4 WWE duos who Shane McMahon could crown the new SmackDown Tag Team champions

WWE has announced that Shane McMahon will crown the new SmackDown Tag Team champions on the May 7 episode of SmackDown Live. Former champions The Hardy Boyz were forced to relinquish their titles last week due to Jeff Hardy suffering a knee injury which could rule him out of in-ring action for up to nine months.

The loss of the legendary duo from the tag division, as well as The Club’s move to Raw and the recent break-up of The Bar, has decimated the blue brand’s selection of tag teams, with only The New Day (Big E is currently injured), The B-Team, The Colons, Heavy Machinery and Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura left on Tuesday nights.

WWE’s SmackDown Live preview reads:

“SmackDown LIVE was thrown for a loop last week when, due to Jeff Hardy sustaining a knee injury at the hands of Lars Sullivan, The Hardy Boyz had to relinquish the SmackDown Tag Team Titles.

“With the state of both the blue brand’s tag team division and the titles in question, Shane McMahon will arrive on SmackDown LIVE this Tuesday to crown new SmackDown Tag Team Champions.”

In this article, let’s take a look at four of the most likely duos who could become the new champions on Tuesday.

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#4 Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura

Given the wording of WWE’s preview, it sounds like Shane McMahon will simply hand over the vacant titles to another duo, as opposed to announcing some kind of one-night tournament or match to determine the new champions. If that is the case, then the only somewhat credible heel tag team on SmackDown Live who could receive the titles from McMahon is Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura.

Granted, they have failed to win any of their last seven televised matches together as a team, but both men are established Superstars on the main roster and, let’s face it, where else are they going to go from here if they do not end up as tag champs somewhere down the line?

McMahon does not have an alliance with either of these two men, but you can bet that he will look to recruit some new allies if he continues to make enemies on the blue brand.

#3 The Viking Raiders

War Raiders, now known as The Viking Raiders, have quickly established themselves as a dominant force on Monday Night Raw. The problem, however, is that the Raw tag division is absolutely stacked with tag teams who are credible winners of the Raw Tag Team titles, while the SmackDown Live side of the roster has been left horribly unbalanced.

Given that the two-night Superstar Shake-Up has continued over the last two weeks on both Raw and SmackDown Live, it would not be at all surprising if WWE decided to keep it going this week with the introduction of Erik and Ivar to the blue brand’s roster.

That way they would be able to carry on their destruction on SmackDown Live as hand-picked tag champs, while the likes of The Revival, The Usos and The Club can seriously challenge Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins for the tag titles over on Raw.

#2 Daniel Bryan & Rowan

Daniel Bryan has not appeared on WWE television since he lost the WWE Championship against Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35, but it has been widely reported this week that he has been cleared to return from an unspecified injury and he will be back very soon.

It looked as though the Bryan vs. Kingston storyline would continue beyond WrestleMania but, presumably due to Bryan’s injury, WWE has gone in a different direction and Kevin Owens has recently become the new #1 contender for the WWE Championship.

With Kingston vs. Owens now set up for Money In The Bank, “The Planet’s Champion” is without an obvious opponent or storyline for his return.

Shane McMahon worked alongside Bryan for almost two years during their time as authority figures on SmackDown Live, so perhaps the villainous Shane O’Mac could do his former colleague a favour by handing him, as well as Rowan, the SmackDown Tag Team titles.

#1 Shane McMahon & Elias

Let’s face it, as much as audiences love to boo Shane McMahon, the former SmackDown Tag Team champion has followed brilliantly in the footsteps of Vince McMahon by becoming the biggest egomaniac on WWE television today.

On a weekly basis, Shane O’Mac demands that ring announcers refer to him as “The Best In The World”, and it’s all because he suddenly inserted himself into the World Cup tournament in November 2018 to defeat somebody, Dolph Ziggler, who had already competed in two matches earlier in the same night.

The ex-SmackDown Commissioner is currently preparing to face Raw Superstar The Miz in a Steel Cage match at Money In The Bank, but he is also involved in Elias’ rivalry with Roman Reigns on SmackDown Live.

As Elias is Shane’s only ally right now, is it too far-fetched to believe that the World Cup winner could present the vacant tag titles to himself and WWE’s resident guitarist on Tuesday?