A segment with Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar was originally scheduled to open tonight’s WWE Night of Champions go-home edition of RAW, according to WWE insider Boozerrasslin. It was also revealed that a “big backstage segment” was planned to close the show, and that a big name would be putting over Rhodes before Night of Champions.
At least according to the first RAW draft, Shinsuke Nakamura was set to be the mystery partner for Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in the six-man match against Imperium, but it was noted that WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H was making a few changes to the first draft of tonight’s show. At one point, Matt Riddle was scheduled to face Finn Balor, but the changes may have resulted in a switch between Riddle and Nakamura, with Riddle now working the six-man and Nakamura now facing Balor. This swap could not be confirmed, and we will find out more later. It was speculated that the swap might hint at a surprise, possibly in the six-man match, but no further details were provided.
JD McDonagh was scheduled to make his singles in-ring debut tonight, but it appears that this has been changed to a vignette for McDonagh instead. There may also be a backstage scene with McDonagh and Balor talking, which will apparently lead to McDonagh’s storyline with The Judgment Day picking up steam after Night of Champions.
Raquel Rodriguez vs. Sonya Deville, with Shotzi possibly backing Rodriguez up against Deville and Chelsea Green, Bronson Reed vs. Ricochet, and Apollo Crews vs. Dominik Mysterio are among the other matches planned for tonight’s RAW.
For what it’s worth, Drew McIntyre retweeted a teaser from WWE about the mystery partner but then un-retweeted it. It was McIntyre’s first activity on Twitter since Wrestlemania weekend.
The following is the announced lineup for tonight’s RAW from Hershey, PA’s Giant Center:
* The RAW go-home build for WWE Night of Champions
* Zoey Stark vs. Candice LeRae
* Part two of Seth Rollins’ pre-recorded interview with Corey Graves
* Night of Champions contract signing with Becky Lynch and WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus
* Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes will be under the same roof
* Imperium (WWE Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci) vs. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and a mystery partner
