Extreme Rules is less than two weeks away and with it will come the revealing of the new number one contender for Brock Lesnar's Universal title.

Lesnar and the title haven't been seen since WrestleMania, but one week from Sunday, five of RAW's top superstars will battle for the right to challenge him for the belt.

High praise

With the absence of Lesnar has also come the absence of his advocate and general fan favourite Paul Heyman.

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Heyman is known as one of the best mic workers within the WWE and he made a surprise appearance on Monday night to once again remind fans of that.

One of the men involved in Sunday's main event Finn Balor made his way to the ring ahead of a one on one contest against his long time friend Karl Anderson, but Balor had something he wanted to say first.

His opportunity would be limited however as he would be interrupted by Heyman's now trademark opening line of "Ladies and Gentlemen."

Heyman would make his way to the ring and would actually heap a lot of praise on the former NXT Champion.

The Advocate would claim that Balor is no-ones victim and that if he should emerge victorious at Extreme Rules, he will pose an interesting challenge for the Beast Incarnate.

Heyman shedding praise onto a potential rival of his client isn't new, but it does normally come with a reminder that - in Heyman's mind, Lesnar will still win.

However he seemed a lot more reserved in his conversation with Balor and the inaugural Universal Champion had a message to be sent back to Lesnar.

Balor expressed an air of confidence and sent the message that he will defeat Lesnar if given the chance back to the Beast.

Extreme Rules is fast approaching and the main event will go a long way to deciding several big feuds on RAW, but before that can happen, one big episode of RAW will take place first.

A big week ahead

At the end of Monday's episode of RAW, a conversation backstage between General Manager Kurt Angle and Finn Balor would announce two huge matches for next week's episode.

Angle announced that not only will there be a triple threat match between Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt and Balor next week, but Seth Rollins will also take on Roman Reigns.

The final episode of RAW before Extreme Rules should be an entertaining one as all five men try their best to build momentum ahead of Extreme Rules.