Csonka 5 Possible Partners For Shane McMahon at WrestleMania

The issues with Shane McMahon & Kevin Owens have been going on for well over half a year, with Owens going insane over Shane McMahon “allegedly” costing him matches, which also gave us the Owens head butting Vince McMahon angle. Shane and Owens feuded, they went to HIAC, leading to the reunion of Kevin & Sami. Shane wanted to fire the duo, but Daniel Bryan gave them a stay of execution. This led to issues between Shane & Bryan as they tried to run Smackdown, and with their issues, the hopes that Bryan would wrestle again. On Tuesday’s Smackdown, the latest chapter of the story played out as Shane announces Zayn vs. Owens for WrestleMania. Zayn & Owens were happy to get the Mania spot but had unfinished business with Shane, who had just announced his leave of absence from his role on the show. They brutally beat down Shane, laying him out backstage, and Shane was stretchered out. Nothing is official at this time, but the odds are that we’re getting a triple threat match or a tag match where Shane gets back up and looks to finish the fight. But who would tag with Shane We’ll discuss that today. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy today’s column, and feel free to share your thoughts and picks. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.”

No One: In theory, there could be no tag team partner, as they could always go with a triple threat match. If they did that, I feel that’s a mistake because there are already too many multi-man matches on the card as is. But WWE will do what they want to give Shane his yearly match to play wrestler in order to justify his $1 million plus salary for being “a talent.” I think it will be a tag match, but Vince could always pull a “fuck you, that’s why” and go triple threat so his boy can throw shitty punches and get gassed until he looks like he’s having a heart attack.

Daniel Bryan: In a perfect world, Daniel Bryan is the answer. Shane & Bryan have been at odds over Zayn & Owens, with Bryan feeling that they are worth keeping around and giving a chance to, while Shane thinks they need to be fired but kept failing to do so. While Bryan ended up being right, Shane got overly invested on an emotional level and made poor choices, including costing Zayn & Owens the WWE title. But Bryan was also wrong because he put his faith in Zayn & Owens; their attack on Shane could be the thing that makes Bryan see the light and want to help Shane. But the issue holding this up is the fact that Bryan isn’t cleared, and while he’s supposedly gotten cleared outside of WWE, the odds on WWE clearing Bryan seem none and well… none. WWE is a publicly traded company, has been fighting off concussion lawsuits ever since the NFL has issues with it. WWE doesn’t want to open themselves up and damage their fights in their current lawsuits, and the last thing they want is, God forbid, Bryan to take the wrong bump and have a Misawa-like career ending injury. For as much as the story makes sense for a comeback, and as much as Bryan wants to come back and as much as some fans want him back, I completely understand WWE not clearing him.

Rey Mysterio: If WWE continues to refuse to clear Bryan, then looking into a big name star to return and make a comeback is a solid secondary plan. Mysterio made a surprise return at the Rumble and before his arm injury, was supposed to meet with WWE to work out a deal to return. According to recent reports, Mysterio’s arm injury is thankfully a minor one, and WWE is still interested in bringing him in. Mysterio got a great reaction at the Rumble, looked in great shape, and worked with the roster as if he never left. Mysterio is 43, and if he’s going to make a WWE comeback, the time is now due to his injury history, and also because there are a lot of fresh matches for him to have. Of course the issue with Mysterio is that the injury may be much worse than reported, and if it is, WWE’s doctors may not clear him to work the show, which means that while a good idea, there may be some obstacles with the choice, but he’d be a fun one for sure, especially working against Kevin & Sami. It also may be hard to do following the news that Mysterio has joined Nashville-based Aro Lucha as a performer and co-owner of the company.

Dolph Ziggler: If Bryan remains medically disqualified and Mysterio is a no go, WWE would likely have to look internally, and pick a regular Smackdown talent. One of Smackdown’s bigger names with absolutely no direction and dying to get on the Mania card is Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler has honestly been directionless since his great feud with the Miz, and his booking on Smackdown has been completely horrible. From his horrible entrance theme gimmick, winning the US title only to give it up, coming back and being tossed from the Rumble like a goof, and then not caring about the US title and being added to the Fastlane main event for… reasons. They can play it up as Shane picked his “model employee,” the one that always works hard and has been reliable to him. he’s a solid fallback plan, but despite the fact that his fans tell me he deserves more and the fact that Ziggler constantly talks about how good he is, I haven’t cared about anything involving him since that angle with Miz. He’d be a fine, but an ultimately disappointing choice.

Chris Jericho: For my last selection, I’m going to go Chris Jericho. With Bryan working almost an impossibility, Rey being problematic with his injury, and Ziggler a disappointing option, I could see WWE reaching out to Chris Jericho. Jericho made waves in late 2017 & early 2018 working with Kenny Omega and NJPW. He was set up to work with Tetsuya Naito next, but there’s been no new build to the match, and Jericho recently said on Twitter that he was done with NJPW. The thing is that you really are never sure what to believe with Jericho. He loves to be in control, work the fans, and not let people know what’s coming, which is why the NJPW stuff played so well and got so much attention; Jericho played it extremely well. He’s obviously still on good terms with WWE, appearing at Raw 25, and is reportedly working the upcoming rumble event in Saudi Arabia. Jericho loves doing what he wants, when he wants. He has also claimed that he won’t come back unless it’s a big deal, and WrestleMania is rather big. Jericho coming in would get another big star on the show, a star that has a lot of buzz thanks to his brief NJPW stint, and also someone who has a past with Kevin Owens (his last TV losses involved Owens), and they of course feuded last year. The problem with Jericho right now is that WrestleMania is on April 8th and that he has a Fozzy concert scheduled for that day. It’s the last date of the current tour, and one would have to think that If WWE wanted him bad enough that they would cut a deal with him to make it worth his while and to possibly reschedule the date.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”