WWE Raw preview (Feb. 6, 2023): It wasn’t supposed to go this way for Becky Lynch

Raw airs tonight (Feb. 6) with a live show from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. This is the second episode of Raw during the three week build towards Elimination Chamber, which takes place on Feb. 18.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way for Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch finally gets her hands on Bayley tonight inside a steel cage. This match was originally booked for the Jan. 23 episode of Raw, but it was cut for time didn’t happen because Damage CTRL ambushed Lynch inside the cage. Bayley wanted to be done with Becky after eliminating her from the Royal Rumble, but Lynch forced her to accept this cage match after taking Dakota Kai hostage last week.

Becky has been feuding with Bayley and Damage CTRL ever since The Man returned from injury in November. Becky started things off on top with a win at WarGames, but things just haven’t been going her way since then.

Bayley beat Becky in a singles match on the Dec. 19 Raw. Damage CTRL got the better of Becky again in a tag team match on the Jan. 2 Raw. When you combine that with Damage CTRL’s ambush on the Jan. 23 Raw, as well as Bayley eliminating Lynch from the Rumble, it sure does feel like it’s time for Becky to kick some ass and have a decisive victory.

However, there’s one glaring issue on the table if this feud ends tonight inside the cage. It’s still not easy for women to get a match on pay-per-view without a championship being on the line, and right now Becky is not in the mix for any women’s title in WWE. The Man was the number one star in the company back in 2019, but she somehow doesn’t have anything obvious lined up for WrestleMania. The most straightforward path to a WrestleMania match is a continuation of this feud with Bayley.

That’s why it will be interesting to see how WWE books the finish of this match. Is Becky going to get the big win and end this feud tonight, or will WWE find a way to keep it going for two more months?

The title scene

Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will defend her gold at WrestleMania against the winner of a women’s Elimination Chamber match. That match currently includes Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan, Nikki Cross, Natalya, and Asuka. The final spot in the chamber will be determined tonight in a four-way match between Piper Niven, Carmella, Candice LeRae, and Mia Yim. This is Carmella’s first match since August.

United States Champion Austin Theory puts his belt on the line in the men’s Elimination Chamber match in Montreal. Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed, and Johnny Gargano each picked up wins last week to secure their spot in the US title chamber match with Theory. The final two spots will be determined tonight in two separate singles bouts, both involving the Street Profits. Montez Ford goes one-on-one with Elias for one of those spots, while Angelo Dawkins goes at it with Damian Priest for the other spot.

Cody Rhodes will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal championship in the main event of WrestleMania 39, assuming Reigns beats Sami Zayn in Montreal at Elimination Chamber. Roman doesn’t work most Monday nights, so another heel will probably interrupt Rhodes and pick a fight with him tonight, just like The Judgment Day did last week.

The Usos are scheduled to defend their SmackDown tag titles later this week against Braun Strowman and Ricochet, but they don’t have anything lined up for the Raw tag team titles at the moment. It seems unlikely that we’ll see either Uso appear tonight, especially Jey, who has gone off the radar since the rest of The Bloodline beat the shit out of Zayn at Royal Rumble.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions IYO SKY and Dakota Kai will be busy tonight trying to figure out how to give Bayley an unfair advantage inside the steel cage against Lynch.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- It’s clear that Edge and Beth Phoenix are going to keep coming after The Judgment Day until they get them in the ring for an official match. A mixed tag team match at Elimination Chamber makes sense, it’s just a matter of whether it will be Finn Balor or that little shithead Dominik Mysterio who teams up with Rhea Ripley to go to war against Edge and Phoenix.

- The rumor mill indicates that Brock Lesnar will be doing something at Elimination Chamber. If that’s true and he’s wrestling in a match, he should probably show up tonight to make it official. Bobby Lashley is his top rival at the moment, but Bob is somewhat distracted by MVP’s attempts to put the Hurt Business back together. It didn’t end well for MVP last week, as a Lashley spear intended for Austin Theory missed its mark and took out MVP instead.

- Alexa Bliss is struggling to maintain control now that Uncle Howdy is in WWE.

- Maximum Male Models are now on the Raw roster, and Maxxine Dupri thinks Otis can be the perfect addition to the group. Otis has been doing the caterpillar more lately, so it appears that he might be ready for a change.

- The very creepy Dexter Lumis stuck a hatchet in JBL’s hat last week, leading to a loss for Baron Corbin. Does this mean we’re getting a match between Lumis and Corbin?

- Rick Boogs returned to WWE last week after nearly one year on the sidelines, and he quickly squashed former WWE Champion The Miz. Miz will no doubt make excuses about wrestling in a suit and not being ready for the fight, so maybe Adam Pearce will book a rematch tonight so that Miz can also lose to Boogs in his underwear.

- Speaking of Pearce, let’s hope he finds better accommodations for Chelsea Green this time.

- Is Mustafa Ali going to mock Dolph Ziggler for failing to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match?

What will you be looking for on Raw?