The dual-branded tag team divisions will collapse, sooner or later.

[AegonTargaryen]

Just a cautionary note- I'm not trolling here, I don't derive amusement from giving out grim news, and I'm not a gloomy pessimist, not perpetually anyway.

I've known this for a long time, since the inception of the roster being split into two distinct entities with their own tag team divisions.

It is just very clear to me that two tag team divisions and titles for two separate shows isn't something sustainable, neither materially nor creatively, owing to the dearth of competitive teams and the laziness of the creative.

I also believe, they failed before, they couldn't sustain it before, and they won't this time either.

Just consider the past, the last time they had dual tag team divisions, they thrived and did pretty well for, less than two years(2002-2004).

On Raw you had the likes of Booker T and Goldust, Christian and Lance Storm, Christian and Y2J, Kane and Rob Van Dam.

But things got so bad that they had to bring back the Dudleys, and then by 2004, you had La Resistance being the dominant champions with teams surfing up to challenge them, from William Regal and Tajiri to William Regal and Eugene. It was awful, basically. Nowhere near the Zenith of tag team abundance we saw previously in the WWF and WCW.

Meanwhile on Smackdown, you had some of the most amazingly athletic, competitive matches and teams in Benoit and Angle, Edge and Mysterio, Guerreros, but all of that only lasted for a year.

By 2005, you had MnM as your champions feuding with Heidenreich and Animal for a year, and by 2006, it got so bad that at one point they had Brian Kendrick and Paul London as champions with no novel challengers, so they held the titles for over a year. Not a very thriving, competitive scene.

This clearly shows that the WWE cannot sustain two separate tag divisions because:-
1)Lack of good, exciting teams on both shows.
2)Creative only focuses on the Tag division for a stretch, and then suddenly, it has to focus on the main show or titles like the World title and IC/US title.
3)You can only bring back former glorious teams so many times(like the Hardys).

This, the WWE realized by 2009 and thus unified the tag team titles.

Now, for those of you who're going to say, "Wait, this is the new era, we have NXT, we have so many new teams waiting to debut on the main shows"..I used to think the same, but it's erroneous.

What'll happen is by the time any 2 new teams debut, 2 of the existing teams will be defunct, resulting in only 4 really functioning tag teams on each show.

Also, you have to consider Injuries.

So now on Raw you have Hardys and Shea-Saro who've fought a dozen times, the Revival are out, the Club haven't done a thing of note for much of their stint on Raw, so they're trying to sustain the division by inserting Rollins and Ambrose, which is good, but for how long can they sustain? (Do Slater and Rhyno count?)

And if things are bad on Raw, they have been utterly dismal on Smackdown. For the better part of the incipient year of the roster split, after all the "promises", the American Alpha were barely featured(and are now defunct), the Ascension are nondescript, the Fashion Police seem to have only one function these days, that of apparently satirical fashion segments and not active competition, while the Usos and New Day feud, but for how long?

By the time some new team from NxT debuts on Smackdown, one or two of the existent teams may not even be there.

I think I have done my premise justice with the arguments so far, and it's only a matter of time before the current dual-branded tag team structure, as pessimistic as I may sound while stating it, collapses.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I have to agree. The tag team scene is awful in WWE right now. But I don't know who's fault it really is. On Raw, you have The Hardy Boys and Cesaro/Sheamus, and that's it. The Revival are unfortunately injured and it is a terrible shame because I love those guys. But then you consider how terribly booked Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows almost since day dot. Only WWE can be held accountable for that. Breaking up Big Cass and Enzo Amore right now seemed very premature too. If you could imagine having these five teams functioning properly, with well drawn stories and feuds, then it could work with the inclusion of lesser teams like a Heath Slater and Rhyno combination. SmackDown is very much in the same situation.

I'm not sure what the answer is. I suppose you could unify the belts but I really don't like that idea. I really enjoy the concept of the brand split when it is executed properly. And by that, I mean no cross-over. Sure, a feud between a Raw and SmackDown guy is fine, but unifying belts makes me feel a little funny about the whole split thing, but that's just my problem really. The ideal situation would be that WWE could sustain two decent divisions on either show, but since the draft last year, neither show has really thrived in that area. SmackDown did until around December last year, and then from there it went down hill fast for me. And I agree with what you say about NXT call ups. And the reality with that is it only works half the time anyway. We've seen various failed call ups so WWE can't rely on that.

