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3 Pros and 2 Cons of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev as a Tag Team in WWE Smackdown Live

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The WWE United States championship has had a busy week starting from Royal Rumble. First, Shinsuke Nakamura reclaimed it back from Rusev, who in fact won it only last month. Then, on the next episode of Smackdown Live, quite surprisingly, R-Truth won it from Shinsuke Nakamura and later on defending it successfully against Rusev. The real development started after that when a frustrated Rusev assaulted R-Truth after the match. To the surprise of many, Nakamura assisted Rusev in his assault.

The Good Brothers (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson), in a backstage segment, confronted Nakamura and Rusev and a tag team match was set up for next week’s Smackdown Live. This week, Rusev and Nakamura quite dominantly defeated The Good Brothers. In the closing moment, Nakamura raised Rusev’s hand and acknowledged their partnership. So, once an enemy of each other has now turned friends? Is this a debut of a new tag team. Below are the three Pros and two Cons that suggest whether Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev forming a tag team is a good move or not.


#5 Pro: Taking the leaf out from Mick Foley’s The Bar Experiment

The Bar is the real deal now in the tag team division
The Bar is the real deal now in the tag team division

Putting up a tag team of those individuals who don’t like each other is not new in WWE. The latest and successful example is Smackdown Live tag team The Bar. Sheamus and Cesaro once were a bitter rival to each other. They even had the best of seven match series to prove who’s best in them, but the series didn’t come to a conclusion.

Seeing the constant bickering of each other, the then General Manager of Raw Mick Foley decided to put them up in a tag team. They got off to a rocky start, but eventually found success. At present, they are the multiple time tag team champions and a cornerstone of the tag team division in Smackdown Live.

WWE might be going on the same path as it did with The Bar. Nakamura and Rusev have fought over for United States championship in recent months. Turning their rivalry in the partnership will allow WWE creative to explore various options with their characters & it can very well become a success story.

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