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WWE announced during SmackDown Live that Daniel Bryan & Rowan will defend the SmackDown Tag Team titles against The Usos during the Money In The Bank kickoff show on Sunday, May 19.
Rowan and The Usos are no strangers to competing on PPV kickoff shows, but the decision to book Bryan in a match on a pre-show broadcast has surprised many fans, especially considering that his WWE Championship encounter with Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35 was widely viewed as the best match of the night.
The former WWE champion teamed with Rowan to defeat The Usos for the vacant tag titles on last week’s SmackDown Live, and he mentioned following the show that he wants to create a tag team evolution in WWE, culminating in a main-event match involving the tag division at WrestleMania.
One week later, it was announced that the upcoming SmackDown Tag Team Championship rematch will take place on the MITB kickoff show, so it appears as though “The Planet’s Champion” is going to need to work extra hard in order to convince WWE’s decision-makers to give the tag division the spotlight that he wants.
In this article, let’s take a look at five theories on why WWE has decided that a Superstar of Bryan’s calibre should be involved in a kickoff show match.
#5 Increase viewers
PPV kickoff shows are not exactly must-see events. The majority of video packages during the broadcast are the same as the pre-match videos that are shown during the main PPV, while the kickoff show matches are usually relatively meaningless.
This was not always the case, though. In fact, back in 2013, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins faced The Usos in a tag match on the Money In The Bank pre-show which is still considered one of the best matches that all four men have competed in.
In recent months, however, kickoff show matches have had very little meaning, with the most notable example coming at Fastlane in March when The New Day fought Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura with hardly any storyline explanation attached to the match.
Now that Daniel Bryan will be involved on Sunday’s kickoff show, there is bound to be an increase in interest from WWE fans.
#4 Lack of storyline build-up
The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles on the episode of SmackDown Live after WrestleMania 35. Jeff Hardy then suffered an untimely knee injury at a live event, ruling him out of in-ring action for 6-9 months, and the legendary duo were forced to relinquish their titles.
Since then, Daniel Bryan & Rowan defeated The Usos to become the new champions, while they teamed with Elias & Shane to pick up a victory over The Usos & Roman Reigns in a 4-on-3 handicap match on this week’s SmackDown Live.
Even though the two tag teams involved in Sunday’s kickoff show match have been prominent figures on WWE programming over the last few years, it still feels like there is something missing from this rivalry to make it seem worthy of being featured on a PPV.
There has only been one week of build-up and The Usos have not exactly done anything to earn a title opportunity, so perhaps that had a part to play in WWE’s decision to book the match on the kickoff show.
#3 Message to the rest of the locker room
WWE Superstars have mentioned in media interviews over the years that Vince McMahon would not ask a member of his roster to do something that he would not do himself, hence why his villainous Mr. McMahon character has been involved in crazy match types (Hair vs. Hair, Steel Cage etc) during his on/off in-ring career.
Now, it would be a little far-fetched to ask McMahon to compete in a pay-per-view kickoff show – he is 73, after all – but perhaps a similar way of thinking has been used in the decision to include a megastar like Daniel Bryan on Sunday’s pre-show broadcast.
If McMahon made a fool of himself portraying an over-the-top character on TV, why shouldn’t one of his Superstars? Equally, if somebody with Bryan’s star power is competing in matches on a kickoff show, why should anybody else on the roster complain in future if they are placed in the same position?
Taking part in a kickoff show is usually seen as a demotion by WWE Superstars, but maybe that perception will change after Money In The Bank.
#2 The Money In The Bank PPV is already stacked
As well as the men’s and women’s Money In The Bank ladder matches, the upcoming pay-per-view will feature Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles (Universal Championship), Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens (WWE Championship), Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans (Raw Women’s Championship) and Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (SmackDown Women’s Championship).
Other than the world title encounters, the following matches are also scheduled: Roman Reigns vs. Elias, Shane McMahon vs. The Miz (Steel Cage), Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio (United States Championship), Tony Nese vs. Ariya Daivari (Cruiserweight Championship) and Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Championship).
Looking at those matches, the only realistic contenders to include on a kickoff show are the United States Championship, Cruiserweight Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship matches.
Joe vs. Mysterio has the most storyline build-up out of the three, which only leaves Nese vs. Daivari and Bryan & Rowan vs. The Usos as the most likely kickoff show additions.
Right now, it appears as though WWE has only decided to put the tag match on the kickoff show, but do not be surprised if the 205 Live match is added before Sunday.
#1 Predictable outcome
The 2019 Superstar Shake-Up has been widely mocked by WWE fans since it took place on the April 15-16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live. What was supposed to be a two-night extravaganza turned into three weeks of random roster changes, and it now feels like the brand split is essentially over following the introduction of the ‘Wild Card Rule’.
One of the tag teams to benefit from Vince McMahon’s impromptu rule change is The Usos, who have appeared on the last two episodes of SmackDown Live despite the fact that they moved across to Raw during the Shake-Up.
Even though Jimmy & Jey are widely considered one of the best tag teams of the last decade, very few people are giving them a chance of winning the tag titles back from Daniel Bryan & Rowan at Money In The Bank.
Why? Because not only are they in a rivalry with The Revival on Raw, but recent storytelling suggests that Heavy Machinery are being lined up as the next opponents for Bryan & Rowan on SmackDown Live.
For those reasons, the outcome of the tag match is probably the most predictable on the Money In The Bank card, which is likely one of the key factors behind WWE’s decision to put it on the kickoff show.
