State Of The WWE Tag Team Division: December 2016

I talked about the cruiserweights. I talked about the women. I might as well talk about the tag teams.

Over on Raw, New Day is still dominating the tag division. If they retain the tag titles against Cesaro & Sheamus and Anderson & Gallows next week, the record is theirs. Will it happen? Probably. Neither of these other two teams really feel like they deserve it. I feel like they have both lost their momentum. The WWE didn't put the titles on them when it would have been best to do it. The WWE might as well let New Day retain.

Years ago, it felt like the WWE was doing a great job in giving the tag titles to teams that had momentum on their side. The WWE then entered a stretch of putting the titles on teams that didn't really look like they were hot, became hot during the reign, but then lost it to another team that didn't look hot. That led to the reign of terror New Day has been on. As I have mentioned multiple times, so many other teams or angles could have used those tag titles, whether as a reward, to give them credibility, or create some freshness. The Dudleys could have used them. The League of Nations could have used them. There was even a time when The Club looked a lot more deserving. But the WWE never pulled the trigger. New Day did not need to hold the tag titles this long to do their act.

How long after they lose the tag titles will New Day last? Even though I just said New Day does not need the tag titles to do their act, I can picture the WWE breaking them up within a few weeks after losing the tag titles and losing their rematch. I don't think it will be such a tragedy. I will talk about it more when it happens.

The only other team I want to single out is Enzo & Cass. This is another hot face team that could have used the tag titles. New Day aren't the only popular face team on Raw. On the one hand, it is great that Enzo & Cass have still been getting storylines. Enzo has his storyline with Rusev and Lana. Cass was once a contender for the Universal Championship. On the other hand, these guys seem to lose more than they should. Not only would it be nice to see them win a meaningful feud, eventually getting the tag titles would be nice.

Switch to Smackdown. Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt won the tag titles. This is Bray Wyatt's first title reign, but it seems more like a title reign to further a storyline, not a reward. This guy should eventually be a serious contender for a World Championship. As for Randy Orton, it is only a matter of time before he breaks out of the group. If the WWE doesn't go in that direction, this storyline was just dumb. Orton doesn't really fit in The Wyatts and The Wyatts didn't really do enough to "break" him to make him joining the group believable.

The first two titleholders for Smackdown's Tag Team Championships were not traditional teams. Heath Slater and Rhyno just got paired together. Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt are only together because of this storyline. There are traditional teams on Smackdown, like The Usos and American Alpha. I am sure these teams will get the titles one day.

Overall, I do not like how traditional teams have been treated on Smackdown so far. The WWE just did not handle American Alpha well at all. This is the kind of team you would expect wrestling fans to like. But the WWE just dumped them on the main roster and acted like they expected them to be bigger deals than they were. You can't blame American Alpha not working out better so far all on them. The WWE didn't handle them right. They didn't give them a proper chance. As for The Usos, after becoming stale faces, they refreshed themselves with that heel turn. It would not have been terrible if The Usos had been the heels to get the tag titles off Rhyno & Slater.

Another issue is the WWE bringing back teams that were relevant decades ago and using them ahead of some of their full-time teams. That is not something they should be doing so soon after the brand split started. Get the ball rolling properly with what you have, then go to these other teams, if you have to. Some people are wondering if the WWE should re-sign The Headbangers or The Spirit Squad. I am going to say the same thing I said when talking about the women, no, do not bring anyone back. Not yet. It is kind of insulting to the teams you have on the roster now to just go so quickly to old teams. And these aren't even teams as legendary as The Dudleys. The Dudleys also didn't come back during the start of the brand split and get pushed ahead of guys that were just starting out on the main roster or had just been refreshed with a heel turn.

Something I have been talking about with the cruiserweights and women recently is how to follow up with workers booked to make history, like TJ Perkins and Becky Lynch. Heath Slater and Rhyno were booked to make history. They were the first Smackdown Tag Team Champions of this new brand split era. Should the WWE keep the ball rolling on them? No. That title win was more taking advantage of Heath Slater having so much momentum back then. He was arguably the hottest act in the WWE at one time. The WWE did not make a mistake in giving him that moment, but there is no need to make more of Heath Slater than they should. As for Rhyno, he is no young guy. He might be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame one day. Whether he is or isn't, it will be okay for him to just be a midcarder until he retires.

Both tag divisions seem to have a similar problem. A lot of teams are being underutilized. On Raw, New Day's reign has just smothered a lot of teams. On Smackdown, traditional tag teams have taken a backseat to singles wrestlers being thrown together, as well as old teams not even signed getting TV time. But I have more confidence in the tag division getting better without much worry than the women's division. New Day's reign will come to an end soon. Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt will eventually break up. The tag titles will find their way to other teams on the roster and fresh feuds will start.

Previewing The TLC 2016 Undercard

Before I talk about the men's matches, let me update something I talked about yesterday. When talking about the women's matches, I said Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch should have a stipulation for TLC. Later that day on Smackdown, they made it a tables match. Good move. It still feels like Smackdown needs to catch up with Raw's women's division, but this is a start.

