WWE Raw Preview: King of the Ring Action Continues and More for August 26
August 26, 2019
The march to the September 15 Clash of Champions pay-per-view continues Monday night on USA Network with a new episode of Raw featuring the continuation of the King of the Ring tournament.
Four new Superstars will vie for a spot in the next round of competition, but their journey to ring royalty is not the only thing on tap for this week's broadcast.
What awaits new Raw tag team champions Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman? Will Becky Lynch finally avenge the beatdown she endured at the hands of Sasha Banks two weeks ago?
Already Announced
- King of the Ring Match: The Miz vs. Baron Corbin
- King of the Ring Match: Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre
- Non-Title Match: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross (with Alexa Bliss)
Early Favorites Shine in King of the Ring Action
Ricochet and Drew McIntyre square off Monday night in a match between two favorites to win the entire King of the Ring tournament, ensuring one will be out of the competition by night's end.
McIntyre has been embroiled in a competitive rivalry with Cedric Alexander while Ricochet's feud with AJ Styles over the United States Championship has elevated him to the forefront of the brand. It is that rivalry that will likely play a role in the outcome of the match.
Do not be surprised to see Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson or all three interfere and cost the high-flying babyface a chance to advance.
The other match in the tournament will see Baron Corbin battle The Miz.
Both Superstars have cooled off significantly after being involved in high-profile rivalries earlier in the year, but both are favorites of management so it would not be surprising if either picked up a win here and went all the way to the finals.
Miz is always a solid option to emerge victorious, but this feels like Corbin's opportunity to win and regain some momentum for himself.
Tag Team Partners Who Hate Each Other
Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman captured the Raw Tag Team Championships from Gallows and Anderson in the main event of last week's show, but the closing moments of the episode saw The Monster Among Men clearly eyeing up The Architect's universal title.
The not-so-subtle hint that the big man is Rollins' likely next challenger not only laid the groundwork for Clash of Champions' main event, but it also confirmed this is a good, old-fashioned "tag team partners who hate either other" storyline, straight out of Vince Russo's tired playbook from the Attitude Era.
This is despite the Superstars having no established reason for disliking each other besides Strowman's desire to hold the top prize on Raw.
What that means for Monday's show, and the Superstars' reign as tag team champions, remains to be seen. Hopefully, it does not include the hot-shotting of the tag titles back to The OC or another team, which would essentially make the championships a plot device more than a coveted prize.
The Man Comes Around
A week after cutting one of the best promos of her career, Becky Lynch will still be seeking revenge for an assault perpetrated a fortnight ago by the returning Sasha Banks.
The Boss has spent two weeks making life a living hell for Natalya, attacking her when least expected and disrespecting the memory of her father, the late Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart.
At some point, one would assume Lynch will explode back onto television and repay Banks for the chair shots she endured, some of which connected with the back of her head.
Still three weeks out, it would not be a surprise if WWE's creative team held her revenge off for another week just to slowly build to the eventual wild brawl between the two.
That or Banks gets another one over on Lynch to really build heat for her new heel persona.