The reality is that tag team wrestling is nowhere near what it once was in years gone by. I suppose the widespread attraction isn't there like it used to be. But that doesn't mean it can't still be fun. I mean, Matt and Jeff get some of the biggest reactions every week. So when people care, they care, no matter who it is. WWE has had the resources to make a tag team division work, but that can also be said for the cruiserweight division too. Perhaps fusing the two brand divisions together truly is the only answer, but I partially blame WWE for sometimes overlooking the division.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I have to agree. The tag team scene is awful in WWE right now. But I don't know who's fault it really is. On Raw, you have The Hardy Boys and Cesaro/Sheamus, and that's it. The Revival are unfortunately injured and it is a terrible shame because I love those guys. But then you consider how terribly booked Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows almost since day dot. Only WWE can be held accountable for that. Breaking up Big Cass and Enzo Amore right now seemed very premature too. If you could imagine having these five teams functioning properly, with well drawn stories and feuds, then it could work with the inclusion of lesser teams like a Heath Slater and Rhyno combination. SmackDown is very much in the same situation.

I'm not sure what the answer is. I suppose you could unify the belts but I really don't like that idea. I really enjoy the concept of the brand split when it is executed properly. And by that, I mean no cross-over. Sure, a feud between a Raw and SmackDown guy is fine, but unifying belts makes me feel a little funny about the whole split thing, but that's just my problem really. The ideal situation would be that WWE could sustain two decent divisions on either show, but since the draft last year, neither show has really thrived in that area. SmackDown did until around December last year, and then from there it went down hill fast for me. And I agree with what you say about NXT call ups. And the reality with that is it only works half the time anyway. We've seen various failed call ups so WWE can't rely on that.

The reality is that tag team wrestling is nowhere near what it once was in years gone by. I suppose the widespread attraction isn't there like it used to be. But that doesn't mean it can't still be fun. I mean, Matt and Jeff get some of the biggest reactions every week. So when people care, they care, no matter who it is. WWE has had the resources to make a tag team division work, but that can also be said for the cruiserweight division too. Perhaps fusing the two brand divisions together truly is the only answer, but I partially blame WWE for sometimes overlooking the division.

It doesn't help that they have had three teams (Enzo & Cass, Golden Truth and American Alpha) break up in the last two months. You should split one tag team every few months at the most, not multiple teams.

You don't need to have an Enzo v Cass feud, and a R-Truth v Goldust feud, at the same time.

We haven't seen the Shining Stars, are they did nothing anyway, and many other teams aren't doing much.

I will go further. I think the same thing with the Divas Division. The amount of 5-Diva Matches on Smackdown shows that they don't have enough Divas for two shows.

This is why I have never been a fan of the brand split. There aren't enough teams or Divas to spread across two brands, and the Universal belt is only defended every 2-3 months while Brock has it. I would prefer one brand (with NXT as a secondary brand) and rotate people in and out the shows as you have something for them to do.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

They are still running two PPVs a month some months. It would be a big surprise for them to drop a tag title while this is going on since the tag title is staple of filling an undercard. Especially the B level PPVs.

As far as the quality goes, its not a surprise if the tag divisions get less attention in the build up to a dual branded PPV. There really are only so many spots at SummerSlam. The women have surpassed tag team wrestling in importance.

I agree that the two divisions will end some day but I don't have a clue when. It would be more of an interesting point for the OP or anyone else to actually make a prediction as to when it will end.

I would also like someone to answer when WWE featured more than three or four teams on a show or brand for a sustained period of time (like four months). I've been watching for over thirty years and don't remember this ever happening.

 

[LODemolition]

I wish I had been wrong, but when the brand split happened I said it would be a big blow to the tag team ans women's divisions. And it's becoming more apparent now than ever. The tag division was actually in very good/great shape before the brand split. Then with all the recent splits they've created (prematurely I might add) of American Alpha, Enzo & Cass, and Golden Truth, they're in big trouble all of the sudden. Even the Colons could have been a great addition if used properly. They were misused and now have asked for their release and justifiably so. They've even teased a split of the Hype Bros, which I hope to God they rethink now. Smackdown's tag teams are in an even worse spot than Raw's. How would you fix it? This is about the best solution imo for now:

Reunite Harper & Rowan

Reunite the Lucha Dragons

Reunite the Prime Time Players. Young is reportedly set to return soon. If you don't pair him with O'Neil, then put Apollo Crews in that spot.

Team Dolph Ziggler with someone, anyone. Curt Hawkins is the first one to come to mind. Bring Dolph to Raw or Hawkins to SD in one of your "trades."

