neil could help in that department. WWE's best bet is to pair them up as an odd-couple tag team.

O'Neil can do the bulk of the talking. Crews would get a chance to showcase more of his personality, and the tag team division would get some depth in the process.

What Will Be the Impact of Balor's Payback Appearance? 

Balor isn't getting a match on the Payback card. Instead, his spot is on the pre-show as part of a Miz TV segment, as WWE announced on Monday's Raw.

Will something memorable happen when The Miz interviews Balor? Will The Demon King show up later in the show as well? Is this part of a well-laid plan, or did the company just toss Balor into a talking segment due to a lack of options?

Balor and Wyatt crossed paths briefly a few weeks back. Their interaction teased a future feud between them. 

That's likely where Balor is headed after Payback, but during the PPV, WWE may just be trying to keep him in fans' minds with an otherwise insignificant appearance. 

Balor's situation is one of several examples of it looking as if the short turnaround after WrestleMania 33 has left Raw scrambling.

Will Reigns Undercut Strowman's Momentum?

Strowman obliterated Kalisto after losing to the luchador on Monday's Raw. The Monster Among Men locked his foe inside a dumpster and shoved him off the entrance ramp.

Thanks to that moment of savagery, Strowman was again the highlight of Raw.

His momentum is at an all-time high. Strowman has looked like a megastar as he's plowed through the red brand.

That could be derailed Sunday to a degree.

A clean loss to Reigns would hurt Strowman's monstrous aura. And if WWE decides to back The Big Dog and elevate him above Strowman moving forward, the big man will have to slide down the company hierarchy some.

As committed as WWE has been to Strowman, it has been even more so with Reigns. It's best not to bet against the Samoan badass at this point.

The time is right to tag Strowman as Raw's top star, but WWE isn't likely to see that.

Will the House of Horrors Match Be a Flop?

The House of Horrors match can't possibly live up to the soul-destroying, life-altering experience Wyatt has described. When The Eater of Worlds talked about the upcoming bout on Monday's Raw, he promised Orton would descend into madness and that he would never escape the house.

Even after Wyatt's latest rant about the contest, we still have little idea of what to expect.

Will there be funhouse mirrors and hologram phantoms? Will there be fire? Will actors roam the clash in sheep masks?

Fansided WWE has lower expectations:

The hype for the House of Horrors match has grown immensely since the concept was introduced. Vignettes filled with haunting images have been commonplace. Wyatt has sold the bout as something massive and unforgettable.

It will be next to impossible to live up to all that. WWE, though, could make it a success should it infuse creativity without things getting too campy. This could be Wyatt's opus, an insane stunner that becomes the talk of Payback. Pulling that off, however, will be tricky.

We saw that at WrestleMania 33 when projections of worms spread across the canvas and the audience didn't know what to make of it.