5 Steps to Revitalizing the WWE Tag Team Division in 2024 | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
NXT just kicked off a new Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. The almost yearly tradition began in 2015 and was won by Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe.
The concept is a tag team version of The King of the Ring tournament, a single-elimination bracket with the winning team having to go through three sets of opponents to claim the Dusty Cup.
WWE will occasionally hold random tournaments like the recent United States Championship tourney to find a No. 1 contender for Logan Paul, but it would be beneficial for the main roster tag team division to have an annual tradition, especially if there is only going to be one set of tag titles moving forward.
This tournament would act as a secondary prize of sorts. It would be something the winning team could tout for a year just like a championship belt, but nobody can take it from them. It would be a great way to push a young, new tandem like The Creed Brothers or reinvigorate existing teams such as The New Day.
Pop-Tarts Bowl @PopTartsBowlHad to call in some reinforcements to help with the unveil! <a href="">
WWE could even use it as a sponsorship opportunity. Everyone was going wild for that Pop-Tart Bowl trophy on social media. It would be funny if a tag team got to carry around a Slim Jim version for a year.
The company could either hold the tournament over several weeks or base an entire PPV around it like it once did with the King of the Ring. Having to fight three times in one night to win the tournament was what made it special in the first place. The tag team division can do the same thing while telling its own unique stories.
WWE loves the angle where a partner gets injured, gets taken to the back and then returns triumphantly to help their partner win the match. Imagine if it ran that angle in the tournament but did so across all three rounds.
One partner is injured during the first match, but their partner bravely declares they will keep fighting. They somehow win the second match alone but go into the final round at a huge disadvantage. Then, out of nowhere, the partner comes down to the ring, gets the hot tag, hits the finisher and win the whole thing. This stuff writes itself.
When the Rhodes family introduced the Dusty Cup, it made it feel important to be tied to such a legendary figure both in the ring and behind the scenes. If a tournament was created for the main roster, something similar should be done to help get it off the ground.
