Things are changing for Butch, possibly in more ways than one.
Prior to SmackDown New Year’s Resolution, Butch had found himself alone in recent weeks. His Brawling brutes stablemate Sheamus has been absent for months due to injury, and Ridge Holland later walked out on him. Butch finally got some backup on the January 5 episode of WWE SmackDown, as he revealed NXT’s Tyler Bate as his tag team partner. The duo defeated Pretty Deadly in a tag team match.
Butch and Tyler Bate then appeared in a vignette on the January 12 episode of SmackDown. Bate was clearly excited about their win, but Butch made it clear he thought they should go their own ways. Bate responded by offering to teach Butch with his meditation and breathing techniques. He asked Butch to remember who helped him make a name for himself, and he questioned what that name was going to be.
The camera zoomed in on Butch, but before he could answer, the camera faded to black.
Pete Dunne was renamed Butch upon his arrival on SmackDown in March 2022, when he joined up with Holland and Sheamus.
Catch up on our coverage of the January 12 episode of WWE SmackDown here.
