How The WWE Can Improve It's Tag Team Division

Growing up a wrestling fan I was obsessed with tag team competition. Idolizing duos such as The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian, The New Age out Laws and the Dudley Boyz amongst many I was lucky enough to be a wrestling fan as a kid during a time where tag team action was truly at such a high point. Fast forward to twenty-twenty and while the talent is most certainly there the booking of the WWE tag team division has been incredibly weak and disappointing. Of course, we continue to see incredible action amongst the division and this year alone has already provided epic must-sees, however, its evident work needs to be done and so today I’m going be taking a look at the state of the current WWE tag team division and discussing what needs to be done to turn things around for the better.

 

Move Away from Comedy Angles

While comedy is so important in the world of pro wrestling and is a vital part in the entertainment element of the industry it's clear that there needs to be a line and a limit. Twenty-twenty has been an incredibly difficult year so far and cinematic match ups and comedic angles have provided fans with something fun and relaxed to witness and experience true escapism which of course has been needed however, these setups have cost the tag team division greatly! Comedy segments involving RAW tag team champions the Street Profits and former NXT Tag team champions, The Viking Raiders have taken a great deal of credit and attraction away from the division. I know that I, myself have lost interest in recent months and the lack of seriousness has affected the general feel of tag team wrestling in the WWE. Moving forward the WWE needs to manage to find a balance but for a short while its important that they move away from comedy angles and showcase the division to be serious and important and that means taking away bowling balls into balls, turkey legs, and game shows. It's looking at tournaments, serious storylines, and showing fans that tag team wrestling is important and means something to the stars competing.

 

One Set of Titles

The WWE continues to do a lot wrong with the WWE Women’s tag team division but one thing they have gotten right is keeping one set of titles. While admittedly there are more teams on the men’s side its clear that there isn’t enough depth to either brands tag team division and the world of tag wrestling moving forward in the WWE on the main roster would most certainly benefit from one set of titles. One of the key issues the WWE have right now is creating new and unique tag team storylines and its because there just aren’t enough teams on either brand to continue to create something fresh. Reducing the titles to just one set for the entire division will allow u to see fresh and exciting new angles and storylines. It means that getting a title shot is more important and means more because it's so much harder to get the opportunity in the first place. This ensures we not only see new content and storylines as well as dream match-ups but creates a stronger meaning behind the championships and have them come across far more important.

 

Stronger Storytelling

I’ve recently been spending a lot of time going back and watching older WWE content specifically paying attention to tag team wrestling and what I realized is what made the decision so special and stand out back then was the level of storytelling. Of course, we had those comedic angles as we touched on earlier but there was in-depth storytelling that genuinely left fans entertained. We saw character development; stipulation matches utilized and angles that went deeper than just wanting to make us laugh. What I want to see as we move forward I the WWE look at telling deeper storylines that focus in on why teams are working together in the first place, what they stand for and creating personal an intense setups that make sense and leave us wanting more. The talent is most certainly there and we do see fantastic matches on the main roster but the element that is missing is storylines that leave us gripped and that’s something that must be focused on.

Go Back to Orginal Ideas

At the recent Extreme Rules, PPV a tag team tables match was booked while the bout between Nakamura and Cesaro and the New Day didn't make for a bad tag team encounter there can be no denying that things could have been much better. During the PPV I mentioned that one of my all-time favourite tag team Matches is the tables bout between the Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz from the Royal Rumble in 2000. The first-ever tag team tables match was booked much different to what we saw this past weekend where back then both members of a team had to be sent through a table for the match to conclude. Making that change to what we saw last weekend would have added more depth and interest to this match and I believe the contest would have been a heck of a lot stronger! Stipulation matches for the tag division is something the WWE need to explore more moving forward that doesn't only focus on ladder matches. Tornado tag team encounters, steel change competition and more is something that the division is sure to benefit from!

Utilize Factions

We all love a good faction, right? Throughout history we have seen some incredible factions grace the WWE stage from Nation of Domination, Evolution, The Shield and so many more have provided us fans with fantastic entertainment and for many factions played a huge role in tag team wrestling. More so today the use of a faction can be so incredibly important and beneficial for tag team competition, just look at Imperium and Undisputed Era and what they are doing and contributing to tag team wrestling today. We need to see that same kind of impact on the main roster and the addition of a faction (or two…or three) could seriously change how we view not only the division but storylines deeper on both RAW and Smackdown. We have a couple of faction across both brands but nothing strongly utilised and that’s such vital mistake being made. Use factions more and we will see more entertaining, fresh angles on both brands and we could really see the tag division feel more important and entertaining.

Show off Talent in Singles Matches

While of course, it's important that we see tag team stars shine within tag team competition highlighting superstars in singles action is a key step in showing the depths of the tag division and just how talented the guys are! Over the years we did see some amazing in-ring performance from tag team stars in one on one action including pitting teammates against one another. Naturally, it draws more attention to these names and showcases a new side of the stars allowing fans to know more of what they are capable of. It’s also, a great way to show all superstars to be potential main event players booking them in more angles, storylines, and matches that eventually lead back to the tag division and make it the division feel more must-see and stacked full of fantastic talents.

 

The frustrating thing about tag team wrestling in the WWE Today is the simple fact that the names are there, the talent I strong but the booking is so damn bad! Moving forward the WWE need to include main event singles stars within division storylines, utilize factions and work on in-depth unique storylines to turn things around drastically. Using major top talent to also add more depth to the tag team division is something that can seriously see major changes for the better. In the nineties, fans saw the likes of the Rock and Foley team up and while pairing two random stars can go terribly wrong when done right it can add serious depth to a storyline for superstars in the main event scene while adding more interest to the tag division as a whole. 

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