Who is going to be Braun Strowman's partner at WrestleMania?
 

Let's look at some of the possibilities.

Elias: Has been involved with Braun lately. He has been getting featured and the WWE likes their wacky combinations. Elias is arguably the "logical" pick, just based on current direction. Other possibility for him at Mania is a Battle Royal appearance and/or doing a concert only to get interrupted by The Rock, which is would be seen as a prestigious spot.

James Ellsworth: History's pick. Ellsworth was initially brought in to be a jobber for Braun, and their histories were linked when Braun was a heel. As a face it makes sense to put the two together and have Braun vindicate his former punching bag. Ellsworth is no longer with the company, but I'm sure they have his number handy. He seems well-liked backstage, so people probably wouldn't complain about him getting the slot. The lovable loser gets a WrestleMania moment.

Samoa Joe: He's rumored to be working out again. Joe and Strow as two bad-asses who can beat up any two men in the world seems like a good pairing that could be taken seriously as a heavyweight tag team attraction. They would likely be the two partners who don't like each other, but respect the other's abilities en route to a split and a series of matches designed to polish up Strowman. The more I think about this one, the more likely I consider it.

Kalisto: He once beat Braun in a Dumpster Match and they did nothing with it. In a similar sense to Ellsworth, there's that history from when Braun was a heel that could be segued into a babyface friendship. They might want some Hispanic representation on the show, and they love putting random championships on Kalisto no matter how over he isn't. Kalisto and Cesaro mixing it up at Mania, even just briefly, would be awesome.

Alexa Bliss: The WWE does not like their intergender stuff, but there has been a shift towards mixed tag attractions. Bliss is likely losing the Raw Women's belt to Nia Jax, and the timing for that seems right. Putting the Raw Tag Titles on Braun and Bliss seems like the sort of stunt WWE would pull, and they seem to like the pairing. Braun doesn't trust any man, but he does like Alexa, and it's about as interesting as anything else they can come up with for her.

Neville: His relationship with the WWE is rocky at the moment, but a large part of that seems to be his emphasis. Teaming up with Braun certainly changes that scenario. Neville seems like a "Triple H guy," and Triple H has historically been effective at patching up damaged relationships. Given how good Neville got as a heel, his abilities are probably valued, and it's in everybody's best interest to mend that relationship. Probably unlikely because it would be seen as rewarding truancy.

Goldust: He's a beloved veteran that the WWE might choose to reward for years of valiant service by putting him in something "major" at WrestleMania. Goldust is good at taking a beating, and that pop when he finally gets to his corner to tag in Braun could be pretty massive.

Kane: He Chokeslammed John Cena, so while he is probably still technically a heel, people are going to be cheering him again. The history he has with Braun is quite recent, the seguing that into a tag team run for a guy that the company is clearly interested in still utilizing would not be too surprising, even if this is arguably the least intriguing scenario. Kane might also end up in the Battle Royal.

Another Legend: Anybody from the back. IRS, Doink the Clown, Slick, Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair. They could literally just have someone stand out there with Braun and clap for him and hold a belt for a nostalgia pop. Could be Hogan.

Daniel Bryan: He's going to be wrestling in one match, so why not two? Okay, they probably won't do that. Bryan is going to be one of, if not the most over performer of the night, and putting him with Braun is a good way to give Braun a partner people give a shit about, and it means we get Cesaro vs. Bryan for a little bit. Bryan has history with Sheamus. Braun and Bryan would be a similar dynamic to Team Hell No and the WWE loves re-hashing things.

Johnny Gargano: Such a great babyface-in-peril. Braun calling up Gargano to be his partner would be a nice promotion for one of cornerstones of NXT. This seems like a very WWE-conscious way to bring in Gargano, considering that the other options, sad as they might be, would see him as a loser underdog (WWE doesn't actually do them well because Vince doesn't empathize with them) or as part of 205 Live. Coming in as Braun's partner immediately says "this guy is kind of important" in this gentrified sort of way, which is how you have to do it.

