10 Ups & 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 19)

2. Trademark Tag Team Action

Sheamus Tommaso Ciampa
WWE.com

You come to SmackDown if you want to see top-level WWE main roster tag team action. That's the rule, and it was proved true again last night, as the hot-shotted Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa were slotted into the show's workrate-centric format, yielding an awesome battle with The Bar.

This bout was of a similar quality to those The Bar having been working with the likes of The Usos and New Day since coming to SmackDown, boosted by the appeal of seeing them going two-on-two with DIY for the first time. No more than two great teams doing what they do best, it was worked with a textbook back-and-forth momentum seesaw formula, flattering both units en route to Gargano and Ciampa's victory, which came with Tommaso rolled Cesaro up for a leveraged pinfall following a smart blind tag.

Beating The Bar isn't a problem here, as Sheamus and Cesaro are very much out of title contention at the moment. They don't need to be protected, but their scalps are big enough to ensure a nice rub for the NXT guys, who rose to the occasion.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.