Moving on to the men's matches, Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin is a feud I like. It is a non-title midcard feud. No former World Champions involved. It is pure midcarder vs. midcarder. I like how it has been treated these past few weeks. And it is a chairs match. The WWE could use good midcard feuds outside the title picture. As for who wins, Corbin is the one that seems to be on the rise.

Dolph Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Championship back to The Miz a few weeks ago and gets a rematch. It is a ladder match. I hate how the WWE has been tossing certain titles around recently. Remember how much emotion there was in Ziggler's title hunt these last few months. Then there was the big payoff when he finally won the Intercontinental Championship. You can't toss the title around like this and expect the fans to always be as emotionally involved. I was all for Ziggler heading into Survivor Series to defend against Sami Zayn. That did not happen. Now what? Toss the title back on Ziggler. That seems like what the WWE might do, but I don't like it. Build up your Champions to look good before losing the title. I don't mean that everyone needs to have a title reign of doom like New Day, but some of these title reigns just don't get a chance to get established before it comes to an end, and ending at the hands of the person that was just beaten for the title. I am not saying this kind of booking should never be done. You don't want to become formulaic, but this is just too much. I don't think it really adds anything to the feud or storyline. The WWE is just forcing things to be extended because of the brand split. Anyway, I would say Ziggler gets back the title and eventually drops it off to Baron Corbin.

The tag titles will be decided when Heath Slater and Rhyno defend against Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. Bray Wyatt has been on the main roster for years and has never won a title. If he wins it here, however, it will be more about furthering a storyline than really putting him over. When will Randy Orton strike and turn on Bray Wyatt? One possibility is obviously to have Orton cost Wyatt the tag titles this Sunday. I do not think that is the way things will go. Have Orton help Wyatt win the tag titles, further proving his loyalty to him. Once Wyatt is manipulated to truly think he and Orton are partners, then Orton strikes. This storyline has not been set up as smoothly as it could have, but there is still potential to do something interesting heading forward.

Final No Mercy 2016 Preview

Jack Swagger jumped ship to Smackdown and finds himself in a feud with Baron Corbin. This will be the pre-show match for No Mercy. Both of these guys have potential, but Corbin really needs to look a little better in his rookie year. Let him win this.

The tag titles will be defended when Heath Slater & Rhyno face The Usos. Normally, I would say that the person or team that just won a title will obviously retain so soon after the win. But the smart thing to do would be to give the titles to The Usos. Giving the titles to Slater & Rhyno was not a mistake. That angle involving Heath Slater was the best thing going for a while. It deserved the tag titles. But the WWE should not make the same mistake here that they have made with New Day. A lot of teams that had momentum and could have used the tag titles for their own credibility and to create fresher feuds were passed up so New Day can still hold the titles. Heath Slater had his moment. Rhyno is over 40 and got to make history in the wrestling business one more time. The Usos were stale as faces for a while, but have been refreshed since turning heel. There is also the fact that American Alpha is a project the WWE is working on and a feud between them and The Usos might just be a better title feud. It's not like Slater & Rhyno just won the titles and are dropping them immediately. Not even counting house shows, they had a successful title defense on Smackdown against The Ascension. It would be no tragedy if The Usos won, especially while they still had the freshness.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Miz has everyone guessing. I have seen speculation and rumors for every possibility. Some say this feud is obviously building up to Ziggler getting his moment and winning the Intercontinental Championship. Some say Ziggler is really leaving the WWE. Some say he is just taking a break and will be repackaged when he returns. Remember when there was all this speculation and excitement for CM Punk when he got his big push? Would he win the title? Would he leave the WWE with it? That was for the WWE Championship. This is for the Intercontinental Championship. I still feel it is a waste to spend all this emotion just for a midcard title Ziggler has held multiple times. He's not breaking the glass ceiling here. But this has still become a very heated feud. Many fans might say that this is classic booking. You build a heel up to look terrible, the face gets his revenge, and everyone is happy. I would rather see Ziggler lose. I don't hate Ziggler. I don't love Miz. But I just feel Ziggler winning would be kind of dull, and for the same reason I just gave. This is just a midcard version of what they did with CM Punk. It is not as exciting. The WWE has tried to make it heated with these big segments, all the emotion, and everything else, but I just don't care for it as much as others. I would have Miz retain. The WWE, however, might have Ziggler win.

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt has been one of the more enjoyable feuds for me. That is obviously not the popular smark opinion. Them fans love them some complainin'! If you are a smark and love those "Reality Era" storylines that feature all that complaining and drama based off real events, that's you. Don't mean to offend anyone, but I even joke about myself sometimes, so people should know I am not just being a jerk. I have seen some fans irritated by this feud because it doesn't make sense. They are trying too hard to read into the segments. Why does it need to make sense? The Hardys have been having success these last few months off of a gimmick leading to matches that don't always make sense. Some fans want Bray Wyatt to bring up the history he and Randy Orton have. Orton had punted Bray Wyatt back when he was still Husky Harris. Those fans seem to want this feud to just be Wyatt complaining about Orton doing that to him. I am glad the writers have not gone in that direction. Just feed off of Bray's gimmick. I love that they are having Orton play the same games. Is it possible to still have an intriguing storyline that is not tied to some real-life drama? Here's one that has been doing a pretty good job. As for who wins, Randy Orton has still not won a PPV match in a year. Bray Wyatt has also not had the best win-loss record this year, but he has been on the winning side of some PPV matches. Let Orton finally win a PPV match here. Either way, the feud might likely continue. And smarks might finally see the storyline turn more real and Bray mention getting that punt years ago. Until then, it has been my favorite current storyline.

