Driven possibly by a renaissance on NXT in the years prior, SmackDown Live's Tag Division appeared keen to bring a doubles revolution to the main roster from the early days of the 2016 split, but it took a memorably magnificent series between The New Day and The Usos in 2017 for the top pairs to see their stated aim achieved.
Seemingly incapable of having bad matches, Jimmy and Jey's late-2016 heel turn had shifted gears somewhat thanks to the sheer robustness of their in-ring game. In a brand-switching Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods, the brothers found an act enhanced their own. All ice creams and Booty-Os until the bell, the comedy trio got serious against The Usos and the results were spellbinding.
Across multiple SmackDown Lives and multiple pay-per-views (including criminal omission from a SummerSlam card that they stole from the Kickoff), the matches never suffered through repetition, with all five men cultivating a culture of respect from the art of war.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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
