Raw will broadcast live tonight from Pittsburgh, PA and will continue to build the card for WrestleMania 27. Only one match has been announced thus far for tonight’s show, a babyface-vs-babyface confrontation between Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio. This is being advertised as a WrestleMania rematch from the 22nd annual Grandaddy of Them All, although their match at the spring classic that year was actually a triple threat match. Interestingly, Pittsburgh’s own Kurt Angle was the third man in that match, and I think it’ll be interesting to see how his hometown crowd reacts to WWE’s revisionist history tonight.
Although no other matches have been announced, one can assume that the card will be used largely to promote other upcoming Mania matches. John Cena will respond to the Miz’s attacks from last week, and I’m curious to see if the Miz still has the upperhand at the conclusion of tonight’s show. There will likely be some further interaction between John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler, although Trish Stratus has yet to be confirmed for the show. I’m really interested to see the next step for Sheamus and wonder if it’ll include Daniel Bryan. You can probably bank on Triple H and The Undertaker, or at least one of the pair, showing up tonight as well. Lastly, I’m sure we’ll be subjected to more of drama between Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler.
The Rock won’t be at tonight’s show, as his live return has already been announced for next week. Also, Ring of Honor on HDNet will be preempted by coverage of the College Basketball Invitational, so there will be no new episode this week. ROH will return next week at their regular time.
