4 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (May 30)

5. That’s Some Tag Division You’ve Got There

Riddle Usos
WWE.com

It really is a good thing WWE consolidated their two tag titles so that they can combine the Raw and SmackDown tag divisions to have one robust division of tag challengers.

Wait, so first-time partners Shinsuke Nakamura & Riddle got a #1 contender’s match out of nowhere without any reason given? Right. Not like the Mysterios, Street Profits, Alpha Academy, Viking Raiders, New Day and others had any desire to be tag champs.

That’s not a knock on Riddle & Nakamura as a duo, or the idea that they might want to combine forces. But maybe don’t put them in a “championship contender’s match” where the winner might someday, somehow get a future chance at a championship opportunity.

It just feels very forced and undercuts the entire point of a tag division. Fans might not care too much because the match itself was really good, but long-term, it makes tag teams pointless when new duos can jump the line and get a match with the tag champs right away.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.