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WWE: Freebird Rule applied for The Wyatt Family on Smackdown

Wyatt, Orton and Harper can defend tag titles for Wyatt Family

Thursday 8 December 2016 12:57, UK

WWE TLC 2016 - Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt
Image: Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton and Luke Harper are all Smackdown Tag Champions

Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton and Luke Harper will all be eligible to defend the Smackdown Tag Team Titles, WWE has confirmed.

Wyatt and Orton secured the belts for The Wyatt Family at the TLC play-per-view on Sunday night by beating Heath Slater and Rhyno.

However, WWE has now announced that Wyatt and Orton's stablemate Harper will also be recognised as a champion under the Freebird Rule.

WWE QUIZ: Randy Orton
WWE QUIZ: Randy Orton

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The regulation, named after The Fabulous Freebirds, stipulates that any members of a faction can defend a title regardless of who won it.

Current Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day have been beneficiaries of the rule during their lengthy title reign on the red brand.

WWE - The New Day
Image: Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston can defend Raw's Tag Team Titles for The New Day

Kofi Kingston and Big E claimed the belts for the stable at SummerSlam in 2015 but team-mate Xavier Woods has defended them on a number of occasions alongside Kingston or Big E.

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