Raw airs tonight (Sept. 9) with a live show from Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This is the second episode of Raw during the five week build towards Bad Blood, which takes place on Oct. 5 in Atlanta.
WWE is promoting tonight's episode of Raw as the season premiere, I suppose after forgetting to promote last week's episode as the season finale.
Regardless, one of the matches scheduled for tonight is a 6-woman tag team match: Lyra Valkyria, Zelina Vega & MYSTERY PARTNER vs. Pure Fusion Collective (Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark & Sonya Deville).
The numbers game of PFC was too much for Lyra and Zelina to handle this week, so Lyra said she had an idea to fix that. Raw happens to be in Calgary, so I think that makes the mystery partner fairly obvious. It has to be local hero Natalya, right?
Natalya hasn't wrestled on Raw since early June, but she reportedly signed a new deal with WWE later in the summer. Her Uncle Bret will be in the house, so a surprise return for Natalya in Hart Country to help the babyfaces mop the floor with PFC makes all the sense in the world.
Am I wrong? Can the MYSTERY partner possibly be someone else? Let me know who you think it is in the comments below, Cagesiders.
Bret "The Hitman" Hart is rumored to be involved in a segment tonight with World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER. How will The Ring General react if someone with Bret's impeccable reputation in the ring actually offers his endorsement to Sami Zayn?
WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair defend the gold tonight against former champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. These teams have been going at it all summer long, so hopefully this is the final encounter before they both move on to something new. Once again, it seems like the only way The Unholy Union can win is if Cargill and Belair turn on each other.
The Intercontinental championship contender's tournament wraps up tonight with a four-way match between Jey Uso, Braun Strowman, Pete Dunne, and Ilja Dragunov. Dunne will likely pay for screwing Sheamus over last week. Strowman might not be recovered enough from Bronson Reed's car Tsunami to hang in there a long time with Jey and Ilja. Uso has proven to be at least a smidge better than Dragunov in kayfabe, so he looks like the presumptive favorite. Then again, anyone can legally interfere in a match like this, so who knows what the hell will happen. Maybe Bron Breakker will show up and spear the shit out of them all.
Chad Gable must have a death wish, because he's challenged the Wyatt Sicks to a street fight in order to prove that American Made is the greatest fighting family in WWE. The match is official for tonight. It looks like it will be an 8-person team fight with Gable, The Creeds, and Ivy Nile taking on Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis, and Erick Rowan. Will Uncle Howdy be laughing the entire time, or does Gable have a plan in mind to actually hand the Wyatts their first loss?
Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee is also advertised for tonight. Will this turn into a giant clusterfuck if the rest of The Judgment Day, the LWO, and Damian Priest all decide to get involved?
- What will Drew McIntyre have to say after he forced CM Punk to choke on his bracelet during a vicious attack last week?
- Will Punk recover from his injuries as quickly as Braun Strowman recently did, not to get revenge on Drew, but so he can be within touching distance of the legendary Bret Hart? CM just can't get enough of that guy.
- Women's World Champion Liv Morgan tried to injure Rhea Ripley's leg last week, and Mami was hobbling around at the end of the episode. Is Rhea healthy enough to challenge Morgan for a title match at Bad Blood?
- Hey, how's Seth Rollins doing? Will he be back anytime soon to get revenge on Bronson Reed, or does Reed need to add a few more victims to his Tsunami list first?
- Does Triple H have any surprises planned for the season premiere of Raw besides the MYSTERY partner?