WWE RAW 7th January 2013 - The Rock Returns LIVE Discussion

[Troy]

The Rock Returns
The great one returns to RAW this week just weeks before his WWE Championship shot at the Royal Rumble. This is the start of quite a few booked WWE appearances in the coming months throughout the Road to WrestleMania. What will The Rock have to say to WWE Champion CM Punk? Will The Rock be ringside for the WWE title match on RAW?

WWE Championship TLC Match
CM Punk was scheduled to defend his WWE title against Ryback at TLC PPV but due to knee surgery he was forced to withdraw from the match. Vince McMahon then decided to rebook the match for the first RAW of 2013. Who will win the match? Will The Shield and/or The Rock make an appearance during the match?

The Shield
Who will the Shield target this week? The Rock returns to RAW so could he be the next high profile victim of the renegade group?

Royal Rumble
The Rumble is only three weeks away and so far three entrants have been announced; John Cena, Randy Orton and Sheamus. Who else will be added to the classic match?


All that and a lot more scheduled for RAW this week. What are you most looking forward to and what else do you expect to see on RAW?

Join in the discussion here with other WS members, the more members involved the more fun the thread is.​

 

[Crippler]

I'm hoping they do something cool with Ryback/Punk and i'm guessing the Shield comes down for the save. Rock on the mic is always fun to watch that's about it.

 

[Troy]

I hope they don't do a bait and switch with Punk and end up cancelling the match because of his injury. They have confirmed that the match will go ahead on wwe.com but you never know with wrestling. I am expecting a good match, should be a reasonably long one as well considering the gimmick and what is at stake. I am sure that there will be plenty of run ins as well, there is no way it will just be Punk and Ryback out there for the whole match. I expect The Shield and then maybe The Rock to run out to try to even up the odds.

Expecting a long promo from Rock and I have high expectations for it. He is gold on the mic and he should have some good material after being away for the last few months.

With this being the first RAW on the Road to WrestleMania I am expecting a better quality show than we have been seeing. Creative should be pulling out all the stops here.

 

[The New F'n Show]

Pretty excited for this. Bringing back The Rock and using TLC for the Title is very smart going against the National Championship game. Wonder if ratings will stay strong as that is tough competition.

 

[Tapout]

Rock being there doesn't do anything for me in the least. Never been a fan, never will. I'd rather have Punk/Ryback without the worry of the Rock getting involved in any way.

I would LOVE to see the Shield take out Rock though. That would make them look so much stronger, and would further the question if Punk is working with them. I think that would be the best way to go. Actually, have Rock come out towards the end of the TLC match, and then have Shield come out, and stop him. Then they can stop Ryback, and help Punk to victory. Then it can be finally made public that Shield, Punk, and Heyman are all working together.

 

[Troy]

Would it really help The Shield if they are working for someone like Punk? At the moment they seem to be doing pretty well on their own and it doesn't really seem like they need to be the sidekicks for a big name. The issue if they are working for Punk is they become an afterthought and have to work in his shadow rather than being their own group.

 

[Andrew]

^ Agreed.

Looking forward to the show, I actually came up with something earlier on... The odds of it are like 0.000009% of it happening but this is what I had in mind;

The Rock delivers a Rock Bottom on Ryback during Ryback/Punk.

Next week on RAW he reveals he did it because he wants Punk, he's sick of him running his mouth and doesn't have a problem with Ryback whatsoever.

However Ryback comes out and says he didn't like being ripped off from opportunity, he says FEED ME ROCK, FEED ME ROCK... A match is booked (20th Anniversary show after all)

The Rock and Ryback ends up being a no-contest due to The Shield...

At Royal Rumble, The Shield interrupt the match but Ryback takes them out but he ends up taking The Rock out too due to the opportunity. This could lead to Ryback's heel turn?

 

[Troy]

I don't see the point in turning Ryback heel. WWE are trying to find their next big face and he has been very successful so far. The fans love him and they all chant for him whenever he appears, not sure why you would destroy all of that so soon. Not saying that Ryback won't turn one day but he is so far off his peak as a face it would be crazy to turn him now.

 

[The New F'n Show]

I don't see the point in turning Ryback heel. WWE are trying to find their next big face and he has been very successful so far. The fans love him and they all chant for him whenever he appears, not sure why you would destroy all of that so soon. Not saying that Ryback won't turn one day but he is so far off his peak as a face it would be crazy to turn him now.

Logic is simple, Andrew wants everyone heel, lol.

 

[Keith]

Logic is simple, Andrew wants everyone heel, lol.

In fairness it was a pretty well thought out idea, which I kind of liked.

 

[Dale]

It's a horrible idea.

 

[zigglerHEEL]

won't be on for this tonight, previous engagement with a college football game.... sounds like it should be a great show, dvr is set, will watch tomorrow

 

[Andrew]

I did say it had absolutely zero chance of it happening.

Really pumped for RAW and how the TLC will play out.

 

[Crippler]

I don't see this match touching the Edge/Flair one in '06.

 

[Andrew]

Sick video package right there