Tag Team Carnage At WWE Fastlane

Tag Team Carnage At WWE Fastlane

Last night at WWE Fastlane we saw the WWE Smackdown Live Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso defend their hard kept titles against the New Day. It’s a rivalry that has been at boiling point for the better part of a year and the battle between the two teams during the event certainly didn’t cool anything down.

The majority of the match brilliantly played off a narrative that highlighted just how well each of the competitors knew each other’s styles. Many of the bouts key moments involved the men stealing each other’s moves such as New Day’s Xavier Woods pulling out an Usos’ splash and the Usos teaming up to hit the New Day’s patented Midnight Hour.

Well on its way to becoming a contender for match of the night, the contest was unfortunately cut short after a duel suicide dive by the Usos took out all five men, leaving each and every one of them prone for an attack.

Then the music hit…

In the background of this rivalry, the Bludgeon Brothers have been ever-present, passing by without ever engaging in physical contact. Last night, however, they decided the time had come and marched down to the ring to systematically dismantle every single man out there. A powerbomb spot that dropped Xavier Woods on to the steel steps was particularly harrowing as he began to shake and was later carted away on a stretcher. Although this was certainly a worked moment of violence to set up a storyline injury, Woods’ selling of the attack is still my first thought when looking back at the pay-per-view as a whole.

Now that WWE Fastlane is over, the home stretch on the road to WrestleMania has begun which leads us to ask what this assault has created. The Usos remain WWE SmackDown Live Tag Team champions, the New Day never lost their title opportunity and if anyone wants to stop the Bludgeon Brothers from inserting themselves into a title match then good luck to them. A triple threat tag team match for the belts at WrestleMania 34 seems the most likely option with two of the hottest tag teams in the world and one of the most powerful duos competing for the right to call themselves champions.

This setup is not unlike that of NXT Takeover: Orlando, which took place over WrestleMania weekend last year. During that event, the Authors of Pain retained their NXT Tag Team Championships in a triple threat elimination match against DIY and the Revival. In that match the monster team left as victors, however, it would be foolish to expect the same if a triple threat stipulation is confirmed for this year’s biggest event.

The Bludgeon Brothers would be clawing to take the championships for themselves as opposed to simply retaining what already stamps them as the best. That said, you couldn’t under any circumstance count out the overall determination and skill possessed by both the New Day and current champions, the Usos.

These two teams have more than just any run-of-the-mill rivalry. They have true admiration and respect for one another. No matter which of the decorated factions holds the prize belts, they are the division and will not be silenced lightly. Expect to see a mix-and-match version of the stables pulling out some signature team-up offense in order to slay the new threat within the blue brand similar to how the Revival and DIY attempted to defeat the Authors of Pain in Orlando.

Realistically, any of these three teams could potentially walk out of WrestleMania 34 victorious, which is a true testament to the tag team division over on SmackDown Live. The New Day look to finally gain that fifth title run, proving once again that no matter how many pancakes they throw at Corey Graves, they should always be taken seriously as a force to be reckoned with. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan reforming as the Bludgeon Brothers are the invaders of this division and have their sights set on destroying the status quo, becoming champions in the process.

For my money, however, Jimmy and Jey Uso make the WWE SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships. They carry prestige and more personally than that, the titles feel at home with them. When it comes to the other groups, I could see the New Day pursuing a singles title as a unit, harking back to the criminally brief campaign for Xavier Woods to become the WWE United States champion earlier this year. #WoodsUSchamp.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdT5aIKBuCP/?hl=en&taken-by=xavierwoodsphd

The Bludgeon Brothers are a great powerhouse tag team but do they really need the titles? Having them separate from the championship picture creates multiple storyline threads in the tag team division that have some gravity. This aspect is sorely missing from what would be described as the entire main roster’s tag team mid-card.

To compare one title with another, the Usos holding the WWE SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships is like the Miz with the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Having the Bludgeon Brothers take them would be like seeing Roman Reigns with what I will affectionately refer to as Miz’s championship draped over his shoulder again. It’s an unnecessary attachment.

Whatever the case may be when WrestleMania 34 rolls around, you can be sure that the Usos, the New Day and the Bludgeon Brothers will take their moment in the sun and run with it. No matter what dream matches fill up the card, these three teams will look to tear the house down in spite of them and they might just do it.

6 years ago by Wrestle Talk

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