Roman Reigns and his cousins The Usos have had the top spot in our Tag Team Power Rankings on lock most of the past couple months, and with good reason. They all have gold and get plenty of TV time. But they stand out for another reason as well.
If you look at the men's champs on Raw and SmackDown, WWE looks very much like a babyface promotion.
Raw:
- WWE champ: Big E
- US champ: Damian Priest
- Tag champs: RK-Bro
- 24/7 champ (if one counts it): Reggie
SmackDown:
- Universal champ: Roman Reigns
- Intercontinental champ: Shinsuke Nakamura
- Tag champs: The Usos
- King of the Ring: Xavier Woods
That's a surprisingly large number of babyfaces holding men's titles in WWE. The exceptions all come from the Anoa'i wrestling dynasty. Heel champs don't always get booked strong in WWE, but nobody on the planet has stronger booking than Reigns and while an Uso or two sometimes get beat up by Roman's next challenger, they don't lose much when they are wrestling together.
Even all three of them getting thrown around by Brock Lesnar on Friday doesn't hurt much because Lesnar is booked as a beast and will go away for a while, allowing the Bloodline to keep ruling SmackDown.
The following Tag Team Power Rankings take into account wins, power and placement of segments, recentness of appearances, creative direction and momentum for teams and factions.
WWE Tag Team Power Rankings through Oct. 22:
1. The Bloodline (last week: 1)
Pro: Everybody defended their titles successfully, and even a dirty win over Brock Lesnar is a rare loss for the Beast.
Con: Lesnar also treated them like lawn darts on SmackDown, and the question of Paul Heyman's loyalty remains.
2. RK-Bro (4)
Pro: Retained their titles at Crown Jewel and might finally be done with AJ Styles and Omos?
Con: Have a restacked roster chasing their titles.
3. New Day (2)
Pro: Xavier Woods fulfilled his longtime dream of becoming King of the Ring, and they will likely continue getting TV time on SmackDown.
Con: This week marks Xavier and Kofi Kingston's separation from Big E once again.
4. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark (6)
Pro: Still NXT women's tag champs. Io won a triple threat to spin for the stip for Halloween Havoc.
Con: The triple threat nature for the title could let NXT take the gold off them.
5. Super Brutality (3)
Pro: Still women's champions, with no contenders in sight.
Con: Still women's champions, with no contenders in sight.
6. MSK (5)
Pro: Still the NXT men's tag champs, and have Halloween Havoc match against an Imperium team they'll almost certainly beat.
Con: Looks like they won't be crowd favorites in that match, although there's a chance that is by design.
7. Hit Row (not ranked)
Pro: Won their debut on SmackDown as a squash. Presented as stars.
Con: Knowing that WWE can even mess up an act this good.
8. Imperium (not ranked)
Pro: Dealt the Creed Brothers their first loss, and have a title match against MSK.
Con: Underdogs in that match and needed a lot of distractions to won this week's match.
9. Legado del Fantasma (not ranked)
Pro: Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde picked up a win to put them potentially back in the title picture.
Con: Elektra Lopez took a loss to Cora Jade.
10. Indi Hartwell and Persia Perotta (9)
Pro: Persia had a great outing working with Io in the spin the wheel match in advance of next week's title bout.
Con: Still couldn't pull out the win, albeit against one of the best wrestlers in the world.
Best tag segment of the week: RK-Bro beat the toughest opponent of anybody in a title match, and continue to be really fun to watch.
Grade: A-
A couple of title matches and other bouts with title implications were good, but the continued lack of a main roster women's division needs resolution.