Another Call-Up: It could be Velveteen Dream, EC3, No Way Jose, Killian Dain or Lars Sullivan. This is a great way to debut someone that they've had a main roster spot in mind for.

Bray Wyatt: It's surreal to think that Luke Harper & Erick Rowan might make the main WrestleMania card, whereas Bray could very well be sitting out because he's played out. Jamming him onto the main card is not something beyond the WWE, however, and sticking him with his old hired gun makes about as much sense as anything else. Braun is likely winning this match, so a Mania win for Bray might change his fortunes a little bit.

Matt Hardy: The babyface flip to this. Matt Hardy seems to have good will from the fans, and putting him a team with Braun could try and use that endearment to further benefit Braun. Matt is known as a tag team specialist, so him teaming with Braun isn't the most outlandish thing they would have ever thought of.

Tian Bing: If the WWE feels that they need to have that Chinese representation on their show, don't put it past them to just insert Tian Bing into this position and put a belt on him just because. WWE often doesn't engage with the idea of representation much more than that. It could also be Lince Dorado if they want a Puerto Rican in there, etc.

Heath Slater: They seem to love him and putting him into another random team with Braun would, again, not be beyond them. Slater is endearing and they had Slater and Sheamus interact at the Royal Rumble. Slater again getting the best of Sheamus could start something resembling a story there. Five-time Tag Team Champion, babbbbaaaaay!

Loose Cannon: Loose Cannon.

Other: Feel free to speculate. Someone from SmackDown? Rusev is over. Dolph Ziggler exists.

Curt Hawkins. End the streak.

Curt Hawkins is the one name I didn't include in there that has been talked about, because I was talking to Luigi, who has been a fan for 25 years, and he told me it won't happen.

The more I think about it, the more I think myself into believing it could actually be Bliss. I'm also kind of feeling Joe, because I don't think they'll want to comedy Braun as much as people worry about. I think Braun and his partner will be treated somewhat seriously, and him and Joe beating the piss out of Cesaro and Sheamus seems...fun.

I've got Elias getting beaten up by The Rock. I don't think they'll bother with Ellsworth. The Kalisto stuff seems like too much of a stretch, although that one wouldn't "shock" me. I can actually see it being a legend. That seems to be the way they think. There's always a chance of Tatanka at WrestleMania. Joe actually seems like a really good shout if he's healthy, but something about it feels too "fantasy." And I think the partner might be there to get beaten up. So maybe...fuck, I'm leaning with Alexa and Braun treating it like a Handicap Match.

Someone talk me into something else.

Bliss is facing Asuka.

I thought she was facing Nia Jax? I can see her getting squashed and Braun then cheering her up after her loss and choosing her to be his partner. Cue Sparkle Splash or whatever the fuck it's called on Cesaro. Girl power. New Raw Tag Champs.

Big Cass apparently has been cleared recently. Let's hope it's not him.

That would suck.

I think Ellsworth is a solid choice. But Hogan would be awesome.

Yeah, that's what I meant to say, sorry, just woke up from a nap.

The only big guy I want to see Braun teaming with is Joe. They're visually different enough, and there's that warring tension between them that would result in a match I'd actually want to see. They both hovered around that same rank last year. It seems to fit. The partnership would also benefit Braun, who is still green and a bit shit.

The problems with it are that Joe and Strow would probably be better suited to working heel, but there's no way they are getting put into that role. I guess Joe could remain heel or reaffirm that status when they split, but crowds are going to want to see that Braun/Joe team succeed, and I don't really know who takes the beatings, because the WWE isn't flexible enough to challenge that. I mean, they could be an awesome heavyweight team like the Road Warriors or an All Japan pairing, but WWE just doesn't think like that. Joe would be working like Ricky Morton lol.

Seems like the partner would be there to take a beating from Cesaro and Sheamus, let them get their shit in, because Sheamus ain't getting squashed, and then get that tag to Strowman. So I guess of the underdog picks, Ellsworth is really probably the best choice, unless they do want to go with Kalisto or Goldust. Hogan does make sense if they want to make that gamble and go for those headlines. Hmm.

