The WWE Tag Team Division

[foleyfanforever88 0]

WWE's tag team division hasn't been anything special since the turn of the century when there were teams like The Hardys, Edge and Christian, The Dudleys, The APA, etc. Nowadays, I can hardly even remember who the tag team champions are. There are obviously many reasons for this, one of them being the lack of real tag teams. The four above mentioned teams came into the company as just that, teams. They dressed alike, acted alike, and gave the impression that they were there to be the best damn tag team in the business. Let's look at the tag teams of today:

 

Cade and Murdoch - The best example of a real tag team that the WWE has to offer.

 

London and Kendrick - The best technical, high flying team today..yet for some reason no longer together.

 

Holly and Rhodes - The World tag team champions? I actually had to check to see if they still were. Cody is failing to get over with the fans and Hardcore Holly is 8 years past anybody caring about him. A tag team that was created after a 3-week bathroom break feud.

 

The Highlanders - The jobber team on Raw. Haven't been entertaining since, well..their in-ring debut.

 

Dreamer and Delaney - Another team made up of two guys not doing anything. I'm enjoying the Colin storyline though, and it's on ECW..so whatever.

 

Miz and Morrison - The WWE tag team champs. Very entertaining on the microphone and better than average in the ring (Morrison, atleast). Even though they were put together randomly after a feud, I feel like they fit together well enough that nobody remembers that.

 

Jesse and Festus - A good comedy act, and a real tag team by my definition.

 

Deuce and Domino - A terrible, annoying team that is only ever used in handicap matches against Batista or to job to another team. Wouldn't mind seeing them gone.

 

Yang and Moore - An interesting team with an interesting moveset. Enjoyable to watch (Yang especially). Probably only put together because they are cruiserweights.

 

Hawkins and Ryder - Debuted as a tag team but now are Edge's lackies. Haven't had a tag team match in months, to my knowledge.

 

So basically, we have Cade and Murdoch, Jesse and Festus, Miz and Morrison, Yang and Moore, and the now split-up London and Kendrick as legit, entertaining tag teams. I really think that the WWE needs to start making the tag team titles mean something and look for a few new teams (developmental teams, not random matches of current superstars) to spice up the division.

 

I enjoyed Cade and Murdoch vs. The Hardys from last year a lot but since then the Raw tag team division has been completely forgettable. The Smackdown division has been much more entertaining, but still lackluster. What do you think needs to be done in order to put value back into the tag team championships?

 

I still think that there should only be one tag team title and that it should float between brands. This would allow for a lot more matches and excuses for moving mid-card wrestlers to other brands without having to be drafted. i.e., if London and Kendrick defended the championship against Miz and Morrison on Smackdown and lost, they would become Smackdown superstars. Miz and Morrison would then be able to defend against both Jesse and Festus on Smackdown and Holly/Rhodes on Raw. Inter-brand tag teams could also be made this way, though again, I'd rather the WWE bring in tag teams rather then make them from current singles guys.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

[Dandy 0]

Several things have hurt the division. One major thing is the brand split. Even if the division consisted of 6 established teams at the time, splitting up Raw and Smackdown would have made it 3 teams per show, which is terrible. Tag teams break up due to many reasons, including guys breaking out as singles wrestlers, which has also hurt the division.

 

I think a tournament to unify the belts and have them float between Smackdown and ECW would be the best thing. You listed 10 teams, so let's say they get 6 other teams just for the tournament. They might make new teams from wrestlers currently in WWE, bring up people from developmental, and get some Japanese teams to make cameos for the tournament. Everyone likes a good tournament, and it could have an old scool NWA feel to it. I suggested something similar like this before and called it the Bischoff Cup because it could have been his idea as General Manager. So, name it after some legend and have them be present, and perhaps even manage the winning team. In fact, some of the best tag teams in history have had managers, and that is something WWE needs to get back to.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Having the belts exclusively on ECW/Smackdown wouldn't be a bad idea. Now that the cruiserweight title is gone, Raw can have the Women's division to itself (move Victoria back over, for the love of God) and Smackdown can have the Tag Team division. Plus, it seems like majority of newcomers start on Smackdown, so this would be a good place for new tag teams to begin. I like it.

