Can the WWE Tag Team Division be saved?

[Troy]

This thread is one that everyone would have seen before and it has been a regular thread over the past five years. WWE just hasn't given much thought to the tag team division and every time it looks like they are going to rejuvenate the division they fail yet again and bury the current champions.

WWE have a terrible recent habit of splitting new teams very soon after they are formed. Rather than keeping them together for a few years they get half that time. They also use maineventers to bury rather than build the division like they did recently with Miz and Cena winning the titles from Corre only to basically give them back right after.

Lets break down the current teams on each brand:

RAW
Kozlov & Santino - Former tag team champions but they are mainly a comedic tag team. It was embarassing that they held the titles for so long. If they were a more serious tag team they would have been fine as champions but they were so comical and not in a good way either.
The Uso's - Burst onto the scene but since then haven't done much. Rarely used on RAW and are mainly Superstars wrestlers now. WWE need to keep these two together and simply build them up more and use them on RAW.
Ryder & Primo - They haven't actually worked as a tag team on RAW yet but their current gimmick is that they complain that they aren't getting a shot on RAW when they are the best team. They continue to wrestle and win on Superstars and I want this to be a slow build where eventually they get onto the opening match on RAW and continue to win until eventually they get a title shot. They are a surprisingly good team and if you haven't seen them wrestle, or cut a promo, then do try to check it out.

Smackdown
Corre(Slater and Gabriel) (c) - The current champions who are now three time tag team champions. A very promising team but have suffered from poor booking. Need to be used prominently on Smackdown. Could be a very good team and should stick together for much longer.


Personally thats all the main regular teams that I can think of if I have missed any then please post them in this thread. Now to make a good division WWE need more than four teams so some new potential teams are:

McGillicuty & Harris - They should split away from Nexus and simply become a tag team on RAW. They have been used as a team in the past and are a good combination.
Hawkins & Baretta - They will be much better off as a tag team rather than in singles competition. They have had a mini feud on Superstars but they should become Smackdown's second team. They have teamed before in FCW and were successful then so they can work together.


Unfortunately there aren't many other teams that I can see working, that is unless there is a draft and some wrestlers and mixed up on different brands. For example if Sheamus comes to Smackdown then a team of him and McIntyre would be good. I know it is predictable putting the two foreigners together but both could use a boost and a run as a solid tag team could be what they need. Another potential team, again using sterotypes, would be R-Truth and JTG. Before people complain the reason I think it would work is they have similar gimmicks. JTG could become R-Truth's protege and they could both "rap" as they come to the ring.

One rule that I have for tag teams is they have to have matching ring gear. They can't just continue to wear what they normally wear, it needs to tie in with the tag team partner to make them look like a proper tag team rather than just two guys teaming together.

The biggest issue is will WWE even attempt to fix the division. It has been a long time since the division was a main part of WWE and it is unfortunate because tag team wrestling, when done right, can be awesome.

I hope that WWE actually do something to push the division and that someone in creative finally realises that tag team wrestling can draw money and that it is a good way to book two singles wrestlers who aren't doing much.

 

[Aniking]

The WWE tag team division is not a very good one, and really it sucks as ten years ago the division was amazing. Anything decent that begins to happen just gets killed and it really makes no sense why this is the case.

Let's look at it this way. The Hart Dynasty were clearly the best tag team in the division at one point and had a great run as tag team champions. Then suddenly they began arguing and fighting, resulting in the tag team splitting up. Why? This has hurt both David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd as Kidd is a jobber on RAW and Smith wrestles on Superstars every second week. This is what happens to a team when the WWE split them up, it's really nonsense as it is not neccessary. It's like the WWE think "oh we have nothing for this team, just split them up", no how about you give them competition and make a decent division.

Word is the WWE want to split up The Usos, which is ridiculous if you ask me. They haven't even been given that much of a chance in the division and the WWE is already thinking of splitting them up. They'll just end up as jobbers, because if The Hart Dynasty can have a successful run as Tag Team Champions and end up as jobbers, the same thing would definitely happen to The Usos... or worse, they could be released. If that happens, look out world, Rikishi is gonna be one mad son of a bitch!

That is two tag teams with huge potential that the WWE ruined or is thinking of ruining, but who has a lengthy reign as Tag Team Champions not too long ago? Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov, a duo only of comedic value. I cannot look at them as a serious tag team for two reasons - 1) For the last few years, Marella has been a jobber and was only around because he's funny, and 2) Kozlov is boring, can't speak English clearly and just isn't that entertaining overall. Yet this "team" were Tag Team Champions for a few months? Stupid.

