WWE Monday Night Raw Thread: More Champion vs. Champion Action Edition

1st off... let's all wish a happy birthday to WWE's best champion right now...



Too bad his birthday comes just days before the biggest challenge to his title in some time (which has already been taped and the ending of which perhaps having already been spoiled)

And congrats to Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, & Tyler Bate for raising more than $45,000 for Black Lives Matter... I'm sure all that money will be used appropriately

Rey Mysterio, Jr. is doing WWE a major solid by wresting for the company while technically not under contract. His contract apparently expired sometime last month and the "eye injury" from Seth Rollins' hands was a possible way of writing his off... but he's continued on with the storyline that could lead to an "eye vs. eye match" at the newly rechristened "The Horror Show at Extreme Rules"

AEW has another top wrestling pedigree now in its stable as Brian Pillman, Jr., the son of the man who was in a tag team called the Hollywood Blondes with a guy named "Stunning" Steve who no one has ever heard of, has apparently signed with the company. He was in the crowd last Wednesday night at Dynamite/Fyter Fest and will take on Shawn Spears on tomorrow night's edition of AEW Dark

ECW & WWE tag team legend Bully Ray... aka Bubba Ray Dudley... is apparently on his way back to IMPACT Wrestling after he & Ring of Honor agreed that his contract would be allowed to expire. It appears IMPACT is keying in on restarting its popular heel faction Aces & Eights which Bully Ray was the leader of... and Doc, aka the recently signed Luke Gallows, was a part of

Now onto tonight's Monday Night Raw preview... from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla.

Ummmmmm...

Ok so wwe.com is actually down right now... but it's "technical issues" page is pretty legit... it has Papa Shango, the Ultimate Warrior, Demolition, The Berzerker, and someone deep in the background that I can make out in a western setting with a giant sign that just says "Parts Unknown"... pretty cool

It's known that Raw Women's Champion Asuka will take on Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley... but that's it

Surely there will be some Apollo Crews vs. MVP stuff... some Seth Rollins vs. the Mysterios stuff... maybe some Natalia & Lana HLA stuff... but none of that is promoted for the show

By the way... WWE did release an image of the aforementioned Asuka/Bayley maych... which oddly included Kairi Sane... but that image was quickly retooled without Sane b/c no one knows what her current WWE status is after Nia tried to murder her again

Here's Kairi in happier times