Create a team or 2 out of cruiserweights who don't have anything going on. Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher (no not together) are the first 2 who come to mind from the CW division who actually seem to get a response from the crowd.

Give The Miztourage (Axel & Dallas) some consistent airtime on Raw.

This is about the best they can do right now. I would say call up the Authors of Pain or Blake & Murphy, but I don't think they need to panic. It's salvagable if they just work with what they have.

 

[The Scarred One]

The funny thing is that WWE can have two thriving tag team divisions if they wanted to.

Of course, some things are out of their control. Despite the best efforts from talent to be safe in the ring, injuries can happen. But the reality of having broken up three tag teams in recent memory is something they could've held off on. The Golden Truth and Enzo & Cass have the same storyline going on. One tag partner has had enough of the other and wants nothing to do with them anymore. Now, the other partner wants revenge. It seems a bit redundant. Also, did the WWE really have to break up American Alpha with the whole Jason Jordan/Kurt Angle storyline? Could they have just brought American Alpha over to RAW and have Angle mentor them and then proceed with the Kurt Angle son storyline? It just seems like something that could've waited.

As much sense as it would make, I'm not really a fan of unifying the two tag team championships. Eric Bischoff recently commented that the only way to make the brand extension work is to treat RAW and SmackDown as if they are two separate promotions with not so many crossovers. I agree with him on that. Having a unified tag team champion would just negate the whole premise.

This seems to be the WWE's M.O. when it comes to certain divisions. They get really behind it at first, let it roll for a few months and then just give up and move on to something else. It's like Peter Griffin syndrome. That can be understandable as some storylines need more emphasis than others going into big shows/pay-per-views. But it's not the difficult to at least try and put together two somewhat competitive tag team divisions. Back in 2000/2001, the entire division was dominated by the Dudleyz, Hardyz and Edge & Christian with some teams popping in now and again. Surely they can do that on both shows if the WWE really tried.

But then again, the WWE buried the Ascension as soon as they got called up from NXT. So if the company is willing to do that to a tag team that may or may not have made a difference in the division, what does that say about the company's opinion on tag team wrestling?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

You realize that you aren't dropping some shocking controversial opinion right? You aren't being the bearer of bad news, you are stated a commonly held opinion and trying to spin it to make it look like you came to this conclusion all on your own and you are some prophet spreading a dire warning.

We all knew the tag division and women's division was going to flounder when they split. They barely had enough teams for one competent division, let alone two.

Next you are going to be telling us how the cruiserweight division is going to collapse. Truly an all seeing medium you are.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

The funny thing is that WWE can have two thriving tag team divisions if they wanted to.

Exactly! That's one of the things, if only they put effort. What excuse do they have now, with a separate roster and writers for SDL, to not have given us compelling and thriving tag team matches involving American Alpha, Usos, and Vaudevillans(back when they hadn't fired Simon Gotch), or Ascension. Matches like triple threat, 30-minute ironman or 2-out-of-3 falls. This, we clearly got back in 2002 with Paul Heyman as the Head writer.

Also, did the WWE really have to break up American Alpha with the whole Jason Jordan/Kurt Angle storyline? Could they have just brought American Alpha over to RAW and have Angle mentor them and then proceed with the Kurt Angle son storyline? It just seems like something that could've waited.

Totally agree. They broke them up for all of this mess to surface. Jason Jordan, as much as I like him and as phenomenally athletic he is, is coming across as a chump, especially when Miz imitated his nasal, childlike responses on Miz TV, it was awful.

It shows how he is just so green, and you can't take someone phenomenally athletic and declare him Kurt Angle's lost sonbanghead and then expect a new star to be born. Shelton Benjamin was so much better in terms of the mic. They should've given American Alpha some more time, and Jordan some time.

 

[sikkbones]

If they want a second tag team division they have several options...

I think 205 live could handle a cruiserweight tag team division esp if they fought the next tag champs occiosanally,

Or better yet, bring back the women's tag team division.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

(1)The Usos, (2)New Day, (3)Hardys, (4)Revival, (5)Enzo and Cass, (6)American Alpha, (7)Hype bros., (8)Breezango, (9)Anderson & Gallows, (10)Sheamus&Cesaro, (11)Colons, (12)Ascension, (13)Vaudevillians, (14)Golden Truth
Plus potential reforms: PTP, Lucha Dragons, and Harper & Rowan.

