Bryan Alvarez has shared speculation that Jelly Roll could be the mystery partner for Danhausen at WWE Backlash this Saturday, calling it a more logical choice than the betting favorite CM Punk.
Alvarez wrote to his subscribers on X with the caveat that he cannot confirm the information, but has been hearing the name come up in discussions.
“I can’t confirm this but I am hearing speculation that the mystery partner for Danhausen is, in fact, Jelly Roll, which would make a LOT more sense than an unadvertised PLE appearance by CM Punk,” Alvarez wrote.
The speculation carries some weight given Jelly Roll’s history with Backlash. Before the decision was made for Cody Rhodes to defeat Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42, the original plan had been for Jelly Roll to team with Rhodes in a tag match against Orton and Pat McAfee at Backlash. With Orton having not appeared on WWE programming since WrestleMania and McAfee having stepped away from the angle, that program never materialized, leaving Jelly Roll without his planned Backlash spot.
CM Punk remains the betting favorite at -200 to be Danhausen’s partner, with Joe Hendry at +200, Mr. Iguana at +300, and Jelly Roll at +400. Alvarez’s note that a Jelly Roll appearance makes more logical sense than an unadvertised Punk appearance could shift that conversation heading into Saturday’s show.
Backlash takes place Saturday, May 9 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida and streams live on ESPN in the United States and Netflix internationally.
