The Revival were rolling toward WrestleMania 35 as RAW Tag Team Champions, but they had to face Ricochet and Aleister Black on the go-home RAW before the show of shows.
Black and Ricochet actually have a big tag team title match in the pipeline at NXT TakeOver: New York against the undefeated War Raiders. However, they had a chance to capture the RAW Tag Team Titles on their way to TakeOver. The Revival were pretty determined not to let that happen.
The Revival ended up retaining the RAW Tag Team Titles via count out. It was a little bit underhanded, but they’re still Top Guy. Aleister still took Dash and Dawson out with a Black Mass and Ricochet topped it off with a 630 on Dawson too.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that this ending was orchestrated to write Ricochet and Aleister Black out of the RAW Tag Team Title picture. Obviously, this is a strange way to do it because they got their heat back after losing via count out, but that is WWE’s plan.
Now the RAW Tag Team Titles are set to be defended in a very surprising match.
This booking decision makes NXT TakeOver: New York even more interesting. Because Black and Ricochet could very well hand the War Raiders their first loss in NXT and win the NXT Tag Team Titles. At that point it’s really anyone’s guess as to what will happen next for the hot new team after their main roster call-up.