I am very pleased to see Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel as Tag Team Champions, even though it's silly they're now known as 3-time Tag Team Champions. They are the best tag team in the company and deserve to be champions, but really they're without competition. The only other tag teams in the company are Marella/Kozlov, The Usos and Zack Ryder/Primo, so the competition really is thin.

I don't want to see Marella/Kozlov as Tag Team Champions again, it just shouldn't happen. The Usos need to be used A LOT better as their potential is being wasted. Now as for Ryder/Primo, they're actually a good tag team. I watch Superstars right before I watch Smackdown and they work well together. To me they look like a tag team as they both wear tights (not matching but that isn't a big deal) and they make their entrance wearing sunglasses, not to mention Primo is very talented and Ryder can work an entertaining match here and there. Fingers crossed the WWE continues to build this effectively, eventually leading to a Tag Team Championship shot in the future.

Speaking of tag title shots, they're often handed out to teams and there are absolutely no feuds. WWE needs to give sense to a title shot instead of just handing a team one. Even Slater & Gabriel getting their shot came suddenly. They beat Kozlov/Marella, lost a title match the following week. 2-3 weeks later they beat Marella/Kozlov, then won the titles the following week. That's not much of a build up considering McGillicutty & Harris had a title shot in between all that as well.

I'd love to see McGillicutty/Harris as a tag team, maybe even Tarver/Sheffield, but I have my fingers crossed that the WWE will make this happen - Johnny Curtis & Derrick Bateman. They are very entertaining and were apparently great as FCW Tag Team Champions before NXT4. It can be worked as Curtis has the title shot, R-Truth could hand his opportunity over to Batemen, and the rest is history.

To finish, I think the WWE can save it's tag team division, but it needs more tag teams. Make some out of all the Rookies that they have nothing for or something, maybe sign some independent tag teams as an actual tag team often works better than a makeshift one. WWE, get you shit together with the tag team division!

 

[Deezy]

I don't know why the tag team division isn't used properly, maybe it's too "old school" for the higher ups taste. I don't know why they put it in a lost and found box, in 2000 the tag team division was on par with McMahon-Helmsley facgime in terms of viewership and they booked them accordingly. The Dudleys weren't buried by The Rock, and E & C and The Hardyz were some of the main reasons to watch. They also had the APA, T & A, New Age Outlaws and others.

I don't see how they forget how tag teams have helped launch stars like HBK and Bret Hart and teams like LOD, Rock & Roll/Midnight Express and The Fabulous Freebirds were drawing better than any singles competitor during the time. It makes no sense to think Tag Team wrestling still can't be an attraction anymore.

I mean the booking that goes into tag team wrestling is lazy at best, and the matches are basically the same now. You ever watch certain tag matches and you already knew what spot was going to happen before it did? Cue the heels beating up one guy, now cue the comeback, now it's time for everyone to get involved, oh wait now we have to get the other two guys out of the ring and the heel team can get the cheap win or just hit a finisher and pin them clean.

If the WWE was to get serious about rebooting the tag team division, they need to actually have meaningful feuds. Don't use the division as fodder for other feuds. Makeshift teams shouldn't be beating actual tag teams, because the illusion is supposed to be that legit tag teams gel together perfectly, which is why they are teaming up in the first place. Also, the entire division should never be used to build up maineventers.

It's not rocket science on how to build up the division. It's just that it doesn't seem to be a priority.

 

[Aniking]

Everything you said is spot on, deezy.

It really couldn't be that hard to build up the tag division considering it was such a success a decade ago. Superstars like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart started their careers as tag team wrestlers, not to mention Edge, Christian and The Hardys started as tag teams and have all had great singles careers. The tag division is the catalyst for future main eventers, possibly even future World Champions, yet the WWE would rather have superstars run obstacle courses and do stupid challenges on NXT, or job for months on end before being released or actually given a small opportunity. It's like they think every superstar nowadays needs to pay their dues or has something to prove, like there's some sort of agenda against them. As deezy said, the majority of the tag matches we see nowadays are so predictable and boring that it's just not a joy to watch.

A lot of the tag matches that are on RAW or Smackdown are usually two singles feuds coming together or something along the lines, there really isn't any time given to tag teams like The Usos who have great potential and are being wasted. Tag teams like Ryder & Primo who wrestle frequently on Superstars and have yet to be given a chance on RAW.

The WWE killed the Crusierweight division, they've turned the Divas division into a joke, and now they pretty much have no tag team division. Not to mention their mid-card titles aren't being used well, it really all comes down to their wacked prioritys. Either they're all too ignorant to notice what they've done, or they see it and just don't care. I hope that when Triple H takes over the reigns, he sorts shit out and gets everything back on track. McMahon obviously doesn't care if it has gone on this long.