There's a depressing thing that happens about twice a year on the main WWE roster, where a thrown together tag team of main event level performers will be put into a match against the WWE Tag Team Champions and they will absolutely destroy the strap holders. This, whilst helping to get the upper card talents over, has the unfortunate side effect of diminishing the tag team division and positioning it as inferior to the main event scene by default. This is not something that happens in NXT. Upper card performers do work with members of the tag division, but they are presented as being on something of an even keel. For instance, in the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, the star-studded pairing of Samoa Joe and Finn Balor were pushed right to the limit by Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, who were an undercard team even within the tag division at the time. In fact, throughout the Dusty Classic, upper card performers found themselves battling and indeed being beaten by tag team performers. The first round, for instance, saw NXT main eventer Tyler Breeze and his partner Bull Dempsey lose to the debuting twosome of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. The injection of upper card talent into the tag team division of NXT helps to heap prestige onto the tag division and the NXT Tag Team Championships. It is brave booking of the sort that really pays off down the road.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
