RAW After WrestleMania Preview: What's Next for WWE?

Peter Klein

WWE RAW after WrestleMania is supposed to reset the table — but this year, there’s even more on the line.  With John Cena’s shocking mic drop, Paul Heyman betraying everyone, and momentum hanging in the balance, tonight’s RAW could shape WWE’s next era.  ➤ What to expect tonight ➤ What storylines need to bounce back ➤ The case for a roster shake-up NOW — not in the Fall ➤ Plus: The New Day, Gunther, and what to watch for  The biggest RAW of the year? It should be. Here’s why.  #WWERAW #RAWAfterMania #WWE2025 #WrestleManiaFallout #WWEStorylines #TripleH #WWEUniverse  🔗 Stay Connected & Support the Show 🎧 Listen & Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/couch-potato-diary/id1564122189  Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM 🧠 Partners & Promos:  C of Dead Apparel → https://www.cofdead403.ca/  Swift Energy → https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm  🎁 Use Promo Code: PKPrimetime for 25% off! 📲 Follow Me:  Twitter (X) → https://x.com/primetimeklein  Instagram → https://instagram.com/primetimeklein  Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary  Twitch → https://twitch.tv/primetimepk 📬 Business Inquiries & Fan Mail:  Email → couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com

Transcript

00:00it is a new season the new year in WWE they played the video last night where Triple H was like okay

00:10we're done and then something had slapped on his desk and all right well that was the offseason

00:13now it's up into the next year and that is what it is like for wrestling fans as the Raw after

00:19Mania has kind of taken on a life of its own and sometimes the hype can overshadow what we actually

00:26get to experience on the Monday after WrestleMania but this is the first one in the Netflix era so

00:31what do we get um I I think the first thing you need a strong angle with Cena saying he's going

00:40to ruin wrestling on Monday um I would imagine this means we get the spinner belt back in some way

00:46shape or form I I hope it is more than just that like I again I know I'm talking about this with

00:52AEW I know I can be very um impatient when it comes to these sorts of stories where I I can

01:01really want there to be I just want to know everything now let's just get to the next thing

01:04and get moving and let me let me know that now um and so I I know I can be impatient but this feels

01:10like it needs to be a very big episode of Raw and this story needs to make us forget that

01:15underwhelming feeling we had um not even 24 hours ago at WrestleMania that this needs to make us feel

01:21like okay holy shit here we go this is gonna be amazing like um not to speak positively of the

01:28human being but Brock Lesnar coming back to come out and beat the shit out of John Cena after that

01:33now don't literally do that but having him having that sort of a thing where after Raw you are buzzing

01:38it's like I can't wait till we get to Raw next week and get this ball rolling again because that is

01:42not the feeling right now the feeling right now is I am interested to see Raw uh because I need to

01:49make sense of this and I want this to be fun again and that that was not fun so again what is

01:54this strong angle that we are getting with John Cena do we get more of a rock tie-in is there more

02:01of a group out of this than just John Cena and and what do we have now in in this particular thing

02:07and so look like the this is the first time in the Triple H kind of era here where momentum is

02:13rather not significantly down but momentum is down things are like public perception anyway

02:20is trending a little bit negatively for the first time and they were feeling themselves this week you

02:25could tell in the lead-up to WrestleMania where they are taking some not-so-veiled shots at AEW and

02:31they are just flaunting political stuff all over the place which they would never do but there was a

02:36lot of just like yeah we know we know we're on a roll right now so where now do they go that that

02:42has slowed a little bit because we have seen a number of wrestling promotions and I'm not going

02:46to say the John Cena thing is going to kill WWE or anything like that but we have seen a number of

02:51promotions have a really difficult time getting that momentum and getting that ball rolling once it has

02:58stopped going in a different direction so fascinated to see how Triple H will respond with all of this

03:04tonight I am anticipating a Rusev debut I think a lot of us were anticipating that on Monday and or sorry on

03:12on Sunday with the Randy Orton thing so I am anticipating we get some form of a Rusev involvement

03:18I am going to keep kind of going to bat for Jeff Cobb being the muscle of a new Seth Rollins Paul Heyman

03:25group and and have him be integrated in in that way and that is another follow-up I'm interested by

03:32this one isn't a make it make sense this one is more of a I just want to see where they go with it because

03:38that that was the best thing really coming out of um coming out of Monday Night Raw was the the or

03:44sorry coming out of WrestleMania into Raw was the Rollins Heyman situation that was brewing there so I

03:50I I am really hoping that that turns into a bit of a faction um I think that a lot of times as wrestling

03:57fans we can get a little bit too faction war fairy and even like honestly um after we finished the

04:02stream last night on twitch.tv slash primetime pk doing uh WWE 2k25 I I went into the universe mode

