Thursday, April 9, 2015

Analyzing Current Strength of WWE's Tag Team Division Post-WrestleMania

It's a phrase that is often churned out in the quest to restore the tag team division to some level of prestige, but the current state of the division actually offers hope for WWE fans moving forward.


It's unfair to compare the tag division to the halcyon era of the 1990s and early 2000s, when some of the finest teams in history competed at the company. Think The Hardy Boyz , The Dudleys , Edge and Christian and The New Age Outlaws. You could go on, in truth.


But even though WWE will always struggle to get back to those illustrious heights, the state of play in 2015 gives promise, if not complete certainty that things are on the right track.



When you have a popular duo heading up the division, it's easy from to set a benchmark for the rest of the division. And in having Cesaro and Tyson Kidd as WWE tag team champions, WWE not only has credible champions but also wrestlers with legitimate excitement surrounding them.


There'll always be a sense of injustice surrounding Cesaro's treatment following WrestleMania XXX, but as one-half of the tag champions, he seems to have found his niche once again. Kidd too has worked his way back up the roster after dropping down into NXT for a brief period and is on a nice path at the moment.


And as mentioned, when you have champions fans can buy into, it creates a chain for the rest of the divisionwhich leads nicely to the immediate challengers facing Cesaro and Kidd.


Given recent form, you would have to include The Lucha Dragons in that bracket. Kalisto and Sin Cara have also come through the NXT ranks well and previously held the NXT tag team titles. What they bring to the party is high-flying aerial ability and a brand of wrestling that perhaps no other team in the division has.



It's good to see the Sin Cara character sustain some level of form after a difficult beginning to life at WWE , and alongside Kalisto you have a pair of wrestlers who offer a serious threat towards Cesaro and Kidd. Their two wins on Raw episodes in the weeks after WrestleManiaand the style in which they have wonsuggest they are here for the long haul.


Given how the champions are technically working as heels at the moment (although again, with Cesaro's popularity, they're probably closer to the middle), you start to look at the other babyface teams in the division, too.


The Usos will never go away as worthwhile candidates for the tag titles, as they've effectively held the division together in the last two or three years. Recent champions in the shape of The Rhodes Brothers, Damien Mizdow and The Miz , The New Age Outlaws and The Shield have all split, yet Jimmy and Jey remain at the forefront of the division.


And you can even throw another babyface team into the mix too, one that has had success in the past and just reunited for another run. The Prime Time Players have a comedic element that few other teams have and were on the cusp of tag glory a few years ago. Expect them to make waves in this division in the next few weeks and mix it up.



And it's not like Cesaro and Kidd are the only heel team out there, too. If WWE are serious about rolling with The New Day as a stable, it has to capitalise on their dismal popularity by turning them heel.


Let's be honest: Big E has always impressed as a heel when he was Dolph Ziggler's heavy, and you always wonder what a heel Kofi Kingston would be like. It's too good an opportunity to turn down, because by having another top heel team, you can keep the likes of The Usos or The PTPs busy when they're not fighting for the gold.


Similarly, the same can be applied to The Ascension. All of a sudden, WWE has a tag division on its hands which is bursting at the seams with talent.


And as mentioned at the start of this article, it may not be all Hall of Fame talent, but it's talent nonetheless, as well as a welcome sight for those who want more tag action on WWE TV.


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from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1D04oSE

via IFTTT April 09, 2015 at 12:52PM
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