WWE Raw: Potential Spoilers, Rumors, News and Preview for May 15

After a taxing trek overseas, WWE Raw is set to return home to continue the march toward the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

Ahead of the June 4 event, the red brand has a number of rivalries ready to boil over. Sheamus and Cesaro's issues with The Hardy Boyz are intensifying. Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe are ready to destroy each other. And Dean Ambrose and The Miz have antagonized each other plenty recently.

Ambrose will get a chance to settle things well before the PPV, as he must put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against The Miz on Monday's Raw.

Newark, New Jersey, will host a show with some stiff competition. Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics is sure to sway some viewers to abandon WWE for the night.

What Superstars and stories does Raw have to fight back against that? Who is injured, and who is on the verge of a new rivalry?

The Raw preview on WWE.com, social media updates and backstage help answer those questions ahead of the latest episode, which will air on Monday at 8 p.m. on USA Network.

On Tap

Can The Miz win the IC title for the seventh time? He's a three-count away from that exact feat.

On May 1, The Miz survived a Triple Threat match against Finn Balor and Rollins to earn the No. 1 contender's spot for that prize. Joe wiped out Rollins; Bray Wyatt attacked Balor. The Miz then slipped in and took advantage of the chaos.

That confirmed the continuation of a feud that began between the two of them when they were members of the SmackDown roster.

The Miz has been a boon for the belt when he's held it of late. One can't blame WWE for going back to that well. The A-lister, however, has what it takes to occupy a higher spot on the card and should be heading after the Universal Championship.

News, Potential Spoilers

Emma won't be punishing anyone with the Emma Lock for the time being.

She's currently recovering from a shoulder injury. On her Instagram page, Emma posted an update, noting that she is currently rehabbing her shoulder:

Braun Strowman will keep her company on the disabled list. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet first reported that the big man was dealing with an elbow issue. Strowman later confirmed on Instagram that he needed surgery, dismissing it as a "minor speed bump."

And Brock Lesnar isn't likely to show up on Monday's Raw either.

As Wrestling Inc writer Marc Middleton noted, Lesnar is scheduled to appear on Raw twice in June and twice in July. There are no May dates on the docket for now.

On the other hand, the cruiserweight division is reportedly set to get an asset back. Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reported: "Cedric Alexander is scheduled back at TV this week."

Credit: WWE.com

Alexander had been out with a knee injury.

After The Miz is done with Ambrose, he may be taking on Roman Reigns next. Billi Bhatti reported for Wrestling Inc that Reigns is scheduled to feud with The Miz.

Seeds for that story may be planted as early as Monday night.

Raw Streaks

Austin Aries has a growing supply of momentum thanks to a strong win-loss record.

On the May 1 edition of Raw, A Double knocked off TJP. That continued a growing streak for him. Per CageMatch.net, Aries has won four matches in a row and is 9-2 since joining the main roster.

Clearly, WWE has positioned Aries as one of Raw's top cruiserweights. The steady flow of wins has helped make him a viable contender to Neville, who he continues to feud with.

The Club isn't familiar with that kind of consistency.

Despite being tag team champions recently, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have had an up-and-down ride in terms of their record.

Per CageMatch.net, the bruisers have lost three matches in a row and have gone 1-7 in their last eight bouts. Cesaro and Sheamus have supplanted them as the top heels in the tag division. It'll be interesting to see how The Club fits into the red brand hierarchy moving forward.

En Route to Extreme Rules 

Thanks to the Strowman injury, it's unclear what's ahead for Reigns.

The Big Dog had been engaged in a personal, brutal feud with Strowman. While The Monster Among Men heals, he'll have to find somewhere else to aim his animosity. WWE is presumably going to want a star of Reigns' caliber on the Extreme Rules PPV, even if it's against someone he has far less history with.

Sheamus and Cesaro's path is far clearer. The hard-hitting Europeans are the No. 1 contenders for The Hardy Boyz' Raw Tag Team Championship. 

They outlasted the rest of the division in a Tag Team Turmoil match in London last week.

The only question is whether WWE will wait until Extreme Rules for their title match or offer it to fans early.

The smart move would be to let Sheamus and Cesaro challenge the Hardy brothers early, have their match end in controversy and use that to set up a gimmick match at the PPV. Any route that leads to another ladder match featuring The Hardys is the right one.

Alexa Bliss doesn't yet have a top challenger charging her way.

And if she has things her way, her new enforcer, Nia Jax, will keep Bayley or whoever it may be at a safe distance. Jax and Bliss paired up last week, giving the Raw writers plenty to play with in the weeks ahead.

The Raw preview on WWE.com played up Jax's role as protector: "Nia seems determined to aid Alexa in pummeling any and all opposition to her crown."

Joe, meanwhile, has no enforcer in his employ. He is his own muscle. The former NXT champion is in the midst of an intense feud with Rollins that is sure to escalate at Extreme Rules.

The Destroyer assaulted his enemy after their match last Monday. 

The question now, as the WWE.com Raw preview put it, is: "How will Rollins retaliate?" The two rivals have brawled outside the ring and battled inside it. Things promise to get more violent as WWE looks to build toward a match befitting the Extreme Rules PPV theme.

That rivalry, Reigns' story and the IC title clash are sure to be major focal points of an episode of Raw looking to rebound from a poor week.