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Back in 2016, during the early days of the brand split, the WWE SmackDown brand did not have its own Women's Championship and it's own tag team titles as well. So, the commissioner Shane McMahon, along with General Manager Daniel Bryan announced that the blue brand will have two new championships on the show and thus the SD Live Women's Championship and SD Live Tag Team Titles were revealed.
While the first ever SD Live Women's Champion was decided by a six-pack challenge match, the SD Live tag team championship tournament was started on Tuesday nights to crown the first ever SmackDown tag team champions.
Also Read: 4 WWE tournaments since the brand split and their ratings
A total of 8 tag teams participated in that tournament which saw Heath Slater and Rhyno emerge as the winners of the tourney. Tag Teams like the Hype Bros, The Usos, Ascension and Breezango were also a part of the tournament but here are the 3 tag teams that you may not remember were a part of the 8-team competition:
#3 The Vaudevillains
The Vaudevillains were expected to rule the tag team division of the WWE due to the unique gimmick they had on TV.
They were one of the top heel tag teams in NXT and were booked strongly in the initial stages of their WWE career. However, soon the tag team got lost in the mix and Simon Gotch and Aiden English were used as jobbers in the tag team division.
In the SD Live tag team championship tournament, they were eliminated in the first round after they lost to the Hype Bros in under 3 minutes. Currently, this tag team is no longer together as Simon Gotch was released by WWE whereas Aiden English has continued to perform on SD Live.
#2 The Headbangers
When Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan announced that the tag team championship tournament will feature 8 tag teams, the WWE Universe were left scratching their heads as the SD Live roster had only 6 tag teams.
While Heath Slater and Rhyno later formed a tag team, the final tag team was revealed as the Headbangers who made their return to WWE on SD Live.
Mosh and Thrasher, also known as the Headbangers, are one of the oldest tag teams of the WWE and were also former WWF tag team champions. So, it was surprising that their return was not announced beforehand.
The Headbangers have not wrestled in the WWE since 2016 and it seems like the two legends returned just to put Heath Slater and Rhyno over.
#1 American Alpha
The team of Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were expected to dominate the SD Live tag team division after they received their main roster call-up during the draft in 2016.
American Alpha was one of the most popular tag teams in NXT and had also won their semi-final match in the tournament against the Usos (who were face superstars ahead of the semi-final).
Jimmy and Jey then turned heel and went on to be one of the greatest tag teams of all time but American Alpha were knocked out of that tournament. Jordan and Gable then won the SD Live tag team championships on the last episode of SD Live in 2016 but lost it to The Usos later in 2017.
Then, Jason Jordan was revealed as Kurt Angle's son on RAW and the American Alpha were disbanded. Gable then joined Shelton Benjamin to form a tag team, but the two failed to light up the tag team division.
However, Chad Gable teamed up with Bobby Roode on RAW in 2018 and the two went oto win the RAW tag team championships.
