Monday Night Raw Preview 5/25/15: Memorial Day Edition Builds to Elimination Chamber on Sunday

The May 25, 2015 edition of WWE's Monday Night Raw will emanate live from the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York and will continue to build toward both the Elimination Chamber WWE Network special on Sunday and the Money in the Bank pay-per-view next month.

First and foremost, it's Memorial Day in the U.S., which means WWE will do something to pay tribute to our fallen soldiers. Say what you will about the company, but they almost always hit the mark when it comes to these sorts of tributes and video packages, so it should be time well spent.

It has also been announced that the cast of the former HBO series and upcoming movie Entourage will be the guest hosts of the show. Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, and Kevin Dillon will all be on hand and will be involved in at least one segment. Call me crazy, but expect a Macho Mandow and Curtis Axel appearance.

Now, onto the speculation. Last week, Dean Ambrose attacked Seth Rollins during the latter's "appreciation" segment and held him hostage until Triple H and Stephanie McMahon booked him in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match on Sunday. Ambrose nearly decapitated Rollins with a chair shot on a pile of cinderblocks, but J&J Security, Kane, and the rest of the Authority intervened, and the show ended with Rollins planting Ambrose into the mat face first with the Pedigree.

What will the unhinged Ambrose do tonight to try to get some payback on his former Shield brother? Rollins has the entire Authority protecting him at almost all times, so how will Ambrose manage to get to Rollins? Will he just charge in headlong like he did last week? Or will he come up with another plan?

Randy Orton and Roman Reigns were absent from Raw last week, though Reigns did return on Thursday Night SmackDown to declare his entry into the Money in the Bank Ladder Match (an entry which Kane later denied) and help Ambrose defeat Bray Wyatt by Superman Punching the interfering Seth Rollins and J&J Security. Will either or both men return to television tonight? And, if so, will they try to qualify for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match? They seem like two prime candidates for spots in the multi-man match, but the Authority would likely make them compete to earn a place.

We also know the six men who will be in the Elimination Chamber match on Sunday for the vacant Intercontinental Championship: King Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, Rusev, Ryback, Sheamus, and R-Truth. A week ago I would have bet that this match ends with Neville delivering a Red Arrow off the top of one of the pods to win the belt, but apparently he's too preoccupied with Bo Dallas. WWE will likely book these six men in some sort of multi-man match tonight, likely a six-man tag of Ziggler, Ryback, and Truth vs. Barrett, Rusev, and Sheamus. And don't forget there's an added layer with Rusev and Ziggler after Lana left the former and smooched the latter.

We also have the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, with Kofi Kingston and Big E of The New Day facing The Prime Time Players, The Ascension, Los Matadores, The Lucha Dragons, and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Expect some combination of these teams to mix it up tonight, and possibly a 12-man brawl.

Nikki Bella will defend her Divas Championship against Paige and Naomi in a Triple Threat match at Elimination Chamber. WWE occasionally inches towards treating their women's storylines with the proper respect, so let's see if they get time to properly build this tonight.

Last but certainly not least, John Cena will face Kevin Owens on Sunday after the NXT Champion insulted and powerbombed the United States Champion last week. Cena will almost certainly have a response to Owens, but will the NXT Champion, who defended his title against Sami Zayn on NXT Takeover: Unstoppable last week and made a new enemy in Samoa Joe, appear in person 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.