WWE Raw Preview: Who Will Emerge as CM Punk's Challenger at TLC?

Since the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, we have seen a total of three Superstars vying for the WWE Championship.

In five months time we’ve seen CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio and John Cena trade the title back and forth like it was a game of hot potato.

With John Cena out of the title picture, that leaves us with Punk and Del Rio to fight over the title. You never really realize how small the main event scene is on Raw until you really think about.

CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series to win the WWE Championship, and last week Del Rio got his rematch but lost.

WWE TLC: Tables Ladder’s and Chairs is two weeks away and the WWE Champion is without a challenger. Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

The most obvious choice is Alberto Del Rio. He may have already had his rematch, but that doesn’t mean that John Laurinaitis won’t give him another shot.

Laurinaitis will do anything to get the WWE Championship off of Punk. If he has enough confidence in Del Rio, the Mexican superstar will be the No. 1 contender.

Despite these men not being in the main event at the moment, their recent performances can’t be overlooked.

Dolph Ziggler has been having a hell of a couple of months. For the past two PPVs, he has competed in a total of four matches, two of which were for his United States Championship. The man has a great PPV record going.

Two weeks ago on Raw he had a five-star match with CM Punk and last week he went toe-to-toe with Randy Orton and defeated him.

Could Dolph Ziggler’s recent successes put him in the title hunt?

Then of course he have former WWE Champion the Miz. Over the past two weeks we have seen a very different side of him.

Two weeks ago he took out his partner at the time, R-Truth, and last week took John Morrison out on a stretcher. When asking the fans the question “Next week?” he only answered “Who Knows.”

The Miz is back and I got a feeling he’s going to be better than ever. Will this change in attitude put Miz back in the title picture?

Then we have two unlikely candidates in Kevin Nash and Brodus Clay. Nash is caught up in his feud with Triple H and if he were to get a title shot, the match’s sole purpose could be to see Triple H screw over Big Sexy.

WWE has done dumber things, though. Could Kevin Nash be getting one final shot at gold in the company?

Brodus was supposed to return weeks ago but it kept getting pushed back. Will WWE make up for that by thrusting him into the title picture?

There is one more that we can’t rule out.

We can’t rule out the 10-time WWE Champion John Cena. Last week Rowdy Roddy Piper really laid into Cena in terms of the constant booing despite being the face of the WWE.

Piper’s Pit was always something that brought out the best in his interviewee and made history. It certainly brought out some of the best mic work I’ve Cena do in a long time.

Cena is headed for a major change in his career.

While it may not be the heel turn everyone wants, the John Cena as we know him by may no longer exist.

Will Piper’s words motivate him back into the title hunt or just put him into denial?

Personally, I think that the best way to go about this is a fatal-four way tables, ladders and chairs match. WWE should test CM Punk by putting him in the ring with Alberto Del Rio, the Miz and John Cena.

Punk said that the title will be with him for a long time, so if Punk can survive all three superstars, then the fans will be behind him more than ever before.

Who will get to challenge CM Punk at the TLC PPV? How will John Laurinaitis decide who will get the title shot?

Tune in to Monday Night Raw tonight to find out!