With The Usos winning the Tag Team titles for their 2nd time and The Ascension debuting on Raw, I think this is a good time to talk about the Tag Team Division in WWE going into 2015 (and beyond).
For many, we saw 2014-2015 as a good time for the Tag Team Division, a revitalization of sorts. There seemed to be conscious effort put into developing interesting and entertaining tag teams. In 2014 we had The Shield, Wyatt Family, Rhodes Brothers and Usos as main tag teams.
In 2015 we had the comeback of The New Age Outlaws, which was cool and gave The Usos a great bump by winning the titles off them. Then early 2015 there was still Harper & Rowan and Rhodes Brothers (becoming Dust Brothers). In 2015 there were some great tag team matches with The Usos vs Harper & Rowan and The Usos vs Dust Brothers. But even saying that it sounds pretty limited in scope and that brings me to the topic at hand.
The WWE Tag Team Division in 2015 is looking very limited! I mean I am a fan of The Usos and I like the style of the Dust Brothers but even I am tired of seeing The Usos vs The Dust Bros because I've seen it simply too many times already in 2014 and 2015.
So what is the state of the Tag Team Division going into 2015 and beyond? Here is my rundown of the teams and their potential, in my opinion:
The Usos (Tag Team Champions)
A really good tag team. They got a good level of size, strength and athleticism. They have a good move-set. They should add in a few new moves in 2015 to keep them fresh and keep that edge that we saw with their feud against Miz and Mizdow and they will be fine.
The Ascension
Very early for them but they have good potential with these characters. I've seen them in NXT and they are good in the ring so they have to show that for the main WWE audience. Big thing for them is that they need a bunch of good feuds in 2015. WWE cannot make them face The Usos a thousand times like the Dust Bros did or the fans will get worn out very, very fast. The Ascension vs The Usos can be a marquee match-up but if done too much it will be no more desirable than The Usos vs Los Matadores.
Gold & Stardust
I like their characters and they are good in the ring. The big problem for me is that they faced The Usos far too much in 2015 so any feud with The Usos in the near future won't be very interesting. I think they need to split up soon. Maybe it's time for Brother vs Brother at WrestleMania and then Stardust can find a new partner and continue in the tag division after WM.
Miz & Mizdow
Very entertaining ... while they last. I don't see them lasting more than between now and WrestleMania. They will basically be tag team jobbers between now and WrestleMania. I hear they might pair Miz with NXT star Tyler Breeze after Mizdow is out of the team. I think that would be a good match and it should be done but I don't think it will happen until after WrestleMania which means a bit of a wait for the Tag Division to grow.
The New Day
Still waiting to see how they develop. I know Kofi can go in the ring. Woods has ability but hasn't got much chance to shine. Big E can be good if used sparingly. I like to be optimistic but I can't really see The New Day being one of those tag teams that becomes classic and wins titles and has glorified matches. I might be wrong, and if so, that's fine because the Tag Division needs good teams, but it is still a waiting game for this team.
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Clearly just a thrown together team because WWE had nothing else for them. But the Tag Division needs teams so they will probably give these guys a push and see if they can get over. I like Tyson's character right now and Cesaro can go in the ring but I don't know how much legs this team would have. The thing about classic teams like Dudleys, E & C, Hardys, APA, MNM, Jeri-Show, and others, was that there was a clear level of charisma the teams had and they could be heel or face and you would be interested. I like Tyson's skills, I like Cesaro's skills but as a tag team they aren't that interesting.
So this is where we are at? It's a little discouraging. I left out Los Matadores and Slater Gator because they are obvious jobber-only teams.
Why can't WWE have faith in tag teams and develop a bunch of them over time so you have 5 or 6 tag teams that are over and can go at each other at anytime?
In the Attitude Era you had The Hardys, The Dudleys, Edge & Christian, Acolytes, New Age Outlaws as core teams who were over and could go at each other at anytime. They were all cool teams that could be taken seriously.
Right now in the WWE it's really bad. You could say The Usos are a legit team and that's about it because The Ascension, New Day and Kidd & Cesaro aren't over yet, Miz & Mizdow will split soon and Dust Bros have faced Usos too much to be interesting.
I really hope WWE is taking note of their sad state of tag teams heading into 2015 and have plans in place to develop even more teams if the ones they are developing don't go that well.
