Grayson Waller and Austin Theory defend new titles following SmackDown

The new WWE Tag Team Champions took down a Hall of Famer and his partner.

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory had an eventful SmackDown this week.

First, they received new championship belts and were renamed WWE Tag Team Champions. Then, after disrespecting Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque by leaving him hanging on a handshake, Waller and Theory sat ringside and provided commentary as the Street Profits won a Fatal 4-Way match to become the number one contenders for their titles.

And that was just the beginning.

After SmackDown concluded, the new champs defended their crowns for the first time against LWO members Dragon Lee and WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio.

The cocky combo was dominant early on, treating Lee like a practice dummy for most of the contest. Where they landed in hot water was when Lee made the hot tag to Mysterio, who came roaring in like fire, lighting up Waller and Theory with strikes and an aerial assault.

After dispatching Theory, Rey went to dial 6-1-9 on Waller. As he hit the ropes, Theory tripped Mysterio, who landed awkwardly on his left knee. Despite the Hall of Famer coming up limping, Theory couldn’t take advantage of Rey’s misfortune, resulting in him eating a 6-1-9 for his trouble. But Mysterio was still nowhere close to capturing gold.

As Mysterio went for a springboard splash, Waller pulled Theory from the ring, and Rey went splat on the mat. Lee, who finally remembered he was in the match, dove off the apron with a rolling senton, which Waller oddly pushed his partner into. However, Waller’s quick but unusual thinking paid off as he leaped over the bottom rope to deliver a rolling flat-liner to down Mysterio and retain the titles for his team.

And so next up for Waller and Theory are the Street Profits, a team they defeated at the end of March on SmackDown. To hear Waller tell it, they’ll still be the champs once the smoke is clear.

“We are the smoke,” said Waller in a digital exclusive. “So if they want the smoke, we got it for ‘em. But we’re just gonna roll through ‘em again, undefeated tag team champions. This is gonna be a long time. Roman Reigns’ reign? Ha, ain’t gonna be anything close to ours.”