Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky won the Women’s Tag Team Championships from the Kabuki Warriors on the first Monday Night Raw episode of 2026. Ever since that impeccable storyline, they have been fighting champs, retaining the titles against the likes of Judgment Day and Giulia & Kiana James. As WWE approaches WrestleMania 42, here are three major threats to Rhiyo’s title reign.
Nia Jax & Lash Legend
Nia Jax and Lash Legend have been the “disruptors” of the tag division. They were not initially involved in any of the storylines in the tag division before Survivor Series, since Legend only recently got called up from NXT. However, they somehow got involved in the War Games Match by destroying everyone in their path, whether they liked them or not. Now, they feel like an irreplaceable team.
Jax and Legend are the current number one contenders for the tag team titles, and they get their shot at the gold against Rhiyo on SmackDown this week. This is a great opportunity for Jax to regain momentum since losing the world title to Tiffany Stratton in 2024 and for Legend to solidify her spot as a rising star on the main roster, especially after getting the most eliminations at the Rumble.
Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
Bayley and Lyra have had the best character development as a team in the division. It has been fun for the fans to see Bayley evolve into this character that is a perfect mix of her babyface Huggable character and her heel “Ding Dong Hello” character. How Lyra has reacted to this development and sold Bayley’s antithetical personas in segments and matches made the dynamic even more exciting.
Lyra slapping Bayley to get her head in the game and turn into an unstoppable force was eminently creative and made for some good television. Although they are booked like “constants” in this division, it would be splendid to see their hard work pay off with the tag titles that they should have won together at Mania last year before Becky Lynch attacked and replaced Bayley to ruin their moment.
Bella Twins
Nikki Bella was initially heel in her world title program with Stephanie Vaquer throughout the winter months. All of a sudden, she turned babyface when her sister, Brie Bella, returned to the Rumble with a plethora of cheers, happy tears, and standing ovations. They made it very clear that they are targeting Rhiyo for the tag team titles, as they are the self-proclaimed “OG Tag Team.”
Like Bayley and Lyra, since Bella Twins are a babyface team, it is more likely that they dethrone the heel team of Nia Jax and Lash Legend after Jax and Legend dethrone Rhiyo. The Bella Twins are not necessarily needed in today’s tag division, but they do deserve their flowers. And, they would be better off leading the tag division than stealing the spotlight in the main event scene.
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