Now that the dust has settled from the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up we can evaluate the state of RAW, SmackDown, or WWE in its entirety.
I want to focus on the state of the tag team division on SmackDown Live. Let’s discuss the history and future of this division now that the brand is set until next year’s Shake-Up.
Since the inception of the SmackDown Tag Team championships in 2016, the titles have changed hands 14 times with the longest championship reign being 182 days by The Usos. The Usos have held the titles on four separate occasions followed by The New Day who have held the belts three different times. The shortest completed reign was 21 days by the team of The Miz and Shane McMahon who won the title by defeating The Bar at the 2019 Royal Rumble and lost the title to The Usos at Elimination Chamber on February 17th.
The SmackDown Tag Team division might’ve lost only two whole teams to Raw via the Superstar Shake-Up, however, one of them was a significant loss as it was The Usos who were shipped out. This is not to say that the division is otherwise healthy or intact as The Bar are currently out of commission with an injury to Sheamus and Cesaro was sent packing to the other WWE brand which obviously means the end of the team for the time being. Depending on the severity of the injury to Big E and the fact that Kofi Kingston is the reigning WWE champion, the brand has effectively lost another top tier tag team at least for the short term.
The most intriguing addition to the tag team division in recent times is Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. They have the pedigree, name recognition, and fan appeal to make some noise amongst the groups. With the tag team roster being depleted, I would suspect that the brass at WWE would keep Rusev and Nakamura together. Management should resist the temptation to have them turn on one another, based on their animosity from the 2019 Royal Rumble and then push them as singles.
Otis and Tucker joined the SmackDown tag team division as the team of Heavy Machinery. Prior to joining the WWE, Otis and Tucker were standout performers for NXT since 2018. Other less notable additions to the division include the team of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel or The B-Team, The Colons, cousins Primo and Epico who have a wrestling pedigree of their own as Primo Colon is the son of former WWE Hall of Famer Carlos Colon. While the SmackDown brand gained in numbers, they lost a lot of quality in The Usos and The Bar; both of those teams can have top tier matches as they’re experts in tag team chemistry. There is some potential in the teams that have joined the brand but they have either not been pushed enough by the WWE yet or they are a new and an unproven commodity.
The Hardy Boyz became the first tag team to have held all three of the WWE’s tag team championships by defeating The Usos on SmackDown on April 9th of this year. With this victory, they completed the grand slam by winning all three titles and have been crowned WWE Tag Team Champions, Raw Tag Team Champions, and now SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
The team of Matt and Jeff Hardy have held their current championship for 19 days as they look to defend their title on upcoming SmackDown episodes rather than at pay-per-view events. With a suspected injury to Jeff Hardy, it’s unlikely to see them defend at Money In The Bank on May 19th, but they could potentially defend it at the show in Saudi Arabia in June.
With The Usos out of the picture, who is the most likely tag team to feud with the Hardy Boyz going forward? I can certainly envision a scenario where The New Day, minus Kofi Kingston, makes a run for the title and attempt to tie The Usos for most times holding the title. Will we see a serious challenge to the most consecutive days, which currently stands at 182, by a tag team? Given the propensity of injury for the Hardy Boyz, it seems unlikely that they could pursue this record. If not for the injury to Big E, The New Day could certainly make a push for the record. Will one of the newly added teams make a title run? I look for Heavy Machinery to get a serious push and title shot in the not too distant future.
The SmackDown tag team championship division is in dire need of some excitement, controversy, new blood or a combination of all three. This division should be one of the most compelling and exciting divisions in all of the WWE but currently, it feels stale; almost as if it is an afterthought within SmackDown. Could we see a call up from NXT? This seems doubtful with the War Raiders/Viking Experience/Viking Raiders already recently called up to Raw. In my opinion, the SmackDown tag team division will continue to dwell in mediocrity until the powers that be make a concerted effort to develop tag team characters with a compelling backstory. It is a shame because the WWE has always had a rich history of exciting tag team divisions which have given us some of the most memorable moments in the history of the WWE.
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You can find me on Twitter @ngtriplett. Thanks for reading.