WWE's departure from the tag team division is an upsetting reality for those who yearn for the days of the Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz, Edge and Christian, Too Cool, Rated RKO, Los Guerreros, the New Age Outlaws, The Brothers of Destruction, etc. You can even go back a generation and you will see some of the best tag teams of all time, and they were actually tag teams.
But the modern WWE seemingly couldn't be less interested in elevating the business' top duos, even after SummerSlam that featured one of the most energizing TLC matches in recent memory. And the latest example is Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky capturing tag gold against the Kabuki Warriors on Monday Night RAW.
Ripley and Sky are two of the best solo wrestlers in the business, period. They have no true connection that makes them a tag team. They should individually be fighting for the top belts in the women's division, not wasting away in some sideshow storyline that doesn't elevate their careers.
WWE making Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky tag champs doesn't feel right
Ripley is arguably the most popular female wrestler WWE has, and when she was the women's champ (or feuding with both Liv Morgan and Iyo for the belt) it was some of the best television wrestling had to offer. Iyo vs Liv brought us some of the best singles matches of the last couple years. The Liv-Rhea storyline with Dirty Dom was possibly the most dramatic.
Fans understand things happen, like Liv's shoulder injury and the ascension of Stephanie Vaquer, Tiffany Stratton, and Jade Cargill, but why does that seemingly mean the bigger picture of the Women's Division gets tossed aside? Or ... at least that's what it feels like.
But back to the reality of the tag team belts. Look around WWE. We just had AJ Styles and Dragon Lee as champs for 70 days. Why? The Wyatt Sicks have been the tag champs for 178 days as that division on Smackdown has seemingly gone dormant.
Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss were the tag champs before the Kabuki Warriors, and even though that spurred a somewhat fresh storyline, it still made little sense, and it felt as if WWE was trying to save Charlotte's reputation among the fans after she went full heel against Stratton.
The WWE needs more factions, like the Judgement Day and Wyatt Sicks. They need more strict tag teams, like DIY, Street Profits, Motor City Machine Guns, the War Raiders, the New Day, and the Usos (thanks for bringing them back!) at the forefront of the tag team belt conversation. Maybe a number of those duos aren't entertaining enough and that could be part of the problem. But if this many tag teams exist, then it's hard to justify deviating to random singles partners to make the championship relevant or to prop up an individual wrestler unless it's worthwhile and engaging.
And it's even harder to justify that when you're seemingly muting two of the most influential names in the business.