Monday Night Raw Preview 1/5/15: The Authority Returns, Royal Rumble Build Continues

The January 5, 2015 edition of WWE's Monday Night Raw will emanate live from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas at 8 p.m. Eastern and will continue to build to the Royal Rumble on Sunday, January 25.

The Authority will be back tonight after Seth Rollins forced John Cena to reinstate them last week. Rollins went full-on comic book villain by literally putting his boot to Edge's "stack of dimes" neck and threatening to paralyze him unless Cena brought back Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Left with no choice, Cena reinstated The Authority, who will be back in full force for the start of 2015.

What havoc will Triple H and Stephanie McMahon wreak on the locker room tonight? Will they immediately seek revenge on Cena, Dolph Ziggler, and the others who helped drive them out of power? Could Triple H also set his sights on Sting, whose timely intervention helped eliminate The Authority at Survivor Series? Rumors say WWE has a major angle planned for tonight that could have implications on both the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 31, so does that mean Sting could appear?

What will John Cena do now that The Authority is back? Will he continue to feud with Seth Rollins, or will he devote his full attention to Brock Lesnar and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Royal Rumble? Will Paul Heyman appear on Raw tonight to taunt Cena some more about his client, Brock Lesnar?

Randy Orton's potential return also looms large. He could be a surprise entrant in the Rumble, or he could come back tonight to reignite his feud with Seth Rollins and The Authority, so keep an eye out for that.

Daniel Bryan announced last week on Raw that, after six months of rehabilitation from a major injury, his career is not over and that he will be in the 2015 Royal Rumble. His return has fans excited, but it obviously throws some plans into chaos. Roman Reigns has apparently become the heir apparent in WWE and seems to be on the fast track to win the Royal Rumble, but the fans have been squarely behind Bryan for more than a year and continue to thunderously cheer for him. We could be headed for a similar situation to the 2014 Royal Rumble if Reigns wins the 30-man match in Philadelphia and Bryan does not. Will Bryan appear tonight to hype his appearance in the Rumble?

Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt will have what would likely be the final match in their feud tonight when they square off in an Ambulance Match, the first in history on Monday Night Raw according to the announcers. Both men have looked strong throughout the feud, but Wyatt has gotten the better of Ambrose in the win column. Which man will lock the other in the ambulance tonight to close out this feud?

Only Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan have declared their entries into the Royal Rumble match thus far, so we still have 28 men whose names must go into the ring. Will other competitors announce their entry tonight?

As always, check back with MStars immediately after the show for a full recap of all the action. But for now, let us know your thoughts, opinions, guesses, and predictions for tonight's show in the comments section.