The Usos have been the Undisputed Tag Team Champions since May 2022 but that may soon change as the Raw and SmackDown Titles appear to be being split up once again.
On Monday Night Raw it has been announced that the duo will defend their Raw Titles against Judgment Day on January 23rd. Meanwhile on SmackDown a tournament is underway to decide new number one contenders for the blue titles.
SmackDown Tag Team Title Tournament Opening Round Complete
On the January 20th episode of the show all four matches in the first round of the tournament took place.
In the opening match of the night Drew McIntyre and Sheamus defeated the Viking Raiders despite the best efforts of Valhalla at ringside. The end of the hard-hitting bout came with McIntyre flattening Erick with a Claymore while Sheamus pinned Ivar after a Brogue Kick.
The next two teams in action were Hit Row and Los Lotharios. During the match Top Dolla got into a confrontation with Michael Cole at the announce desk over comments about his botched spot a few weeks ago. Hit Row grabbed the win after B-Fab grabbed Angel’s leg enabling Ashante “The Adonis” to pin him with a roll-up.
In the other half of the bracket Imperium picked up a win over the Brawling Brutes in a little under 10 minutes. After a back and forth contest Imperium hit the Imperium Bomb to score a well earned win.
In the final first round match-up on the show, Legado Del Fantasma made short work of the Maximum Male Models claiming the win in under three minutes.
On January 27th, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus will meet Hit Row in the first semi-final while Legado Del Fantasma take on Imperium.
The show also saw the surprising return of the Firefly Fun House as Bray Wyatt prepares to face LA Knight at the Royal Rumble.