I've made this list quite a few times, the last month or so, and I get upset every time. The tag team division had so much potential, yet wwe let it all go to waste.
Other than The Vaudevillians, I don't see any reason for any of these teams to be none existent or not used to their full potential.
I understand wanting to create future single stars, but Jason Jordan and Cass were put in teams because they lacked something that was able to be hidden by working with a partner. Though, each week it is clear that they still need that certain something.
With guys like Strowman, Nakamura, Corbin, Joe, etc all getting pushed, it's hard to see Cass and Jason Jordan going anywhere. They were better off with their respective tag partners

actually I will give wwe credit Currently they are doing pretty well with the tag teams.
On Raw: Sheamus/Cesaro are feuding with Ambrose/Rollins, and I was enjoying the Revival/Hardys/Anderson&Gallows feud, until one of the Revival members got injured.
On SD: I love Breezango's fashion files(occasionally featuring the Ascension), and the New Day vs Usos have been one of the more entertaining feuds, imo.
-Just hate that in a month or so, there don't be much else for New Day/Usos or Sheamus/Cesaro to do.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I never got why American Alpha had to break up. Never. Now it's done though. Enzo and Cass spliting wasn't so bad after all.

What can we do now though?

I don't like bringing dead things back to life, but Harper and Rowan need a reunion and a new leader to connect them.

I always wanted to see Ziggler and Benjamin form a tag team, but we're not sure if Shelton is coming back.

They could really have had a great tag division in both shows. Vince is just not fond of tag wrestling.

Plus New Day vs Enzo & Cass and New Day vs The Hardys had so much potential and we never got to see those matches. They could have been a huge deal!

But I wouldn't call the division a disaster. It's just not as good as it could be. Which seems to be the case with WWE these days. Could be great, but it's just decent.

 

[Navi]

Just put the whole division onto one show. There is not enough teams to make two division's work. Yes we've had a lot of breakups lately, and it has hurt badly. Also with the new injury to the member of the Revival there goes another team for the foreseeable future.

If you are going to put the tag teams on one show, then move all the women to the other show as well. Strange that we have a stacked main event scene on RAW fighting for one absent belt, but we don't have hardly anyone to feud for two tag team titles. I have no idea what the WWE thinks at times.

 

[bittermang]

The key difference I see between "then" and "now" in terms of brand split tag titles is that: before you didn't have ANY teams. Just two singles guys in a spot. The Big Show and Jericho. The Big Show and Kane. The Big Show and Miz. When a real "team" would come along, like La Resistance, they didn't have anybody to really fight.

Now you have teams, real teams, that were born and tested in NXT. But they're mostly failing to transition to Raw or Smackdown. The Ascension was on another level, and when they beat Scotty 2 Hotty on a Takeover, I thought it felt like a passing of a torch. They've done nothing but suck wind. The Vaudevillians are completely forgotten, because of what went down with Simon.

But to me, the problem is even simpler. Yeah it's branded Raw, and yeah it's branded Smackdown, but when they both carry that WWE logo in the front, they're both WWE shows. You can't have two champions of the whole WWE. Even the singles titles. It just doesn't work. Either someone is the champion of all the land, or they're not. You can't be Champ 1 and Champ 2, you can't be Champ A and Champ B.

 

[The Perfect Max]

It doesn't help that they have had three teams (Enzo & Cass, Golden Truth and American Alpha) break up in the last two months. You should split one tag team every few months at the most, not multiple teams.

You don't need to have an Enzo v Cass feud, and a R-Truth v Goldust feud, at the same time.

We haven't seen the Shining Stars, are they did nothing anyway, and many other teams aren't doing much.

I will go further. I think the same thing with the Divas Division. The amount of 5-Diva Matches on Smackdown shows that they don't have enough Divas for two shows.

This is why I have never been a fan of the brand split. There aren't enough teams or Divas to spread across two brands, and the Universal belt is only defended every 2-3 months while Brock has it. I would prefer one brand (with NXT as a secondary brand) and rotate people in and out the shows as you have something for them to do.

Yeah you're right, which is a bitter pill to swallow because I have always liked the idea of the brand split. But I think it was evident even before the draft that they didn't have a stacked enough roster to fill out all of the key areas. I don't know if it will happen any time soon, but this brand split most certainly cannot last forever.

 

[StaRRStruck]

Last year it seemed like both RAW and SDL were headed in the right direction when the initial split and tag divisions were made. SDL had the tag team tourney, and while the New Day's run hit a bland spot near the end; the record kept it intriguing nonetheless.

