Which NXT Tag Team Can Fill The Main Roster Void?

The WWE’s tag team division has been in repair over the last year with new legitimate teams forming along with other tag teams reuniting or in the works of getting back together. However, injuries on the main roster have taken a blow to the division, casting a dark cloud on what is to come for the division heading into the summer.

I cannot believe that I am actually glad The New Day is still thriving and successful. Although their championship run was cut short since they were able to generate so much heat as heel champions, I believe their three-man group is a blessing in disguise. With the luck the WWE is having, if one was to get injured, New Day will still be able to have another day. Pun intended.

However some tag teams do not have that luxury. Cesaro has lost his partner Tyson Kidd for what seems to be more than a year with a neck injury that has required surgery. Erick Rowan’s plans of reuniting with former Wyatt brethren Luke Harper will have to be put on hold as he suffered a torn bicep at a house show and will most likely be out of action for the remainder of the year. Jey Uso has been sidelined since Wrestlemania after receiving surgery on an injured shoulder.

The Tag Team division is certainly banged up and although there have been recent additions such as The Ascension, The Lucha Dragons and the reunited Prime Time Players, the main roster could use a couple fresh faces to insert some life into the tag team scene again.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy w/ Carmella

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy have what it takes to be true entertainers through their performance in the ring. Like most tag teams in NXT, the duo does not have a team name but the “realest guys in the room” also happen to be two of the bright spots in the NXT tag team division. In a division currently controlled by Blake and Murphy who hold the titles, Enzo and Big Cass are the ones stealing the spotlight.

Enzo and Cassidy provide a different type of duo that the WWE has not seen in some time. While their characters offer entertainment and humor in matches, their booking still showcases them as legitimate threats in the ring against any of the other tag teams that NXT has to offer. Although ring work could be an improvement for the two, undoubtedly their charisma and promos can win them over through the WWE Universe. It sure would be a treat to hear SAWFT spelled out by thousands of fans every Monday night.

Personality-wise, Enzo and Big Cass are a match made in heaven. Enzo is the loudmouth of the group who can cut a pre-match promo that can make The Road Dogg smile from behind the curtain. Cassidy is the muscle of the group but also shows a personality that most big men don’t have. While the WWE failed on big men such as Brodus Clay and The Great Khali, Cassidy can be their saving grace if he is brought up to the main roster.

And Carmella? Well, she’s just hot as hell. And you can’t teach that.

The Vaudevillains

Aidan English and Simon Gotch carry a look and persona that is rare when it comes to professional wrestling. The two old-style gentlemen have gotten over with the NXT crowds down at Full Sail even though they have mostly performed as a heel tag team. They have the kind of gimmick that can have a hot run but quickly fade away, calling for a character change through creative. Unfortunately for The Vaudevillains, their individual personalities would not be described as charismatic at first thought. Before the team was formed, English was a jobber, putting over future WWE superstars such as Bray Wyatt, Big E and Ryback.

The most successful contributions The Vaudevillains gave to NXT were out of the ring as they starred in silent film packages that presented a different approach to wrestling promos. As those stopped, so did any interest from the NXT fans. Constant face/heel turns can lead to disaster, and if you throw two heads into the mix it just simply gets difficult for the fans to be invested.

Their unorthodox presentation can understandably be accepted down at Full Sail in developmental but I find it close to impossible for the WWE Universe to buy Gotch and English as legitimate competitors up on the main roster. Heck, The Ascension could have a better chance to succeed in the WWE and look at how well they have been booked since being called up. WWE already has one disgrace of a tag team from NXT on its roster and it simply cannot afford to add another one.

A WWE Diva would basically have to sell any legitimacy to manage this team stuck in the 30s. How you doin’ Eva Marie?

