12 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 12)

8. Clusterf*ck

Tag Teams
WWE.com

The chaos in SmackDown's tag division continued in last night's opening match, as The Hardy Boyz and Ricochet/Aleister Black teamed to face The Bar, Rusev, and Shinsuke Nakamura. It was everything you'd expect it to be: a complete clusterf*ck.

These 11 minutes of wild action never devolved into a full-on spotfest, but it's weekly TV. There's little point in putting your body on the line in a SmackDown opener. Nonetheless, nobody felt like they were taking the night off, and all eight wrestlers worked hard to keep the adrenaline flowing throughout, resulting in a fast, fluid tag scramble that was always going to end in shenanigans.

The Hardyz almost had it won when Jeff nailed the Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combination for a two-count. A mass brawl erupted before The New Day ran out, battered everyone else to the ground, and stood tall after the no contest had already been called. A curious way to close things given Kofi Kingston's business elsewhere on the card, but why wouldn't these guys get involved? They're one of the most decorated teams in the company.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.