Dear WWE Creative: Women’s Tag Titles Continue To Sit On The Sidelines
By Dorathy Gass
Dear WWE Creative,
Back in early 2019, the women’s division was riding a high wave with a plethora of “firsts” that had come down the pipe.
From the first women’s Hell in a Cell match to the first women’s Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, women’s matches closing RAW and SmackDown, women’s matches closing pay-per-views; the first Women’s Tag Team titles seemed like another item the WWE looked set to check off their bucket list to prove that their female athletes were breaking barriers and shattering glass ceilings.
I was all for it. With the incredible talent on all three rosters, there were enough superstars to create a division to build storylines off. After all, one major strong point was allowing the Women’s Tag Champs to travel to all three brands. This offered so many opportunities.
Sadly, WWE never capitalized on those opportunities during the over two-year tenure of these titles. Sasha Banks and Bayley started as the titleholders but didn’t make it past WrestleMania 35 that year, in a poorly established program that saw them lose their championships in a four-way match to The IIconics.
After that, there seemed to be a good flow of bonafide women’s tag teams that held this gold (looking at you, IIconics, Kabuki Warriors, and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross); however, the titles were defended far and few between. Plus, there wasn’t much in terms of feuds and storyline focus. Not to mention, it felt like you all forgot that NXT women’s tag teams were also in the running.
Fast forward to 2020, and as much as we all want to forget about that year for several reasons, the Women’s Tag Titles (somewhat) took center stage. Heels (and BFFs) Bayley and Sasha won these championships again, and I liked the storyline. “Bayley Dos Straps” and “Two Belts Banks” had all the gold (for a moment in time), and it was fun to see them dominate. It felt like the women’s tag titles finally became relevant. The Role Model and Blueprint defended these championships quite a bit during their reign, and it finally seemed as if the Women’s Tag Titles were given the storyline attention they deserved.
But everything has fallen apart since. Since Bayley and Banks lost their titles to Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler last August, the Women’s Tag Team Championships have felt like nothing more than an accessory to the RAW or SmackDown Women’s titles. Rather than expanding storylines to spotlight other female superstars and the women’s tag division, it seems to revolve more around “key players” that already have a focus on television.
While Banks and Bayley’s run with the titles brought prestige back to those championships, it feels as if you, WWE Creative, are trying to make lightning strike twice. I’m all about rewriting storylines if they are successful; however, not back-to-back. These tag titles have since been used to create hype around comebacks (looking at you, Charlotte Flair, circa the 2020 TLC PPV), landing as an accessory for RAW Women’s Champion (and Flair’s partner), Asuka. Did Flair need to win another piece of gold to make a splashing return? I’d say, “no”.
Now, the tag titles are at the center of it all between Bianca Blair and Sasha Banks’ WM 37 rivalry. Except, they aren’t really at “the center” of it all; again, these Women’s tag belts and their “prestige” are an afterthought for women’s tag team wrestling. “History” doesn’t need to be made by seeing Bianca and Banks take the titles off Baszler and Jax so that “Women’s Tag Team Champions” can go head-to-head at WM 37. It’s lame. These females are fantastic on their own and don’t need this as an anchor to their ‘Mania program. The conflict could’ve been created in another way.
With the recent announcement of the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships (because WWE missed the boat on potentially placing these titles on a team in the black and gold brand to create an interesting inter-brand feud), one has to wonder if the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles will ever be anything more than an after-thought or “accessory” to the main women’s championship?
Signed,
Dorathy