It was announced on this week’s episode of SmackDown that a tournament would take place which would culminate at Backlash to crown the winners of the new SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
By the end of the night, seven of the eight teams to participate were announced, with two of those teams already being taken out of the first round, which will continue next week.
There’s no way to know which teams will be competing at Backlash just yet, but until then, I figured I would go ahead and rank the eight teams in similar fashion to what I did with the SmackDown Women’s Championship contenders, which you can find here.
Without further ado, let’s start breaking down the lineup.
8. The Ascension
These two are a joke. What else is new? For some reason, they went from being the most dominant tag team in NXT history to moving up to the main roster and pretty much immediately losing matches and being booked like complete losers.
This has been the case ever since their call-up and nothing has changed except Konnor’s suspension, which does nothing but hurt their case even more. Before this brand split, there was a lot of potential to the two of them being released (or at least Konnor, with Viktor struggling to have a singles career afterward).
It was only a matter of time before they were eliminated from the tournament, and it makes sense that they would be the first team out of the running.
7. Breezango
Since they’ve officially been taken out of the tournament as well, Tyler Breeze and Fandango unfortunately have to be ranked second to last by default. I say “unfortunately” because I think these two deserve to be treated better than what their predicament is.
Sure, they weren’t ranked at the very top of my list before their elimination, but being next to dead last was not a call I would have made. At the very least, there’s one other tag team I would have put lower than them, if not two. There were rumblings that Breezango would receive some kind of a push soon, and I guess this proves that speculation wrong.
6. The Hype Bros
Poor Zack Ryder came out of nowhere at WrestleMania and won the Intercontinental Championship, only to drop the belt the next night to The Miz, who has held it ever since. Then, Ryder worked his way back up and had an impressive win for Team America (fuck yeah!) before losing momentum yet again.
Now that he’s paired back up with Mojo Rawley as The Hype Bros, they’ve been doing nothing but losing and filling out the background of group shots. Ryder’s work this year is the main reason they’re ranked above The Ascension, along with how Rawley hasn’t done much since coming up to the main roster (besides fail, but at least not spectacularly or at the same consistency as The Ascension).
These guys have no chance whatsoever.
5. The Vaudevillains
Simon Gotch did no favors for The Vaudevillains by getting into that fight backstage with Sin Cara, as I’m sure WWE won’t be rewarding him in any way until it blows over. Aiden English will get some of that splash back as he’s his tag team partner, which means this is an even steeper climb up the hill than normally presented to them.
Without that fight having happened, it was already going to be tough to call them potential winners, as The Vaudevillains are predominantly a joke act. They’re funny and they’re talented, but they can’t be taken seriously as competitors in a similar vein to other people on the roster. While they held the NXT Tag Team Championship, they defeated Blake and Murphy of all people and dropped the belts fairly quickly to The Revival, so if The Ascension can go from being as dominant as they were and are in as bad of shape as their current situation, imagine the struggle it’ll be for The Vaudevillains.
4. The Usos
I honestly expect The Usos to be in the finals against my #1 pick, but I have to put them at the fourth spot because of the intrigue behind two other teams that are in the mix.
After they stole the pin at SummerSlam and an argument rose up, it seemed like something would definitely come out of that, and I think we can expect that to come to fruition with a heel turn around Backlash. Maybe it happens beforehand, maybe they win by cheating and that’s what does it, or maybe they turn heel after failing to capture the titles, but in any scenario, I expect The Usos to be at the top of the division for sure.
Still, they’ve had their time as champions, and although they are the most reliable choice, to keep things fresh, I have three other teams that I’d be much more interested in seeing hold the belts.
3. Heath Slater and Rhyno
Heath Slater has been scratching and clawing for a contract on Raw and SmackDown, which has been one of the most interesting things on WWE programming as of late. When it was announced that this tournament would take place, Slater volunteered himself, but had no partner. Shane McMahon stated that if he not only found someone to team with, but if they won the tournament, then Slater would have a contract.
Whenever WWE puts out a storyline like this, there’s a very, very good chance the payoff isn’t stunted. Having Slater and Rhyno get to the finals to potentially get that contract for Slater is the best way to get the audience invested in the story, but that’s not necessarily the exact story WWE wants to tell, either.
The running theme for Slater has been that he fails. Sometimes, he’s close to getting signed, while other times, he is nowhere close. Next week, Rhyno can easily just turn on Slater and cost them the match with them being eliminated in the first round.
2. The Mystery 8th Team
The fact that this team doesn’t exist on the roster right now (most likely) and hasn’t been announced makes me extremely curious. Is it going to be The Dudley Boyz? Will Curt Hawkins make his debut with a partner instead of in singles competition? What if Zack Ryder turns on Mojo Rawley and shacks back up with Hawkins similar to what happened with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase when Rhodes dropped Hardcore Holly?
I honestly have no idea where WWE is going with this extra team, and that makes me have to put them in at least the secondary spot, if not the first one. The only reason they aren’t ranked at the top is because there’s also a chance it’s something of a joke where a team like The Headbangers comes in for a one-off to lose to Slater and Rhyno so they can advance.
It sure is a shame this isn’t Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas…
1. American Alpha
A match between American Alpha and The World’s Greatest Tag Team in the finals would have been awesome, but whatever ends up happening, I think the favorites to win are American Alpha, no question. This actually has me starting to doubt whether or not they will, as there’s a lot of potential to having The Usos cheat to win, turn heel, and make Jason Jordan and Chad Gable have to fight to get the titles instead.
WWE loves the chase, so that may be the call, but I think the overall theme no matter what is going to be that American Alpha either get the belts here or the story being told is that they should have, with them being the focal points going forward. They set NXT on fire and came up with a lot of momentum that they haven’t lost yet, so there’s no real drawback to having them as champions. Their popularity is sound, their in-ring work is great, and although their promos aren’t going to rival The New Age Outlaws, they’re in a group of teams that are all weak on the mic, so that doesn’t matter.
For my money, SmackDown should be ready, willing, and Gable to have these two as champions, and I think that will end up being the decision that’s made.
What would your rankings be? Who do you think the mystery tag team is? Tell me what’s on your mind in the comments below!