But I can agree WWE has and is dropping the ball, but what did you really expect? Yes they have the talent on BOTH shows to have at least two operative feuds each to showcase tag teams. American Alpha and Enzo & Cass are perfect examples of teams getting shorted in airtime (AA) and opportunities to win key matches (Enzo/Cass) in order to gain steam. Sucks even more because these were fairly new teams to the main roster that imo had loads of shelf life before they even needed to go separate ways. It seems like WWE style right now is to have two teams feuding for the titles while everyone else flounders in irrelevant matchups and 50/50 booking.

The only team that has generated any sort of buzz away from the tag title picture is Breezango. They had their one chance against the Usos and lost but during the feud the start of the Fashion Files segment really got the ball rolling for this comedy-parody induced skits that people including myself genuinely enjoy. I know it's not wrestling or winning matches but at least their attempting to get their characters over, and it's working. If the 'E allowed tag teams to story tell a little more maybe we could invest more in them. It's hard getting behind teams that are just rotating opponents with no real backstory or character development, I know it's important for everyone but some of the best tag teams are made from their personas and characters which makes the wrestling more fun to watch in hindsight. See New Age Outlaws, The Hardy's, Road Warriors and more recently teams like Team Hell No and New Day.

WWE needs to give these teams more chances to blossom into something, rather than break them up prematurely or cycle them through different teams.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

I feel like I'll be recycling old posts here, but I've said plenty of times before that the teams should all have been kept on one show. In fact, I'd go so far as to switch the Smackdown tag team division with the Cruiserweight division (why are they expected to do double duty, working on Monday and Tuesday nights, anyway?)If they had all the teams on one division, it wouldn't weaken the division so much when teams split

i firmly believe Vince should restructure the booking committee, and essentially divide the roster. They could have one booker for the main event scene, one booker for tag teams, one for women, one for the mid-card and one for the bottom rung. Of course mix up the actual participants every now and again, but having specific writers for specific divisions will mean each particular division gets focussed on, rather than the focal point always being the same main eventers.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Someone asked earlier to point out a time when there were more than say 3 teams being strongly featured.

1980s: the first two Survivor Series events had 10-team tag matches, featuring the likes of Demolition, the Powers of Pain, the Rockets, the Brain Busters, the Hart Foundation, the British Bulldogs, the Bolsheviks, the Killer Bees, Strike Force and more.

1990s: many of the above teams were gone are on the outs by the turn of the decade, replaced by the Nasty Boys, Power & Glory, the Legion of Doom, the Beverley Brothers, the Bushwhackers, the Natural Disasters and then onto Money Inc, the Headshrinkers, Steiner Brothers, Smoking Gunns and Men on a Mission. There was a huge lull in the mid-90s, which was a creative nadir in mainstream wrestling as a whole, but still the Gunns, Godwinns, Bodydonnas then Headnagers, returning LOD and Owen Hart & the Bulldog kept the division going until

The Attitude Era: the New Age Outlaws, Edge & Christian, Hardy Boyz, APA, Dudleys and Too Cool all wore tag team gold between 1998 and 2001, and were ably supported by Test & Albert, Right to Censor, the Radicalz, Kaientai, the Holly Cousins, Head Cheese and others. Indeed, Wrestlemania 2000 featured a number of tag matches

So basically until the Invasion brought a second tag title to contest, there were plenty of times in the last 30 years where several tag teams were featured prominently

 

[LODemolition]

Someone asked earlier to point out a time when there were more than say 3 teams being strongly featured.

I would say 1989-90 was the absolute pinnacle for tag team wrestling if memory serves me correctly. With Demolition, Powers of Pain, Hart Foundation, Brain Busters, Legion of Doom, The Rockers and Nasty Boys just off the top of my head. Whew, those were the days.

The division was so loaded, they even had the 3 tiers of teams like the singles roster always has had: main event, midcard, and even jobber teams like the Bushwhackers, Orient Express and Power & Glory.

 

[The Scarred One]

Sucks even more because these were fairly new teams to the main roster that imo had loads of shelf life before they even needed to go separate ways.

I agree with you on that. I believe the only time a tag team should break up is when they have pretty accomplished everything there is to accomplish as a team and there is nothing more to do with them. Now there are exceptions, such as when the WWE split up the Dudley Boyz only to realize they are better together than apart. But tag teams should only go their separate ways when they've accomplished all that there is and are just treading water. It baffles me that they split Enzo & Cass without at least giving them a run with the tag titles despite how over they were. They didn't even get a run as tag team champions in NXT.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Someone asked earlier to point out a time when there were more than say 3 teams being strongly featured.

