Final builds for Royal Rumble 2022 will be gathered on this week’s episode of WWE Raw with the headliner being a birthday celebration. Before colliding against the Grit Couple at the upcoming PPV, the IT Couple of the WWE will throw a bash in honor of Maryse’s just bygone 39th birthday night.
WWE Champion and his challenger will be under one roof, yet again to feature in a weigh-in challenge to hype things up before their Sunday night showdown. Also, there will be an academic challenge to set up the next WWE Raw tag team championship on tonight’s episode that takes place at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.
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A big mixed tag team match was announced for the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, a few weeks ago as WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Beth Phoenix will team up to take on the team of The Miz and Maryse.
Edge had already been feuding with The Miz and Maryse for several weeks now resulting in a match at WWE Day 1 pay-per-view where Edge picked up the win as his wife, Phoenix made her return to the storylines. Then she was back on WWE Raw, as well to become a threat to Maryse.
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Last week, Miz lured Edge out of the ring as Maryse attacked Phoenix from behind by hitting her with a purse that also had a brick in it. As the Grit couple was outsmarted, an excited Miz announced that he will throw a birthday celebration, this week on WWE Raw in honor of the most beautiful wife’s birthday.
The other headliner for this week’s episode will feature a weigh-in between Bobby Lashley and the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar before they clash at Royal Rumble. Paul Heyman and MVP will be at ringside for this segment on WWE Raw where things should break loos between the two behemoths.
Lesnar and Heyman weren’t in attendance for last week’s RAW, but Lashley defeated Seth Rollins by DQ due to an attack by Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander. WWE aired a video package highlighting the careers of Lashley and Lesnar, both in WWE and MMA to amp things up for the first-ever match set for The Rumble.
WWE Raw Preview (24/01/22): Alpha Academic Challenge
Tonight’s episode will also feature an Academic Challenge segment between Team RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) and WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy (Otis and Chad Gable). The new champions hosted a graduation ceremony to celebrate their title win over Riddle and Orton. The segment was interrupted by Riddle, who also appeared wearing a cap and gown while giving a graduation speech from the entrance ramp.
Gable then challenged Team RK-Bro to an Academic Challenge with the stipulation that if they can beat the champions, they’ll be considered worthy for a rematch with the titles on the line.
After dropping Gable with the RKO at the end of the segment, Orton accepted that challenge, and thereby The Academic Challenge was made, official. It will include a series of tests between the two teams, to prove which is mentally superior. Ultimately, it’s likely to insert the tag title match into the Rumble card.
