What’s the story?
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows may be feeling a little less optimistic this morning. Last night, General Manager Mick Foley confirmed that The Club will defend the Raw Tag Team Championships against both Cesaro & Sheamus and Enzo & Big Cass at the Show of Shows, in a triple threat match.
In case you didn’t know...
Gallows & Anderson finally won the Raw Tag Team Championships by defeating Cesaro & Sheamus on the Royal Rumble Kickoff show, but the European duo has consistently been undermined in their attempts to win back the red belts. Whilst Sheamus & Cesaro could lay a viable claim to being number one contenders, Enzo & Cass could make an argument every bit as strong.
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At Fastlane 2017, The Realest Guys in the Room challenged Gallows & Anderson for the titles but were unsuccessful in controversial circumstances, Gallows knocked Enzo’s foot off the ropes to allow Anderson to pick up the pin. Going into last night’s episode of Raw, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson knew that they were going to have to face either Enzo & Cass or Cesaro & Sheamus at the Showcase of the Immortals, with those two teams facing off in a number one contender’s match.
The heart of the matter
The two challenging teams were in the heat of battle, last night, when the champions took it upon themselves to end the match early, in an attempt to find a loophole to get them out of the WrestleMania match. Gallows & Anderson attacked Sheamus and Cass respectively, causing the number one contender’s match to end in a double disqualification. No winner means no number one contender, right?
Also read: WWE News: Karl Anderson talks about working with Luke Gallows
Wrong. Foley interrupted Gallows & Anderson’s premature celebration to inform the champions that they will now have to face both Enzo & Cass and Cesaro & Sheamus at WrestleMania 33. The match itself will be a curious amalgamation of the wrestling business, as the independent veterans Anderson and Cesaro find themselves in the ring with modern Performance Centre creations Enzo & Cass and the half and half of Sheamus and Gallows.
Gallows & Anderson may have thought that they had dodged a challenge, but they’ve only succeeded in making things a whole lot worse for themselves.
What’s next?
With two more episodes of RAW before WrestleMania 33, there is plenty of room for this match to take on a different form, but the biggest question now may well be whether or not it gets bumped to the pre-show. WrestleMania 33 is promising to be the most bloated WrestleMania yet, with nine matches already announced and three assumed bouts (AJ vs. Shane, Ambrose vs. Corbin. Cena/Nikki vs. Miz/Maryse) yet to be confirmed. It would not be surprising if the RAW tag title match is bumped to the WrestleMania 33 kickoff show.
Author’s take
It is easy to sit back and complain that performers like Cesaro, Sheamus and Karl Anderson deserve better at the Show of Shows, but that is somewhat redundant in the modern age. WrestleMania is no longer for the everyday fan or the full-time performers, it is more of a once a year special that is as much about nostalgia as it is about the future. Cesaro, Sheamus and Anderson do deserve more, but this is still better than the battle royal.
