5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Smackdown Live (Aug 23)
2. Up - Alpha Better
Following the confusion with Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt came the second opening-round match in the Smackdown Tag Team Championship tournament - main roster newcomers and former NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha were in action against Breezango.
On paper, that sounds like a mismatch - American Alpha are one of the best tag teams in the world, and they've been treated like it since coming to Smackdown. Breezango, meanwhile, are typically booked as comedy heels, with their win-loss record looking less than stellar. Thankfully, though, the bout was treated as a fair fight, and it was better for it.
American Alpha opened up hot, hitting stereo suplexes on Breezango and working the heels over with frequent tags. When the referee got distracted, though, Fandango came into the ring and clotheslined Gable for the heat. He eventually tagged out to Jordan, but Breeze got a couple of close nearfalls on him before Alpha came back and won with the Grand Amplitude. All in all, a very good TV match that benefited both teams.