WrestleMania 28: 10 Wrestlers Who Should Be on Team Laurinaitis

This past week on WWE.com, a 12-man tag team match pitting participants from Team Teddy Long and Team John Laurinaitis was confirmed for the WrestleMania 28 card. The winner of this bout will earn control over both Raw and SmackDown, a feat never before achieved by any past authority figure.

Over the course of the last seven days, a total of six Superstars have been announced for both teams, including team captains David Otunga and United States Champion Santino Marella as well as their teammates Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Mark Henry and Christian.

With less than two weeks remaining till the show of shows and only half of the competitors announced, who will look to fill those vacant spots that are in full support of Laurinaitis having power over both shows? 

Alberto Del Rio

Based upon the events that occurred at Elimination Chamber last month, Alberto Del Rio is an obvious choice for Team Laurinaitis. His health is the only thing holding him back, as it's still questionable at this point whether he's fully recovered from the groin injury he sustained at the conclusion of 2011.

At WrestleMania 27, Del Rio walked in as the 2011 Royal Rumble winner and challenged Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. A year later, any momentum he once had is now drained after losing his WWE Championship to CM Punk at Survivor Series in November.

While the Mexican aristocrat may have grown stale over the last year, there's no denying that he deserves a spot on the card given his main event status. With rumors circulating that Del Rio will be inducting his uncle Mil Mascaras into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before the event (PW Insider, h/t Wrestling Inc.), leaving him off the card would certainly be a shocking move. 

Drew McIntyre

If you can recall, Drew McIntyre has had issues with SmackDown GM Teddy Long ever since 2010. At one point, the two even faced off in a one-on-one match, where McIntyre forced Long to get down on his knees in order to beg McIntyre not to inflict any pain upon him.

Two years later, this feud is still hot as ever since Long contracted McIntyre as an official SmackDown Superstar last November. On a recent edition of SmackDown, McIntyre's losing streak caught up with him and Long subsequently fired the Scottish Superstar because of it.

However, McIntyre was able to earn his spot back on the roster after defeating Hornswoggle last Friday night. In that case, the former Intercontinental Champion must be internally grateful to John Laurinaitis for giving him the opportunity to get his job back.

Sure, McIntyre hasn't had the best win-loss record as of late, but partaking in Team Laurinaitis at WrestleMania 28 could very well reinstate his push if his team were to win. He deserves way better than just being an enhancement talent, and a huge victory for his team could get his career back on track.

Primo

Upon Primo's WWE debut in 2008, he would quickly go on to capture gold as he won the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside his brother Carlito nearly a month later. During that reign, they received a memorable WrestleMania moment when they became the first-ever Unified WWE Tag Team champions in the dark match prior to WrestleMania 25.

Since then, Primo has yet to receive another match at WrestleMania mostly due to being related to WWE Superstars. However, his recently formed tandem with his cousin Epico has once again lead him to the WWE Tag Team Championships.

With a stunning lack of formidable tag teams on today's roster, the chances of a title match at this year's show of shows is unlikely. Placing Primo on Team Laurinaitis could give him another Mania moment that he so rightfully deserves.

Epico

Of course, the WWE Tag Team champions come as a package deal, and you can't have one without the other.

Epico made his WWE television debut last November and, much like his cousin Primo, went on to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship relatively quickly. They've garnered more wins than losses over the course of 2012, so that alone should easily qualify them for a spot on Team Laurinaitis.

Exposing Epico to the Miami crowd at WrestleMania 28 could get them over as champs big time, especially if a Backstabber by either luchador was the turning point of the match. 

The Miz

At this time last year, The Miz was the reigning WWE champion heading into WrestleMania 27 to defend against John Cena in the main event. Despite successfully retaining his title, Miz now finds himself on a lengthy losing streak without a confirmed match on the WrestleMania 28 card.

Over the last few weeks, Miz has made a major deal about this incident through his promos on television as well as through social networking. Just last Monday night, Miz came up short of qualifying for Team Lauinaitis due to his loss to WWE champion CM Punk.

While it is heavily rumored that the Awesome One will make an impact at the event by interfering in the Rock/Cena main event, I surely hope he gets a proper match instead. Placing him on Team Lauinaitis could give him the opportunity to turn on his team and join SmackDown, turning into a full-fledged fan favorite in the process.

Curt Hawkins

Despite being in WWE for nearly five years now, the only WrestleMania appearance Curt Hawkins has made was during the Edge vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania 24. To quote his former tag team partner Zack Ryder, "are you serious, bro?"

