One of the definite hard sells of The New Day is the fact that they kayfabe reveal which combination of them are competing in a given tag team match, right before the bell rings. This tactic evokes a variation of the Freebird Rule, popularized by Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts, better known as The Fabulous Freebirds, in the NWA. The Freebird Rule, for the uninitiated, is a rule that allowed any two of the three The Fabulous Freebirds to represent their team whilst defending the Tag Team Titles. Its a fairly fiendish bit of gamesmanship, that gives your opponents trouble when scouting your team. Since they are unsure of which pair are going to compete, they must scout for all three possible pairings, which may hinder how effectively they can prepare at all. The WWE have tried to make this bit of gamesmanship more palatable when used by the jovial New Day faction. They make it seem as though they are unsure of who is representing the trio until a quick game of odds and evens decides which tandem will compete. Its still an unfair advantage that they have, given that they know exactly what any pair of them are walking into and their opponents have no clue. The Freebird rule is inherently a heel tactic, and the only way they could have sold Kofi, Xavier and Big E using it would have been to attach a fun gimmick to it. Playing odds and evens isnt quite enough, but maybe giving each pairing a distinctive team name would have been the trick. If not that, then maybe having Dr. Xavier Woods pick the tandem for each night based on the team theyre facing, the town theyre in and a dozen other scientific and sociological variables. That would at least give them a chance to demonstrate what Xavier Woods intelligence brings to the table, especially if they were to build up a streak of victorious combination by the good doctor. As it stands, the heel tactic they are using conflicts with the jovial nature of the group.
Matthew J. Douglas is an emerging screenwriter born in Toronto. A lifelong fascination with what makes a compelling story and the Toni Morrison quote "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." led the often opinionated Matthew to the life of writer. Matthew is also a lifelong WWE fan, and a self diagnosed Reality TV Junkie.
