Bronson Reed's Injury Fallout, Brock Lesnar's Fading Star, More WWE Raw Fallout
The February 23 edition of WWE Raw on Netflix at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta celebrated the career of AJ Styles.
The Phenomenal One appeared one last time and received an expected offer from The Undertaker to join the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame.
Raquel Rodriguez qualified for the final spot in the women's Elimination Chamber match by defeating Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane.
After an unfortunate injury to Bronson Reed, Jey Uso defeated El Grande Americano to qualify for the final spot in the men's Elimination Chamber match.
Brock Lesnar set an open challenge via Paul Heyman to anyone who was willing to step up to fight him at WrestleMania 42.
This final Raw before WWE headed to Chicago for Saturday's premium live event made some big statements for the future of this road to 'Mania.
Bronson Reed is WWE's Unluckiest Star
1 of 5For the second time in Bronson Reed's career, an unexpected injury in a big match has kept him away from a true reliable push into WrestleMania.
A foot injury in the 2024 men's WarGames match kept Reed out for just under six months, cutting his rivalry with Seth Rollins short.
On this week's Raw, Reed suffered a biceps tear that will almost certainly keep him out of WrestleMania and far beyond.
He was originally supposed to win the qualifying match for the men's Elimination Chamber match according to WrestleVotes on X.
This would make sense especially after The Vision stepped up to Cody Rhodes and threatened to make a splash on the road to WrestleMania.
At the least, Reed was likely to team with Austin Theory to fight The Usos for the World Tag Team Championships. Instead, that may need to be Theory and Logan Paul.
The Tribal Thief has done a great job making himself relevant in WWE over the past few years and deserved a 'Mania spotlight for that work.
Instead, his bad luck continued on a night that was also rough for Maxxine Dupri, who suffered a concussion early in her match with Nattie. This could also cost Dupri her own spot at 'Mania.
Time to Give Up on The Vision
2 of 5With the latest injury to Bronson Reed, The Vision has lost its original trio and is left with a miscast Logan Paul and a struggling Austin Theory.
Even considering Brock Lesnar tangentially related to the group does not make it any more interesting.
While Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker will likely do their best to return by WrestleMania, neither is likely.
This leaves a mystery masked man hunting a mismatched tag team rather than an actual faction.
There is no point keeping this group together. Rollins and Breakker can feud once they are both back.
The Visionary has no strong connection with The Maverick or Theory, and neither are believable rivals, even with Paul Heyman behind them.
The stable would need a radical evolution in the immediate future to stay relevant, and it would be better to just start over with a fresh Heyman angle instead.
Rhea Ripley Remains Only Option to Win Women's Elimination Chamber
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The field is set for the 2026 women's Elimination Chamber match:
This is a solid crop of in-ring competitors, but it does not present many strong options to challenge Jade Cargill at WrestleMania.
Liv Morgan officially called her shot against women's world champion Stephanie Vaquer on Monday, which was a foregone conclusion, so The Storm is the champion awaiting her challenger.
Stratton and Asuka have already struggled to work with Cargill. Rodriguez and Bliss are solid names but have not delivered any matches in recent years that indicate they would work well with the champion.
It would be too bold to predict James to win in this field, and she is also still figuring out her place on the main roster.
This leaves just one option with the credibility and talent to deliver an unforgettable match with The Storm: Ripley.
The Eradicator has worked well with everyone in the ring and will do so again if she faces Cargill at WrestleMania.
The only unfortunate truth is that anyone but Ripley winning will lead to a lackluster WWE Women's Championship match in Las Vegas on April 18-19.
Real Reason Why AJ Styles Was Added to 2026 HOF Class
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Since Stephanie McMahon was announced for the 2026 Hall of Fame in September, WWE has stayed quiet on any further additions to the class.
Five months later, the company announced the second person to join the class: AJ Styles.
As a multiple-time world champion, The Phenomenal One should be a headliner for a Hall of Fame class, which could be a problem for how much WWE wants to highlight McMahon's induction.
Still, WWE will make it work because this was announced for one big reason: curbing the growing rumors of an exit.
Styles likely wanted to retire quietly and spend time with his family, but because he is still in great shape and did not want to leave his gloves in the ring at the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, fans began to speculate.
All Elite Wrestling wrestlers such as MJF (on Chris Van Vliet's Insight podcast) and Swerve Strickland (in an interview with Monopoly Events) have made reference to the possibility of Styles joining the company.
It was free press for AEW to keep teasing the unlikely story, so WWE moved quickly to clearly indicate Styles is on a Legends deal and going into the Hall of Fame.
On the plus side, this tribute to Styles was a much better sendoff than his ending at the Royal Rumble in January.
Brock Lesnar Has Never Been Less Interesting
5 of 5WWE tried to deliver a moment at SummerSlam 2025 when Brock Lesnar returned to lay out John Cena after the main event.
Nothing good has followed, especially not the match between Lesnar and Cena at Wrestlepalooza.
The Beast Incarnate's appearances in WarGames and the men's Rumble match were forgettable distractions from WWE's full-time roster.
Lesnar is simply a sideshow act in WWE at this stage and not one worth featuring.
WWE has set the stage for the 48-year-old to appear a few more times on the road to WrestleMania where someone will step up to him for a one-off match.
No matter who it is, they need to beat The Beast and set the stage for his retirement because the future for more Lesnar appearances looks increasingly bleak.
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