With less than a week to go until the Royal Rumble event, tension in the WWE locker room is at an all-time high. Brock Lesnar will be in the house. So will – finally – Batista. Daniel Bryan, seemingly king of the world at the end of last week’s Raw, has a bull’s-eye on his back for this one. And with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship hanging in the balance next Sunday, what will go down on tonight's Raw?

Here comes the pain

Brock Lesnar sends a painful message to "The World's Strongest Man."

According to Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar hasn’t been as impressed with Big Show’s recent hot streak as the rest of the WWE Universe has. The giant, for his part, hasn’t shown much fear in the face of The Anomaly, and the final face-off between the two titans before their Royal Rumble contest will likely be as tense as it gets. Heyman has often said that Lesnar doesn’t fight for free, but might The Beast Incarnate break his rule when he faces The World’s Largest Athlete on Raw?

Enter The Animal

Batista will make his return to WWE this Monday on Raw.

We’re tired of waiting, too. Batista finally returns to Raw for the first time in almost four years this Monday. And while The Animal certainly has a fair amount of business he’ll likely attend to, first on the list is probably Alberto Del Rio, who has insulted the former WWE Champion over the past month at every turn. With the man himself under the same roof as his self-proclaimed rival, it’ll be time to pay the piper before long.

The prodigal son

Daniel Bryan breaks free from The Wyatt Family and ends Raw on a high note.

Bray Wyatt’s seemingly successful plan to adopt Daniel Bryan into The Wyatt Family went down in flames last week when the submission master shed his Wyatt garb and – locked inside a steel cage with no one able to interfere – tore The Eater of Worlds apart. If Bray’s sermon on SmackDown was any indication, though, he’s not done with Bryan by a long shot. Can the fan favorite evade the preacher’s wrath, or is their gruesome rivalry finally coming to a head?

This time it's personal

Following an attack at the hands of Randy Orton, John Cena and some EMT's help John Cena Sr. out of the arena. To get a first look at more exclusives like this, check out the official WWE App!

The stakes were already high for Randy Orton’s WWE World Heavyweight Title defense against John Cena at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Yet The Champion of Champions still managed to up the ante by attacking Cena’s father at ringside last week, giving the former Champ a personal stake in the highly anticipated bout. How will Cena respond to Orton’s heinous actions in the last Raw before their match?

Here comes the Kane

CM Punk ends SmackDown on a painful note.

The Devil’s Favorite Director of Operations has been teasing a potential return to his monstrous roots for some time now, displaying his mask in a glass case and throwing ominous threats in the direction of his enemies. But lately only one Superstar has managed to bring out the demon within: CM Punk. Harsh words on Raw led to an eruption of rage from the corporate heavy when he chokeslammed the former WWE Champion at the close of SmackDown. Might Punk’s anti-Authority mentality have resurrected The Big Red Monster? Tune in to Raw, live Monday 8/7 CT on USA Network to find out!