WWE Royal Rumble 2019: Confirmed matches and full projected card
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SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Bar (c) vs. SAnitY
This week on SmackDown Live, things were shaken up in the tag division as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson joined the fray for the first time in months. The Bar, The Usos, and The New Day are undoubtedly spectacular tag teams who will be remembered for years to come, but even the Good Brothers were eager to point out how taxing seeing those same three teams has become. Sounds like The Club is looking like they’ll get a title shot in the future, right? Wrong. As nice as it was to see Gallows and Anderson back in the mix, the fresh faces with all the potential in the world that should look to dethrone The Bar at the Royal Rumble are the chaotic trio (soon to be quartet) that is SAnitY.
If anyone is unfamiliar with their devastation, please direct yourself to the WWE Network and watch the WarGames Match from 2018 in Houston. I had the opportunity to witness the carnage live, including the veteran instincts of Eric Young, the uncanny combo of power and agility of Killian Dain, and the sheer brute force and toughness of Alexander Wolfe. Those who remember that match may also remember Wolfe suffered a very severe gash in the back of his head after executing a German Suplex off the top rope and crashing through two tables along with one-half of The Authors of Pain. Wolfe’s head unfortunately hit in just the wrong way at the spot where the tables broke, and blood started to pour.
The rules of WarGames dictated that if Wolfe had left the cage to seek medical attention, SAnitY would have immediately lost the match. The camera never showed a good angle what happened, but you could hear exclamatory “WOLFE” chants from the crowd in the Toyota Center. Alexander Wolfe dragged himself to the edge of the cage, and medical personnel stapled his head shut through the cage. Without missing a beat, Wolfe then rejoined the fray and continued to be a major factor in the match.
It’s a single moment in a lengthy tenure in NXT, but perhaps nothing better illustrates the dangerous unpredictability of SAnitY. This week on SmackDown Live, The Bar looked to make a statement and interrupt the match between The Usos and Gallows & Anderson. Of course, SAnitY beat them to the punch. Before The Bar could even get to the ring, SAnitY had found and utterly decimated The Good Brothers and The Usos. The Bar picked the bones after SAnitY did their work, but there was no denying who made the bigger impact.
On top of all of that, SAnitY’s “Twisted Sister” is officially headed to the main roster. Nikki Cross made a brief appearance on SmackDown Live to challenge Becky Lynch last month, but now she’s coming to the main roster for good. She hasn’t been confirmed for SmackDown Live, but there’s no better place for her. Part of what made SAnitY so unpredictable in NXT was Nikki Cross and her willingness to do literally whatever she darn well pleases. The Bar is used to dealing with a trio from their past with The New Day, but could the presence of Nikki Cross at ringside as well be enough to topple the champions?