Tag Team wrestling is a dying art. It’s a claim that has been made time and time again and it’s a claim that until recently it was very hard to argue with. World Wrestling Entertainment just hasn’t placed a great deal of focus on their tag team division in recent years.
Now this isn’t to say that there has not been some great tag teams during this period. The likes of John Morrison & The Miz and Priceless have proven that great tag teams do still exist, while newer teams such as The Hart Dynasty are continuing this trend.
The biggest problem however hasn’t been WWE’s lack of tag teams, but rather the lack of focus that World Wrestling Entertainment is willing to place on these teams. In past years the tag team titles havn’t been involved in an abundance of high profile feuds, the only times they have had any high levels of attention paid to them is when they are brought into a feud involving the World Champion e.g. John Cena & Batista. There was never any big storyline for the Tag Team titles. That all changed at WrestleMania 25.
The titles were unified after weeks of the two sets of champions feuding, not over the titles, but over the Bella Twins. While the feud itself wasn’t exactly given much priority, and the match wasn’t even put out on the live broadcast of WrestleMania 25, the tag titles were unified and the possible revival of World Wrestling Entertainments tag team division was underway.
With the Unification of the two titles the tag team division was given one major boost – WWE can now focus on building the entire tag team division instead of having to operate with two separate brands worth of tag teams. There is no longer the worry that there isn’t enough tag team on an individual brand, because now they just need to worry about having a single good tag team feud at any one time.
What makes this revival even more impressive is the way in which the tag team division has recently been thrown to the forefront of WWE television with the partnership of Chris Jericho and Edge, and now Chris Jericho and Big Show. With the use of main event talent in the tag team title division, feuding with actual tag team talent like Cryme Time, the division has been given a new importance and an actual place on the card in which to thrive.
With new tag teams like the Hart Dynastry, and teams like Cryme Time getting good pushes on WWE television things are looking up for the tag team division. Whether World Wrestling Entertainment can capitalize on this is an entirely different question entirely.
