Last night at the Elimination Chamber, American Alpha retained their Smackdown Tag Team Championships. That is not surprising at all. In fact, there was really no reason to take the titles off of American Alpha. They are clearly the best team on Smackdown and deserve a long run with the belts. American Alpha defended their titles in a Tag Team Turmoil Match against every other team on the Smackdown roster.

In order for American Alpha to have an impressive run with the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, they need to have a legitimate opponent. There was no legitimate rival highlighted last night at the Elimination Chamber. Instead, American Alpha wound up looking like the only team worth a damn on Smackdown. Breezango was the first team eliminated. They were eliminated by Heath Slater and Rhyno, a team that has been at odds with each other for the past several weeks. The Vaudevillains were also eliminated by Slater & Rhyno. They were eliminated so quickly that most people forgot that they were even a part of the match.

Then there was The Ascension. The Usos were eliminated by American Alpha, but stuck around to beat the hell out of Gable and Jordan. The Ascension were the last team to enter the Tag Team Turmoil Match and everything was laid out perfectly for them. American Alpha were left decimated by The Usos. All they had to do was pick up the pieces and win the match. They couldn’t do it. Viktor wound up falling victim to the Grand Amplitude and Jason & Jordan wound up retaining their Smackdown Tag Team Championships.

In one match, Breezango, The Vaudevillians and The Ascension were made to look absolutely worthless. The only viable team on Smackdown right now besides AA is The Usos. American Alpha pinned The Usos last night as well. Unless Smackdown spends the next few weeks building up the teams that lost in this match, everyone will just be waiting for The Revival to finally show up.

And still…#AmericanAlpha

— Chad Gable (@WWEGable) February 13, 2017

Aaaaaaaaaaand STILL!!!! pic.twitter.com/uFqPmr1bPp

— Jason Jordan (@JasonJordanJJ) February 13, 2017

For those that watched WWE Payback live Sunday evening, Enzo Amore suffered a potentially-serious injury during the opening match of the pay-per-view.

The Vaudevillians were supposed to throw Amore underneath the bottom rope, but his neck and head hit the bottom rope and it appeared to snap his neck backwards. As soon as he hit the ground, Amore laid down without moving a muscle.

It only took WWE officials a few minutes to call the match immediately. Medical personnel hit the ring and immediately began treating Amore, while his tag-team partner, Big Cass, stood there hoping he was okay.

The latest update came straight from the WWE about 10-to-15 minutes after Amore was taken to the back.

INJURY UPDATE: @WWEAaLLday21 being taken to local medical facility, is talking and moving extremities. #WWEPayback

— WWE (@WWE) May 2, 2016

Medical officials are now performing tests and Amore is able to move his arms and legs.

At this time, the injury isn’t serious, because there is truly no diagnosis. The fact that Amore can move his extremities and is able to talk is a great sign. Since that is the case, it’s unlikely any spinal damage was done. However, a concussion is a viable diagnosis.

Stay tuned with SE Scoops for the latest updates. 

As announced recently, The Vaudevillians (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) will be taking on Blake and Murphy for the NXT Tag-Team Championships at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event on Saturday, August 22, 2015, live on the WWE Network.

The last time the duo earned a title shot, their victory was spoiled by NXT Diva Alexa Bliss, and as a result, there is speculation that one of the new NXT Divas will make their TV debut at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event to even the odds between the two teams and make things more fair.

WWE.com wrote the following teaser for the aforementioned tag-team match:

“NXT General Manager William Regal granted the old school duo a championship rematch at the Barclays Center on Aug. 22, but suggested that English & Gotch find a way to counteract Alexa Bliss this time around. Can The Vaudevillians neutralize the ever-present threat of Alexa Bliss, or will Blake & Murphy manage to walk out of Brooklyn with the NXT Tag Team Championship? Find out at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, live on WWE Network Saturday, Aug. 22 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT!”

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Following this week’s edition of NXT TV, below is an updated look at the scheduled lineup for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, which airs live on the WWE Network on Saturday, August 22nd.

NXT Championship
(Ladder Match)
– Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens

NXT Tag-Team Championship
– Blake & Murphy (c) vs. The Vaudevillians

NXT Women’s Championship
– Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley

– Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tyler Breeze

– Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin

– Apollo Crews (formerly known as Uhaa Nation) will make his NXT debut

– Appearances by Hideo Itami and others are expected as well

• AMAZINGLY HOT Photos Of RONDA ROUSEY In A Tiny Bikini! (BRAND NEW)

For better or worse, it’s a new year. Everyone starts with a fresh slate, New Year’s resolutions are in effect, and generally speaking, people try to better themselves for the first week of the year before giving up the futile expedition.

Things are no different in the WWE, as every superstar will be trying to reach the next level in 2015. Here are ten superstars who will strike gold in 2015 by capturing a title that was previously unattainable.

10. Charlotte

Although her debut on the main roster was less than memorable, Charlotte has the potential to revolutionize the Divas division. As seen in NXT, the daughter of the Nature Boy can easily put on entertaining 15+ minute matches any night of the week. It’s now up to the WWE to let the talented women of NXT show what they can do on a regular basis. Charlotte will help to legitimize the Divas division a bit in 2015 by capturing the Divas Championship.

