The RAW and SmackDown Live episodes after WrestleMania are considered to be the “New Years of Wrestling”. It’s the moment when everything can happen. A wrestler will come back from injury, an NXT rookie will make his debut on the main roster, a former WWE Superstar will comeback. Over the last few years, on WrestleMania Monday, Finn Balor and Cesaro came back from injury. Big Cass and Enzo Amore, The Vaudevillains or Apollo Crews made their debut in the main roster but it’s also a moment to celebrate and enjoy what the new Champions crowned at WrestleMania
What is going to happen tonight and tomorrow night? When it comes to predicting the unpredictable, the SteelChair Mag writers are pretty good at this game. Let’s find out what they expect to see happen…
Authors of Pain align with Samoa Joe and form a stable. Picture the scene Braun and his new Tag Team Partner are cutting a promo after winning the tag belts at WrestleMania. All of a sudden Authors of Pains intro music hits and three hooded figures stand in the entrance Akam and Rezar rip their hoods off and then rip the hood off the man in the middle and it’s Samoa Joe! You would also not need Ellering who may be reluctant to go on the road full-time with WWE.
Ember Moon. Although we didn’t get the traditional “Thank you Ember” chant after her match at NXT Takeover: New Orleans, Ember needs to move on for the sake of NXT women’s division. She hasn’t had a massive amount of layers added to her character however that seems less important on the main roster than NXT and she has a unique look that fans will get behind and she would provide a hard-hitting threat to either Nia or Alexa post Mania.
Sheamus to retire. There’s been rumours around for a while that Sheamus is having issues similar to the ones that ended Edge and Stone Cold Steve Austins career and thats why The Bar has been a team for so long. However we all know that sort of issue doesn’t go away and I still think he could offer a lot behind the scenes so maybe its a good time for the ‘Great White’ to transition to the backstage, maybe even help with the new UK tournament.
I also believe Andrade Cien Almas will debut on SmackDown and immediately go into the US title hunt.
The sentence “Anything can happen in WWE” has never been truer. Six titles changed hands yesterday, it’s a lot, and with rumours of a shakeup have been running rampant over the last few weeks. That doesn’t mean WrestleMania Monday magic shouldn’t happen…
Who’s going to come back from injury? With the long list of currently injured wrestlers, there is plenty of choice. It’s not going to happen for Dean Ambrose (he’s still wearing a string) and Jeff Hardy (because of the trial related to the DWI he was involved in) but for Samoa Joe, Big Cass and Jason Jordan, it’s absolutely possible.
Who’s going to come back? Please, please, not Alberto El Patron/Del Rio. He may have been fired this weekend by Impact, I don’t want him to come back to WWE. As far as Rey Mysterio is concerned, his current biceps injury for me is not a reason not to make him come back and build a storyline. Bobby Lashley is another interesting name. Feuds with Braun Strowman or Samoa Joe could be epic for The Walking Armageddon. I don’t think Daniel Bryan will stay General Manager of SmackDown Live now that he found his way back to the ring. Jeff Jarrett is rumoured to replace him but with what happened on RAW between Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon, I would see him become GM of RAW and Angle move to SmackDown Live as GM.
What about NXT? Teams like TM-61, Authors of Pain and SAnitY are definitely ready for the main roster, for Ember Moon, it would be a little too soon but for Andrade Cien Almas, the time would be perfect, why not with Rey Mysterio as manager? Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa put an end to their feud at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, one of them could make his debut on main roster as could Kassius Ohno.
Now we just have to wait and see…
All pics courtesy of WWE