5 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Dec 26)

by Michael Hamflett

1. Tagged Classic

Aiden English Xavier Woods
WWE.com

Vince McMahon himself may allegedly not be a fan, but to paraphrase a legend paraphrasing a legend, whether he likes it or he doesn't, tag team wrestling is the best thing going today.

Making good on the bizarre decision to have the Clash Of Champions title match work as a rotating Fatal Four Way, Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable defeated Rusev Day and The New Day in a vastly superior three-team follow-up.

Rather than splitting into two moribund matches with occasional highspots, every combined trifecta in the ring at the time came up with unique and exciting spots that gave the fans an almost limitless supply of breathless nearfalls before Benjamin and Gable despatched Big E after 14 gruelling minutes to earn a shot at The Usos next week.

Consistently delivering high-end action with any team they've faced this year, Jimmy and Jey have been the flag-bearers for a division reborn, but were given the night off as the chasing pack produced a late contender to enter match-of-the-year honourable mentions.

Also in keeping with 2017 form, Xavier Woods was the stand-out star during the scant moments the Chicago crowd weren't white hot for Rusev. Should fractures ever appear between Woods, E and Kofi Kingston, the UpUpDownDown doyen has offered far more to suggest he'll be more than just an 8-bit part player in the aftermath.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett