It appears that Braun Strowman will stand alone when he challenges Raw Tag Team Champions Sheamus and Cesaro at Wrestlemania 34 on April 8. But The Monster Among Men may have a partner if the rumors are true.
According to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, WWE is looking to add former World Champion Rey Mysterio to the mix as Strowman’s tag team partner at Wrestlemania in his Raw Tag Team title match with The Bar.
Rumors of Mysterio’s involvement at Wrestlemania have been going around for some time. There was speculation he would face John Cena at the event. Mysterio recently suffered a biceps tear that has left him out of a match with Jushin Thunder Liger at Strong Style Evolved. He still appeared at the event, being challenged by IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay and attacked by “The Villain” Marty Scurll.
Injuries aside, there has been speculation he will re-sign with WWE. The company has been looking to bring him back into the fold since he received a positive ovation at this year’s Royal Rumble match. The caveat is Mysterio does not want to work a full-time WWE schedule.
The former World Champion continues to appear outside of WWE and recently became part owner of Aro Lucha, which is out of Nashville.
Even with his wrestling outside of WWE, there is a chance he could appear at the company’s biggest especially if it was an opportunity to give Strowman a boost of sorts.
If the rumors are true and Mysterio ends up tagging with Strowman at Wrestlemania, there may be some fans who are disappointed because they would prefer he was in a high profile match with Cena – but this is a good opportunity for the King of Mystery and it still puts him in a high profile match.
Strowman has been one of the company’s top acts since the brand split in 2016 and having him tag with Mysterio will elevate his stock.
Having someone like Mysterio with Strowman will probably mean the team won’t last long, but it will add momentum to the Monster before he starts chasing for singles titles.
Putting Mysterio with Strowman will not only benefit the big man, but also will also the Bar. Sheamus and Cesaro have also elevated their game since becoming a tag team and are among RAW’s top acts. Having a team like Strowman and Mysterio gives The Bar someone new to face and Mysterio, who is agile and fast, will be a good opponent for powerhouses like Sheamus and Cesaro.
As for Mysterio, teaming with Strowman adds some shine to his WWE return. Winning the Raw Tag Team titles would add another belt to his resume, which already boasts numerous WWE titles – including three world championships. While this would be first time with the Raw tag team titles, Mysterio is a four-time WWE Tag Team Champion, holding the titles with four different partners, all of whom are former world champions: Edge, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero and Batista.
Mia Yim made her return to WWE during Monday Night RAW following her release from the company back on November 4th, 2021, during a segment between The O.C. and The Judgment Day, by attacking Rhea Ripley.
AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson had been looking for some help as they battle with the faction, and Ripley has been a factor in their battles. Now, Yim joins them to help neutralize Ripley.
Yim commented on her return during a backstage interview, and made reference to the former Retribution stable that spelled the end for many promising runs.
“Oh my gosh, it feels so good to be back. It took me a year to try and find myself but now I’m ready. I’m ready to go. I’m ready to kick some ass and get my retribution. But the boys are waiting on me so I’ll see ya later.”
Following the walkout of Sasha Banks and Naomi, who were at the time the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, details have been mum on what would go on with the vacated titles, but now there finally are some details to share.
With rumors that both Banks and Naomi will be returning to the company with Vince McMahon now in charge, the Women’s Tag Team titles are now back in the spotlight after going off the radar at the time of Banks’ and Naomi’s departures.
WWE has officially announced a new tournament to crown new Women’s Tag Team Champions that will finally begin on Raw this upcoming Monday.
While it seems to lineup the returns of Banks and Naomi, no official word has surfaced as of yet.
For Raw, the main event between Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan in a Wrestlemania rematch was a good way to end their show. With this new “Wildcard Rule” being introduced at the beginning of Raw, this led to two Smackdown superstars main eventing a Raw show. While we will look into the “Wildcard Rule” later, the match between these two was back and forth and ended with Kingston retaining his championship. Kofi has all the momentum going into the Money in the Bank PPV, which is great considering he is the WWE Champion.
For Smackdown, after the Hardy Boyz had to forfeit their tag team championships due to injury, the match to determine the new champions was great. After Shane McMahon originally was going to give the titles to Daniel Bryan and Rowan, the Usos interrupted and stated that they should at least get the opportunity to earn them. Daniel Bryan and Rowan ended up winning, which is a positive sight moving forward because it will bring more attention to the division with these two as champions.
The Bad
For Raw, even though things were good for the Usos on Smackdown, they were really bad on Raw. They came out during the Revival’s match and told them that they put Icey Hot on their ring attire. This led to bad acting and just an attempt at humor, which didn’t go well.
For Smackdown, while the Aleister Black promos have been good so far, they are starting to over welcome their stay. This has been going on for about a month, so hopefully we see him in the ring before he loses all momentum.
The Final Verdict
Both brands had interesting shows this week because this new “Wildcard Rule” was introduced. This “Wildcard Rule” means that four superstars from Raw will be on Smackdown and four Smackdown superstars will be on Raw every week. This idea does seem like a bad one though because it will take time away from superstars in their respective brand. Along with that, this is right after the Superstar Shakeup, which now feels completely pointless. As to who had the better show this week though, Smackdown had better matches and was still able to help put good build towards Money in the Bank. In conclusion, Money in the Bank is still about two weeks away, but proper time has been put into it and all the matches gain momentum in build week by week.