WWE RAW Preview: Cena Missing RAW, Punk Reacts, Ryback’s Push

Last week’s RAW and SmackDown left the scene wide open for development leading into the Hell in a Cell on Oct. 28. With almost a month left to go before the pay-per-view event, WWE has time to build upon the CM Punk vs. John Cena feud despite the Cenation Leader's possible absence, the tag team tournament will continue, and the direction of Ryback’s push will become clearer.

The show will be broadcast live from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

WWE Champion CM Punk got a pipe to the gut last week when he went to attack an injured John Cena, who had the foreign object handy to defend himself. There are rumors circulating that Cena could miss tonight’s episode of “RAW,” which would leave Punk open to insult the 10-time WWE Champion and call the pipe attack cowardly among other things.

The Cena-Punk incident wasn’t what closed the show last week. “RAW” ended last Monday with Punk attacking Mick Foley backstage and then noticing a stoic Ryback standing there before the show faded to black.

Ryback’s involvement in the WWE Champion’s affairs raised a lot of questions about what the relatively new performer could be up to in the coming weeks. Even though WWE.com is calling it a “blatant challenge from Ryback,” it’s unlikely that the Second City Saint will give the newcomer the courtesy of facing a main eventer.

The World Heavyweight Title picture has changed hands for the first time in months, with Alberto Del Rio finally being taken from the no. 1 contender’s spot and being replaced with the 7-foot-tall Big Show. Though Big Show won’t be the breathe of fresh air that the SmackDown World Title needs, it will still be a welcome change of pace.

Show made his comeback last Monday by knocking out Brodus Clay and Tensai, and defeated Randy Orton for a shot at Sheamus’s World Championship at Hell in a Cell. The Giant has a lot of momentum since returning, and tonight WWE’s website is teasing that he has more destruction in mind.

Over the last several weeks, the WWE’s tag team division has gone from “under renovation” to “back in business” with the success of the dominant and comedic tag team of Kane and Daniel Bryan. Now the holders of the Tag Team Championship belts, Team Hell No has made the tag division one of the highlights of WWE’s programing.

To keep things going once the Kane and Bryan storyline moves past their inevitably doomed team, officials have created a tag team tournament with eight of the WWE’s tag teams: Zack Ryder and Santino Marella vs. International Airstrike (Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel), Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil), Epico and Primo vs. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara and The Usos (Jimmy and Jay) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sando).

With Rhodes Scholars winning their match on SmackDown, they move forward in the tournament to face one of the winners in the coming weeks. Tonight’s show will probably have another tag match from the tournament leading to Hell in a Cell, as well as Kane and Daniel Bryan involved in a match of their own.

The storyline with A.J. Lee as general manager seems to be heating up, most recently with the RAW GM slapping Paul Heyman last week. That might have been a bad move after A.J. was warned about putting her hands on WWE employees following her attack on Vickie Guerrero.