WWE Raw Preview: Becky Lynch Defends Against Asuka, and More for February 10

One of the most intense rivalries in WWE will write its latest chapter Monday night on Raw, as Seth Rollins leads his team of Buddy Murphy and AOP against Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens and The Viking Raiders in a massive eight-man tag team match.

That bout headlines a show that also features a Royal Rumble rematch between Raw women's champion Becky Lynch and Asuka.

What else can fans expect from Monday's episode as Super ShowDown approaches?

Already Announced

• Owens, Joe and Viking Raiders vs. Rollins, Murphy and AOP
• Raw Women's Championship match: Lynch vs. Asuka

An 8-Man War

After weeks of backstage brawls, fistfights, championship changes and the formation of new factions, eight of the top stars on the red brand will battle for bragging rights and supremacy when Owens, Joe and The Viking Raiders meet Rollins, Murphy and AOP in a huge eight-man tag team match.

A genuine pay-per-view quality match on paper, the bout has the potential to be a TV match-of-the-year candidate if it can effectively weave its running stories.

Can Rollins and Co. exploit Joe's head injury from two weeks ago? Will Owens show the resiliency he did last time out and actually pick up the win this time? Might The Viking Raiders avenge the loss of their Raw Tag Team Championships to Rollins and Murphy by introducing one (or both) of them to the Viking Experience?

Those questions will be answered Monday night, but there is one query hanging over the match like a dark cloud waiting to rain reality on all involved: If this is the end of the program, where does that leave the babyfaces and heels on the Road to WrestleMania?

They clearly won't be participating in the main event of the show on April 5, as that belongs to Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar. With Randy Orton and Edge filling the other major spot on the card, anything Rollins, Owens or Joe may be involved in would surely be third-most important contest at best at The Show of Shows.

The uncertainty surrounding that suggests all would be better off if the program continued, perhaps culminating on The Grandest Stage of Them All in a more significant gimmick bout.

Lynch vs. Asuka III

The opening match of the 2019 Royal Rumble saw Asuka defeat Lynch to retain her SmackDown Women's Championship. The Man returned the favor at this year's event, tapping out The Empress of Tomorrow with the Disarm-her.

Monday night, the longtime rivals settle their differences in a much-anticipated rubber match with the Raw Women's Championship up for grabs.

On the previous edition, Asuka defeated Natalya in a hard-hitting match that left The Queen of Harts sporting a black eye. On Monday, The Empress will look to unleash the ferocity that once made her the most unstoppable force in NXT history.

The match is likely to bring their program to an end, at least for the time being, and it could not happen at a better time. Asuka will not be challenging for the title at WrestleMania. She has had her run here, and considering she is one-half of the women's tag team champions with Kairi Sane, she has her own program for The Show of Shows to get to.

That raises the question: Could Lynch's 'Mania program become more apparent by the end of Monday night?

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported Shayna Baszler is headed to Raw as soon as Monday's show (h/t Marc Middleton Wrestling Inc). If that is the case, expect a red-hot angle that plays off Lynch's beatdown of The Queen of Spades at the conclusion of the Survivor Series pay-per-view in November.

Why, Ruby? Why?

After nine months away from the squared circle, Ruby Riott returned on the most recent Raw and stunned the WWE Universe by attacking her best friend, Liv Morgan.

She offered no explanation when approached by Sarah Schreiber in a backstage in a WWE.com video, leaving more questions than answers:

That should change Monday night when the former leader of The Riott Squad addresses her actions and why she picked that moment to attack Morgan. Worth keeping an eye on? Sarah Logan, who has been on an island since the breakup of the trio.

Might she make her presence felt in the rivalry between two women she once considered as close as sisters?