Has WWE Just Killed An Entire Division Dead?
With Cora Jade's NXT heel turn and no main roster tournament on the horizon, what next?
The past 24 hours don't bode well for women's tag team wrestling in WWE, with the developmental and main roster scenes effectively dead - at least for the time being.
Almost two months have passed since Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on WWE during the 16 May episode of Raw. Placing their Women's Tag Team Championships on John Laurinaitis' desk before leaving the building were their last acts as champions, as WWE announced indefinite suspensions for the duo on that Friday's SmackDown, stripping them of the belts in the process.
WWE claimed, during the same announcement, that a tournament would be held to crown Naomi and Banks' successors. There has since been no mention of this on television or off. This Tuesday, Fightful Select reported that talent had heard nothing of when, or if, new champions would be crowned. Additionally, those that Fightful spoke to hadn't even heard of the Women's Tag Team Titles coming up in conversation since the Banks/Naomi announcement.
Last night's NXT 2.0 threw the developmental brand's tag scene into a different kind of uncertainty. Cora Jade turned on partner Roxanne Perez during the broadcast, just seven days after the duo had defeated Toxic Attraction to become NXT Women's Tag Team Champions. The title-holders are now warring parties.
Jade and Perez defeating Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin at the Great American Bash could be interpreted as an attempt to throw fans off the impending heel turn's scent. If that's the case, it comes at the cost of a division that, much like its main roster counterpart, has never been a major priority for those writing the show.
Not that WWE has ever prioritised these belts. From the moment Banks and Bayley were dethroned by The IIconics (entertaining, but an undercard comedy act) at WrestleMania 35, thus removing them from the two people with more investment in their success than anybody else, the women's tag scene has been chaotic and messy. It's a scene of thrown-together tag teams transparently paired-up for an argument, split, and eventual singles feud. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, Asuka and Charlotte Flair, Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley, the list goes on. The tag belts are props for mid-level singles storylines.
But now, with the main roster straps gathering mothballs and NXT's stuck between two feuding singles wrestlers, they may have died their final death.