FanPost

Tag Team Weekly Roundup and Power Ratings: Vacant joins the ranks of double champ

WWE.com

According to the updated WWE Superstars page, Hall of Fame act Vacant is currently a champ-champ -€” holding the main roster women's tag team belts and as one-half of the NXT women's tag title team with Roxanne Perez. (Perez might have lost Cora Jade, but she now has the most decorated partner in the business.)

Cora Jade making like a modern Madusa and putting the belt in the garbage makes sense in terms of developing heel heat with fans and other wrestlers. And it doesn't make sense to have two heated rivals team to really suspend the "can they co-exist?" trope.

But it's hard not to wince a little with this coming at a time when the main-roster titles have pretty much disappeared since Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on the company. WWE briefly mentioned a tournament but never got back to it, and even then the only team of any regularity is Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop, who are so deep in the enhancement talent act that their six-woman match devolved into a 24/7 segment where they still somehow lost after a boatload of 24/7 shenanigans.

The good news here is that NXT has many good contenders if/when they figure out what they want to do. It feels quite possible that Toxic Attraction challenges for titles and Roxy valiantly fights but loses a handicap match (maybe with more Cora interference). There's also precedent to champions picking a new partner in NXT (Matt Riddle replacing Pete Dunne with Timothy Thatcher, for example), although the Perez-Jade storyline doesn't need any other characters injected into it beyond a device to lose the tag belt.

If WWE wanted to turn both belts over to Vacant and start a tag title tournament, they already have four solid NXT teams. More of the same with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne could get stale, but the newly heel-leaning team of Katana Chance and Kayden Carter can put on some fine matches, as shown recently with Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon. The latter duo could probably use some more wins to seem like championship contenders. And you could perhaps say the same about Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley, who seem to be making their partnership official; they do have the advantage of being part of a stable with gold already in Diamond Mine (presuming Tatum gets full membership).

In any event, it's too soon to panic about the women's titles going away altogether on all brands. It's hard to be optimistic about the main-roster belts, but NXT is well positioned to find a good path to keep them around.

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 July 22:

1. The Bloodline (last week: 1)

Pro: Still holding all the unified gold and picking up main event time.
Con: Thanks to Theory, also took a DQ loss in the six-man SmackDown main event.

2. Street Profits (2)

Pro: Picked up a couple of DQ wins on Raw, then another on SmackDown.
Con: But also left looking at the lights by Omos and The Usos on Raw.

3. Toxic Attraction (3)

Pro: Mandy Rose still holds gold and they continue to rule the women's division. With Perez losing her partner, don't be surprised if bookers find a way to get belts back around Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne's waists.
Con: They'll have to deal with a Zoey Stark revenge tour now, in addition to all the other enemies they've made.

4. The Creed Brothers/Diamond Mine (4)

Pro: The Creeds still hold gold and all the guys in the group might have a bonding experience in taking on Tony D'Angelo's family.
Con: Except that Roderick Strong is still a jerk and even used the Creeds getting beaten down backstage as a way to pin fellow Miner Damon Kemp.

5. Judgment Day (6)

Pro: Still getting time and wins against Rey Mysterio while teasing they want Dominik Mysterio to join them.
Con: But at some point Edge will be back to foil their plans. Missing Rhea Ripley has made them less interesting.

6. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen (5)

Pro: Still the NXT UK titleholders after a darn fine match against Pretty Deadly. Also, find yourself a friend as good as their gal pal Fallon Henley.
Con: This feels like the division's secondary tag title belt, and it probably makes sense to go back to a UK act.

7. Roxanne Perez and Vacant (7)

Pro: Roxy is technically still a titleholder, and Vacant is an experienced tag champ.
Con: More than likely Perez gets relieved of the belts in some way sooner than later.

8. Tony D'Angelo's Family (8)

Pro: Looks like all the former (?) Legado Del Fantasma members (who aren't hospitalized) have fallen in line and even put a beatdown on Diamond Mine.
Con: While next week could bring a Diamond Mine implosion, it could also feature a return of Santos Escobar to reclaim his crew.

9. The New Vicious Viking Raiders (not ranked)

Pro: Defeated Jinder Mahal and Shanky via countout, and are still reportedly new and vicious.
Con: Wouldn't getting a pin instead of a countout make sense to show that they are new and vicious?

10. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams (10)

Pro: Melo is still the A Champ, they still get a lot of TV time and the Wes Lee storyline remains intriguing.
Con: You have to figure Wes overcomes Trick, at the very least.

Best tag segment of the week: With other programs treading water, a belt defense -€” and a really fun match -€” with Briggs and Jensen defeating Pretty Deadly takes this proverbial cake.


Grade: C+

While that match was good, most of the tag scene is feeling a bit stale for now.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.