1980s: the first two Survivor Series events had 10-team tag matches, featuring the likes of Demolition, the Powers of Pain, the Rockets, the Brain Busters, the Hart Foundation, the British Bulldogs, the Bolsheviks, the Killer Bees, Strike Force and more.

1990s: many of the above teams were gone are on the outs by the turn of the decade, replaced by the Nasty Boys, Power & Glory, the Legion of Doom, the Beverley Brothers, the Bushwhackers, the Natural Disasters and then onto Money Inc, the Headshrinkers, Steiner Brothers, Smoking Gunns and Men on a Mission. There was a huge lull in the mid-90s, which was a creative nadir in mainstream wrestling as a whole, but still the Gunns, Godwinns, Bodydonnas then Headnagers, returning LOD and Owen Hart & the Bulldog kept the division going until

The Attitude Era: the New Age Outlaws, Edge & Christian, Hardy Boyz, APA, Dudleys and Too Cool all wore tag team gold between 1998 and 2001, and were ably supported by Test & Albert, Right to Censor, the Radicalz, Kaientai, the Holly Cousins, Head Cheese and others. Indeed, Wrestlemania 2000 featured a number of tag matches

So basically until the Invasion brought a second tag title to contest, there were plenty of times in the last 30 years where several tag teams were featured prominently

You name a lot of teams over an incredibly long period of time. Even during times when WWE had considerably less time for programming.

I would say 1989-90 was the absolute pinnacle for tag team wrestling if memory serves me correctly. With Demolition, Powers of Pain, Hart Foundation, Brain Busters, Legion of Doom, The Rockers and Nasty Boys just off the top of my head. Whew, those were the days.

The division was so loaded, they even had the 3 tiers of teams like the singles roster always has had: main event, midcard, and even jobber teams like the Bushwhackers, Orient Express and Power & Glory.

That was about 28 years ago. Even if you are right and tag team wrestling was so heavily featured and competitive during that time for a prolonged period that was still 28 years ago. WWE hasn't featured much of a tag division since then. The downturn people are feeling has nothing to do with the brand split. WWE just doesn't feature many tag team feuds at a time. It is usually reserved for two to four teams at a time.

We heard a lot of the same complaints before the most recent brand split.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Now, most of us have agreed or stated that it would be better for the WWE to only have one tag team division, regardless of the brand split. But that's not what I'm going to suggest here.

Also, I recall suggestions given here as to putting back together Prime Time Players, Harper and Rowan, and Lucha Dragons, but I'm not going to include any of those, as I believe in freshness and novelty and not random resurrections to save or vitalize a division.

1)Usos deflect to Raw and begin a protracted feud with multiple teams.

Reigns or Roman Empire as a faction help them win the titles, to garner heel heat, and sustain that win so that you have Hardys, as well as Ambrose and Rollins in a protracted feud with them, including 2-out-of-3 falls matches, cage matches, and TLC/Ladder matches.

These are just three teams, and you still have an injured Revival, Miztourage, and The Club/Shea-Saro(one of which would be traded to SDL).

2)Involve Ambrose and Rollins in both tag team feuds and belt hunt, as well as some other feud, let's say, against a heel Roman Reigns.

Thus, at some point, Ambrose and Rollins must be Raw tag team champs, with incredibly chemistry and dynamic, and they must be involved in the division for at least up to the Royal Rumble.

3)Put Sami Zayn and Tye Dillinger together and make them Tag team champs on SDL.

Neither are doing anything significant on SDL, both have lost to Aiden English (cleanly, probably) at one point in recent memory, which is either a severe display of 50-50 booking, or just the WWE's implicit faith in Aiden's talents.

So instead of trading wins on random SDLs, they deserve better, being both fairly good in the ring and securing plenty of cheers from fans usually.

These should easily win the SD tag team titles at some point in the future.

4)Make the SDL tag team division interesting and unique, by:

Giving Breezango the titles and lending them some legitimacy, and
Infusing it with some new tag teams, perhaps including cruiserweights.

This would mean a fairly fresh, unique tag team landscape on SDL featuring Breezango, some cruiserweight teams, Sami Zayn and Tye Dillinger, as well as New Day. They still also have the Ascension.

5)With the already stacked division on SDL, as suggested in point 4, Raw could still trade Shea-Saro or The Club, for having procured the Usos.

I'm not big on the Club, as I want the SDL tag division to be a highly athletic, competitive landscape.

Hence, Shea-Saro would be an amazing addition to the division.

