MGP: WrestleMania Bubble Watch! What’s the plan for Bianca Belair?

Welcome to another edition of the ‘Monday Gorilla Position’! A weekly column here at Cageside Seats that dissects the latest shows and reports, and tries to figure out just what is going on in the world of WWE, AEW & more!

Bracketology isn’t just for college basketball this time of the year, ladies and gentlemen! And now that both the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournament Brackets are set, the Monday Gorilla Position is the only place to get your fix as I’ll be periodically mapping out the road to WrestleMania XL.

The card is starting to fill up fast and some of the biggest stars in WWE still find themselves as spectators. A somewhat surprising name on that list is Bianca Belair, who walked out of the last three WrestleManias with a World Championship on her shoulder.

Her impressive streak is currently in serious jeopardy with only weeks left to get her on the show. Is there a legitimate chance that WrestleMania XL doesn’t include the E-S-T this year?

Spoiler Alert: I highly doubt it. But let’s take a look!

*Disclaimer: These are simply predictions based off a combination of recent WWE TV programs, behind the scenes reporting from other outlets and good ole fashioned common sense.

Here’s what’s officially been announced so far (card always subject to change):

• Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship
• Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship
• Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch for the Women’s World Heavyweight Championship
• IYO SKY (c) vs. Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship
• Roman Reigns & The Rock vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins – Bloodline Rules stipulation on the line for WrestleMania Night Two main event
• Judgment Day (c) defending their Undisputed Tag Team Championships against five unannounced opponents in a 6-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match
• GUNTHER (c) vs. Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship
• Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens for the United States Championship
• L.A. Knight vs. AJ Styles
• Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso

WWE officially added three matches to the card on Friday. Jimmy Uso accepted his brother’s challenge as many of us expected. AJ Styles emphatically did the same with L.A. Knight, and Nick Aldis finally found some challengers for Logan Paul — much to the chagrin of the United States Champion.

That puts the total number of matches for the two night affair at 10. How many will Triple H decide to book? Anywhere from 12-14 seems like a safe bet with the options that are available to him, but a lower number seems likely. Especially with the go-home edition of SmackDown acting as the ‘Mania pre-show the last few years.

Matches that are most likely to be added to the ‘Mania card:

• The Kabuki Warriors defending the Women’s Tag Team Championships against TBD
• The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, AOP & Scarlett) vs. The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Street Profits & B-Fab) in an 8-Person Mixed Tag Team Match

There wasn’t any advancement on television this week in the rivalry between The Final Testament and The Pride. That didn’t stop Karrion Kross from playing his mind games in this WWE Digital Exclusive.

Last week Kross suggested Montez Ford should break out from the pack and take over leadership responsibilities from Bobby Lashley. This week he gave Angelo Dawkins his flowers and wondered if his career path wouldn’t be better if himself and B-Fab went off on their own. Teasing a potential rivalry against Ford and Bianca Belair, although he did not mention the E-S-T by name.

Will Kross’ divide and concur tactics work? Will a match be booked for WrestleMania? Or could this rivalry be the marquee feud for the SmackDown before WrestleMania XL? That’s if the Street Profits or Authors of Pain don’t have other business that weekend…

Play-in tournament continues tonight on Monday Night Raw: DIY, Creed Brothers, Awesome Truth, Indus Sher, New Day & Alpha Academy

It’s win and you’re in tonight on Raw! Three qualifying matches have been booked for the Tag Team Title Ladder Match:

• DIY vs. The Creed Brothers
• Awesome Truth vs. Indus Sher
• New Day vs. Alpha Academy

As I wrote about last week, smart money is on DIY, Awesome Truth and The New Day qualifying for Philadelphia.

What’s harder to figure out is which two teams will be representing the Blue Brand. And that’s not a shot at the bracket that’s been put together. I actually like eight different teams were given the opportunity to qualify.

The Street Profits and Authors of Pain will meet this Friday in a first round match up, as will The OC vs. A-Town Down Under. The winners will join New Catch Republic and Legado Del Fantasma in the final qualifying matches on the SmackDown side.

Giving an educated guess: Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate and Austin Theory & Grayson Waller will head to WrestleMania with the other legit contenders having other storyline avenues to get them to Philadelphia.

On the bubble: Will Bianca Belair and Naomi challenge for the Women’s Tag Team Championships? Are Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar in danger of being left off the ‘Mania card?

