5 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (June 13)

Ups…

5. Tag Teams In The Spotlight

SmackDown’s opening 30 minutes revolved entirely around the tag division, with The New Day (soundtracked by The Soul Rebels - a group of local New Orleans musicians) teeing-off with a textbook revolving door in-ring segment. They were interrupted first by The Usos, then Breezango and The Colons, setting up a 4-on-4 tag team bout pitting the heels against the faces.

The segment was as dull as we’ve come to expect at the start of SmackDown, and the match could have easily opened the show without it. The bout itself, however, was a perfectly acceptable TV offering. They were given close to 15 minutes to flex their skills, and while not exactly rife with exciting action, it did a solid job of highlighting the participants, with Xavier Woods coming-off particularly strongly.

The New Day picked up the victory ahead of their SmackDown Tag Team Title match with The Usos on Sunday. The real positive here is that the tag teams were allowed so much airtime at the top of the show, as the division has been given little focus since last year’s draft, and the teams rarely find themselves in the spotlight. The New Day’s presence should hopefully change that, and help push tag team wrestling to a respectable position on SmackDown.