WWE TLC 2019: The Kabuki Warriors must retain the Tag Titles

The Kabuki Warriors have been a breath of fresh air on WWE television and must walk out of WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs with the tag team titles.

The Tables, Ladders and Chairs PPV is coming together a few days away from the event. This past Monday we saw new matches get announced to continue to flesh out the entirety of the show. One of the matches that jumped out is the women’s tag team title match between The Kabuki Warriors and the duo of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

While this has been a strong build between the two groups of women, it would be a mistake to put the tag team titles on Lynch and Flair now. Say what you want about elevating the titles, but WWE Creative needs to make strides in building the entire women’s division and keeping the Kabuki Warriors as champions is a step in that direction.

As mentioned, the lead up to this match on Sunday has been strong. The Kabuki Warriors continue to get the best of Flair and Lynch – even though its questionable for why the tag team champions struggle so much to defeat one woman at a time.

Still, everything that happens in the ring and backstage beat downs has worked to make the animosity in this story feel real. Plus, Lynch and Flair have shown that they don’t like the idea of pairing together to face these women, but as the saying goes “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Putting these four women in a TLC match has the ability to steal the show and in many ways, should be the main event of the evening. Having Lynch and Flair in the match helps elevate the battle to main event status, but that does not mean that the belts should be put around their waist.

Let’s talk about the WWE women’s tag team titles. The titles were brought back in February of this year to much fanfare. Plans were for the champions to appear across all brands to face the best teams available on SmackDown, Raw and NXT.

What was expected to be an opportunity to shine a light on more talent within the women’s division has fallen quite short.

The brief reign by the Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection led to the departure of Sasha Banks for months. The IIconics, who are both entertaining personalities, were rarely used on television and didn’t have the in-ring abilities to deliver the type of matches needed to elevate the belts. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were another pair that could have done great things with the titles, but again their reign didn’t live up to the level needed to build value in the new titles.

This is where the Kabuki Warriors come into play and their title reign that started back at Hell in a Cell. Their transformation into heel characters has been an opportunity to show some range for not only Asuka, but Kairi Sane at the same time.

They are putting on great matches but telling an intriguing story at the same time. Asuka has continued to be a thorn in Lynch’s side during her run as “The Man.” Lynch hasn’t secured a victory over Asuka in any type of match. At one time, Asuka was winless against Charlotte, but during that two-on-one match she was able to gain the upper hand to get the victory.

The Monday Night Raw women’s roster doesn’t have a woman that comes off as a solid foil to Lynch at this time, but that can be immediately corrected with a victory on Sunday; especially if it’s Asuka that puts Lynch through the table.

Long term storytelling aside, putting the tag team belts on Lynch and Charlotte doesn’t do anything to benefit the rest of the women’s roster. Lynch is the Raw Women’s Champion, but she hasn’t defended the title since her Hell in the Cell match against Banks.

Flair was just the SmackDown women’s champion recently, which she earned at the same Hell in a Cell PPV, but loss a few nights later to Bayley. Lynch and Flair have remained consistent near the top of the women’s division. Are they really needed in the tag team picture at the same time? The answer to that question is a clear and resounding “no.”

Look up and down the roster for a variety of reasons to answer that question. WWE is packed with talented women who can be paired together for viable feuds against the Kabuki Warriors.

Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville immediately jump off the page as a tag team that has long term value to the division as singles and a pair. Carmella, Dana Brooke, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan and others could also use the time in a developing feud.

Don’t forget about the NXT roster with competitors like Candice LeRae, Deonna Purrazzo, Xia Li, Bianca Belair and many others. There are more than enough talented women across WWE to fill up a list of challengers for the Kabuki Warriors. With proper time and storytelling, they can elevate these titles the way fans and wrestling pundits want.

Would putting the belts on Lynch and Flair have an immediate impact but short impact to the division? Yes. Is it the right direction to go? No.

Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair do not need to win the tag team titles. Keeping the belts on the Kabuki Warriors creates longer-term story telling between those four women and creates opportunities for the other women who need it on the roster.

People have long complained that WWE Creative struggles to create storylines for the women that don’t involve the Four Horsewomen. Now is the time to take a step in the right direction to correct this issue.