WWE Raw Preview: The MYSTERY partner in the season premiere can only be a woman…

Raw will air tonight (September 9) with a live show from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This is the second episode of Raw during the five-week preparation for Bad Blood, which takes place on October 5th in Atlanta.

The MYSTERIOUS partner on the season premiere of Raw can only be a woman…

WWE is promoting tonight's episode of Raw as the season premiere, presumably after forgetting to promote last week's episode as the season finale.

Regardless, one of the matches scheduled for tonight is a 6-woman tag team bout: Lyra Valkyria, Zelina Vega & MYSTERY PARTNER vs. Pure Fusion Collective (Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark & ​​​​Sonya Deville).

The PFC numbers game was too much for Lyra and Zelina this week, so Lyra said she had an idea how to change that. Raw happens to be taking place in Calgary, so the mystery partner is pretty obvious in my opinion. It has to be local hero Natalya, right?

Natalya hasn't wrestled on Raw since early June, but she reportedly signed a new contract with WWE over the summer. Her Uncle Bret will be in the house, so a surprise return from Natalya in Hart Country to help the babyfaces wipe the floor with PFC makes perfect sense.

Am I wrong? Could the MYSTERY partner possibly be someone else? Let me know who you think it is in the comments below, Cagesiders.

The rest of the map

Rumor has it that Bret “The Hitman” Hart will appear in a segment tonight with World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER. How will the Ring General react if someone with Bret's impeccable reputation in the ring actually offers his support to Sami Zayn?

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair defend the gold tonight against former champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. These teams have been battling hard all summer, so hopefully this will be the last encounter before both move on to something new. Once again, it seems the only way for the Unholy Union to win is for Cargill and Belair to attack each other.

The Intercontinental Championship The Challengers' Tournament concludes tonight with a four-way match between Jey Uso, Braun Strowman, Pete Dunne, and Ilja Dragunov. Dunne will likely pay for cheating on Sheamus last week. Strowman may not have recovered enough from Bronson Reed's car tsunami to keep up with Jey and Ilja for long. Uso has proven to be at least a little better than Dragunov in terms of kayfabe, so he looks like the presumptive favorite. Then again, anyone can legally interfere in a match like this, so who knows what the hell will happen. Maybe Bron Breakker will show up and ram the shit out of them all.

Chad Gable must have a death wish because he has challenged the Wyatt Sicks to a street fight to prove that American Made is the greatest fighting family in WWE. The match is official for tonight. It looks like it will be an 8-person tag team match pitting Gable, The Creeds and Ivy Nile against Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis and Erick Rowan. Will Uncle Howdy be laughing the whole time or does Gable have a plan in mind to actually give the Wyatts their first loss?

Also announced for tonight is Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee. Will this be a huge mess if the rest of The Judgment Day, the LWO and Damian Priest all decide to participate?

Other things to keep in mind

– What will Drew McIntyre say after forcing CM Punk to choke on his bracelet in a brutal attack last week?

– Will Punk recover from his injuries as quickly as Braun Strowman did recently, not to get revenge on Drew, but to get within striking distance of the legendary Bret Hart? CM just can't get enough of this guy.

– World champion in women's tennis Liv Morgan tried to hurt Rhea Ripley's leg last week and Mami was limping around at the end of the episode. Is Rhea healthy enough to challenge Morgan to a title shot at Bad Blood?

– Hey, how's Seth Rollins? Will he be back soon to get revenge on Bronson Reed, or does Reed need to add a few more victims to his tsunami list?

– Besides the MYSTERY partner, does Triple H have any other surprises planned for the season premiere of Raw?

– Where the hell is Omos?

What are you looking for on Raw?