Private Party should have won the AEW tag titles at WrestleDream

AEW WrestleDream has come and gone. Fans were expecting Private Party to walk out of the PPV with the AEW World Tag Team Championship in tow. That didn’t happen. Instead, The Young Bucks snatched away the victory, keeping the titles in their back pocket. It was a development that caught a lot of people off guard. This was expected to Private Party’s moment and the booking decision to keep the titles on the Bucks wasn’t correct.

Heading into the show, the story behind Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy’s rise was that they were looked at as not being “good enough” to be the champion. Matt and Nick Jackson basically ran them down and made it clear that their characters believed the two men are good, just not championship material. They might as well call them “B+ talent” akin to Bryan Danielson’s rise during the “Yes” Movement.

All the stones were laid for the crowning achievement to go down that night. Quen and Kassidy get the victory, and the championships and infuse some excitement into a tag team division that has been devoid of such for a long time. But that didn’t happen. Some hot takes on social media stated that Private Party’s “story” is about them rising to the occasion and securing the championship. But that has been the case for five years now. Five years back they were the underdogs that defeated The Young Bucks in the tag team tournament. What success have they seen since that moment? Not much, if any.

While pro wrestling and sports entertainment are frequently about the chase, there’s value in delivering on a big win as that story is being told. For example, when “Hangman” Adam Page defeated Kenny Omega to become the AEW World Champion, it was clear that was going to happen that night. All the chips were laid down and the story was wrapped up perfectly. Why couldn’t Private Party get their own moment at AEW WrestleDream? Even if it comes months down the line on an episode of AEW Dynamite or another PPV, it will not have the same impact as everything that was done leading into WrestleDream.

AEW’s tag team division needs something beyond The Young Bucks and FTR at the top. AEW WrestleDream presented the opportunity to create some excitement by crowning new champions. Alas, that was not the case and Private Party went home without the belts. Will they win them at some point? Probably, but the time to crown them was at the PPV and it was a missed moment.