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The SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship match is quite possibly the most predictable yet unpredictable match on the card. Confused? Let me explain.
The outcome is indisputable – The Usos will and should retain the straps. However, the manner in which they will is where the ambiguity lies.
The current rumored plan for WrestleMania 35 as per Sports Illustrated is to have a singles contest between Shane McMahon and The Miz. It shouldn’t take a report from the dirt sheets for you to realize where it’s all heading as the direction taken on TV is pretty self-evident. However, someone would have to snap and turn heel for the match to happen.
The Miz is the secure option, as the A-Lister has revitalized his career from legitimately being the most hated guy in WWE to a cult hero. And that happened because of his exemplary run as the bad guy. He is just too good as the snarky man who loves getting jeered.
WWE can ensconce the feud by having Miz execute the heel turn and continue to have Shane O’Mac in his natural clean-cut babyface avatar. What’s our opinion on that you ask? It sounds painstakingly boring, to be honest.
It’s time for the McMahon scion to take a page out of his evil dad’s book and embrace the dark side. It’s time, it truly is!
McMahon’s return to the WWE in 2016 was met with much fanfare and thankfully for all parties involved, his popularity has been undiminished over the course of a solid 3-year run. He has done it all - put on a few surprisingly great matches, spearhead the Smackdown Live brand, jump off stuff and almost die; while doing it all as an incorrupt authority figure. It’s time to freshen up the character that is as stale as an overplayed song on the radio.
A report from the Wrestling Observer from November 2018 had revealed WWE plans of turning McMahon heel in the first half of 2019 and we are finally in the prescribed time zone.
We expect the WWE to pull the trigger at Fastlane or at the very least, plant the seeds for the eventual implosion. Miz and McMahon should ideally lose the match at Fastlane after one of them inadvertently ends up being the cause. It can be a simple case of misunderstanding that kick starts an argument between the two.
In case you’ve forgotten, World Cup winner McMahon is the ‘Best in the World’ and the illogical moniker itself is enough for him to get over as a heel. Miz can argue that McMahon is not even a proper wrestler to warrant the tag and that the A-Lister has worked his rear end off without a deserved payoff for years.
The Miz has always had to play second fiddle to part-time attractions with McMahon being one of them. Despite being one of the most consistent performers for years, Miz has never broken past the mid-card. The Fastlane match isn't about The Usos nor is it about the Tag Team straps, it's more about the simmering alliance between McMahon and Miz.
With the McMahon family also actively in the picture on both brands, it only makes sense for Shane O’Mac to morph into an arrogant little prick. A well-worked angle between a passionate babyface Miz against a spoilt McMahon could make for a compelling storyline.
It’s a WrestleMania 35 programme that has the potential to keep us hooked.
Predicted Result: The Usos def. The Miz & Shane McMahon to retain the SmackDown titles
What are your predictions for Fastlane 2019? Let us know in the comments section below...
