Reports claim that along with Roman Reigns and Summer Rae, WWE Superstar Big E. Langston is someone that WWE is making a point of trying to establish as a major player in 2014. He’s got the look, he’s got the size, all of the ingredients WWE loves in building a top act. The problem with Langston, at least at this moment in time, is that he can’t really grow too much if he’s stuck in a tag-team act with Mark Henry. I know WWE is in the middle of trying to re-establish their tag-team division, but you’ve kind of got to pick one or the other here. Either he’s another guy in a tag-team that you’re trying to get over, or he’s a potential singles star of the future that is in his early stages of ascension. Can’t really have it both ways with the same person.
Langston is only one example of a guy thrown in a pointless tag-team that doesn’t have much of a shelf-life. Clearly he and Henry will be going their separate ways sooner than later. When you look at the other current “tag-teams” in WWE right now, many fit the same description. Ryback and Curtis Axel will likely not remain a tag-team for that long, despite their awesome “team name” of RybAxel. Clever stuff, by the way. Big Show and Rey Mysterio will not be winning WWE Tag-Team Championships together five years from now either.
If WWE is serious about their tag-team division, as they claim to be, then it’s time for some real tag-teams. Not two singles stars who aren’t going anywhere being paired together just for the sake of getting some mileage out of them. Look back at some of the true great tag-teams in wrestling history. What do they all have in common? Well, most of them made their names as a duo. They weren’t singles guys who fans saw as singles guys being paired together for no apparent reason. They came up together, established name identity together and seemed to be of a similar mindset. I’m not saying they all have to follow the same formula of having a cool team name, similar ring attire and similar physical appearance. It’s worked in the past, and will likely work if tried again here in the present, but if WWE wants to have a legitimate future for their tag-team division, they have to do something besides awkwardly throwing two guys together and filling up their cards with a bunch of tag-team matches.
Has anyone else noticed the amount of tag-team matches on WWE television lately? It’s pretty clear that they are trying to convince fans of today that tag-team wrestling is alive and well. The problem, however, is that you have to make the teams mean something. To me, Los Matadores are just another bad comedy act. The bottom line, however, is that they are a legitimate tag-team. The Prime Time Players aren’t exactly my cup of tea, but they are a legitimate tag-team. The Real Americans are a real tag-team. Sure, it’s rumored that Antonio Cesaro is going to break off onto his own and receive a babyface push as a singles star, but for the time being, they are a legitimate tag-team.
The problem is, WWE will see more potential in one guy than the team as a whole. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are a great tag-team, except their future isn’t going to be a lengthy one because it’s just a matter of time until Reigns splits off on his own and gets the singles shove. The Wyatt Family are more of a faction than a tag-team, but maybe one day Luke Harper and Erick Rowan decide they have minds of their own and tell Bray Wyatt to piss off. Fat chance, I know, but they are at least another example of a potential great tag-team. I’m sure it would only be a matter of time until WWE sees more in Harper than Rowan, or vice-versa, or one of the guys speak up too much in interviews and get the doghouse treatment. Something to make it where one guy is thought of more highly than the other.
WWE can’t make up their minds. Are they a singles promotion, a tag-team promotion, or both? Obviously they seem to want to be both. If they want to be both, they need some real tag-teams, otherwise they’re a singles promotion that occasionally has tag-team matches. Even the champions, Goldust and Cody Rhodes, are only in a tag-team until WrestleMania rolls around and the company splits them up to do the brother vs. brother angle. WWE needs to develop some true tag-teams in NXT, guys that their casual fan base aren’t aware of yet, and the first time they see them on their main shows, see them as a true tag-team.
If WWE wants to bring life back to tag-team wrestling, they need to establish some legitimate teams. They can throw as many pointless teams together, and fill their cards up with as many pointless tag-team matches as they want. At the end of the day, the fans are watching tag-team wrestling, sure, but almost without knowing it. So the question has to be asked: is tag-team wrestling in WWE honestly back? I’ll tag out now and leave it up to you guys to decide with your feedback in the “Comments” section below.
