Tag Partners Can't Co-Exist Ahead Of WWE WrestleMania 39 Match

SHOCKING development with forced-together partners unable to get along.

by Scott Carlson
WWE Raw Asuka Bianca Belair
WWE.com

It's not surprising to report that WrestleMania 39 opponents who were forced to tag up on WWE Raw Monday night ended up brawling after a match.

What is actually a bit surprising is how this is the second time in three years that Bianca Belair had headed into WrestleMania in the title picture and was forced to tag with her Mania opponent... and yet she fell for the same betrayal both times. This time, it was Asuka, who returned at Royal Rumble to reveal a new look, but not a ton of character development. The Empress of Tomorrow won the women's Elimination Chamber to earn her title shot.

Asuka came to Belair's defense last week when Chelsea Green & Carmella attacked the champ, which prompted this tag match, only Mella wasn't cleared, so Piper Niven took her place.

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Things broke down almost immediately, with Asuka blind tagging in and the partners nearly hitting each other accidentally. Then immediately after the match, the Empress turned on Bianca, adding some unnecessary gravity to the situation.

It's a WWE trope that you had hoped they'd avoid this year, especially in the women's division, and especially with Belair, who was saddled with the same storyline in 2021 heading into WrestleMania 37 against Sasha Banks. It didn't work then, and it isn't working now.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.