WWE SmackDown: Daniel Bryan and Rowan As Tag Team Champions is a great move
The May 7 edition of WWE SmackDown saw the SmackDown Tag Team Championship undergo a change of scenery with Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan being crowned as new champions after The Hardy Boyz were forced to relinquish the titles just one week ago.
The other night on SmackDown Live, WWE followed up on the new Wild Card Rule implemented by Mr. McMahon the previous night. Shane McMahon came out and said he had the perfect team to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Many assumed it was going to be himself and Elias being crowned as champions. It turned out to be another duo in The New Daniel Bryan and Rowan.
The two were handed the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, but the Wild Card Rule would come into effect just in the nick of time courtesy of The Usos.
Jimmy and Jey said those titles mean too much to just hand over to Bryan and Rowan, so they wanted a tag team match to crown the new champions. That’s exactly what happened when The Usos took on Bryan and Rowan for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. To no one’s surprise, this was a stellar match with plenty of drama. It was back and forth for a while, but the power of Rowan proved to be the difference in the end.
After hitting Jey with a huge chokeslam, Rowan got the pinfall victory for his team and with that, Bryan and Rowan officially became the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. New hemp titles are likely on deck, but giving them these titles is a great move in itself. Not only for Bryan and Rowan, but the entire tag team division. When looking at the current tag team scene on Tuesday nights, there aren’t many other teams that would have made sense to win the titles.
Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura haven’t done enough as a tag team. Meanwhile, The B-Team hasn’t been in a prominent position in nearly a year. The New Day is one man down with the current injury status of Big E. On top of that, Heavy Machinery hasn’t had a very good main roster run up to this point. The Hardy Boyz could have had a great run with the titles, but Jeff’s unfortunate injury ended their tag team title reign prematurely.
Bryan and Rowan seem to be the perfect ones to hold the titles at this point. Think about it, Bryan has been on a fantastic heel run over the past several months that has completely rejuvenated his career. He was a great WWE Champion and was instrumental in helping Kofi Kingston’s meteoric rise come to fruition. Rowan has been a great lackey for Bryan in that time frame as well.
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Since losing the WWE Championship to Kofi at WrestleMania, Bryan had been off of TV for several weeks. After returning and losing his WWE Championship rematch on Raw this past Monday night, WWE needed to give him something meaningful to fall back on. A SmackDown Tag Team Championship reign feels like the perfect fall back plan to keep Bryan as an elite heel and help spruce up the blue brand’s tag team division.
It would have made no sense to give The Usos the SmackDown Tag Team Championship considering they are members of the Raw roster. As confusing as the Superstar Shake-Up and everything since it has been, this is one of the only logical decisions the WWE has made in a while. Bryan and Rowan can help bring out the best in the tag team division on Tuesday nights. It should be interesting to see where this reign ends up.
Seeing Bryan’s heel persona in the tag team title scene should create many more impactful moments and help launch new feuds at the same time. The preachy ways of The Planet’s Champion and his heavy should remain some of the most must-see TV within the landscape of the WWE with the duo now holding tag team gold for the first time.
Next. Wild Card Rule Blurs The Current Brand Situation. dark
Great decisions have been few and far between lately in the WWE, but deciding to put the SmackDown Tag Team Championship around the waists of Bryan and Rowan is a great decision that should benefit the entire brand moving forward.