Brie Bella and Paige are the new WWE women's tag team champions, capturing the titles at WWE WrestleMania 42 Saturday in a surprise return for The Anti-Diva.
Let’s go over the key moments that led here, what took place, and what may come next.
How We Got Here & Match Details:
When WWE realized Bianca Belair would not be able to return from her hand injury in time to face Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Championship, they decided to pivot to Rhea Ripley as Cargill's challenger. This forced them to take the tag team titles away from RHIYO (Ripley and Iyo Sky) and to move in a different direction. In all likelihood, the original plan for WrestleMania was probably to have Ripley and Sky defend the titles in a multi-team match just like this, but with a slightly different setup.
Nevertheless, Nia Jax and Lash Legend won the belts on the February 27th edition of Friday Night SmackDown and proceeded to feud with the other teams in the division over the past two months. It has been a pattern mostly consisting of Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, and The Bella Twins all fighting each other at random intervals while The Irresistible Forces are the predominant heels, with the other teams all having various fan support against one another.
Nikki Bella suffered an injury heading into WrestleMania and unfortunately was not medically cleared to compete in time for this match. For The Bella Twins' entrance, Nikki told the crowd that she had found a replacement to team with Brie, calling on an old friend from the past to fill in for her. That friend was Paige, who hasn't wrestled for WWE back in 2017 and was forced to retire from the ring due to an injury suffered in a match against Sasha Banks. After being a manager and member of the broadcast team and other roles, she left WWE and joined the All Elite Wrestling roster, where she was able to not only wrestle again, but win the AEW Women's World Championship. Since leaving AEW, it has been long speculated that she would return to WWE.
Paige was able to actually score the victory for her team by pinning Alexa Bliss after her Rampaige DDT.
Personal Reactions & What Happens Next?:
It's a shame that Nikki Bella wasn't able to compete, let alone win the tag team titles with her sister. The Bella Twins feel like a necessity to have in the history books for the women's tag team title lineage. However, as much as that's a negative, a good portion of the fan base will be even more thrilled with this surprise and Paige's return. I don't think it will be a particularly long run for them as champions, but it will be interesting to see what they do with this dynamic. I think we could see Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez as the next champions, if I'm going to toss out a prediction.
Tell us what you think about this title change by leaving a comment below! Who do you think will be the next in line to challenge for the title, or possibly even win the belt next? Keep the discussion going!