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WWE WrestleMania week ensured that fans got some top action from the company’s major events. WWE RAW aired the night after WrestleMania, and fans saw a couple of top superstars return to the brand.
Drew McIntyre became the #1 contender to the WWE Championship once again just a couple of nights after losing at WrestleMania 37. The New Day continued to compete against the tag teams of RAW soon after losing their RAW Tag Team titles. Will Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods get a rematch for the titles just like most other champions do?
The new WWE NXT Champion opened up the show with an intense promo. Will anyone dare to cross Karrion Kross’s path as he begins another journey as the NXT Champion?
Santos Escobar had a rough night as he failed to retain his NXT Cruiserweight Championship. KUSHIDA stacked up Escobar to become the new champion. Will Escobar start aiming higher after losing his title?
Roman Reigns opened up WWE SmackDown and made it clear that no one on the roster deserved to stand in his way. Cesaro took exception to that statement and came out to confront The Tribal Chief.
The Street Profits failed to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, while Rey Mysterio pinned Alpha Academy’s Otis. Will Rey and Dominik Mysterio finally win the SmackDown Tag Team titles?
Let’s take a look at the five things that must happen on WWE RAW, NXT and SmackDown this week.
#5 MVP must give T-Bar and Mace a chance to join The Hurt Business on WWE RAW
Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton competed in a Triple Threat Match on WWE RAW. All three men tried to win the match and become the #1 contender to the WWE Championship held by Bobby Lashley.
At the end of the match, Orton came close to a victory following an RKO to Strowman before McIntyre flattened him with a Claymore. The Scottish Warrior came out as the #1 contender to the WWE Championship once again before MVP showed up.
The distraction allowed T-Bar and Mace to come out of nowhere and take out McIntyre with a double chokeslam. Baron Corbin failed to take out McIntyre before WrestleMania, and it looks like MVP could have recruited new superstars to his faction.
This week on RAW, WWE must allow MVP to open up the night and explain what happened last week. He must reveal that T-Bar and Mace wanted to take up the challenge of laying out McIntyre after Corbin failed to do so.
MVP must then offer the former members of RETRIBUTION a chance to join The Hurt Business if they can successfully eliminate McIntyre from the equation before WrestleMania Backlash.
The entire storyline will allow WWE to put hurdles in The Scottish Warrior’s way once again as he tries to rise to the challenge.
#4 Rhea Ripley must attack Charlotte Flair on WWE RAW
WWE RAW saw a few major superstars return to the show after WrestleMania. Former RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders made their comeback and defeated Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin.
Charlotte Flair was another surprise return on RAW. The Queen of WWE came out to talk about her absence and put the RAW Women’s Champion on notice. She reappeared during the match between Asuka and Rhea Ripley and attacked both superstars before standing tall.
This week on RAW, WWE must allow Ripley to come out and attack Flair during her match against Asuka. She must then review her past rivalry with The Queen and her NXT Women’s Championship loss at WWE WrestleMania 36.
Following her promo, The Nightmare must warn Flair that she’s not the same Ripley she faced at WrestleMania last year, and issue her a challenge for WWE Backlash.
The angle will put Ripley on the map as a fighting champion and build towards her next big assignment for the upcoming pay-per-view. Flair and Ripley put on some good matches in 2020, and they could replicate that in 2021.
#3 Alexander Wolfe must lure Killian Dain into Imperium on WWE NXT
Killian Dain and Drake Maverick got a big opportunity on WWE NXT last week. The two superstars challenged MSK for the NXT Tag Team Championships. While Maverick took a lot of punishment during the match, he continued to fight on. Dain managed to level MSK and came close to victory on a couple of occasions.
In the end, MSK was able to retain their titles after taking out Maverick with End Transmission. After the match, Alexander Wolfe appeared to distract Dain. This allowed Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner to ambush The Beast of Belfast to end the segment.
Many WWE fans will be aware of Wolfe and Dain’s partnership as part of SAnitY. Imperium first tried to target Timothy Thatcher, but seem to have turned their focus onto The Beast of Belfast.
This week on NXT, WWE must allow Wolfe to once again confront Dain and try and talk him into joining Imperium. The NXT faction is currently one of the most dominant factions in WWE, and Dain’s inclusion could make it much bigger.
Dain currently does not have any major storylines, and his alliance with Imperium could allow him a chance to grow.
#2 Dexter Lumis must get in contention for the WWE NXT North American Championship
Dexter Lumis has been in a rivalry with The Way for some time on WWE NXT. After kidnapping Austin Theory, Lumis took Indi Hartwell to the backstage area on last week’s show.
However, Lumis is still waiting to get his shot at Johnny Gargano’s NXT North American Championship. Bronson Reed won the Gauntlet Match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, and failed to defeat Gargano the next night.
Reed, Lumis, Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart teamed up this week for an eight-person tag team match against The Way. Reed pinned Theory to win the contest for his team.
This week on NXT, Lumis must continue his epic rivalry with Gargano and finally get himself a shot at Gargano’s title. Lumis must defeat LA Knight on NXT this week and then hunt down Gargano. He must then come across Hartwell backstage and use her to get a match against the NXT North American Champion.
Hartwell must appear infatuated with Lumis and force Gargano to offer a match to Lumis to end this rivalry once and for all. That could end up being The Tortured Artist’s big chance to win his first title in WWE.
#1 Dominik Mysterio must defeat Chad Gable on WWE SmackDown
The Street Profits got another opportunity to win back the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford went up against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode for the titles.
While Dawkins and Ford were impressive throughout the match, a blind tag allowed Ziggler to pick up the victory for his team. Earlier in the night, Rey Mysterio defeated Otis from The Alpha Academy to turn a few heads.
This week on SmackDown, WWE must allow Dominik Mysterio to compete in a match against Chad Gable. Dominik must show a lot of heart in the contest and defeat Gable to make a statement.
The Street Profits seem to be out of the equation for the tag team titles now, and the field is wide open for The Mysterios to enter the picture and get their shot at the titles.
The victory will allow WWE to build towards a rivalry between the SmackDown Tag Team Champions and the father-son duo. WWE could then book a match between the two teams for the titles at Backlash and allow The Mysterios to win their first titles together in WWE.
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