WWE’s tag team division is weaker this week after several high-profile departures and releases. Longtime stars and newer teams alike have left or been let go, and fans worry the company no longer cares about tag team wrestling.
Big exits and roster cuts
This past weekend, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods reportedly decided to leave WWE. They were two members of the New Day, one of the most successful tag teams in recent history. On the same day, Tonga Loa and JC Mateo of the MFTs were released. Earlier, the company released 23 performers, which included the Motor City Machine Guns and members of the Wyatt Sicks.
These moves have left only a few established tag teams on WWE TV. Some teams that fans loved are gone or now work elsewhere. The wave of cuts makes it hard for the tag division to build long-term stories or fresh rivalries.
How tag teams lost importance
Tag team wrestling was huge in the 1980s and 1990s. Teams like the Road Warriors, Demolition, the Hardys, and Edge and Christian were central to the shows. Over time, WWE shifted toward single stars. Many teams were formed by pairing singles wrestlers, rather than building tag teams from the ground up.
WWE veterans have said this was partly because management saw tag teams as more expensive to run on the road. On the podcast It’s My Wrestling, Charlie Haas shared a view he heard about tag teams:
“Vince doesn’t like tag team wrestling. He looks at it as an added expense, as paying for an extra guy on the road, extra guy in the hotel room. He really doesn’t like it, and he changed a lot of it over the years.”
Actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. also recalled hearing complaints about paying multiple wrestlers for a single match.
Triple H’s changes and the recent slide
When Triple H took creative control, he tried to revive tag teams. He split the tag titles between brands, redesigned belts, and treated tag matches as important. That gave teams a better chance to shine for a time.
But the momentum faded. Some champions defended their titles rarely. Big moments, like the New Day’s heel turn and the debut of the Wyatt Sicks, did not lead to long-term success. Other signings arrived with little hype, and some long-term plans never developed into strong TV stories.
Here is a related video from WWE coverage:
Current state and what’s left
Right now, the tag scene has a mix of short-term pairings and teams with little momentum. On SmackDown, Damian Priest and R-Truth hold gold as a makeshift pairing. On Raw, Logan Paul and Austin Theory work as an exciting heel team but were not built from scratch as a classic tag duo. The Usos have reunited. The Street Profits recently returned but were not always used well.
Some top tag teams are performing in other promotions, where tag wrestling still gets strong focus. That means WWE TV shows fewer classic tag matches for new fans to discover.
For many viewers, tag team wrestling once created the most memorable matches and moments. With recent cuts and releases, that tradition looks fragile. Fans who grew up with teams like the Hardys or the Rockers may fear younger viewers will miss out on similar eras in WWE.
Source: UFCcoverage
