WWE Raw preview, Aug. 13, 2018: Raw Tag Team Titles on the line in Triple Threat Match
Six nights before SummerSlam, The B-Team will defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against The DELETErs of Worlds and The Revival in a Triple Threat Match. Can Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas cling to their titles heading into The Biggest Event of the Summer? Plus, Seth Rollins meets Dolph Ziggler for their Intercontinental Title Match contract signing!
>Can The B-Team beat the odds yet again?
The B-Team are one of the most bewildering underdog stories in recent WWE history, transforming from perennial losers to world-beaters seemingly overnight. However, after Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas captured the Raw Tag Team Titles from The DELETErs of Worlds at WWE Extreme Rules, “Woken” Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt have stayed hot on their heels, and the hungry Revival have made clear their intent to lay waste to both teams in pursuit of Team Red’s tandem titles.
All three teams will collide in a Triple Threat Match for the Raw Tag Team Championship Monday night on Raw. Will The B-Team’s fortune finally run out? And if it does, will it be The DELETErs of Worlds or Raw’s “Top Guys” who walk into SummerSlam as champions?
>Alexa Bliss on the run
Despite her interference in last week’s main event, Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss watched in horror as Ronda Rousey — competing for the very first time on Raw — made Alicia Fox tap ferociously to her excruciating Armbar, sending a painful message to The Goddess before their title match at SummerSlam.
Afterward, Bliss told WWE.com that she’s not afraid of Rousey, reiterating that when The Baddest Woman on the Planet gets in the ring with her at SummerSlam, the world will see her as “nothing but an overhyped rookie.” Will Little Miss Bliss come to regret those words?
>Renee Young to step in on Raw announce team as guest commentator Monday night
Renee Young will be stepping in for Jonathan Coachman on the Raw announce team as a guest commentator this Monday night, ESPN.com reports. Coachman, meanwhile, will be fulfilling another obligation.
Young will work alongside Michael Cole and Corey Graves for all three hours of the broadcast, making this the first time a woman has called an entire episode of Raw.
Don’t miss Renee Young’s historic Raw announce team debut live this Monday at 8/7 C on USA Network.
>Constable Baron Corbin and Finn Bálor to compete in separate singles matches
Raw Constable Baron Corbin announced in a WWE.com interview this afternoon that both he and Finn Bálor will be in separate singles matches, six nights before their anticipated match against one another at SummerSlam.
Is Corbin devising a way to show up his opponent at The Biggest Event of the Summer after Bálor got the better of him last week, or does The Constable have something more sinister up his sleeve?
>Intercontinental Championship contract signing set
Even though Seth Rollins is facing Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam, he’s essentially also competing against the imposing Drew McIntyre. Based on what happened in this past Monday night’s Handicap Match, not even The Kingslayer can beat those odds.
Live on Raw, Rollins will meet Ziggler (and McIntyre) for the contract signing that will make their title clash official. Will The Architect be able to repel a 2-on-1 attack if chaos erupts once the ink dries?
>Paul Heyman leaves us hanging
In the unaired final moment of his emotional interview with Renee Young, Paul Heyman seemed to hint that there might be one way Roman Reigns can defeat Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Why he stopped himself from speaking further remains a mystery.
So, what was Heyman going to say? Does The Beast Incarnate have a weakness that has yet to be exploited, or is it something deeper than that?
>Can Braun Strowman keep his composure?
If Braun Strowman loses to Kevin Owens at SummerSlam in any way — be it by pinfall, submission, count-out or disqualification — he will be forced to relinquish his coveted Money in the Bank contract to KO, and given the ways in which Owens has succeeded in getting under the skin of The Monster Among Men, Strowman might find himself at a rare disadvantage in a one-on-one bout.
One week after Owens stole Strowman’s contract, leading Mr. Monster in the Bank to suffer a count-out loss to Jinder Mahal, KO’s machinations got Strowman disqualified when he inadvertently struck The Modern Day Maharaja with the briefcase.
Will Strowman keep it together this week heading into his high-stakes match at SummerSlam? Bear in mind, The Monster Among Men knocked over a stage last Monday night, so anything would be an improvement.
Don’t miss any of the action this Monday on Raw, live at 8/7 C on USA Network!
