WrestleMania 35 preview: Raw Tag Team Championship

The Revival defends the Raw Tag Team Championships against recently-reunited former champs, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, this Sunday at WrestleMania 35. Will the “Top Guys” retain, or will Hawkins and Ryder score a major victory?

WrestleMania 35’s match card is packed full, but until Thursday afternoon something was missing: The Raw Tag Team Championship. Raw came and went on Monday night, and it appeared as if The Revival were going to miss out on the biggest show of the year.

They’d successfully defended their titles against Aleister Black and Ricochet earlier in the evening,  but didn’t end their night with WrestleMania challengers or a storyline, at least until the WWE released an exclusive clip of Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder approaching the champs requesting a title shot on Sunday. The Top Guys laughed it off and sent the former tag champions away without a response. After all, what’d Hawkins and Ryder done recently to deserve a match with Raw’s best tag team? Hawkins is 0-269 since his return to WWE, and Ryder has been so aimless it’s nearly insulting to the concept of direction. Then, on Thursday, The Revival reconsidered and accepted the challenge via Twitter.

While this may seem hurried or uninspired, there’s actually a story here. The WWE appeared to be leading toward this match back in January, until NXT call-ups arrived and began dominating the tag scene. Plus, The Revival is technically responsible for the reformation of Hawkins and Ryder. After losing a tag title match against Bobby Roode and Chad Gable on the Jan. 21 episode of Raw, The Revival, then-frustrated at their inability to capture gold since their call-up, decided to rough-up special guest referee, Hawkins, leading to Ryder making the save. The following week, Hawkins and Ryder reunited formally after 10 years, in a losing effort against The Revival. WWE leaned into a story about whether or not reconstructing the former Major Brothers was the right play, considering Hawkins’ historic losing streak, and Ryder answered emphatically in a backstage promo, “promising” he and Hawkins would win the titles again. Then, NXT arrived.

Hawkins and Ryder found themselves on the outside, as The Revival, now Raw Tag Team champs, were preoccupied with Black and Ricochet and D.I.Y. By the looks of it, the former Edgeheads were going to be a victim of WWE’s occasional start-stop storytelling and intentional forgetfulness. Then D.I.Y. disbanded and Tommaso Ciampa needed surgery, Black and Ricochet found themselves in the Smackdown Tag Title picture, and WWE was less than four days from ‘Mania without a Raw Tag Title match on the books; enter Hawkins and Ryder back to tell their tale of reunion and redemption.

The Revival is wildly talented, highly respected by fans, and internet darlings for good reason; their NXT matches against D.I.Y., American Alpha and The Authors of Pain are some of the most exceptional tag work you’ll ever see. However, despite their current struggles, Hawkins and Ryder are more than credible challengers. Although they haven’t held the titles in over 10 years, the duo were once the youngest tag champs in WWE history, and perhaps, more importantly, they’re telling a story, and it needs an ending. What better place to finish their story than in New York, their home state where they began their wrestling careers 15 years ago, and at WrestleMania, where narratives culminate?

Will Hawkins and Ryder’s tale get a happy ending, or will The Revival prove on the grandest stage what they’ve been trying to since getting moved up to Raw, that they’re the “Top Guys.” Discuss below, and tune in Sunday.