WWE: The Wyatt Family Will Use Freebird Rule When Defending Smackdown Tag Team Titles

World Wrestling Entertainment has officially announced that The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton and Luke Harper) will be using the Freebird Rule when defending their Smackdown Tag Team Championship.

WWE.com stated the following:

The Wyatt Family is evoking a rarely-used custom during their reign as SmackDown Tag Team Champions, WWE.com has learned.

While Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton captured the titles for the Family at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, SmackDown LIVE Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan have sanctioned Luke Harper as champion as well, making him eligible to defend the titles alongside Wyatt or Orton under the Freebird Rule.

Named for WWE Hall of Famers The Fabulous Freebirds, the rule stipulates that a faction that holds a championship can assign any of its members to defend the title at any given time. The reigning Raw Tag Team Champions, The New Day, have used the Freebird Rule to great success. Xavier Woods has defended the titles several times alongside either Kofi Kingston or Big E, who won them at SummerSlam 2015.

The Wyatts’ challengers might have rested easier knowing they wouldn’t have to contend with the enigmatic Harper on top of Wyatt himself and The Viper. No more.

Picture used above is courtesy of WWE.com.