In recent weeks, Breezango have transitioned from being an undercard heel tag team to a prominently-positioned babyface tag team. In spite of that unexplained turn, the combo of Tyler Breeze and Fandango has been providing great comedic relief whenever given a chance.
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On this week’s Smackdown Live, the team had a vignette-esque segment titled Fashion Files. If you were to look carefully in the background, you would likely pick up on the nine jokes in the background:
– The mugshot of Vincent Kennedy McMahon was on the bulletin board.
– A color 8 x 11 photo of Pat Patterson was on display.
– Hulk Hogan was listed as a “fashion victim.”
– John Cena was denoted as “whereabouts unknown.”
– Shinsuke Nakamura received a new nickname as being the king of “no style.”
– Signage next to a photo of The Ascension labeled them as “smelly.”
– Speaking of The Ascension, there were “fashion thieves” listed and the accompanying photo appeared to be the Legion Of Doom.
– The collective known as The Shining Stars is wanted for real estate fraud.
– A fellow man in uniform, The Big Boss Man also had a photo showing.
As a bonus non-visual joke, there was an Uso-related pun about “Jey-walking.” But surprisingly no mention of Nailz.
So to recap, we got a comedy skit under five minutes that was funny, set up a storyline and paid homage to the roots of the company. An absolute win/win for diehard WWE fans on all levels. The Smackdown Live tag team division has not been as strong as the Raw division since the brand split, so this helps establish a great storyline to tie in with the pursuit of the championship belts.
Also positive about the segment is that it shows a different kind of humor than WWE is known to offer. There were no bodily functions involved. No one’s sexuality was questioned. No one had to rap. No one had to dance uncharacteristically. No one had to pretend that one punch from a celebrity gave them a contusion; remember how Hugh Jackman injured Dolph Ziggler, or how Flo Rida hurt Heath Slater? Simply put, one tag team simply talked up the quirks of other tag teams and made you want to get behind them as number one contenders.
Should there be another Fashion Files segment, the creative possibilities are endless. There can be more joke investigations and related references; Jimmy Hart lost his megaphone and wants to file a missing item report, only to be told it is “uggo.” There can be cameos from older WWE Superstars; somebody “stole” their gimmick, as with the aforementioned LOD and Ascension. There can also be appearances from fashion-related celebrities; Gronk claims he wore an outfit better than his bro. Okay, maybe that Gronk idea is nauseating. But if done well, this can be the recurring segment that attracts old-school fans, casual fans and modern-day diehards alike.
As for the rest of Smackdown Live, the usual ups and downs. But it will be interesting to see how Lana does with her new Emmalina-esque gimmick.
So wow… no Pat Patterson in the 8×10. Try Classy Freddy Blassy.