Blake and Murphy w/ Alexa Bliss

Blake and Murphy are currently the NXT Tag Team Champions and have the beautiful Alexa Bliss to escort them down to their matches. The duo, along with Bliss, have not done much to stand out from the crowd. They wear pig tails and braids to the ring. The fans down in Orlando are smart wrestling fans, they are going to need a little more than a stupid fashion statement to convince them that the wrestlers in the ring have a legitimate chance to progress in the company.

Putting them up against Enzo and Big Cass, Blake and Murphy possess no personality. It also does not help that since Alexa Bliss turned heel at and gave Blake and Murphy the edge at “NXT TakeOver:Rival,” the storyline of Carmella and Bliss cut into any time the two tag teams can use to progress a decent storyline.

The tag team came onto the NXT landscape in the beginning of 2015 where they scored a win against The Vaudevillains in their first-ever televised victory. Their next win was against The Lucha Dragons for the tag titles. The championship win came as a big shock to wrestling fans and the team has yet to do anything to prove their worth. By the way, they are referring to themselves as BAMF (Blake Alexa Murphy Factor). Are we not still in the PG era?

The Hype Bros

Zack Ryder has been sent down to NXT because for some reason creative thinks he and Mojo Rawley have what it takes to form a successful tag team. Rawley doesn’t get hype, he stays hype, except when he’s shelved for months with a shoulder injury at the hands of Tyler Breeze. It has been reported that at house shows Rawley has been practically booed out of the building. The hype has clearly died down. Now there is a certain disconnect with Rawley and the fans that might be too late to fix altogether.

Ryder on the other hand has a different gimmick, the spray tanned broski from Long Island, that too was over with the fans at the beginning but has seemed to die down, hence why Ryder is looking to recreate himself in NXT. Ryder should give a call to Tyson Kidd while he is home recovering from surgery and ask him for tips on how to translate success from NXT back onto the main roster. He is an extremely likeable character and still has tons to offer to the company if he is booked the proper way.

So far the two have been working well together in the ring and have been coming away with wins against weaker opponents. But both are at desperation now in their careers and both are working with stale gimmicks that could clearly use a tuneup. Only time will tell how far their push will go down in NXT. I would not be surprised to see Ryder back up on the main roster soon with a better chance of success. I would be surprised, however, if Rawley was there next to him as his hype man.

Jason Jordan and Chad Gable

These two former collegiate wrestlers have not even been in a tag team match on NXT but they possess more potential for an interesting storyline than some of the mainstays on the roster. For weeks Gable has been seen in backstage segments convincing Jordan to pick him as his next tag team partner. Ever since Jordan has dropped Tye Dillinger, he has been searching effortlessly for a new partner. This is a very similar storyline to the one Goldust and Cody Rhodes faced a couple of years back before Cody turned into Stardust and was the solution to Goldust’s problems.

Gable is the solution to all of Jordan’s problems and carries a personality strong enough that could possibly even help Jordan win over the crowd. Jordan has the perfect look for the WWE and with a strong partner such as Gable, he could have a successful run in NXT and possibly down the line on the main stage as a strong tag team. After all, Chad is ready, willing and Gable.

——-

Each tag team listed present different performance styles and story-lines. The prominent storyline as of late is the feud with Enzo & Big Cass and Blake & Murphy. The belts are on the wrong tag team but I will wait it out and see how the storyline progresses, especially with Gable and Jordan entering the tag team picture soon. I was wary about New Day holding the belts after defeating Cesaro and Kidd but their successful run turned out to be rather surprising. As long as the bookings make sense with the progression of the storyline, I am open for changes, turns and surprises. As far as being the full package for the WWE goes, Enzo and Big Cass should be the next two in line. Carmella needs to improve with her ring work as she has missed plenty of spots and has botched her way to the middle of the pack right behind Blue Pants as far as women’s wrestling goes in the NXT, but she is nowhere near the top four of Becky, Bayley, Charlotte and Sasha. However, I would not mind seeing Carmella escort “her boys” down to the ring on Monday nights.

Bada bing bada boom, realest guys in the room should be the next tag team up in the WWE. How you doin’?