WWE SmackDown Grades: The Miz Crosses The Line Of No Return

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3. Rusev Day vs. The Bar

It seemed like no team would be able to dethrone The Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but The New Day and a real-life injury to Rowan ended that idea when Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods became five-time tag team champions just a few weeks ago.

Soon after becoming Tag Team Champions again, a tournament was formed to determine The New Day’s next challengers.  The Bar won a Triple Threat Match to advance to the number one contender’s match and Rusev Day won another Triple Threat Match to advance in its own right, and that’s where things stood heading into last night’s show where The Bar would battle Rusev Day.

Given how The New Day has already tangled with every team in the running to become the number one contender, it felt like Rusev and Aiden English needed a win here.  They have been on a storyline roller coaster over the past couple months and it even looked like English would be out of the good graces of Rusev, but they are back on the same page, and it showed last night.  In a solid match, English made a huge sacrifice to ensure a win.

Towards the end of the match, Sheamus was about to hit Rusev with a brogue kick, but English got in the way and took the kick himself.  This gave Rusev time to regroup and hit Sheamus with a huge kick to get the win and advance to Hell In A Cell.  It will be Rusev Day vs. The New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, and it should be exciting to see what comes out of this intriguing battle.

The happiest Rusev Day of all-time could be just a few days away after a big triumph last night in a pretty solid match with The Bar.

Final Grade: B