The New Day vs. the Usos (c)
SmackDown tag team championship match
The Usos and the New Day have a rather epic rivalry. A storied history.
While they’ve been facing each other years prior, this mainly stems from their series of excellent matches back in 2017. A couple years later, the Usos opted to forfeit their spot in a gauntlet match to help the New Day earn Kofi Kingston a WWE title match. Their paths intertwined plenty over the years, and the chemistry is off the chart when they do. So when their course collided recently, leading to a title match at the January 1 pay-per-view (PPV) aptly named Day 1, it should be highly anticipated.
Unfortunately, creative killed another stop on this feud by going to their most tired creative tool - running the anticipated match repeatedly before the event itself.
The program started with some heat with the Bloodline (Roman Reigns & the Usos) injuring Kofi Kingston’s knee back in November. This left Woods alone to deal with the trio, who targeted the King of the Ring and even broke his crown.
Kofi returned early December and the New Day immediately got a title match for Day 1. Then they fought each other for the rest of the month.
- On Dec. 10, Kofi and Woods won a triple threat against both the Usos and RK-Bro.
- On Dec. 17, the New Day defeated the Usos
- On Dec. 24, the New Day teamed with Drew McIntyre to defeat the Usos and Madcap Moss.
This doesn’t include the Oct. 29 match where... you guessed it... the New Day beat the Usos.
Talk about running something into the ground before the actual title match.
No matter how great their chemistry, seeing some version of tonight’s title match three weeks in a row is going to destroy any real anticipation. It’s lazy and uninspired creative. Yes, tease the match with some interactions, but just showing it to us in different variations, including the exact same one as on the PPV, just kills the excitement.
There are other ways to build a match. Just a simple promo segment, calling back to their history while addressing the new dynamic of the Usos being part of Roman’s mafia. If done right, nothing builds anticipation for a match better than a promo segment. Given the mic skills of these four, it definitely would have been done right.
They could have had the Usos attack the New Day to build some heat for the match. Instead, the New Day has won every tag match they’ve been involved in with the Usos dating back to that October match. Doesn’t that pretty much choreograph the ending? The New Day running the table so far pretty much confirms they’re going to lose tonight.
Leave it to WWE creative to kill excitement for a match that’s should be extremely easy to sell. Hell, if they did nothing, it would have been better than spamming the match all month. The in-ring action will still deliver. We know these guys always do in a big spot. It’s just a damn shame that we’re already tired of it.
The New Day will challenge the Usos for the SmackDown tag team titles tonight at Day 1, starting at 8 PM on Peacock in the USA and the WWE Network everywhere else. Keep it here to CagesideSeats.com for all your Day 1 coverage.
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