5 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 21)

4. Bludgeoned

Bludgeon Brothers Luke Harper Erick Rowan
WWE.com

As goofy as the Bludgeon Brothers' pre-debut hype videos were, WWE booked their first match to perfection last night, with Erick Rowan and Luke Harper utterly dominant against The Hype Bros.

Rawley and Ryder never stood a chance. They barely mustered a sliver of offence, and with Zack taken out of the equation on the outside, Mojo was left to face the monsters alone. The Brothers slapped the poor sap around for a while, before finally putting him out of his misery with a double crucifix slam, scoring the win in just over 90 seconds.

A textbook squash match, it was 100% effective in establishing the Bludgeon Brothers as the tag division's new big bads. Sure, the gimmick is corny, and Harper looks particularly daft in their low-rent attire, but for now, their dominance supersedes these concerns. This is how you debut a new act: not by going 50/50 against lesser opposition, but by destroying them. Full credit to WWE for recognising this, and for not taking the Asuka vs. Emma route and booking Harper & Rowan in a needlessly competitive bout with the Hype Goofs.

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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.