Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio has reported that Royce Keys will not be teaming with Jelly Roll at WrestleMania 42, shooting down an earlier report suggesting the pairing had been discussed. Bodyslam had previously reported that WWE discussed having Keys team with Jelly Roll at WrestleMania 42 in a match built around both men’s personal stories of hardship. Meltzer indicated on Wrestling Observer Radio that those discussions will not develop into a match.
Meltzer said, “I had asked about the story because there was a story about Royce Keys, and I was told that it’s not Royce Keys, for whatever that’s worth. I wasn’t actually told that there is a match (for Jelly Roll), but when you look at it, I mean, it certainly seems like they’re building it.”
Jelly Roll returned to WWE on the March 13 episode of SmackDown as a guest on Miz TV, where a confrontation with Kit Wilson developed after Wilson ducked out of the way of a punch and Jelly Roll knocked out The Miz instead. Wilson then challenged Jelly Roll to a match the following week, setting up what is expected to be some form of WrestleMania involvement for the country rap star. The identity of his potential tag team partner, if the match moves forward as a tag team bout, remains unclear.
Keys signed with WWE within days of his AEW contract expiring and made his debut in the Royal Rumble, entering at number 14 and lasting just under 10 minutes before being eliminated by The Vision. He recorded one elimination during his time in the match, dumping out Damian Priest. Keys has not appeared on WWE television since the Royal Rumble but has worked several dark matches ahead of SmackDown tapings, picking up victories over Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Nathan Frazer, and Rey Fenix.
WWE chose to place Keys directly on the main roster rather than routing him through NXT, a decision driven by the company’s wanting to have him on Raw or SmackDown from the outset. His main roster television debut has yet to take place.
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