It still amazes me to this very day why Hawkins isn't given a higher place on the card rather than being relegated to just WWE Superstars and NXT. He's an excellent in-ring worker, above average on the mic and has charisma that reminds that of Shawn Michaels and Edge.

On recent episodes of Z! True Long Island Story, Hawkins has made it clear that he is envious of his former friend Zack Ryder and plans on taking him to the limit. If Ryder ends up making Team Teddy, wouldn't it be suited to give us a preview of the match we've all been waiting for and have Hawkins contribute to Team Laurinaitis?

Dolph Ziggler

Only a mere two months ago, Dolph Ziggler was headlining the Royal Rumble pay-per-view competing for the WWE Championship against CM Punk. He came up short of winning the gold, while the same can be said for his participation in the Raw Elimination Chamber last month.

With that being said, it's a bit shocking that Ziggler doesn't already have a match set in place for WrestleMania 28. Keeping a future off the card is ridiculous, as well as giving him a main-event player to feud with to further get Ziggler over.

While they could have easily had him feud with Mick Foley following their promo back in January, officials decided to pull the plug on that program rather quickly and probably intend on throwing him in the 12-man tag team match instead.

Regardless of which match he participates in at WrestleMania, the bleached-blonde Superstar stated in an interview that he fully plans on stealing the show. Given the fact that he received little to no in-ring time at last year's event, I believe he deserves at least five minutes during this year's tag team match and can pull out the victory for John Laurinaitis. 

Jack Swagger

At WrestleMania 26, Jack Swagger shockingly won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship only five days later. It's a shame he's meant little to nothing since then.

After being humiliated at the hands of Stone Cold Steve Austin at last year's event, I'd be cautious about appearing at Mania ever again if I was Swagger. There was some hope he made the card while he was United States Champion, but any chance of that was quickly diminished when he lost the belt to Santino Marella two weeks ago on Raw.

In that case, it would only make sense to have Swagger participate to Team Laurinaitis in order to exact his revenge on the Milan Miracle. It was mostly Teddy's fault he lost the star-spangled prize in the first place, so it would only be fair to the All-American American to secure a spot on the team.

Ryback

Here's my personal pick to be the dark horse on Team Lauinaitis come WrestleMania 28. Ryback, formerly known as Skip Sheffield, could make quite the impact if were to be named the final participant for Johnny's team following a year-and-a-half absence.

In August 2010, Sheffield was sidelined with a crucial ankle injury that has required three surgeries and has kept him off television ever since. He returned to in-ring action in early December, and has been chomping at the bit to re-emerge on television for the last few months.

If they hope to give Ryback the huge push he's been rumored to receive (Wrestling Observer, h/t sescoops.com), then having him join Team Laurinaitis would guarantee a bright future for the former Nexus member. Remember when Tyler Reks and Ezekiel Jackson were dominating forces on their respective teams at Bragging Rights 2010 when they made their shocking returns? I could easily see the same being done for the intimidating Ryback. 

A-Train

Over the last week, there has been much controversy regarding the return of A-Train to WWE. Reports indicate that the former Intercontinental Champion could very well be on his way back to the company, signaling that his role will consist of him being the henchman to John Laurinaitis.

While A-Train has denied the rumors on his Twitter page about returning to WWE, I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up being true. His enormous stature would work perfectly for that role, and might receive a substantial pop from the Attitude Era fans in attendance at WrestleMania 28.

If he is indeed making a comeback to the organization, I don't see it being until at least the event itself rolls along and results in being the surprise entrant. This way, much more buzz can be generated about this match, along with the fact that A-Train clearing house and picking up the victory for Laurinaitis will cement him as a dominant force to be reckoned with.

Conclusion

With an abundance of heels on the WWE roster, John Laurinaitis won't have a tough time choosing the final three participants for his team come WrestleMania 28. I'd truly be shocked if none of the aforementioned Superstars occupied the vacant spots, but only time will tell regarding the status of Team Laurinaitis.

I have no doubt in my mind that Johnny's group of reckless warriors prevail over Teddy Long's joke of a stable, especially since officials are high on Johnny's work as of late as an authority figure. Hopefully, WWE does the right thing by picking the right participants for his team and giving each of them their rightful time to shine on the grandest stage of them all.

Is there a missing Superstar from the list that deserves a spot? Does one of the aforementioned Superstars not belong on the list?

Be sure to drop a comment below with your thoughts regarding who could fill the final spots of Team Laurinaitis at WrestleMania 28. As always, your criticism and overall feedback of my piece is greatly appreciated.

GSM out.

Visit my website at Next Era Wrestling as well as my WrestleRant and Spoilers podcasts for more of my thoughts and writings, along with WWE/TNA news, rumors, reviews and more.

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