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Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins are set to defend their RAW Tag Team titles against Andrade and Angel Garza at WWE SummerSlam 2020.
With three weeks to go before the event, Montez Ford was involved in a one-on-one match with Andrade on the August 3 episode of WWE RAW when, all of a sudden, he collapsed after attempting to shake the ropes in his usual comical fashion.
The match was immediately stopped, with the referee seeking medical assistance within seconds of Montez Ford falling to the ring canvas, and it has since emerged that the Street Profits member had been poisoned.
Montez Ford’s wife, fellow WWE Superstar Bianca Belair, is convinced that Zelina Vega is behind the poisoning, but Andrade and Angel Garza’s manager has repeatedly denied that she had anything to do with it.
So, is Vega telling the truth or will other possible suspects be exposed as we get closer to SummerSlam?
In this article, let’s try to get to the bottom of WWE’s latest ‘Whodunnit?’ angle by taking a look at five Superstars who could be responsible for the poisoning of Montez Ford.
#5 Angelo Dawkins
Sorry to disappoint fans of the Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins tag team, but modern-day WWE duos do not usually have a long shelf life.
In 2018-2019, the following duos held the RAW Tag Team titles: Cesaro & Sheamus, Braun Strowman & Nicholas, Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins, Akam & Rezar, Bobby Roode & Chad Gable, Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Braun Strowman & Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, and Erik & Ivar.
Out of those 13 tag team combinations, only two are still together on the WWE roster in August 2020 (Akam & Rezar and Erik & Ivar), while the other two duos that remained intact (Dawson & Wilder and Gallows & Anderson) no longer work for WWE.
Why would Angelo Dawkins poison Montez Ford?
You only need to take a quick look at the ‘Montez Ford future world champion’ Twitter search results to see that many fans are tipping Montez Ford to be the breakout star from the Street Profits tag team.
It would not be at all surprising to see the duo go their separate ways at some point over the next year, with Montez Ford getting the singles push that so many fans believe he should receive.
From a storyline perspective, perhaps Angelo Dawkins is jealous that Montez Ford is the star of the team and he wants to prove that he can succeed on his own?
If that is the case, the timing is certainly strange – they are the RAW Tag Team Champions after all – but we have seen stranger stories than this in WWE!
#4 Zelina Vega
Although Zelina Vega continues to claim that she did not poison Montez Ford, Bianca Belair is certain that her fellow WWE RAW Superstar is the person who tried to sabotage her husband’s SummerSlam match.
Belair, who is so convinced of Vega’s guilt that she broke into her home to attack her during a Twitch stream, explained her theory about Vega on the latest episode of RAW Talk.
“Obviously, they know that they can't beat The Street Profits. Let's just put it that way. So they have to do something sneaky. And Zelina, she is like the brain of the operation. She is always controlling her boys and she is always thinking of doing something crazy instead of simply just relying on their talent.”
Why would Zelina Vega poison Montez Ford?
As Belair said, Vega has a clear motive to poison Montez Ford: she wants Andrade and Angel Garza to win the RAW Tag Team titles at SummerSlam.
If Montez Ford cannot compete or if he is less than 100 percent, that means Vega’s men obviously stand a better chance of claiming the titles.
Despite Vega’s denials, there is no way she can be deemed innocent in this ‘Whodunnit?’ saga just yet.
#3 A member of RETRIBUTION
RETRIBUTION made their first appearance on WWE RAW on the same night that Montez Ford’s poisoning emerged.
The masked assailants threw Molotov cocktails at a power generator outside WWE’s Performance Center, setting it on fire.
As of the time of writing, the identity of the faction members remains unclear, but it looks like they will continue to wreak havoc on both RAW and SmackDown in the build-up to SummerSlam.
Why would RETRIBUTION poison Montez Ford?
Why wouldn’t RETRIBUTION poison Montez Ford?!
So far, the unknown members of the group have attacked equipment around WWE’s Performance Center, as well as some PC recruits, and it is inevitable that they will turn their attention to Superstars on RAW and SmackDown at some point.
Looking through social media, plenty of WWE fans have predicted that RETRIBUTION could be behind Montez Ford’s poisoning.
When you consider that the new faction appears to have male and female members, perhaps the poisoning could help set up a rivalry with The Street Profits’ Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, with Bianca Belair also involved.
#2 A Viking Raiders member
Following Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins’ victory over Angel Garza and Austin Theory at WrestleMania 36, they became involved in an intriguing rivalry with The Viking Raiders’ Erik and Ivar.
When tag teams feud in WWE, the inevitable Tag Team Championship match usually happens after a non-title victory or a variety of singles matches between the duos on RAW or SmackDown.
In this case, the build-up to The Street Profits vs. The Viking Raiders at Backlash saw the teams face off in a series of “Anything You Can Do, We Can Do Better” challenges.
The backstage brawl at Backlash came to an end when all four Superstars encountered a tentacled creature in a dumpster (yes, really!). Then, after weeks of build-up, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins won the rivalry when they retained their titles against The Viking Raiders on RAW.
Why would The Viking Raiders poison Montez Ford?
Simple: Heel turn!
The Viking Raiders have not been involved in a meaningful storyline since their rivalry with Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins came to an end. For that reason alone, it would not be a surprise to see the former RAW Tag Team Champions turn heel and set their sights on The Street Profits.
With the exception of RAW Underground, Erik and Ivar are unlikely to become singles Superstars in the near future. That means they will stay in the tag division and almost certainly target the RAW Tag Team titles again.
We have already seen a comedy storyline between Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins and Erik & Ivar, so perhaps the rivalry could be revisited with a more serious tone.
#1 Andrade and/or Angel Garza
Would WWE fans be satisfied to find out that either one of Montez Ford’s top two rivals poisoned him? No, because that would be really obvious storytelling and the weekly ‘Whodunnit?’ updates would have seemed meaningless.
Let’s face it, though, WWE’s mystery reveals are not always the most exciting. Last month, the company teased that Alexa Bliss would be joined by a “marquee guest” who “promised to have the blue brand abuzz”. That person turned out to be Asuka, who fans see every week on RAW.
Then there’s the hacker storyline, which appears to have been dropped without anybody being revealed as the mystery man behind the monitors.
Why would Andrade and/or Angel Garza poison Montez Ford?
With the SummerSlam match confirmed, it would make sense for Andrade or Angel Garza to give themselves the best opportunity at winning the RAW Tag Team titles by weakening Montez Ford as much as possible.
Zelina Vega’s men are heel Superstars who do not care about beating the best version of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins. They simply want to win, no matter what the cost, to ensure that they leave SummerSlam with the titles.
