The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) defeated The Bludgeon Brothers on this week’s WWE Smackdown Live to become the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions. Big E was not at ringside because he was backstage selling the storyline rib injury.
Erick Rowan took himself out of the match when he crashed into the barricade at ringside. Kingston used the mallet on Luke Harper in the ring and they put him through a table in the ring before pinning him to become champs. Big E ran in to celebrate with Woods and Kingston after the match.
This title change was not planned but it was something that had to be done because Erick Rowan is dealing with a bicep injury and he is scheduled to undergo surgery in Birmingham, Alabama this week. The injured occurred at SummerSlam when he did a dive through the ropes. They didn’t acknowledge the injury on the broadcast but he was limited and Harper did most of the work. It’s unclear how long Rowan will be out of action.
The Bludgeon Brothers were tag team champions since WrestleMania 34.