WWE Extreme Rules 2016: 10 Things WWE Got Right
8. Putting Xavier Woods In The Tag-Team Title Match
More commonly, Big E teams with Kofi Kingston for WWE Tag-Team Title defences. At Extreme Rules, Kingston was subbed out for Xavier Woods, a small design choice that actually ended up helping The New Day's match against The Vaudevillains. Xavier's involvement added that little shred of doubt over the outcome.
Starting the match with fire, Woods was swiftly cut down by both Simon Gotch and Aiden English. Getting heat on their opponent, The Vaudevillains were allowed to look domineering, later setting the scene for more involvement from Kofi and Big E. That may not have been the case had Kingston been the one in the ring.
Woods really fits that 'babyface in peril' spot perfectly. Few realistically believed that The Vaudevillains would leave the pay-per-view as the new champions, but this decision helped the narrative of the match.
Xavier doesn't wrestle as much as Big E and Kingston (on television, at least), so it's believable that he would be the one to lose the tag titles for his team. This was one case where WWE made the best of a throwaway situation.