Leaning towards Ellsworth now.

Kind of ruling out Elias, which sounds weird. I think he'll do well in the Battle Royal and get his own segment. I'm also ruling out Joe, because I don't think they want to share spotlight and that this is about Braun. Ellsworth is the perfect non-entity for that (in their mind). They probably only released him because they didn't really have anything planned for him anymore. He'll probably fly in and out for as long as they occasionally want to push a geek.

I can just imagine Sheamus and Cesaro "bullying" him at WrestleMania and then Jimmy making that tag to Braun. Yeah...I'm thinking that's the path they take. I'm thinking if Hogan appears anywhere, it will be in that Rock segment after he's dispatched of Elias, because they'll want someone that can offset any negativity, and Rock's Twitter interactions with Hogan have suggested he has an interest in doing that.

But they could also use Heath Slater in that role. Fuck. I have no clue.

I want it to be Bliss so bad. It will be Elias though.

I always just assumed it'd be Elias, I never even thought about it being Joe, but really hope it is, the guy has earned it. Give Elias a win in the ATGMBR and let him sing about it.

Team Hell Braaaaaaaaaaaaun

Braun becomes the leader of War Machine and they freebird the titles until Braun gets bored and goes after singles gold.

Alexa Bliss or Hulk Hogan

Nobody

Ellsworth or nobody.

Joey Ryan's Dick.

Other. Announce some sort of deal where SDL trades Mojo to RAW for whoever. I'd be intrigued to see what they could do together.

Braun and Joe... Have them spend more time fighting each other than the other teams and keep winning because the other teams keep getting in the way of them fighting.

Loose Cannon, there is a reason he started posting again.

Hillbilly Jim

Me, Lock Jaw.

Paul Titan.

Probably Elias as one of those strange bedfellows type pairings.

If they really wanted to make it interesting, have him pair up with Hawkins. Can be a pretty cool way to break Hawkins winless streak or use Hawkins' cursed streak as the excuse why Braun doesn't win the tag titles.

I don't know really. I've been running a few scenarios.

1. Solo. Yes, Braun Strowman competes in a handicap match and wins the tag titles by himself.

2. Kurt Angle swings an 11th hour trade with Smackdown and gets the Bludgeon Brothers. They put them with Strowman and they do the whole Freebird rules thing.

3. NXT call up. I really don't know who's ready, but I was thinking put Aleister Black with Braun. And just have them run roughshod through the entire roster. They'd be a hell of a team.

I just can't picture putting some jobber to somebody comical with Braun just as a fill in. But if I gotta look for someone on the main roster, give me Samoa Joe.

Teh 500 pound giant

The Big Show

I gave my opinion about his partner being fellow TPWWer Rollermacka. I stand by this course of action.

All well that ends Ells.

I actually agree with adamle's post. Elias doesn't really get as much from this pairing as he could by just doing something else.

I don't want him to have a partner. A handicapped match will be more fun, and will look like the Bar actually have something that resembles a chance.

Fozzy have a 2:30 PM show in New Hampshire the afternoon of WM. If you figure that show goes a couple of hours and then it's a 3 hour flight into New Orleans, he'd probably still be able to get to the arena halfway through the show given how absurdly long the show is.

Jericho's whole gimmick seems to be about popping up when he's least expected, so I wouldn't be too surprised if WWE sent a private jet out for him to be a mystery partner. Although admittedly it would make far more sense for him to be Bryan's partner instead of Braun's partner.

So yeah, I went with other legend.

Random tidbit, but wasn't Bryan's first ever WWE match against Jericho? (Not including dark matches from 2003 or whenever it was...)

Yep, Bryan and Jericho wrestled on the first ever episode of NXT.

So it'd be a nice tie in to that along with Jericho getting some more of Owens.

It would be great but Jericho has a tour and shows on the days leading up to Mania and on the 8th itself.