WWE needs to put its tag titles in real feuds

There are ample complaints about the booking of the tag team division on both WWE Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. While the organization has a deep division with some great duos ready to win and defend the titles, the belts continue to be an afterthought. That is clearly the case as both the WWE Tag Team Championship and the WWE World Tag Team Championship are a background piece in big feuds. The titles should have their own angles to stand on.

Currently, Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu hold the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown while Finn Balor and JD McDonagh hold the WWE World Tag Team Championship on Raw. These are two great teams, with four men capable of being top-level performers on their own right. However, their championship reigns are a side-story in bigger angles leading the show.

Fatu and Tonga demolished DIY, while McDonagh and Balor defeated the Awesome Truth. What do they have in common? Neither team has defended their championship since winning. That is a disservice to the entire division. Remember when fans complained that Brock Lesnar’s absence as champion devalued what the rest of the division was doing? The same could be said about the tag team division when the champions are on the show, but not booked to defend their titles.

Think about what could be happening on both shows. DIY could be locked in a feud with teams like Pretty Deadly or the LWO. Awesome Truth should have dropped the titles to another team before losing them back to The Judgment Day, completely devaluing their big win at WrestleMania 40.

While it is one thing to de-emphasize an angle for a bit, while building up others, this has been an issue within WWE for a long time. The tag team division rarely gets the focus it deserves. Especially as it can be seen as a tool to build individual performers of the future. There are growing rumors that both the Motor City Machine Guns and the Lucha Brothers are heading to WWE. Should they and their fans have lowered expectations for where they will end up on the roster because of how this company treats tag team wrestlers? That could very well be the case and looks more possible every week.

There’s been a lot of talk about the booking of the tag team division in wrestling. WWE has long struggled by choice in this area. Right now, the biggest issue is that both sets of titles are merely background props for two angles that do not need them. There are too many talented teams that would thrive in this position if given the opportunity to shine.