The Hardy Boyz & Finn Bálor vs. Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus & Elias Samson
Make that two weeks in a row that Elias Samson has been upstaged by Finn Bálor, though at least this time the guitarist has company to share in his misfortune: He and Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus were defeated by the all-star team of Finn Bálor & The Hardy Boyz, who even interrupted a planned musical performance by the trio (the champs were mic’ed up and were very upset they didn’t get to sing).
But while they didn’t get the chance to show off their pipes, Samson, Cesaro & Sheamus did play a tune on their opponents; The Celtic Warrior took charge with “Transformers” star and guest commentator Josh Duhamel watching from commentary, and Cesaro quickly followed up by isolating Jeff Hardy.
Bâlor sealed the deal when he tagged in, though, spiking The Swiss Cyborg with the Coup de Grâce while the Hardys neutralized the rest of their foes outside the ring.
Credit: WWE.com
The Hardy Boyz vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Having suffered an almost-unheard-of draw in their 2-out-of-3 Falls Raw Tag Team Title challenge last week, The Hardy Boyz came to Raw looking to put themselves back in the hunt for Cesaro & Sheamus’ championships. That meant they had to get past Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, the team The Hardys dethroned at WrestleMania to kick-start their comeback run.
The “good brothers” entered the tag bout on a bit of a roll themselves after making mincemeat of a weakened Enzo & Cass seven days prior, so Matt & Jeff were forced to dig deep to put themselves in position to win.
Jeff had to take out both opponents with Whisper in the Wind just to create an opening, but Matt made good on the opportunity after receiving the tag, kicking out of the Boot of Doom and hitting the Twist of Fate on Gallows before The Charismatic Enigma closed the book with a Swanton Bomb.
Credit: WWE.com
Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus vs. The Hardy Boyz in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match
One of the good things about a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match is that it never leaves a doubt as to who truly earned the victory … except, of course, for the rare occasion that it does.
The 2-out-of-3 Falls Raw Tag Team Title Match (the first Tag Team Title variation of the bout in the history of Raw) between Cesaro & Sheamus and The Hardy Boyz brought out the best in both tandems, with The Alabaster Gladiator quickly landing the first fall on Jeff Hardy following a Brogue Kick, and a wild Matt Hardy claiming the second after slamming Cesaro’s his head onto each turnbuckle and executing a Twist of Fate.
Seeking fall No. 3, Jeff swooped down with a Swanton Bomb on Sheamus, but Cesaro saved the match by pulling The Celtic Warrior out of the squared circle, kicking off a wild brawl at ringside that resulted in a double count-out.
As a result, the match ended in a draw, which allowed Cesaro & Sheamus to retain their titles. The champions were left in a relieved heap on the ramp, but while The Hardy Boyz didn’t score the final fall, they were the only team left standing in the ring and looking ready to do it again.
Credit: WWE.com
The Hardy Boyz vs. Cesaro & Sheamus (Steel Cage Match for the RAW Tag Team Championships)
The veteran Hardy Boyz are known as one of the most extreme tag teams in the history of sports-entertainment, but when it comes to brutality, “The Bar” was raised at WWE Extreme Rules, where Cesaro & Sheamus escaped a steel cage with the Raw Tag Team Titles in their grasp.
Seeking to end the “nostalgia” surrounding Matt & Jeff’s triumphant return to WWE at WrestleMania 33, The Alabaster Gladiator and The Swiss Superman took the brothers to their limit at WWE Payback, going so far as to knock one of Jeff’s teeth out of his head (Sheamus was more than happy to take credit for that accidental dentistry). When The Hardys defended the Raw Tag Team Titles that night, the disappointed brawlers snapped, brutalizing the brothers after the bell.
Cesaro & Sheamus would later earn the No. 1 contendership in a Tag Team Turmoil Match last month, but when Matt defeated The Celtic Warrior two weeks later, he earned the right to name the stipulation for the title defense at WWE Extreme Rules. Matt chose a Steel Cage Match, in which the only way to win would be for both partners to escape the unforgiving steel.
Having competed in two of the three prior Tag Team Steel Cage Matches in WWE pay-per-view history, The Hardys went into this contest with a clear advantage. Unfortunately, brute force and the numbers game trumped experience in this case.
After Jeff escaped over the top of the cage, Matt was in a 2-on-1 situation against the barbaric challengers, who nearly drove the disadvantaged champion through the ring with a modified double Razor’s Edge, followed up shortly by a top-rope White Noise.
To help even the odds for his brother, Jeff climbed to the top of the cage and hurled himself onto Cesaro & Sheamus with an awe-inspiring Whisper in the Wind. The high-risk move briefly incapacitated Jeff and officially brought him back into the fray, and as Matt dragged his prone brother through the cage door, Cesaro & Sheamus climbed over the top of the steel structure and narrowly won the race against time.
Now that the title reign launched at WrestleMania has come to a disappointing end, will Matt & Jeff recapture Team Red’s tandem prizes, or will Cesaro & Sheamus continue to raise “The Bar” in Raw’s chaotic Tag Team division?
Credit: WWE.com
