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What's the story?
So, it is a well known fact that the SmackDown Tag Team Championship picture will be addressed on this week's show. The former champions, The Hardy Boyz had to relinquish their titles thanks to Jeff Hardy's unfortunate, untimely injury.
WWE.com recently put out a list of possible tag teams who could claim the vacant prize where they teased the formation of two new teams. They are Elias and Shane McMahon, and Ali and Finn Balor.
In case you didn't know...
SmackDown Live's tag team division was clearly the stronger of the two brands until the Superstar Shake-Up. The New Day, The Usos, and The Bar made tag team wrestling cool again in WWE.
Unfortunately, Sheamus is injured so The Bar is no more. Kofi Kingston is in the WWE Championship picture, meaning that Xavier Woods has no one to team up with (now that Kevin Owens turned on him). Finally, The Usos are on RAW, feuding with The Revival.
The heart of the matter
WWE editor James Wortman teased a potential alliance between Shane McMahon and Elias. The two men have been teaming up on SmackDown against Roman Reigns, which made him say the following:
Elias and Shane-O-Mac orchestrated a cunning two-on-one attack on the nigh unbeatable Roman Reigns two weeks ago on SmackDown LIVE, so it’s clear that The Living Truth and The Prodigal Son can make some beautiful – and brutal – music together. Plus, we all saw how well Shane worked alongside a Superstar he apparently didn’t particularly like (we’re referring of course to The Miz), so it stands to reason that a devious duet with The Living Truth would be even better. The best, even.
Finn Balor and Ali teamed up on the previous episode of SmackDown Live and looked quite cohesive together. WWE editor John Clapp said the following about this potential dream team:
Who knows? Maybe Bálor and Ali’s gelling was a one-off, a singular occurrence that can’t and won’t be replicated. Or maybe, just maybe, we all witnessed the beginning of something greater — something that might one day lead to the SmackDown Tag Team Titles being around Bálor and Ali’s waists.
What's next?
I don't know if either of these pairings will happen, at least this week. Balor and Ali are contesting for the Money In The Bank contract, so it'll be strange to see them team up. Moreover, I'm not sure that Shane McMahon wants to enter the tag team picture again.
