10 Things WWE Can Learn From NJPW Dominion
9. There's More Than One Way To Book A Tag Match
Typically, there's a formula to tag team matches - the good guys dominate early on, but eventually, the heels take over. They then spend a while beating up one of the babyfaces, preventing him from tagging out to his partner. The drama comes from the fans wanting to see the fresh face run wild on the heels, and it eventually happens.
This formula is time tested and it works - so every WWE tag match is booked like that. At Dominion, though, the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles and the Heavyweight Tag Team Titles were on the line in back-to-back matches, so they couldn't do the same thing twice in a row.
The result was that in the Junior Tag Team Title match, the the formula was changed up. Toward the beginning of the match, The Young Bucks attacked Rocky Romero, leaving him out of action and putting his partner, Beretta, in a handicap match. Romero eventually did rejoin the fracas, but it felt like enough of a departure from the usual style that it was compelling.
By contrast, War Machine and the Guerrillas of Destiny had a wild two-on-two brawl, showing that a little planning can keep everything from feeling the same. Even a hundred hot tags to Cesaro can't stay fresh forever.