WWE will air the November 9, 2015 edition of Monday Night Raw on tape delay from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, and this three-hour show will need to adjust the entirety of the top of the card after Seth Rollins' injury as we head toward the Survivor Series pay-per-view on Sunday, November 22. The show will air on the USA Network at 8 p.m. Eastern, but if you can't watch there, try here or here – both links broadcast free live streams of the show (this may require downloading a torrent).
Most wrestling fans know the story by now, but we'll refresh your memory just in case. Rollins destroyed his knee during a live event in Ireland last week. More scientifically, he tore the ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus in his right knee, and his anticipated rehab time is six to nine months. This is clearly a devastating situation for Rollins, who was doing fantastic work as a heel champion and was on top of his game.
But as the saying goes, the show must go on. Rollins was scheduled to face No. 1 Contender Roman Reigns at Survivor Series, but clearly that is not happening anymore. WWE has chosen, smartly, to hold a tournament at the pay-per-view to decide the next champion, but this also brings up several new questions.
How do we determine a new champion? WWE could choose to hold the entire tournament on the actual night of Survivor Series just like it did in 1998 with the "Deadly Game." The only other official match thus far for this pay-per-view is Paige vs. Charlotte for the WWE Divas Championship, so in theory, WWE could make it all happen in one night.
But that would require, theoretically, pushing aside some other storylines, such as Bray Wyatt's new supernatural powers. In addition, Undertaker must appear somewhere on the card (we don't know if you've seen the advertisements, but this is his 25th anniversary), and there's no chance WWE puts him in the title tournament.
The more likely route is to hold the first-round matches on Raw tonight and next week, and then air the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals at Survivor Series.
And what about Roman Reigns? Is his No. 1 Contender status now meaningless? He could and probably should get a bye into the next round because he's earned some competitive advantage, and it's a good bet he's going to win it all regardless.
There are numerous ways WWE could take this story, and we'll find out which way they go starting tonight.
Will you be watching Monday Night Raw tonight? Let us know in the comments section below.
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