Projecting How Long The Miz, Shane McMahon Will Be Tag Team Champs Ahead of EC

The Miz and Shane McMahon turned the SmackDown Live tag team division on its head when they won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The Bar at last month's Royal Rumble event.

The idea of the two teaming seemed fairly far-fetched even a few months ago, especially coming off their heated altercations in the buildup to Crown Jewel.

McMahon serving as a last-minute replacement for an injured Miz in the finals of the WWE World Cup would have been an ideal time to do a double turn with them, but WWE instead insisted on going in a completely different direction.

The former WWE champion spent weeks trying to convince Shane to be his tag team partner, seeing as how together they were the "best in the world" by virtue of Shane's victory in the WWE World Cup. Shane eventually accepted his invitation to team up on Christmas night, and they have proved to be quite the cohesive unit since then.

Miz's experience in the tag team ranks combined with Shane's popularity and resilience have made them a real force to be reckoned with in the SmackDown tag scene over the past month. Their match with The Bar at the Rumble was entertaining as well, so it's clear they have chemistry as partners.

As is always the case in wrestling, however, it's only inevitable before one turns on the other.

After all, WrestleMania 35 is right around the corner, and a bout pitting the two against one another would be a fine addition to the undercard of the event. Unless WWE decides to keep them together as a unit through WrestleMania season, the split is likely to happen in the immediate future.

This Sunday at Elimination Chamber, Miz and Shane will defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos, who have been on the back burner of the blue brand's tag team division lately.

Aside from winning a Fatal 4-Way to become the number one contenders a few weeks ago, The Usos haven't done much to make fans believe that they are the next tag team champs.

Then again, the WWE contracts of Jimmy and Jey are reportedly up in April, and it has been rumored that they aren't looking to re-sign. Similar to what's happened with The Revival, that could lead to WWE putting the tag titles on them to ensure that they stay.

No other tandem on Tuesday nights make as much sense to dethrone Miz and Shane as champions as The Usos, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the title reign of "McMiz" should end as soon as Sunday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

Beyond Elimination Chamber, WWE still has Fastlane taking place on March 10, which would be an ideal place for Miz and Shane to drop the straps and begin their long-awaited singles program.

The event will be held in Miz's hometown of Cleveland, so he is bound to be cheered that night. It would be logical for Shane to double-cross Miz on that show and receive nuclear heat from the audience in attendance in the process, but Miz has a better chance of going heel given his track record of turning on his partners.

Regardless of who ultimately snaps and betrays the other, it's apparent that Miz and Shane's days as SmackDown Tag Team champions are numbered and that the bad blood between the two will be simmering to the surface sooner rather than later.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.