So the questions are:
How do you see the state of the Tag Team Division in 2015? Optimistic or discouraged?
and
What teams do you see being key in the division and/or which teams would you like to see put together or developed?
For many, we saw 2014-2015 as a good time for the Tag Team Division, a revitalization of sorts. There seemed to be conscious effort put into developing interesting and entertaining tag teams. In 2014 we had The Shield, Wyatt Family, Rhodes Brothers and Usos as main tag teams.
In 2015 we had the comeback of The New Age Outlaws, which was cool and gave The Usos a great bump by winning the titles off them. Then early 2015 there was still Harper & Rowan and Rhodes Brothers (becoming Dust Brothers). In 2015 there were some great tag team matches with The Usos vs Harper & Rowan and The Usos vs Dust Brothers. But even saying that it sounds pretty limited in scope and that brings me to the topic at hand.
The WWE Tag Team Division in 2015 is looking very limited! I mean I am a fan of The Usos and I like the style of the Dust Brothers but even I am tired of seeing The Usos vs The Dust Bros because I've seen it simply too many times already in 2014 and 2015.
So what is the state of the Tag Team Division going into 2015 and beyond? Here is my rundown of the teams and their potential, in my opinion:
The Usos (Tag Team Champions)
A really good tag team. They got a good level of size, strength and athleticism. They have a good move-set. They should add in a few new moves in 2015 to keep them fresh and keep that edge that we saw with their feud against Miz and Mizdow and they will be fine.
The Ascension
Very early for them but they have good potential with these characters. I've seen them in NXT and they are good in the ring so they have to show that for the main WWE audience. Big thing for them is that they need a bunch of good feuds in 2015. WWE cannot make them face The Usos a thousand times like the Dust Bros did or the fans will get worn out very, very fast. The Ascension vs The Usos can be a marquee match-up but if done too much it will be no more desirable than The Usos vs Los Matadores.
Gold & Stardust
I like their characters and they are good in the ring. The big problem for me is that they faced The Usos far too much in 2015 so any feud with The Usos in the near future won't be very interesting. I think they need to split up soon. Maybe it's time for Brother vs Brother at WrestleMania and then Stardust can find a new partner and continue in the tag division after WM.
Miz & Mizdow
Very entertaining ... while they last. I don't see them lasting more than between now and WrestleMania. They will basically be tag team jobbers between now and WrestleMania. I hear they might pair Miz with NXT star Tyler Breeze after Mizdow is out of the team. I think that would be a good match and it should be done but I don't think it will happen until after WrestleMania which means a bit of a wait for the Tag Division to grow.
The New Day
Still waiting to see how they develop. I know Kofi can go in the ring. Woods has ability but hasn't got much chance to shine. Big E can be good if used sparingly. I like to be optimistic but I can't really see The New Day being one of those tag teams that becomes classic and wins titles and has glorified matches. I might be wrong, and if so, that's fine because the Tag Division needs good teams, but it is still a waiting game for this team.
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Clearly just a thrown together team because WWE had nothing else for them. But the Tag Division needs teams so they will probably give these guys a push and see if they can get over. I like Tyson's character right now and Cesaro can go in the ring but I don't know how much legs this team would have. The thing about classic teams like Dudleys, E & C, Hardys, APA, MNM, Jeri-Show, and others, was that there was a clear level of charisma the teams had and they could be heel or face and you would be interested. I like Tyson's skills, I like Cesaro's skills but as a tag team they aren't that interesting.
So this is where we are at? It's a little discouraging. I left out Los Matadores and Slater Gator because they are obvious jobber-only teams.
Why can't WWE have faith in tag teams and develop a bunch of them over time so you have 5 or 6 tag teams that are over and can go at each other at anytime?
In the Attitude Era you had The Hardys, The Dudleys, Edge & Christian, Acolytes, New Age Outlaws as core teams who were over and could go at each other at anytime. They were all cool teams that could be taken seriously.
Right now in the WWE it's really bad. You could say The Usos are a legit team and that's about it because The Ascension, New Day and Kidd & Cesaro aren't over yet, Miz & Mizdow will split soon and Dust Bros have faced Usos too much to be interesting.
I really hope WWE is taking note of their sad state of tag teams heading into 2015 and have plans in place to develop even more teams if the ones they are developing don't go that well.
So the questions are:
How do you see the state of the Tag Team Division in 2015? Optimistic or discouraged?
and
What teams do you see being key in the division and/or which teams would you like to see put together or developed?