Anyone who hasn’t paid close attention to the on screen product in the ramp up to WrestleMania XL would rightfully believe that Bianca Belair is set for her fourth consecutive marquee match on the grand stage.

She’s been literally everywhere. Front and center on all the promotional material, featured more prominently than Bayley — who the Royal Rumble and had the first official match booked for Philadelphia. Belair took part in the WrestleMania Kickoff event in Las Vegas. She’s been on red carpets and done countless media appearances. And yet, were now sit less than three weeks from the big show and the E-S-T has yet to be booked for Philadelphia.

Not only does she not have a match yet, but she wasn’t even on SmackDown this past Friday. Leaving many to wonder… what’s going on?

Whether you love her or hate her, and frankly if you fall into the latter category that says more about you than it does anything, there’s no denying Belair’s talent and star power. Tapping into that to promote WrestleMania season makes all the sense in the world, especially with the debut of Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez on Hulu earlier this year.

Two birds, one stone.

But time is running out for the E-S-T to find her spot on the card and there may only be one spot left to take.

Initially I thought there was a chance WWE could build to Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton at ‘Mania, but with the lack of storyline advancement since Elimination Chamber, that ship appears to have sailed.

Belair has yet to even have a televised match since coming up short in her big to challenge for the Women’s World Title. She hasn’t been entirely inactive, however. Far from it as a matter of fact.

Over the last six weeks, Bianca has been teaming up with Becky Lynch and/or Naomi at live events to take on Damage CTRL — going undefeated in the process.

The match results themselves are nothing to write home about as the babyfaces usually get the wins at non-televised events to so the crowd leaves happy, but I do mot believe the pairing of Belair and Naomi to be insignificant in the slightest.

There may be no love lost between Bianca and Bayley, but after what happened Naomi this past Friday, will the E-S-T answer the call to help level the playing field in the battle against Damage CTRL?

It seems extraordinarily likely. If not, I just do not see a Women’s Tag Team Title match being booked. Which means the Kabuki Warriors, in addition to Belair and Naomi, would be on the sidelines for WrestleMania.

It may not be the best use of Belair in the wake of Charlotte Flair’s injury, but not using her (or Naomi, Asuka & Kairi) at all would be booking malpractice.

If the Women’s Tag Team Title match is still on, could there no longer be a spot for the LWO or Legado Del Fantasma?

Up until Friday, I considered Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar to be a slam dunk for WrestleMania, if not an all out faction war in the form of an 8-person mixed tag team match. That may be the direction WWE is headed with Mysterio and Escobar scheduled to go one-on-one this Friday Night on SmackDown.

It’ll be interesting to see how this match plays out and whether the blow off of this feud culminates at WrestleMania or on the SmackDown before on April 5. Angel and Berto still have a shot to qualify for the Tag Team Title Ladder Match, so any contest between the LWO and Legado would have to wait to be booked until they are (presumably) eliminated by the New Catch Republic.

Last four out: Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill

Time and space are just not on the side of any of these ladies. Again, it’s ultimately going to come down to how many matches Triple H decides to book.

If history is any indication, The Game will opt for a smaller card each night. Giving each match more than enough time to be fully fleshed out with the grandiose pomp and circumstance in between that should be expected during the ‘Showcase of the Immortals.’

Last year’s show had 15 total matches, but that included two (technically) three impromptu contests featuring the Miz losing to Pat McAfee on night one and then Shane McMahon/Snoop Dogg on night two.

Tiffany Stratton has been booked incredibly strong since her main roster call up, but she just doesn’t have a strong story or a clear opponent right now. Fear not Tiffy fans. She’s on a great trajectory and her time is coming.

A match featuring Jade Cargill seems extremely unlikely considering her lack of involvement since her impressive showing at the Royal Rumble. UNLESS… something is in the works tonight on Raw.

Following her loss to Rhea Ripley at Elimination Chamber, Nia Jax has been taking her frustrations out on the rest of the Women’s Division, leaving a path of destruction in her wake.

Becky Lynch has taken upon herself to stop the Irresistible Force by challenging her to a Last Woman Standing Match. Might this be the moment we’ve all be waiting for? Could Jade Cargill interject herself into the fray and build off her impressive showdown with Jax at the Royal Rumble?

If it’s gonna happen, the time is now.

What matches would you like to see added to the WrestleMania card? Let us know in the comment section below! You can follow Rick Ucchino on X/Twitter and stay tuned for more in depth interviews with WWE and AEW talent here on Cageside Seats.