18 Ups & 12 Downs From The WWE SmackDown Live Era
10. Tagged Classics
Driven possibly by a renaissance on NXT in the years prior, SmackDown Live's Tag Division appeared keen to bring a doubles revolution to the main roster from the early days of the 2016 split, but it took a memorably magnificent series between The New Day and The Usos in 2017 for the top pairs to see their stated aim achieved.
Seemingly incapable of having bad matches, Jimmy and Jey's late-2016 heel turn had shifted gears somewhat thanks to the sheer robustness of their in-ring game. In a brand-switching Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods, the brothers found an act enhanced their own. All ice creams and Booty-Os until the bell, the comedy trio got serious against The Usos and the results were spellbinding.
Across multiple SmackDown Live and multiple pay-per-views (including criminal omission from a SummerSlam card that they stole from the Kickoff), the matches never suffered through repetition, with all five men cultivating a culture of respect from the art of war.