04:09for the first time and I like everyone's in a faction and that that can get a little watered

04:14down and everything too but I do think that there could be a value still if you are going to have any

04:20rock involvement having a rock cena uh kind of a faction bringing that in having Rollins have a couple

04:26of other guys with Paul Heyman to help elevate them a little bit and I do think the time is now for that

04:32when you hear Roman Reigns talking about how he only has a couple of years left Randy Orton was

04:36just in his 20th WrestleMania there's a reason only a couple of guys get to 20 WrestleManias

04:40um because that's very hard and you then have to be quite old so um that is definitely going to be

04:46a thing Kevin Owens like I don't think he is like super close to retiring but having a neck surgery

04:51that takes you out 12 to 16 months certainly doesn't lengthen your clock at all and Cody Rhodes

04:56isn't the youngest cat in the world anymore either so that there is now I think while they still

05:01have this momentum and while they still have all these eyeballs I do think that there is a little

05:05bit of importance to at least put some of the spotlight on some of the younger talent in some

05:09of these elevated ways and so that's why a Jacob Fatu is really important now a brawn breaker feels

05:15massively important given that the major major performance he had um in the lead-up to WrestleMania

05:21and at WrestleMania 41 so I do think now is the time to start factoring some of those guys in

05:26and the easiest way to do that is uh by the way of factions but another thing I was thinking going

05:31into to this raw tonight I do think that while we can make our jokes about the brand split um and I

05:38I will still hold on to the belief that a brand split can be a good thing um and all of that but I

05:46do think that there is a need for a draft now they've kind of fallen into this thing where they've been

05:51doing draft in the fall for the new season of it but this is really the start of a new season

05:56in WWE right we talk about that a lot but this is kind of the new year in world wrestling entertainment

06:01and coming out of WrestleMania it is a chance to freshen some things up it is a chance to give some

06:07new life into some characters and play shuffle the deck a little bit and there's a couple I think

06:12that could really benefit from that right now one of them is Charlotte you look at what is going on in

06:17the women's division right now over on Smackdown and there isn't a whole lot for her at this

06:23particular moment right like I don't think anyone's really clamoring for the Tiffany Charlotte feud to

06:28continue and honestly that felt dunsky on Monday or on on Saturday right like that that felt like it

06:35was over and done so what what is next for her I think a getting drafted over to Monday Night Raw

06:41would kind of liven things up for her a little bit Gunther kind of same thing like he

06:46it I I am sure we get somewhat of a rematch in there but now we're beating him too many times

06:52or we're having just a transitional championship thing with Jey Uso and that doesn't help anybody

06:56and so the easiest way to kind of avoid that is to draft Gunther over to Smackdown and just put them

07:02on on different sides and have Gunther starts to work up on the title picture over on the undisputed

07:08WWE championship side of of everything and so I do think that coming out of WrestleMania where you do

07:14have a finality in a lot of these things that is really the time to start doing this draft and start

07:21to really push that forward now for you so that that is kind of something that I would um consider

07:26as uh just you know a little bit of advice from me towards the WWE a couple more things to that I'm

07:33looking for on Raw tonight but a reminder um if you've missed any of this live stream or just you

07:38know really enjoyed it um a give it a like uh or a follow or a subscription wherever you are um based

07:44on or watching this on but also you can catch it in podcast form available on Spotify or wherever you

07:49get your podcasts um I'm also wondering if we do get any kind of AAA uh or AAA integration into all of

07:56this um tonight you have the the big announcement that caught a lot of people off guard on Monday

08:03there have been some like very subtle crossover stuff before with JBL um going over there and

08:11getting involved in some stuff and like uh Chad Gable there's obviously the Lucha thing involved

08:17with that I'm obviously that the spotlight would be Viquinho is there anything with him uh maybe in

08:24the El Grande Americano storyline or anything like that but I just I wonder now that we are like it's

08:29April 21st today June 7th is going to come up very very quickly I wonder if we get any of that

08:34promoting towards um the show in June with Worlds Collide the one more thing I would like to see

08:41I want a renewed focus on the New Day I I think they win the tag team titles and that's awesome and uh

08:47the match was a little lackluster but I I think that you come off of a hot angle with Big E

08:52and then you don't have any Big E involvement in anything in the build-up to this and it is just it

08:58it has lost so much steam and they are having to rely on just kind of generic heel tactics to try

09:05to be this heel thing and so I think that is a story that needs a bit of a shot in the arm going

09:11into um this kind of new year for WWE so those are a couple of things that I'm looking for from

09:17Monday Night Raw tonight uh as always wherever you are taking this in we're gonna have a Raw recap

09:22coming up tomorrow streaming live at 10 a.m on YouTube Twitch and Kick and then available in

09:29podcast form wherever you get your podcasts

09:32you

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