[The Truthiness 0]

I still think that there should only be one tag team title and that it should float between brands. This would allow for a lot more matches and excuses for moving mid-card wrestlers to other brands without having to be drafted. i.e., if London and Kendrick defended the championship against Miz and Morrison on Smackdown and lost, they would become Smackdown superstars. Miz and Morrison would then be able to defend against both Jesse and Festus on Smackdown and Holly/Rhodes on Raw. Inter-brand tag teams could also be made this way, though again, I'd rather the WWE bring in tag teams rather then make them from current singles guys.

 

Thoughts?

 

I think this is a pretty neat idea, for Miz/Morrison. They should just combine the titles and let MNM 2 just do a touring tag team Champion gimmick. They're already a very good tag team, and can have a good match with practically any team on the roster. Since they both have a rock star like gimmick, it would fit them both perfectly going from show to show acting like big shots. One tag title defended between all 3 brands would be a very good gimmick for the title, and it would set the tag titles apart from the other titles in WWE. Miz/Morrison has done a very good job of making the title seem special, with the limited amount of time they get on TV some times. The SD tag titles seem more valuable than the IC, US, and Raw tag team championships combined. This isn’t saying much, because the other 3 titles go months without being defended.

[Dandy 0]

Althought it seems like the natural thing to do is have all the women wrestlers on Raw, WWE will never do that. They want to hit that demographic with every show, even if there isn't a title on every show. It might not make sense to us, but that is why they do it.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Just for continuity's sake I'd like to see them merge the tag titles. With all mentions of "WWF" retconned to "WWE", wrestlers are often erroneously credited as being "former WWE tag champions".

 

With the brand borders down very low these days, there's no reason they can't just have "WWE tag champions" that are on all 3 shows. It's annoying that WWE's flagship show features tag team titles that no one competes for on a face team no one likes while ECW and SmackDown actually have angles going on over their tag titles.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Althought it seems like the natural thing to do is have all the women wrestlers on Raw, WWE will never do that. They want to hit that demographic with every show, even if there isn't a title on every show. It might not make sense to us, but that is why they do it.

 

I don't think they should have all the women on Raw, just the ones who should be challenging for the Women's title (Mickie, Melina, Candice, Victoria, and then probably Kelly, Michelle, and Jillian) The other ones can be on SD/ECW. But let's not make this into a women's division discussion.

[Dandy 0]

Agreed. But I'm saying they want to keep some women "wrestlers" on SD so they could have matches that aren't between two models with not much experience. I get what you are saying, but they want to keep both wrestlers and models on each show.

 

Back to tag teams...

 

Anyone have ideas for tag teams based on the current roster?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

They should have done more with Carlito and Santino. They paired them together for like two weeks and dropped it after Carlito got into MITB.

 

 

 

 

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

I'd like to see Cena and Orton become reluctant tag team partners for a spell. I really liked that 17 on 2 tag team match a couple weeks ago on Raw.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I'd like to see Cena and Orton become recultant tag team partners for a spell. I really liked that 17 on 2 tag team match a couple weeks ago on Raw.

 

I agree... Remind me a lot like HBK/Austin in 1997 when they had the belts.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I'd like to see Cena and Orton become recultant tag team partners for a spell. I really liked that 17 on 2 tag team match a couple weeks ago on Raw.

 

Do we really need "tag team champs that hate each other but must coexist to defend the titles they won when forced to team up by the evil authority figure" part 39?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Is that still an underlying aspect of the Miz/Morrison tag team or do they get along completely now?

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

No, but it keeps Cena and Orton occupied without being involved with the WWE championship for a bit. I'd rather that than Triple H vs. Orton and Cena over and over again until he drops the belt.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Is that still an underlying aspect of the Miz/Morrison tag team or do they get along completely now?

 

I took it they got along well. I thought when Morrison beat Miz for Money in the Bank Spot it would help split them but they probably dont want to worry about that til after WM. Maybe Morrison almost wins and then the next ECW Show Miz goes "I could have so won that match" or something and they split afterwards.

