WWE Extreme Rules 2016: Win or Lose, The Vaudevillains Look Legit

How The Vaudevillains have turned themselves from an afterthought to legitimate title contenders.

In August of 2015, the Vaudevillains were on the top of the world. Fresh off of an NXT Tag Team title-winning performance at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, Simon Gotch, and Aiden English seemed to be poised for big things. The duo was wildly over with the Full Sail University crowd and since they were still a relatively new team, a long title reign seemed possible. However, their newfound success turned out to be short-lived. They were soundly beaten by The Revival in the second round of The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and then once again by the same team on an episode of WWE NXT, the latter ended their title reign at a mere 61 days.

What once looked like a very promising opportunity for The Vaudevillains manifested into a trip back to the drawing board. Looking to spark some momentum, the team quickly went back to their heel ways but it seemed too little too late. They ended their NXT tenure on a losing streak, dropping televised bouts to American Alpha and the new team of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano.

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So with almost zero momentum behind them, hopes were not high when the duo made their main roster debut just mere days after dropping their last televised NXT match. The Vaudevillains however, apparently didn’t get that memo. The promotion to the big show seemed to reinvigorate them. They defeated The Lucha Dragons in their debut match and then tore through the team of Goldust and Fandango and then did the same to The Usos in a major upset to make the finals of the No. 1 contender tournament for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

With Enzo Amore suffering a horrific looking injury in the subsequent finals match, suddenly The Vaudevillains went from a team that seemed destined for the chopping block to a serious threat to the titles. But they weren’t done there. In the weeks leading up to Extreme Rules, Gotch and English are looking much less like a comedy act and far more like a bruising team hell bent on becoming champions. They’ve relentlessly gone after the current champs, The New Day, making the WWE Universe firmly understand their intentions.

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Perhaps the best thing going for The Vaudevillains is the commitment to their gimmick. With their vintage visual style and throwback tag, team wrestling holds there is currently nobody like them on either the WWE or NXT roster. They seemed refreshed in this heel role, with English back to singing parts of his promos and Gotch being better than ever on the mic and they’re reveling in the fans disdain for their vicious treatment of the popular New Day.

With Extreme Rules just days away, it’s going to be an important night for The Vaudevillains. But will a loss severely damage them at this point? Most likely not. With how promising their first championship program has been, an unsuccessful title shot should not be the end of the road. There are still a number of feuds that will be waiting for them whether they win or lose at the pay per view. With the feud with The New Day one of the better stories currently going, there’s no reason it couldn’t continue. And when Enzo Amore heals up, there is a ready-made revenge storyline available.

In less than a month, The Vaudevillains have made the most of their big opportunity and have proven to be serious title contenders. They’ve put the entire WWE roster on notice that they’ve not come to the main roster just for a cup of coffee. They’re here for business and should be for a long time.

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