Big Developments In WWE Tag Team Divisions
Andrew Patterson This week's SmackDown was a massive show as the Tag Team Titles were going to be unified. Either The Usos would become to greatest tag team in the history of WWE or RK-Bro would hold all the gold and The Usos would have to deal with the consequences of letting Roman Reigns down. WWE also announced that Sasha Banks and Naomi had been indefinitely suspended and a tournament will be held to crown new women's champions.
Also on the show, Happy Corbin destroyed the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Trophy, Raquel Rodriguez had a strong showing and Xavier Woods teased a new tag team partner to join New Day next week.
Here are your winners and losers for SmackDown, May 20, 2022:
Winner: Opening Segment
Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns did a masterful job of laying the table for what was at stake in tonight's unification tag team match. If The Usos won, they would do something no team had ever done. Should they let The Head of the Table down, they wouldn't be welcome back to the Island of Relevancy. They said nothing, but it was clear the message was received loud and clear.
WWE did a great job of promoting how big this tag match is and reminding the fans the company has a storied history of tag team wrestling. Heyman was especially good, dropping some of the greatest names in singles wrestling while paying respect to Afa and Sika, the Wild Samoans.
Winner: Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Anytime these two square off, they'll be measured up against their classic NXT match. This certainly wasn't that, but it was entertaining. When Zayn was shocked not to get a count-out victory, he got flustered, chased Nakamura back out of the ring, and got a taste of his own medicine when Nakamura sent him over the guardrail. Nakamura waited inside the ring and Zayn barely beat the count to get back in. Unfortunately, he walked right into a Kinshasa for the loss.
This was a solid match and with Zayn out there representing The Bloodline (or at least thinking he was) it added even more focus to the importance of the tag match.
Winner: Corbin Destroys The Andre Trophy
A simple, yet effective and uninterrupted promo by Happy Corbin elevated the rivalry between himself and Madcap Moss even more than the feud was elevated last week. Corbin was serious during his entire promo, then absolutely destroyed the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy. It was a welcome change for a guy who can really deliver on the mic but is often asked to be too goofy to be taken seriously.
Winner/Loser: Max Dupri Debut
It's too soon to grade the debut of Max Dupri and his potential modeling agency faction, simply because it sounds a bit goofy. That said, Dupri (formerly LA Knight in NXT) is a very talented worker and talker. He could make what sounds like a bad idea quite good. Even in his short segment on Friday, it was clear he's got the chops to be a good group leader.
He was part of a segment with Adam Pearce saying he was hired by Sonya Deville and signed a contract before she was released. Pearce said he'd have to look into the standing of said contract with his legal department and Dupri left, pushing the proper pronunciation of his name which Pearce couldn't quite get right.
Winner: Raquel Rodriguez
After nearly defeating Ronda Rousey last week, Rodriguez put in a dominant performance against Shotzi who was upset Rodriguez took her shot to answer Rousey's Open Challenge. This was a match meant to reestablish Rodriguez as a potential top talent in the Women's Division. Her loss last week didn't hurt her, but this week's win certainly helped. She has the potential to be a big deal and with Banks and Naomi apparently out of the picture, there's a wide-open door for her to walk through.
Loser: Women's Tag Team Titles Tournament
The one move WWE probably shouldn't have made with the Women's Tag Team titles they made on Friday. Michael Cole announced that WWE was going to hold a women's tag team tournament to crown new women's tag champs. WWE indefinitely suspended Sasha Banks and Naomi for their actions on Monday when they walked out and ditched the titles. As such, WWE needs to crown new champions. The only problem here is they really don't have any teams to challenge for the belts.
One could argue even Banks and Naomi were thrown together and that seems to be the way of the women's tag team division. What kind of teams are going to be in this tournament? It's really going to expose how weak the division is and how much it's been ignored.
Winner: The Usos and The Bloodline
The Usos and Roman Reigns successfully pulled off stealing almost all the gold in WWE on Friday when they took the Raw Tag Team Championships away from RK-Bro. It was a big match feel and while the match itself wasn't a fantastic main event for something that would be so significant in the grand scheme of WWE, the end of the show was fun, emotional and big. Fans were in shock and kids were seen crying as The Usos and Reigns beat the tar out of Orton and Riddle when the match was over.
The Usos now hold all the tag team gold and Reigns holds both of the top singles titles. You can bet they'll be bragging about this for weeks. It also seems that Riddle might be the next up to challenge Reigns for one (or both) of his singles titles.
SmackDown Match Results:
* Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Sami Zayn in a singles match when he caught Zayn with a Kinshasa as Zayn was trying to beat a 10-count back into the ring. |
* Gunther defeated Drew Gulak in a singles match. Gulak got barely any offense in and was defeated with a powerbomb. |
* Raquel Rodriguez defeated Shotzi. Cole called her finisher a name that FOX seemed not to like because they censored it out of the program. (it's a one-handed powerbomb). |
* Xavier Woods defeated Butch in a singles match. Butch attacked Woods after the match and Woods teased a six-man match for next week and said he and Kofi had a partner in mind. |
* The Usos defeated RK-Bro when Roman Reigns held Riddle's foot during an attempted top-rope RKO. Jey Uso then hit the frogsplash for the win. The Usos attacked RK-Bro after the match and now hold all the gold. |