How AEW Built The Perfect Tag Team Division

by Michael Sidgwick
Butcher Blade
AEW

The Butcher and the Blade bring a no-frills - "meat and potatoes" - devastation that is a ghoulish midcard joy. Santana and Ortiz are incredibly talented, boast enormous babyface potential, and can slot convincingly into the title picture as heels with one or two wins. Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss are a very promising wholesome underdog act. The Lucha Bros. are the most spectacular team in the world, and are always very welcome in the hunt.

We still haven't seen the best of the Dark Order, and the best of Super Smash Bros. makes that an awesome prospect. Best Friends are hilarious, heartwarming, and have a banger in them. SCU are as dependable as sh*t, but that does a disservice to them, if anything. Le Sex Gods, when they return, are legitimately secret MVP-level great, in how that particular duo is a phenomenal storyline driver. Private Party need work, but still hold vast potential. The Natural Nightmares are great value, between Dustin Rhodes' enormous ring IQ and QT Marshall's endearing charm. MJF and Wardlow were great this week. Their opponents, Jurassic Express, are still to explore their rich potential as a duo.

Perhaps perfect is too generous. AEW has developed a somewhat brash habit of quietly and cynically building acts on Dark with wins over enhancement talents and calling them contenders. The route to the title match is sometimes cheeky, but that's the easy part.

AEW has made wrestling's biggest challenge for the last two decades look easy.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!