5 Ups & 10 Downs From WWE Raw (Nov 15)

8. Women’s Tag Champs Spin Wheels

Probably one of the worst things you could call a championship is a “prop.” A title should be a tool to elevate and put a spotlight on a wrestler. But if it’s a prop, then it’s just an accessory for a champ to wear.

Witness the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, which originally was designed to give a growing women’s division something new and exciting to fight over and to highlight on WWE programming. But in its short existence, the title has been little more than a prop.

Nikki ASH and Rhea Ripley have held the tag titles for just under two months, defended them once, and had one other televised tag match in that time. Rhea Ripley is on the Raw women’s Survivor Series team, while Nikki is watching from the sidelines. The two had singles bouts against Carmella and Queen Zelina, with the duos splitting the two matches (Rhea and Zelina won).

All of this just feels like it’s going nowhere. Ripley clearly still has star quality – fans rallied behind her Monday night – but it looks like they’re doing the same angle with Nikki doubting herself that she did before she underwent this character change – which was designed to give her confidence in the first place.

It’s all just a waste as the tag titles could be defended here and there, or at least make it seem like there’s a team out there challenging them. The act feels like it’s sputtering, with Nikki’s kid-friendly character coming across completely flat.