8 Reasons Why WWE Women’s Tag Division Has Failed
7. Missed Opportunity With NXT
When the Women’s Tag Team Championship was conceived, it was pitched as being defended across all brands: Raw, SmackDown and NXT. The idea was that by having a title that could be defended anywhere, it would raise interest, lead to crossover between brands, and keep the division and pool of contenders deep and fresh.
Instead, the women’s tag titles were defended in NXT exactly three times during a two-year span. The first time came in October 2019, with the Kabuki Warriors defending against Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox. That date is important because it clearly was an attempted ratings grab with the Wednesday Night Wars between NXT and AEW taking place.
The next time came in June 2020, during the height of the pandemic, and then finally in March 2021, when a controversial ending led NXT GM William Regal to establish NXT’s own women’s tag titles rather than fight for scraps from the main roster.
And really, this was a huge dropped ball by WWE. Look at how NXT 2.0 today brings main roster stars on to solidify the programs. And think about how cool it would have been to see some of the young stars in NXT showing up on Raw for a one-time match. They could have done some really cool stuff with NXT, and all they did was try to pop a rating once and then use a title defense as an angle to create new tag titles.