AEW has depth but lacks focus for the tag team division

AEW boasts an excellent tag team division and it’s time to get back to presenting the depth within the roster. 

Tag team wrestling is an art form within the industry. It’s a special sight when two cohesive units come together to tell an impactful story both in and out of the ring. FTR versus Bullet Club Gold proved that point and is a standout candidate for the 2023 Match of the Year. While that light shines brightly on excellently crafted tag team wrestling, there’s also concern that AEW has lost focus on tag team wrestling, harming what was once a major drawing point to the promotion.

FTR was perhaps the hottest act across all professional wrestling in 2022. The team picked up championships left and right, with Dax Hardwood having a breakout year with many considering him the top performer in the industry. Move the clock forward to July 2023 and that situation has drastically changed.

AEW’s tag team division is in a different place. FTR are enjoying their second run as champions, but the excitement isn’t there. Instead, the focal point in tag wrestling is firmly on MJF and Adam Cole. These two men are slotted to challenge for the championship on AEW Collision. This comes after a successful twist on the “Can they coexist” narrative. The Blind Eliminator tournament put together this hilariously over act, but what did it do to the rest of the tag division? Outside of Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara, there wasn’t any real build, interest, or continuation for any of the other teams in the tournament.

This is a tag team division that features great acts like 2Point0, The Kingdom, Best Friends, and more. The teams that were once featured weekly on Dynamite are replaced by the tournament that’s meant to build interest in MJF versus Adam Cole. If you want meaningful tag team action in AEW, you’ll have to purchase Honor Club and watch ROH every week to hopefully satiate that need. It will be interesting to see how the tag match on AEW Collision shakes out because if Cole or MJF make the turn to cost their team the championship, that would denigrate the value of the tag team championships and the division entirely.

Much like the women’s division, the tag division is seemingly not getting the same type of booking treatment as the top of the men’s division. The same could be said about the AEW Trios division which is also in need of depth to challenge the House of Black. Fans want to see tag team wrestling and they want to see it done well. The reaction to FTR versus BC Gold was widespread praise for days. The question is whether AEW can return to highlighting the depth of actual teams that made this division such an attraction for the promotion in the past.