Tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw saw the beginning of a tournament to settle the vacated Women’s Tag Team Championship. Finally, after a few months of doing nothing, the belts Sasha Banks and Naomi “vacated” are up for grabs, instead of collecting dust.
The bracket has been set. In fact, even one of the first-round matches has led to the elimination of a team. In the coming weeks, the rest will unfold, with no end date currently announced.
So before that all plays out, let’s break down what we know so far and try to project forward in time. How will and should this all end?
A Look at the Women’s Tag Team Options
The eight teams (now seven, since one has been eliminated) are as follows, shown in the graphic above:
- Dana Brooke and Tamina (eliminated)
- Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky
- Alexa Bliss and Asuka
- Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H.
- Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez
- Shotzi and Xia Li
- Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark
- Natalya and Sonya Deville
A few things already stand out to me at an immediate glance. One is that only one of these teams existed 3 weeks ago, which is Nikki and Doudrop. Technically, they’ve been lingering becoming an official team, but after months of half-assed teasing a partnership, we can give them the benefit of the doubt on that one.
Brooke and Tamina have been feuding for months. I’ll even go so far as to say that team makes sense, particularly since they just lost anyway, so who cares, right? But at least you can grow to respect your rival.
Bliss and Asuka is just out of the Sky and Kai feud. They’re not sticking around as a team. Things could have been done much better, but for a short-term answer, I’ll allow it.
The right side of the bracket, though, baffles me. Not in the sense that I don’t see some of the rationality behind the picks. Rather, it makes me chuckle because that’s how poorly the women’s tag team division has been set up, even in the months they could have taken to build some decent partnerships.
Raquel and Aliyah? What reason are they together for? Xia Li and Shotzi? Just because they’re heels? Nattie and Sonya is just because they’re heels, too. If Shayna Baszler weren’t busy with Liv Morgan, the whole Queen of Spades and Queen of Harts thing would have made much more sense.
And then, you have Lyons and Stark from NXT. Not only have they not interacted with each other, it is particularly strange to have two women from NXT fighting for these belts when there is a set of NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships to contend for, and Stark is already in the NXT Women’s Championship scene, about to fight Mandy Rose at Heatwave. Considering they never bothered to utilize the cross-branded element that was originally set up, wherein the NXT roster was supposed to be able to fight for the main roster women’s tag titles in the first place, to do this now feels odd.
Also, no Lacey Evans. Hm. I get why Maxxine Dupri or Scarlett Bordeaux aren’t in this, as they’re just managers. Charlotte Flair (MIA), Carmella (seemingly injured), Zelina Vega (injured) and Ronda Rousey (kayfabe suspension), are understandable, too. But no Evans? Actually, no Rhea Ripley, either, just to avoid having her lose, I guess.
It’s underwhelming one quick look at the bracket shows that this division has lots of talent to pool from, but is in complete shambles, still.
Who Could Realistically Win? Who SHOULD Win?
We know the next women’s tag team champions won’t be Brooke and Tamina already. They’re gone. And for that matter, I can’t imagine the plan is for Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop to beat Bliss and Asuka. We’re looking at Kai and Sky against Bliss and Asuka in the semi-finals.
On the right, I think Raquel and Aliyah beating Xia Li and Shotzi is a safe bet, just because Raquel is in the match. I think Xia and Shotzi have been painfully underutilized, but let’s face it, they aren’t exactly building up much stock to make them easier to bet on.
Lyons and Stark throws me off. I can see both win/lose options making sense. Given how Triple H would likely want to put some spotlight on NXT to get people talking, I’ll go with the upset and have them beat Nattie and Sonya. That way, you can’t entirely be sure who wins between Raquel/Aliyah and Nikkita/Zoey.
Gun to my head, I think the finals will be Sky and Kai against Raquel and Aliyah. That way, they can play off the idea that Dakota and Raquel were twice tag team champions who only held the belts for about 3 days total. Aliyah can take the pin, giving the belts to the hot new ticket duo.
Anything less than Kai and Sky winning makes no sense to me. The rest of the teams are as thrown-together as we’ve gotten with the last regime. Yes, Sky and Kai aren’t exactly The Street Profits or Alpha Academy in terms of matching gimmicks and gear, but they’ve at least got momentum on their side. Plus, if they stand next to Bayley with the titles while Bayley is about to challenge Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship, the threat is looming that all the belts can be on this new trio.
Imagine how much flatter it would be if the tournament just goes to Natalya and Sonya, for instance. Yeah, they get a tag title reign and that’s a positive for those two, but what happens out of it? Is there any story to follow? Why are they even teaming? Who would they feud with? In all likelihood, they would just be in the same lackluster position Sasha Banks and Naomi were complaining about.
Speaking of the former women’s tag team champions…
The Sasha Banks and Naomi Situation
Take it with a grain of salt, but supposedly, both Banks and Naomi have agreed to come back. If and when that happens, they absolutely need to be gunning for the women’s tag team champions.
I doubt the tournament will end at Clash at the Castle. Sky, Kai, Bliss and Asuka will be busy in that six-woman tag team match. Unless they pull double-duty, that would mean Doudrop and Nikki would have to win that side of the bracket, which I can’t see happening.
That means the new champions will be crowned after CATC, leaving it to either Raw, SmackDown or, unlikely, dragged out all the way to Extreme Rules on October 8. If you want to get people talking for another surprise Raw return, Banks and Naomi make sense to get the crowd to pop.
Have Sky and Kai win the titles, then find themselves in the crosshairs of the former champions who have held multiple world titles. One of them is even Bayley’s best friend and former teammate. Suddenly, Bianca Belair has two more allies, which frees up Asuka and Bliss to move on from this feud and do something else, freshening up our list of singles and tag team matches we can do between the heel/face opposition.
By the time we get to Extreme Rules, let’s see Banks and Naomi fight for the titles against Sky and Kai in some sort of gimmick match. Make it feel special and worthy of being on the card, if not just to prove to The Boss and Glow that you’re willing to play ball.
Who are you hoping will win the women’s tag team titles? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned to eWrestlingNews for more coverage as the tournament goes down!
