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What's the story?
Over the past couple of months, it has been rumored that Braun Strowman would challenge The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, but according to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, those plans are no longer on the table.
In case you didn't know...
WrestleMania is just 40 days away when it takes place live from the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 8th. The festivities kick off with the WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony on Friday, April 6th and carry through all the way to SmackDown Live on Tuesday, April 10th.
The heart of the matter
The results of Monday Night Raw made that pretty evident as Kurt Angle made The Miz go back-to-back facing Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. Rollins also took exception to Balor "stealing his spotlight" as he made his entrance while Seth's music was still playing.
As for Strowman, many believed that his plans would change to Kane since it was reported he would be at Raw, but Kane didn't appear on television. Instead, he continued his feud with Elias; which the match ended in a DQ when Elias used a fire extinguisher on Strowman.
Meltzer did indicate that if anything should happen, Strowman could be plan B for Miz. It doesn't necessarily mean injuries to Rollins or Balor, as The Bar doesn't have a clear-cut feud for WrestleMania, but they have been facing the tag team of Rollins and Balor at WWE Live events.
At this point, the Raw tag division might make up most of the field in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal now that The Bar's feud with Titus Worldwide is over.
What's next?
The WrestleMania feuds continue to ramp up on the Raw roster as they head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for next week's edition of Monday Night Raw. They will be live from the BMO Harris Bradley Center where it's been announced that Nia Jax will face Asuka in an Elimination Chamber rematch.
Author's take
I honestly love this direction for the WrestleMania card a lot more than having Strowman kill Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. I really enjoyed the progression of the Elias and Strowman feud, and while no one believes that Elias will beat Strowman, having him get the upper hand on nights like last night helps in his development.
As for the Intercontinental Championship picture, a triple threat with Miz, Rollins, and Balor could honestly steal the show if AJ Styles and Nakamura weren't on the card. It's going to be fun to watch the tensions mount between Balor and Rollins with Miz being the instigator.
