Damian Priest & R-Truth Defeat MFT, Retain WWE Tag Titles On SmackDown

Friday's episode of "WWE SmackDown" held plenty of promise for Solo Sikoa and his MFTs, but the stable walked out of Fort Worth, Texas with one less victory than they hoped for. In the first of the faction's two scheduled matches, J.C. Mateo and Tama Tonga took to the ring in search of the WWE Tag Team Champions, but incumbent champions Damian Priest and R-Truth successfully retained — effectively spoiling the MFTs' double-win ambitions.

The night started off strong for the MFTs. Tonga and R-Truth locked up in the beginning, with Tonga scoring a few solid hits on the veteran before colliding with the canvas during a missed elbow drop. R-Truth took the opportunity to tag in Priest, but before the former WWE World Champion could deal any damage, Mateo ran interference to allow Tonga to knock Priest out of the ring. Priest struggled to gain any significant edge over the MFTs, but a devastating clothesline to Mateo allowed R-Truth to tag-in for a Five Knuckle Shuffle.

The MFTs attempted to play the numbers game, but R-Truth and Priest matched them where they were. Priest broke up a pin on R-Truth following a swinging neckbreaker and Northern Lights Bomb from the MFTs, which allowed him to score a legal tag-in. The fresh Priest and R-Truth, somehow still chock-full of life, then landed a Rise Up on Mateo to retain their titles, much to Sikoa's certain disappointment.

Truth and Priest are set to continue their WWE Tag Team Championship reign at 36 days and counting. Friday's match was a rematch between the MFTs and R-Truth and Priest, with the reigning champions originally securing the tag titles at the expense of the MFTs on the March 20 episode of "SmackDown." As of writing, no new challengers have come forth for the duo.