What we learned from the WWE this week: 12th June, 2017

#3 Smackdown has a respectable tag-team division again

Depth, at last!

There were high hopes for Smackdown’s tag team division after the Draft last year. This was mainly due to the inclusion of American Alpha, one of the most entertaining teams to come out of NXT. One also hoped that teams like The Ascension and The Shining Stars would be able to build themselves back up again, after some dismal performances on RAW leading up to the draft.

Sadly, American Alpha turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, and the division as a whole was floundering for the best part of a year. You would have been forgiven for not being able to actually name the Smackdown tag team champions for most of last year.

This week on Smackdown, we were given hope that the arrival of the New Day is going to restore the blue brand's tag team scene to where it should have been originally. It’s quite impressive to think that The New Day have maintained their high levels of popularity for so long. Theirs is the kind of gimmick you could easily get tired of very quickly. A lot of respect should go to the three men involved for keeping their act fresh and engaging.

Their rivalry with The Usos is a very nice accompaniment to the rest of the Tuesday Night action. They don’t even need to wrestle on Sunday night, their promo segments alone are enough to pop the crowd. But it’s not only these two teams that are restoring the division. The Fashion Police have been putting on some great video packages recently, and both men are very talented talkers and wrestlers. It’s nice to see how the WWE Universe has warmed to them in particular.

Add to the mix the returning ‘Hype Bros’ and you have the makings of a very nice division. While RAW’s tag-team scene is focusing on the in-ring talent of guys like The Revival, Sheamus and Cesaro and the Hardys, Smackdown is relying on the more light-hearted, character-based approached, which is no bad thing by any means.