WWE: Why The Tag Division Has Been Overlooked
By Josh Raibick
This past week on WWE SmackDown Live, for the first time in a long time the WWE’s main focus was on the tag division. Which begs the question, why doesn’t WWE spend more of their focus on tag team wrestling?
Let’s start with the obvious, and that is the attention to the tag division this past week on SmackDown was more due to the fact that Team Hell No recently reunited. A superstar with a legacy like Kane, and a super over babyface in Daniel Bryan are not likely to be a together for a long time or be a long-term solution for this issue.
It appears as if the only time the tag team division gets attention, it is for a major reunion similar to the recently mentioned Team Hell No or when Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose came back together in 2017. This means that WWE believes more in their singles stars in the tag division than their tag team specialists.
What tag teams in the WWE have to contend with is the infamous WWE microscope. There are other companies like NJPW, who give their wrestlers total creative freedom.
With that said, it is easy to see how characters in other wrestling organizations are much more interesting. But doesn’t that apply to everyone in WWE?
Yes and no. The superstars that usually get the most creative freedom are singles superstars. Still, there are examples of personalities leaking on screen in the tag division, and a perfect example would be The New Day.
While WWE merchandise sales are not usually made public, it is pretty clear that The New Day has been a huge merchandise mover over the past few years. Yet, New Day has not been given a regular big spot platform.
So many times New Day is featured in a backstage segment, an early match, or is even sidelined and given the title of “WWE WrestleMania 33 hosts”. Even further proof has been The Usos, who have been the standard in the tag division for years.
Yet, The Usos and many of their four to five star matches have been relegated to a kickoff show. It is great that The Usos and New Day have more personality in their gimmicks now, but the segments just are not given the premier treatment.
If you do not treat your tag team division like main event talent, then why would the fans perceive them as such? Look at The Young Bucks and The Briscoes as an example of how tag team wrestling should be.
Matt Jackson has been nursing a back injury for what seems like a year, and it always finds a way to be aggravated in a match. Something like this would never be allowed in WWE, which is the land of serious storyline injuries that always magically heal the night after a feud ends.
What this all means is WWE tag teams can’t stand out if they are not given better television segments, consistently longer matches, and matches at a more meaningful spot on the card. Also, it does not make sense that so often singles stars are able to team up, and beat tag team specialists in a tag team match.
The recent booking of Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley vs. The Revival is at least close to how those matches should be booked. Even though two-thirds of those matches were booked in The Revival’s favor only to showcase Reigns and Lashley’s feud, what is wrong with The Revival just being better than the two singles stars in a tag match?
Tag team wrestling must be presented as an art, a skill. When singles stars can just step into a tag match and dominate two tag team specialists, it makes the WWE Universe believe that the only reason the singles stars are not Tag Team Champions is because that title is beneath them.
The WWE tag team divisions on both WWE Raw and SmackDown are talented, and that includes comedy style tag teams. Many fans criticize superstars when they are given more comedy, but teams like Breezango are not considered an elite level tag team because they are funny, it is because they do not get the television time and are not booked to win.
Next: Midcard Championships Revitalized
This is not a 400 level college class; the solution is very simple. The focus of WWE needs to be directed towards elevating tag team specialists, because they have been neglected for long enough.