Breezango’s Push Proves WWE Can Still Reward Good Work

It’s still true: Jinder Mahal will be headlining a PPV against Randy Orton, wrestling for the WWE World Championship. As surprising as that is, Mahal isn’t the only perennial undercard talent to get a sudden push in WWE lately. Tyler Breeze and Fandango won a Beat the Clock Challenge over The Ascension, American Alpha, and the Colóns to put themselves in a Smackdown Live Tag Team Championship match against the Usos at Backlash.

Like Jinder Mahal’s main event push, it’s a good move for WWE to prove that the “land of opportunity” tag for Smackdown isn’t just talk. But unlike Mahal, who still struggles to make the audience to give a crap about him and his mission, Breezeango have been making the most of their chance, turning the dial completely on their Fashion Police gimmick and getting the fans’ support. It wasn’t necessarily hard—unlike Mahal, many fans already felt the duo was underrated and abused by the fickle typewriter monkeys of WWE creative, and were more than happy to get behind the possibility of Breezango as tag team champions. The “Fashion Files” segments have let Breeze and Fandango go from being two goobers in police outfits who threw vague citations at their opponents to a fantastic comedy duo that’s putting their heart into what might have been a half baked flop in anybody else’s hands. Perhaps creative took notice of Breeze and Fandango’s performances in Southpaw Regional Wrestling, where they got to put their comedic skills on display and stole the show out from underneath John Cena and Chris Jericho.