WWE WrestleMania card and predictions: SmackDown Live tag team championships on the line with The Usos defending against The New Day and The Bludgeon Brothers
Jay and Jimmy Uso have had the division on lock down but this will be their hardest defence yet
AS OUR two week long series of WrestleMania preview articles hurtles towards the true main event matches, we today look at the Smackdown Tag Team Title Match.
It may or may not be a TLC match and the guys are very much split on who will win. They agree on one thing though. It’s going to be a heck of a match!
Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The Usos Vs The New Day Vs The Bludgeon Brothers
Paul Benson (Hooked On Events chief organ grinder and podcast co-host): Whether or not this one is announced as a TLC match, I have massively high hopes for this one.
The Usos are the best tag team in the world and The New Day aren’t all that far behind. Certainly two of the best 10 teams in WWE history. Now add in the Bludgeon Brothers.
Whilst I hate everything about their presentation (Maroon leotards? Kick pads? They look like a primary school production of Kronik), Rowan and Harper are, at their core, a very good team of big men and will allow their smaller opponents to bring another dimension to their recent matches.
Add in a ladder or two and it will be even better. Expect an excellent match here and I’m genuinely struggling to pick a winner. As I cant sit on the fence I’m going with the champs retaining.
Prediction: The Usos
Rob McNichol (Writer, journalist, Hooked On party host and podcast host):
Hate the name, hate the outfits, hate the hammers, hate the choreographed entrance. But I still love Harper and Rowan, and I think they have the upward mobility to win this.
Prediction: The Usos
George McMenemy (Hooked On Contributer): Firstly I'm really happy for both The Usos and New Day having this match.
The Usos are perhaps the best tag team in the work right now and are just as impressive in the character department as they are in the ring. The fact that this is their first WrestleMania match is criminal.
Most read in WWE
For The New Day, they unfortunately lost at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas despite them being super popular and took on only the guest host role last year.
The Bludgeon Brothers are polarising figures. Some love their new presentation, and some aren't really keen at all.
Personally, I think it gives a fresh coat of paint to the former members of the Wyatt Family and gives them a slightly more aggressive, more dangerous look and feel about them.
They offer a unique dynamic which should help elevate a great partnership the two aforementioned teams have in the ring.
I'm loathe to pick a winner here because it's too close to call.
I think it comes down to either The Bludgeon Brothers or The Usos. The former could take it in a really dominating performance which would do wonders to put them up at the top of the division, however, I'm going for The Usos.
The Bludgeon Brothers can do their thing and still come out looking really strong, and a win for Jimmy and Jey can help them come out looking even tougher.
Prediction: The Usos
From Glasgow down to Bournemouth and all points in between, Hooked On Events will be bringing WrestleMania to bars across the UK on Sunday April 8th.
Join them and their guest hosts to see the biggest show of the year live on the big screen. For tickets, visit . For more information on individual events visit .
Jamie Kennedy (Commentator, Hooked On host, heel manager extraordinaire): It's incredible to think that The Usos have been part of WWE's main roster since 2010 and yet they've never worked a match on the main card at WrestleMania.
Pre-show hell has been the order of the day with Jimmy and Jey up until now, so it's rather heartwarming to see them thrust onto the main show this year.
Better yet, they do so as reigning SmackDown Tag-Team Champs.
After all those matches they worked against the likes of Primo/Epico and The Dudley Boyz were banished to the Kickoff portion of 'Mania in years gone past, The Usos deserve a major win at WWE's biggest annual show.
Unless The Bludgeon Brothers are next in line for that tag-team mega push, it makes sense the brothers will get it.
Meanwhile, The New Day, once WWE's premier tag-team, are only really there to make up the numbers and save them the indignity of being 'Mania hosts two years in a row.
Good, they should be in here, if only so The Usos have somebody to beat.
A win over New Day is still something to crow about on SmackDown. Besides, it'd be foolish to pin Harper and Rowan so early into their run as the brand's resident monster duo, and it'd pen another chapter in the (rather excellent) Usos vs. New Day saga.
The only option here, again only if WWE want to show patience with The Bludgeon Bros, is a successful title defence.
Afterwards, perhaps WWE can think about shifting New Day back to Raw and programming them with a struggling team, like The Revival. Then, The Bludgeon Brothers will become SmackDown's chief threat to The Usos.
Prediction: The Usos
Ash Rose (Sports journalist, co-host of TalkSPORT’s Gorilla Position): The Usos have waited nine years to be part of the main WrestleMania card and all signs point to them finally ending their Kick-off show run and defending their belts on the biggest stage of them all.
It’s richly deserved too, having evolved from the face-painted cartoon-like babyfaces into what is one of the coolest and most current gimmicks on TV. That’s without even mentioning their stellar in-ring work for the majority of 2017 where their feud with the New Day was easily the tag team rivalry of a generation.
To up that ante even further The Bludgeon Brothers have been added to the picture, giving the match a feeling akin to the epic battles between Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz almost two decades ago.
As I write this no stipulation has been added to the triple-threat, but I feel like this could be the ideal match to add some element of danger – especially given the destructive nature of Bludgeon’s gimmick and run thus far.
It’s that notion that makes me think that The Bludgeons may go over here.
With The New Day in a spot where they don’t need the titles and The Usos being so credible right now they could take the loss, it makes sense to prolong Harper and Rowan’s impressive momentum by giving them the gold.
Prediction: The Bludgeon Brothers
Steve Cox (Professional DJ and Hooked On Tech Guru): This match just brings back memories of the fantastic 3 way matches between the Hardy’s, Edge and Christian and the Dudleys from the attitude Era, 3 talented teams, 3 different styles and the chance to make Magic happen.
To me the Uso’s are the greatest team in the WWE right now and they win.
Prediction: The Usos