 

[LODemolition]

I agree with most of this. I'd definitely move The Usos to Raw in the next superstar shakeup. Once their feud with New Day is over, there's really nothing else from them to do on Smackdown. I'd swap them with Gallows & Anderson so you can not only reunite The Club, but have the Usos join up with Reigns in 6-man tags.

I would give Ambrose & Rollins the Raw tag titles at Summerslam. Let them hang onto them until the Rumble and then drop them before splitting up with Ambrose going heel.

I think it's too soon to put Dillinger in a tag team, but in the future it's going to probably be a good idea. His call up to the main roster just seemed premature to me. He'll probably feud with guys like Ziggler and Kanelis and then be stuck in no man's land. I haven't lost hope for Sami Zayn to be involved in the US Title picture sometime in the near future.

I would keep the SDL tag titles on New Day until Mania personally, where I'd have them drop them to the Authors of Pain. I like the Fashion Police, but not enough to make them champions. I think I'd maybe turn the Hype Bros heel to feud with them. I agree about creating teams out of cruiserweights. Kendrick & TJP maybe? Alexander & Swann. There's plenty of them and only 1 cruiserweight title. Give the guys who aren't in the title picture something meaningful to do.

Sheamus & Cesaro would be a great addition to the blue brand. Can't argue with that at all.

Also, that was me that said they should reform Harper and Rowan, the Prime Time Players, and Lucha Dragons. Makes too much sense not to. Apollo Crews could take Darren Young's place if they don't want to use him. Maybe keep Enzo & Big Show together permanently. Give Ziggler a tag partner like Curt Hawkins. Give the Miztourage weekly matches and establish them as a team.

The tag division is pretty easy to repair imo. It's a shame it's even in this bad of shape. I hate to beat a dead horse, but it's ridiculous that they split up American Alpha, Enzo & Cass, and the Golden Truth all within a couple of months of each other.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

I would give Ambrose & Rollins the Raw tag titles at Summerslam. Let them hang onto them until the Rumble and then drop them before splitting up with Ambrose going heel.

We've already seen a long reign and a dominant tag team on Raw first in the form of New Day, and now Shea-Caro(which is a good thing actually).

However, Ambrose and Rollins' dynamic is unique in that they're like tag teams such as Austin and Taker(back in '98). Can they trust one another, and for how long? And hence, they shouldn't necessarily have to hold on to the belts or be dominant, but just be a dysfunctional-functional pair, always hanging in the balance.

Also I believe they should form a dominant heel faction like the Roman Empire, and not just use Rollins and Ambrose as a regular tag team like Hardys or Revival, but a sort of an opposition, which means they can be champions for a month or two at most, but still function as a unit, against the Roman Empire/Usos/Reigns.

Plus you have to keep things interesting with them, so being champions for 6 months consistently precludes that. Only by losing the belts do you keep boiling that tension between them, may be they can win the belts for a second time like Shea-Saro ?

I think it's too soon to put Dillinger in a tag team, but in the future it's going to probably be a good idea. His call up to the main roster just seemed premature to me. He'll probably feud with guys like Ziggler and Kanelis and then be stuck in no man's land. I haven't lost hope for Sami Zayn to be involved in the US Title picture sometime in the near future.

That is why I suggested it. I see no consistent booking with Dillinger. Hell, Sami Zayn, if I'm not mistaken has done NOTHING of note since his debut on the main roster, lost most of his matches against KO, and hasn't won either the IC/US title??(Though I admit, his brief feud with Strowman and segments with Foley were intriguing.) Whereas KO has been the IC champ, US champ, beaten Cena, been the Universal champ.

What hope does Dillinger have then? At this point, they should both be paired up, and hopefully, be SDL tag team champions for a month or two at least, if not six months. This also gives us novelty instead of the same old New Day or Usos as Champions on SDL.

I would keep the SDL tag titles on New Day until Mania personally, where I'd have them drop them to the Authors of Pain. I like the Fashion Police, but not enough to make them champions. I think I'd maybe turn the Hype Bros heel to feud with them. I agree about creating teams out of cruiserweights. Kendrick & TJP maybe? Alexander & Swann. There's plenty of them and only 1 cruiserweight title. Give the guys who aren't in the title picture something meaningful to do.

Personally, the New Day as babyfaces does nothing for me, and they have been there for so long, I have forgotten being desensitized and totally indifferent about them.

So I'd certainly not want them to be champs up to WM, but rather be involved in a vigorous, unpredictable tag team landscape, may be even feud with some team without involving the belts.

