Monday Night Raw Preview 8/4/14: John Cena and Brock Lesnar Both Absent, Will Paul Heyman Carry The Load?

The Aug. 8, 2014 edition of WWE's Monday Night Raw will emanate live from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas at 8 p.m. Eastern and will continue to build to the company's major pay-per-view event, SummerSlam, on Aug. 17.

Last week, WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena responded to Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar's challenge for a title match at SummerSlam with an excellent promo that hit on all the major and necessary points. Cena directly addressed the fact that many WWE fans want to see Lesnar rip him to shreds. He acknowledged that he hoped he'd never have to face Lesnar and that the Beast Incarnate is a terrifying, destructive force. When Paul Heyman came out to throw some barbs at Cena, the situation became even more frightening for the champ.

But in typical Cena fashion, he refused to give up and informed Heyman that Lesnar would have to kill him before he'd roll over and lose. It was a great promo by Cena, with the assist from Heyman, and one that never fell into the cheesy, over-the-top territory the champ crosses into from time to time.

Cena will not be at Raw tonight thanks to a film commitment, nor will Lesnar, so logic would dictate WWE would place Heyman front and center to keep the momentum going for the main event. How, if at all, will the manager respond to Cena's message that he will walk into and out of SummerSlam with the belts?

Will Dean Ambrose return to attack Seth Rollins and set up a match at SummerSlam?

Last week's Raw ended with a confrontation between Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella and the two are now on a collision course for a match at SummerSlam. Officials had to separate the two at the conclusion of the show, as they would not stop assaulting each other in the middle of the ring.

How will Stephanie respond now that Brie has backed her into a match? Will she take her aggression out on Nikki Bella as she has done for weeks, or will Brie feel the brunt of her anger? Will the Bella Twin manage to get the upper hand on Stephanie?

AJ Lee and Paige continue to feud for the Divas Championship, and Paige fired the latest shot when she brutally assaulted AJ on Smackdown and shoved her off the stage. Medical personnel attended to the champion, who is currently dealing with the storyline injury. Will she appear on Raw tonight to get a measure of revenge against Paige? Or will the young star show up to stake her claim to the top of the Divas division?

Randy Orton savagely attacked Roman Reigns last week around the ringside area for several minutes and punctuated the assault with two RKOs on the announce table, which did not break after the first move. The two are set to have a match at SummerSlam, but will Reigns be able to respond to Orton tonight? Or will the Viper maintain the upper hand against the man who has been a thorn in his side for months?

Finally, Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho continue to clash and will square off again at SummerSlam. Y2J managed to get Erick Rowan removed from ringside at the pay-per-view with a victory over the red-bearded Wyatt Family member on Smackdown. Will he get a similar shot against Luke Harper tonight, or will Bray make sure he has an insurance policy at SummerSlam? The Wyatts have beaten down Jericho often in the past few weeks, so perhaps the Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah can level the playing field 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 what you expect to happen on tonight's Raw by leaving your thoughts, guesses and opinions in the comments below.