[Canadian Brandon 0]

I think that having the tag titles exclusively on SD! would be for the best. Raw just does not have the time for a real tag division anymore. I can't remember the last time the tag titles were even defended. Of course there is supposed to be a draft coming up right? Maybe they can start rebuilding the tag division then. I'm not gonna hold my breath for that one though.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I'd like to see Cena and Orton become recultant tag team partners for a spell. I really liked that 17 on 2 tag team match a couple weeks ago on Raw.

 

Do we really need "tag team champs that hate each other but must coexist to defend the titles they won when forced to team up by the evil authority figure" part 39?

 

Normally I'm against this storyline, but if any people can make it work, it's Orton/Cena... They just have this certain chemistry with each others that lacks today with most wrestling feuds.

[Dandy 0]

I agree that they worked tremendously with each other in that match, and they do have a good chemistry. However, if you team them up, you don't just run the angle where they are whacky tag partners that hate each other, you run the angle where they are two main eventers that will be facing midcard wrestlers. They would just dominate the division and bring it down even further. This sort of thing is what destroyed the division to begin with.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I agree that they worked tremendously with each other in that match, and they do have a good chemistry. However, if you team them up, you don't just run the angle where they are whacky tag partners that hate each other, you run the angle where they are two main eventers that will be facing midcard wrestlers. They would just dominate the division and bring it down even further. This sort of thing is what destroyed the division to begin with.

 

Yeah I pretty much agree in that certain perspective... The reason why it worked so well with HBK/Austin in 97 was because they had a rival tag team who were on their level pretty much gunning for the titles, in Owen/Bulldog. Nowadays, we lack that sorta tag team.

 

It's too bad they never did anything with Cade/Murdoch after the Hardyz feud, I thought they had a lot of potential to become a legit threat as a tag team.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Does no one remember the HBK/Cena team from last year? They were both tag champs and one was gunning for the other's world title. It really sucked.

 

WWE could easily create competitive divisions without having to double-dip guys (except in very rare occasions for the second tier titles). If Jeff and Matt Hardy want to wrestle for the tag titles, they have enough 'seniority' to be able to do it, and if Jeff or Matt happen to hold a secondary singles belt, they can defend that too. Honestly though, I'd rather see a few core teams that CONCENTRATED on winning and keeping the tag team titles without worrying about the singles belts at all. Makes the titles more important.

[Guest Hasbeen2]

I just counted 67 individuals on Raw, Smackdown and ECW, not counting any out injured or suspended. They could make tag teams, Birchall and Harry Smith for one. I honestly sometimes think they paired Holly and Rhodes up just to piss off the old time fans.

[Dandy 0]

Remember a suy named Steve Lewington? He was really jacked and wore tights with the Union Jack on them? I always thought that pairing him and Harry up would be good for the Bulldogs 2.0, but then again you had JT in developmental at the time, too. Harry needs to be in a tag team right now, especially after having to restart after failing the drug test.

 

I'll post my potential tag teams later.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I just counted 67 individuals on Raw, Smackdown and ECW, not counting any out injured or suspended. They could make tag teams, Birchall and Harry Smith for one. I honestly sometimes think they paired Holly and Rhodes up just to piss off the old time fans.

 

I thought Burchill and Drew McIntyre would make a good team.

[Guest Bigelow34]

I hope they don't split Miz & Morrison up. Neither are going to be pushed further as singles for a while. I think they both have potential to be solid singles wrestlers and become stars, but why rush it? They are both young and are developing really well in this team. I hope they let them stay hooked up for a while. Now that Melina is doing nothing of note, it may not hurt to put her back with them, although I would be afraid she would overshadow them a bit.

 

They have the pieces for a good tag division, they just need to put them together. I really like the travelling champ idea outlined above too.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Does no one remember the HBK/Cena team from last year? They were both tag champs and one was gunning for the other's world title. It really sucked.

 

A) HBK and Cena lack the same chemistry Cena and Orton have.

 

B) Both were faces at the time, and for the majority of thei reign, they got along fine despite facing each other at WM.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

I like the idea of the traveling rock star gimmick for Morrison and Miz. It'll give both of them a chance to shine on Raw and you'll have upper midcard heels for all three brands that can job to the top faces in singles matches.