WWE Vs. NJPW: Head To Head

1. Tag Team Wrestling

Daniel Bryan Kazuchika Okada
WWE.com

The SummerSlam card notwithstanding, WWE trounces New Japan, which, given Vince McMahon’s famous aversion to the genre, borders on the criminal.

Tag team wrestling in WWE is entirely incidental to the real crux of the product—but it’s also exceptional at its best. Daniel Bryan’s crusade to elevate tag team wrestling was futile, ultimately, but the body of work he constructed was d*mn good. Otis looked less like a cartoon, sharing the same ring as Bryan, and Big E showed glimpses of his latent megastar potential in a very good Extreme Rules Triple Threat at which WWE excels. The Usos are as reliable an act inside of the ring as, sadly, they are liabilities outside of it. The Revival aren’t anywhere close to the act they were in NXT, but are dependable for at-worst solid PPV matches.

Tag team wrestling in WWE recedes in importance, every now and then, but certain programmes—The New Day Vs. The Usos, The Shield Vs. The Bar, The Shield Vs. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre—have stolen many a show in recent years.

New Japan’s tag team division is genuinely dire. The faction system yields several more-than-decent pairings, but looking at it strictly, the Heavyweight doubles division begins and ends with the Guerrillas of Destiny (inconsistent) and EVIL and SANADA (great, but at this point a barrier to the latter’s potential).

Scorecard: WWE 4-6 NJPW

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!