WWE's Original Plans For The NXT Women's Tag Team Titles Revealed

WWE debuted the NXT Women's Tag Titles in hectic fashion this week. Here are the original plans...

Dakota Kai Raquel Gonzalez
WWE.com

WWE originally intended to debut the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships at the end of the recent Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, with the winning tandem receiving the straps.

This is according to Bryan Alvarez on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live. He stated that the promotion came up with the idea for the new belts a while ago, initially settling on the Dusty Classic idea before "rushing" through the competition, meaning the championships weren't ready in time for last month's TakeOver: Vengeance Day event.

With the belts unavailable, WWE decided to come up with the screwy finish for last week's Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax bout for the main Women's Tag Team Titles, which saw a Raw referee penalise Kai with a submission loss, even though she wasn't the legal woman.

Advertisement

No further information on why, exactly, WWE rushed through the tournament was disclosed.

The NXT Women's Tag Team Titles were instead debuted on this week's NXT, with William Regal awarding them to Kai and Gonzalez for the screwjob loss. Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon then won the belts from the heels later on.

Advertisement
Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.