Btw, I had almost forgotten the Hype Bros exist, but haven't seen them together in a while. Are they going their separate ways or what?

Also, that was me that said they should reform Harper and Rowan, the Prime Time Players, and Lucha Dragons. Makes too much sense not to. Apollo Crews could take Darren Young's place if they don't want to use him. Maybe keep Enzo & Big Show together permanently. Give Ziggler a tag partner like Curt Hawkins. Give the Miztourage weekly matches and establish them as a team.

Yeah I do remember it was you! I don't mind Harper and Rowan, or Harper with anyone because he is extremely, bafflingly talented and agile for his size and it's a shame he isn't to be seen.

It makes sense on paper to combine PTP, Lucha Dragons etc. but if memory serves me right, neither of those generate much buzz, and won't at least at this point. Apollo Crews and Darren Young wouldn't be such a bad team though.

The tag division is pretty easy to repair imo. It's a shame it's even in this bad of shape. I hate to beat a dead horse, but it's ridiculous that they split up American Alpha, Enzo & Cass, and the Golden Truth all within a couple of months of each other.

It's not that ridiculous considering Golden Truth who were together for quite long, and weren't really destined for greatness to begin with. Goldust doing what he's doing right now as a solo act is good, and I'd like them to give him the IC title, a feud with the Miz or someone, before he retires. His last occasion to shine and shower the Golddddddddddustthhh.

Enzo and Cass were never that good so it'd have been a tragedy had they continued on to face The Club for the 25th time on Raw, in a meaningless match with a meaningless victory or defeat.

But it's absolutely ridiculous they broke up American Alpha, no one can deny that!

If anything, someone here suggested, if they only had to do the Kurt Angle illegitimate son storyline, why not as well invite Chad Gable on Raw and have Angle push/mentor both of them? Or not do that storyline but just have Angle mentor them?

So yeah.

 

[Radical]

But to me, the problem is even simpler. Yeah it's branded Raw, and yeah it's branded Smackdown, but when they both carry that WWE logo in the front, they're both WWE shows. You can't have two champions of the whole WWE. Even the singles titles. It just doesn't work. Either someone is the champion of all the land, or they're not. You can't be Champ 1 and Champ 2, you can't be Champ A and Champ B.

I see both sides of the argument. I see why people don't like having TWO World Champs and TWO Tag Champs and TWO Women's Champs all technically in the same company but separated by brands.

I also see why, when roster splits are enforced, it makes sense to have TWO World Champs, TWO Tag Champs and TWO Women's Champs because there is enough talent to split up on both sides and if used well, it gives both sides something meaningful to work towards.

But the thing is, WWE has gone down BOTH roads. It was not really that long ago that WWE only had one WWE World Champ, one Tag Team Champs and one Women's Champ and there was no roster split with brands.

And what happened? Apparently, even though WWE had every opportunity to make use of their top talent and make intense, interesting and multi-dimensional storylines, feuds and rivalries for the belts that they did have. They were not able to do so and the show was not much more intense and interesting than it was now. Some may say it was less interesting.


Now, I guess you could go back to Unified Tag Champs who defend on both Raw and SmackDown but, to me, that means you have to go back to just ONE WWE or Universal Champ because otherwise Unified Tag Champs look better than the WWE or Universal Champ because they are defending against BOTH rosters and the WWE or Universal Champ is just defending against one roster. And, let's be honest, be real here. WWE made a big deal about brand split.

WWE is NOT going back to ONE WWE World Title, one Tag Title and one Women's Title anytime soon.


The best thing, I think, to think about is how they can use the tag teams more interestingly.


A big thing, I think is creating big Factions and have a tag team part of that. A big heel faction would be good because then the remaining tag teams that are babyfaces have something obvious to fight against. Also, having maybe one or two tweener tag teams that 'do their own thing' makes things more interesting too.


To me, the tag team divisions are okay but too often tag teams are just 'no around' for no good reason, while, instead they could at least be seen more if they were part of a big faction or there were building 3 or 4 way feuds between tag teams instead of just ONE tag team vs ONE tag team for a month or two and then BOOM, now switch, and it's ONE tag team vs ONE tag team again. Much too boring, most of the time.

 

[TDFG]

I don't think any extra Titles should have been created for the Brand Split.

If you have tag-teams split over the two brands feuding for the WWE tag-titles then we wouldn't have the watered down versions we have now, somewhat the same with the Women's/Diva's Titles.

8 or 9 teams competing for one tag-championship makes it more interesting.