The Smackdown Live Tag Team division consists of some stellar talent, but the Wyatt Family doesn’t plan on letting go of their newly won belts anytime soon. The recent announcement is only going to make things more difficult for others to take their championships.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Wyatt Family consists of Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton these days, but Bray and Randy are the ones who defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno for the Tag Team Championship. Regular Tag Teams have no choice but to put the same two competitors in each title defense, but thanks to the Fabulous Freebirds, there is a loophole (via WWE).
The Fabulous Freebirds are treasured Hall of Famers, and the Freebird rule named after them dictates that a faction that holds a championship can pick any of its members to defend the title. That means if one person is not set to go on any given night the faction can swap them out with another member.
If you’re like current RAW Tag Team Champs The New Day, you would utilize the rule to your strategic advantage. If you’re going against a team that is quick and acrobatic, you would sub in Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. If you need some muscle you can always swap out one of them for Big E. The Wyatt Family is going to take a similar approach, as they have stated they will use the rule during their title reign, however, long that lasts.
That means that the symbolic gesture of putting both Tag Team belts on Harper at TLC wasn’t just for show, and will symbolize their strategy to keep the belts in the family. It isn’t known who their next opponents will be, as it looks like the Heath Slater and Rhyno combo is fracturing at the seams.
MORE WRESTLING: Rusev Tries To Outdo AJ Styles Wardrobe Malfunction / Trump Nominates Linda McMahon To Head SBA / James Ellsworth Is The Screech Powers Of The WWE / Stephanie McMahon Has Talked To Ronda Rousey About WWE
