For the past three months, the Smackdown tag-team division has been dominated by two unstoppable forces: Harper and Rowan, the “Bludgeon Brothers.” Even “Team Hell No” (Daniel Bryan and Kane) couldn’t stop them at Extreme Rules.
At Summerslam, crowd favorites “The New Day“ (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) seemed like they may have had a chance against the two behemoths until Rowan injured Big E with a mallet, leading to a disqualification.
On Smackdown tonight, “The New Day” was given a second chance, but with two differences: Big E couldn’t to compete, leaving only Kingston and Woods, and there would be no wins by disqualification.
While a 2-on-2 match would typically be fair, Harper and Rowan are such physically powerful superstars that one couldn’t help but feel that Kingston and Woods were at a massive disadvantage.
For most of the match, it felt like a “Bludgeon Brothers” victory was inevitable: the two knocked around Kingston and Woods like rag dolls. It also appeared the “no disqualification” rule gave them the upper hand, as the two used chairs and ladders to deal the most devastating attacks they possibly could.
But sometimes all it takes is one smart move to turn the tide. Clearly inspired by what happened at SummerSlam, , Kingston was able to strike Harper with his own mallet, which gave him the opportunity to lay out Harper on a wooden table. Woods then landed an elbow on Harper from across the ring, smashing through the table and giving him the pin.
This week, “The New Day” proved that sometimes Davids really can beat Goliaths. But time will tell how long the team’s fifth title reign will last.
