This Sunday, the team of Heath Slater and Rhyno defend the Smackdown Tag Team Championship against the Wyatt Family, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton at the TLC pay per view. The tag team division has been somewhat lackluster on Smackdown Live! recently. Will we see a title change to help revitalize the division?
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TLC Preview: Heath Slater and Rhyno Versus The Wyatt Family
The History
Heath Slater and Rhyno were the winners of a tournament to become the first Smackdown Live! Tag Team Champions. Since then, they have defended the title only a couple of times and have not had to defend in over a month, due in part to the inter-brand Survivor Series match in November.
Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton were thrust in to the tag title picture when they became the final two competitors in the featured Survivor Series elimination match to win for Team Smackdown. The duo staked their claim after a tag team turmoil match by essentially challenging American Alpha for their spot in the championship match. Thanks to some outside help from their other family member, Luke Harper, the Wyatt’s were able to win and earn the shot against Slater and Rhyno.
No Stipulation
At an event full of gimmick matches, this is the only one that does not have a stipulation attached to it. This is being advertised as a straight up match where the best team will come out on top. Of course, with the Wyatt Family, one can always suspect that there will be some sort of outside interference.
However, there are some questions surrounding the cohesiveness of the Wyatt Family. It does not appear that Harper and Orton are on the same page as of late, and Orton has even gone so far as telling Harper what to do. Will Harper eventually snap out of his Wyatt Family trance or will he continue to fall in line and help his team win? Or how about American Alpha looking to get revenge for the way the Wyatt’s earned their way into the match?
The Prediction
Like previously stated, the tag team division has been extremely stale as of late. There is obviously talent in the division with teams like The Usos, American Alpha and even some that the fans just haven’t click with yet in the Hype Bros, Vaudevillians and The Ascension. This should be a division that is featured on the Tuesday night show, but it needs a more credible and dominant champion at the top of the card. Thus, it feels like it is time for the “Beauty and the Man Beast” to drop the titles to the “new” Wyatt Family and clear the way for a feud between the Wyatts and American Alpha.
