WWE Raw preview (Mar. 20, 2023): Roman Reigns finally shows up again

Raw airs tonight (Mar. 20) with a live show from Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This is the fifth episode of Raw during the six week build towards WrestleMania 39, which takes place on Apr. 1 and Apr. 2.

Roman Reigns finally shows up again

There has been a lot of talk about Bray Wyatt’s absence from WWE television on the road to WrestleMania 39; out of the eight total episodes of Raw and SmackDown TV since Elimination Chamber, Wyatt has only appeared twice.

Do you know which top guy has appeared on even fewer episodes than that in the same time span? The part-time WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns, of course.

Roman appeared on the March 3 episode of SmackDown for a confrontation with Cody Rhodes, and has otherwise been completely missing from WWE television since Elimination Chamber.

In most years, the top champion disappearing on the road to WrestleMania would be a big problem, but it hasn’t been an issue this time because the supporting cast of The Bloodline’s story is so strong. The Usos, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens have been holding down the fort and carrying the main event scene with ease. This has in turn helped Roman’s appearances feel special; overexposure is the number one factor working against most WWE wrestlers today, but Reigns doesn’t have to deal with that problem.

The Tribal Chief finally shows up again on tonight’s episode of Raw, this time for another confrontation with Rhodes, who is challenging him for the gold at the biggest pro wrestling show of the year. Cody has acknowledged the Tribal Chief and says now it’s time for the Tribal Chief to acknowledge him.

How will Roman respond to Cody’s successful efforts at reuniting Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens? How will Roman respond to Jey Uso falling back in line? How will Roman respond to Cody’s overly dramatic promos? Will Roman and Cody finally come to blows?

We should find out all of these answers tonight.

The rest of the title scene

Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair is scheduled to team up with Asuka tonight for a tag match against Chelsea Green and Carmella. Belair and Asuka would normally be the heavy favorites, but it’s at least possible their team will implode after Asuka’s mind games with the champ last week. Asuka and Belair will meet for the gold at WrestleMania, so it would be foolish for the two stars to fully trust each other tonight. Meanwhile, if Green and Carmella can win, perhaps that will be enough for them to be added to the women’s four way tag match at WrestleMania.

United States Champion Austin Theory started his recovery from John Cena’s verbal burial by defeating Angelo Dawkins in a singles match last week. The champ will look to complete his dominance over the Street Profits when he goes one-on-one with Montez Ford tonight.

Now that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are reunited and finally on the same page, it’s just a matter of time until WWE announces that they will challenge The Usos for the WWE tag team titles at WrestleMania 39.

Becky Lynch and Lita probably won’t have to defend the WWE women’s tag team champions at WrestleMania because they are booked in a six person tag match with their partner Trish Stratus against Damage CTRL. Bayley’s group ambushed Trish backstage last week, so the babyfaces will likely have a plan for retaliation tonight.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Last week’s dream match between Maximum Male Models and the Good Bros never happened because mån.sôör broke a nail while scrolling through Instagram. The match has been rescheduled for tonight. We’ll see if tonight’s bout somehow leads Otis even further away from his teacher Chad Gable and closer towards joining Maxxine Dupri’s group of extremely attractive male specimens.

- YouTube douchebag Logan Paul brings Impaulsive TV to Raw tonight, and The Miz will be involved in the segment. This is Seth Rollins’ chance to crash the party and seek revenge after Logan recently knocked him out with one lucky punch.

- The clock is running out on Bray Wyatt, who has yet to appear on TV in the month of March. Will he finally return tonight, or does WWE need to call an audible and reveal a backup plan for Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania?

- Brock Lesnar isn’t advertised for tonight’s show; he must still be sweating after Omos struggled to get him over the top rope last week.

- Edge and Finn Balor will go to war inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania, where Finn has teased that The Demon will show up for the fight. Will these two enemies cross paths tonight?

- After their wild brawl last Friday night, is there any chance that SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair will come to Raw looking for a piece of Rhea Ripley?

- Bronson Reed has been plowing through the low card fodder on the Raw roster, including names like Elias and Dolph Ziggler. Who will be his latest victim tonight?

- Baron Corbin is still a losing loser who always loses. Which babyface will have the pleasure of kicking his ass tonight?

- Dominik Mysterio has challenged his father Rey to a match at WrestleMania, but Rey has thus far refused to accept the fight. Are they saving the big angle when Rey changes his mind for the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on the eve of WrestleMania?

- Where the f*ck is Miro Alexa Bliss?

What will you be looking for on Raw?