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From January 2019 to April 2019, the duo of Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura featured regularly as a tag team on WWE SmackDown Live in the build-up to WrestleMania 35.
Although both men had been given a better spotlight as singles stars at past WrestleManias, with Rusev facing John Cena in 2015 and Nakamura facing AJ Styles in 2018, it was still somewhat impressive that the former rivals teamed together at WWE’s biggest show of the year within 10 weeks of forming an alliance.
Following WrestleMania 35, where they lost a Fatal 4-Way match for The Usos’ SmackDown Tag Team titles, it looked as though the tag team would continue after they joined forces with Andrade on April 9 and Cesaro on April 16 to take part in six-man tag matches on SmackDown Live.
However, after both Superstars disappeared from WWE television for over two months, Nakamura confirmed the end of their partnership this week before his match against Finn Balor.
“No more tag team. Me alone, I strike fear.”
With the tag team now officially over, let’s take a look at five reasons why WWE decided to split up “The Bulgarian Brute” and “The King of Strong Style”.
#5 Their alliance was only a stop-gap before WrestleMania 35
From a storyline perspective, it did not make much sense for Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura to begin their tag team run at the end of January 2019.
The two men had been involved in a three-month feud over the United States Championship, which Rusev won from Nakamura on Christmas Day 2018 before losing it back to him at the 2019 Royal Rumble.
Both former champions then lost title matches against R-Truth on the episode of SmackDown Live after the Rumble, prompting them to form an alliance which was simply based on their mutual dislike of Truth.
With WWE planning a Fatal 4-Way match for the SmackDown Tag Team titles at WrestleMania 35, it felt like the duo stayed together longer than expected just so they could make up the numbers on the ‘Mania card.
#4 Their tag team record was awful
After joining forces to attack R-Truth on the January 29 episode of SmackDown Live, Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated The Club’s Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson on February 5 and it looked as though they could go on to have an entertaining run as a tag team.
With Lana by their side, they went on to lose against another new tag team, Aleister Black & Ricochet, on February 26 before falling to defeat again on the Fastlane kickoff show against New Day members Big E & Xavier Woods.
From then on, the tag team’s run of results only got worse as they failed to win any of their three televised matches in the build-up to WrestleMania 35, where they lost a Fatal 4-Way match for The Usos' SmackDown Tag Team titles.
Two more defeats followed in six-man tag team matches, meaning they won just one of their nine matches together.
#3 Finn Balor desperately needed an opponent
Finn Balor overcame multiple obstacles in his rivalry with Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush before winning the Intercontinental Championship for the second time from “The All Mighty” at WrestleMania 35.
Sadly for the Irishman, he has hardly been given a chance to show what he can do as a champion since his ‘Mania triumph, with storylines involving the likes of Kofi Kingston, Bayley and Shane McMahon taking priority on SmackDown Live following his move to the brand in the Superstar Shake-Up.
It is alarming that the only televised Intercontinental Championship match in the last three months came at WWE Super ShowDown, where Balor defeated Andrade in a match which had a limited amount of build-up on SmackDown Live.
Moving forward, Balor desperately needed a meaningful rival, so it is no surprise that WWE has taken Shinsuke Nakamura away from the tag team scene and placed him in a one-on-one storyline again.
#2 Rusev is reportedly on a leave of absence
Rusev has not been on our screens for the last three months on SmackDown Live, while his only televised in-ring appearance during that time came in the 51-man Battle Royal at WWE Super ShowDown.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer recently reported that the three-time United States champion is expected to return soon after being granted a leave of absence, but it is unclear when he will be reintroduced to WWE’s storylines.
With no tag team partner around, it seems that WWE’s decision-makers were left with little choice but to give Shinsuke Nakamura the opportunity to break out as a singles competitor again.
After all, “The King of Strong Style” made his name in one-on-one matches in NJPW and during his one-year spell in NXT, so it is hardly a risk by inserting him back into a singles rivalry with Finn Balor.
#1 They are too good to be in a makeshift tag team
Looking back at the booking of the WWE Championship in 2018, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura were both in prominent positions where they could have won SmackDown Live’s top title from AJ Styles.
Rusev’s only title opportunity came at Extreme Rules, where Aiden English inadvertently cost him from getting the victory, while there would have been very few complaints if he won the title earlier in the year during the height of the “Rusev Day” phenomenon.
Nakamura, in contrast, faced Styles in four consecutive PPV matches (WrestleMania 34, Greatest Royal Rumble, Backlash and Money In The Bank). It appeared as though the natural conclusion of the storyline would be for the Japanese star to become WWE champion, but “The Phenomenal One” retained on every occasion.
Simply put, whether they are challenging for the WWE title or not, the duo are too good at being singles competitors and too important to the men’s division to be involved in a makeshift tag team.
