New Day Beat Rusev, Aiden English at Hell in a Cell, Retain SmackDown Tag Titles

The New Day beat Rusev and Aiden English at Hell in a Cell on Sunday night to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

Kofi Kingston connected with Trouble in Paradise on English. Big E held Rusev on the outside to prevent him from entering the ring to break up the pin.

It certainly looks like the team of Rusev and English could be headed for a breakup.

The Hell in a Cell title match came about after SmackDown Live general manager Paige set up a unique tournament to determine a No. 1 contender.

After Sheamus and Cesaro defeated The Colons and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a Triple Threat, Rusev and English were victorious in a second Triple Threat over The Usos and Sanity.

That set up a traditional tag match between The Bar and Rusev Day on Tuesday's episode of SmackDown to earn the right to face New Day at Hell in a Cell.

Sheamus and Cesaro were heavily favored since they won the Raw Tag Team Championships together on four occasions during their time on the red brand.

Despite that, Rusev and English picked up the win to set up an unexpected title match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

Until recently, there had been no shortage of turmoil within the Rusev Day group, and it seemed likely Rusev, English and Lana would go their separate ways.

Botched interference by English led to multiple losses for Rusev and Lana in their rivalry with Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega, but they finally got a win on the Aug. 21 edition of SmackDown Live, which turned things around for the stable.

The Bulgarian Brute was overjoyed to learn that English managed to convince Paige to put them in the tag title picture, and Rusev Day made the most of the opportunity by earning the No. 1 contendership.

On Sunday, they were faced with one of the greatest and most decorated tag teams in WWE history in the form of New Day.

Big E, Kingston and Xavier Woods entered Hell in a Cell with momentum on their side after knocking off the previously unbeatable Bludgeon Brothers on Aug. 21 to become the SmackDown Tag Team champions.

It seemed unlikely the straps would be taken off New Day so soon after such a significant win, which is why it came as little surprise when they retained Sunday.

SmackDown Live boasts a stacked tag division, so whether it's Rusev Day again or another team steps up in the near future, New Day figures to be under constant fire for as long as they are the champions.

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