WWE Raw preview (Apr. 10, 2023): Cody Rhodes’ future needs to be addressed

Raw airs tonight (Apr. 10) with a live show from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. This is the second episode of Raw during the five week build towards Backlash, which takes on May 6 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Cody Rhodes’ WWE future needs to be addressed

After losing against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, Cody Rhodes wanted a rematch on last week’s episode of Raw. What he got instead was a 10 minute beatdown at the hands of Brock Lesnar. The Beast annihilated Rhodes with F5s, steel steps, and chairs.

Rhodes said on social media that he hopes to address his future with WWE tonight on Raw. Cody is still focused on finishing his story, but it looks like he may have to take a detour into Suplex City before he can get a rematch against the part-time champ. Will tonight’s address include a date for the expected fight between Rhodes and Lesnar? Can it happen as soon as Backlash on May 6 in Puerto Rico? I’d bet this is what Cody wants to talk about when he has the mic in hand later tonight.

Brock and Roman aren’t advertised for this episode, so another heel might take the initiative to interrupt Cody’s address and catch a Cross Rhodes for his troubles.

The rest of the title scene

Lita and Becky Lynch won the WWE women’s tag team titles on Feb. 27, and they defend the belts tonight for the first time. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez are the challengers after defeating Damage CTRL last week. Lita is a part-time wrestler, so a title change is definitely on the table now that WrestleMania has come and gone.

Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair was confronted by SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley last week. I don’t think a title unification match is imminent, but we might see these two stars cross paths again based on how the upcoming WWE Draft shakes out.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are the new WWE tag team champions, but they are still at war with The Bloodline. Sami foolishly thought he could talk sense into Jey Uso last week on SmackDown. It resulted in Kevin Owens being taken out backstage before Jey once again rejected Zayn’s advice and attacked him. Luckily for Sami, Matt Riddle saved his ass.

United States Champion Austin Theory followed up on his WrestleMania win over John Cena by defeating WWE Hall of Fame star Rey Mysterio on Raw. Which babyface will be the next one to do the job for Austin?

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Bad Bunny helped Rey beat Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania, but he paid for his actons last week when former ally Damian Priest put him through a table. Priest has more to say about Bunny tonight. Is this leading to a tag team match at Backlash pitting Rey & Bad against Dom and Dam?

- Before Matt Riddle got involved in The Bloodline’s business last week, he made his surprise return to WWE at the expense of The Miz. They’ll go one-on-one tonight in Matt’s comeback match.

- It looks like Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed are on a collision course. Reed was fired by Vince McMahon less than two years ago, so if Vince is the one calling the shots, this could end with Reed tapping out to the Hurt Lock.

- Edge is a part-timer who is normally written out of kayfabe with an injury when it is time for him to go away for a while. Will he be part of Backlash? If not, will there be an explanation for why he’s not around?

- Seth Rollins came to the ring last week to listen to the audience sing his song. He did nothing else, so it was largely a waste of everyone’s time. Hopefully the Visionary will have something more interesting planned for his appearance tonight.

- Does WWE creative have anything for Alexa Bliss?

- WWE commentators were really talking up Omos as a force to be reckoned with when he squashed Elias last week. We’ve been here before with Omos multiple times, so I don’t know why things will go any differently for yet another attempt to push him.

- Is Damage CTRL going to break up after all of their recent failures?

- Will Vince McMahon’s creepy new mustache be backstage running the show tonight?

What will you be looking for on Raw?