9. Sasha Banks

Charlotte and Sasha Banks put on one of the best Divas matches in the history of WWE a few weeks back at R Evolution. It appears “The Boss” is next in line for the throne in the NXT Women’s division, meaning she will capture the title after Charlotte leaves NXT in 2015.

The future of the WWE went to school last night, and I’m here to grade their performance. Matches will be graded based on usual factors such as workrate, in-ring psychology, crowd involvement, and overall impact on the storyline. Important promos will also be graded based on entertainment value, believability, and originality.

While this is supposed to act as a weekly report and recap for NXT, more importantly, it’s a place for you, the SEScoops readers, to discuss this week’s episode, dole out your own grades, and discuss the future of the product. Without further ado, here is this week’s NXT Report Card.

Adrian Neville/Kevin Owens Opening Promo

This was a pretty good way to start the show and the crowd really seemed to be into it. Neville did his best to make amends with the fans and put over Sami Zayn, saying things like, “We went to war” and “The better man won.”

Neville isn’t the strongest promo man in the game, but he did his best, even if he can be a bit redundant at times. Owens, on the other hand, cut an intense and articulate promo that seemed to have the crowd on the edge of their seats. Overall, it was a good way to start the show and set up the main event between Neville and Owens.

Grade: B+

Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

This one started off a bit sluggish, with most of the early action consisting of Bayley throwing punches and not utilizing many wrestling moves. The action picked up toward the end, however, with the ending sequence being particularly impressive. The counter into Lynch’s finisher was fresh and it worked well with the in-ring psychology due to Bayley’s injured knee.

Grade: B-

While there is still one more set of television tapings before the next NXT live special, which is expected to take place on December 11th on the WWE Network, based on what has been taped thus far, the following matches are rumored for the fourth live NXT special:

NXT Championship:
– Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn

NXT Women’s Championship:
– Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch, or a multi-Diva match with Bayley included

NXT Tag-Team Championships:
– The Vaudevillians vs. The Lucha Dragons

– Hideo Itami and Finn Balor vs. The Ascension

Tag team wrestling in WWE has had its’ high and low periods of time, but now fans of the big company have NXT as well. The Ascension has dominated the NXT tag team division since winning the titles in October of 2013, while three different tag teams on WWE’s main roster have held tag team gold.

Let’s take a moment and investigate each brand’s tag team division in full. On the main roster in WWE are the champions the Usos, The Wyatt Family’s Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, Rybaxel, Goldust and Stardust and even R-Truth and Xavier Woods. I would include Los Matadores, but one of them is currently injured and they were not seen regularly anyway. The Usos and Wyatt Family are currently feuding over the titles. Harper and Rowan are former NXT tag champions and it seems like it’s only a matter of time until they capture the main roster titles. Rybaxel and the Rhodes brothers seem unable to wrestle anyone else these days. Every show it seems like they have a match. The Rhodes brothers are former champions and with Cody’s new Stardust gimmick, it could lead them to another title reign. Rybaxel and R-Truth and Xavier Woods (who rarely appear on WWE programming) are the jobbers of WWE’s tag team division. Never expect to see them win the titles.

wwe.com

In the meanwhile, NXT has a similar number of tag teams in their division. As said earlier, the Ascension hold the titles and they were most recently feuding with Kalisto and El Local. The two teams squared off at NXT’s Takeover special event. Kalisto is brand new to WWE and NXT, while El Local is portrayed by Ricardo Rodriguez. These two lucha libres are super fun to watch and certainly deserve a run with the titles at some point. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy have been on NXT for a while now, but Amore is just returning from injury so they need a little time to get back into the groove. Then, we have some new teams. The Legionnaires, which includes Sylvester Lefort and Marcus Louis haven’t been exposed to the NXT enough just yet. Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger seem like two guys that were just thrown together. Finally, the Vaudevillians. Aidan English was holding his own as a singles star in NXT, but just like that he found the perfect partner in Simon Gotch. If the current tag team champions were babyface, the Vaudevillians would immediately be feuding with them.

While both divisions have their hierarchy of tag teams, NXT’s division has a lot more potential. WWE’s main roster only has three potential champions in Usos, Wyatt Family and the Rhodes brothers. NXT’s division has The Ascension, Kalisto and El Local, as well as the returning Amore and Cassidy, Legionnaires and Vaudevillians. The whole point of NXT is to develop characters and help wrestlers get to the next level in their careers. You don’t see that as much in WWE. The main roster’s tag team division would immediately get a lot more interesting with the addition of some of these up and coming tag teams.

What are your thoughts on the tag team divisions of WWE and NXT? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Seth Guttenplan is a math and computer technology teacher for special education students in New Jersey. In his free time, Seth writes about wrestling for Camel Clutch Blog and SEScoops. Follow Seth on twitter @sethgutt

The following matches were taped on May 30th at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida for tonight’s edition of WWE NXT on the WWE Network:

– Sami Zayn & Tyson Kidd vs. The Ascension

– The Vaudevillians vs. A local tag-team

– Xavier Woods vs. Bull Dempsey

– Summer Rae vs. Becky Lynch

– Sawyer Fulton vs. Colin Cassady

– Adrian Neville vs. Rob Van Dam