The WWE Championship will be on the line when AJ Styles defends against John Cena and Dean Ambrose. This feud seems pretty routine. There have been some heated promos. You've seen that a lot these days. I already pointed out that these kind of storylines and segments just don't do it for me. Cena has stuff to do outside the WWE. I hear Ambrose is taking time off to make another movie for the WWE. AJ Styles just won the title a few weeks ago. No need to take it off him so soon. Just to keep talking about this match a little more, who takes the pin? A lot of people are saying Ambrose is just in the match to get pinned. It just seems like this feud will not end with AJ Styles looking so good against Cena. I would say Ambrose does take the pin, leaving Styles/Cena to eventually continue their feud. Cena might be the guy to win the title from Styles at Wrestlemania next year.

Previewing The Backlash 2016 Undercard

The tag tournament to crown the inaugural Smackdown Tag Team Champions has gotten a bit muddled. It looked like it would be American Alpha vs. Rhyno and Heath Slater at Backlash to crown the new Champions. The Usos turned heel and attacked American Alpha. Due to an injury angle, American Alpha is out and a new match will occur this Sunday to see who faces Rhyno and Slater. The Usos and Hype Bros now get another shot at the titles.

Let me start with this new match. Who wins between The Usos and Ryder & Mojo? This tournament just felt too face-friendly in the final rounds. I am glad that The Usos turned heel. And since Rhyno and Slater are faces, why wouldn't The Usos win this match?

Who wins the tag titles? A contract for Heath Slater is also on the line. It is obvious Rhyno and Slater should win. This is one of the most entertaining acts in the WWE right now. I talked about last time what kind of person should be the first to hold a new title. You have to either be very over, have already been getting a great career, or be someone the company is likely to follow up with properly and give that great career to after the big win. A lot of fans have been enjoying Heath Slater. A guy that has been mostly a lower-midcarder is usually not a good choice to make history like this, but he is pretty over now and it would make for a good storyline. Speaking of storylines, the only way I can see the face team losing is if Rhyno turns on Slater and the story turns to Heath Slater having to beat Rhyno for a contract, which he eventually does. It could happen, but I would rather it didn't. If Rhyno does win the tag titles, even if it is just a short reign, wouldn't that be something? He wins it, but The Dudleys never did in their recent run?

Onto the Intercontinental Championship feud between Miz and Dolph Ziggler. The big story for Miz these last few weeks has been what he said to Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack. The WWE has just been selling this idea this week that Miz is a coward. That is just terrible. After Miz stood up for himself and gave Daniel Bryan a verbal stomping, this all just looks bad. This has nothing to do with disliking Daniel Bryan, liking Miz, or any combination of that. I am not a huge fan of either of the two guys, although I can respect them. But why should Miz be made to look so pathetic? If you don't want this story to be about Daniel Bryan being bullied, that's fine. If the WWE won't let Daniel Bryan get in the ring to shut Miz up that way, it shouldn't be about pushing around Daniel Bryan. But Miz's character looked so strong two weeks ago. People speculated if this could be his ticket back into the main-event scene. And the WWE has let it all crumble to Miz being afraid to fight. That's no better than the angle Kevin Owens had last year where he walked out of matches. Given the hype Miz had around him, this is a poor way to follow up.

Onto the actual match, Miz should retain. Attention is still on him. Dolph Ziggler is just there. He is another guy I think they dropped the ball on, in terms of storylines. He had a heated storyline with Dean Ambrose, failed to win the title, failed to beat AJ Styles after that, and just keeps on coasting on. They should have done some kind of angle where he snapped and turned heel. I am not even sure it will happen if he loses to Miz this Sunday. He will probably just keep coasting on to something else.

The Heath Slater Drama

One of the stories coming out of the brand split was Heath Slater not ending up on either brand. What would become of Heath Slater? Where would he end up? He has shown up on both Raw and Smackdown over the last few weeks trying to get a contract. He has had various matches and segments during this angle. He has faced Rhyno on Smackdown. He has stood up to Brock Lesnar on Raw. He now finds himself teaming with Rhyno and in the hunt for the Smackdown tag titles.

The WWE is showing how easy it is to make a new Damien Sandow. Sandow was a guy that played an entertaining gimmick. It turned into him standing up for himself against Miz. He got pretty over. And the WWE just fumbled with him and didn't do anything good with him for months, releasing him this year.

This is just a recipe for success you might see in other areas throughout WWE history. Just look at some of the women. Look at the divas. First, you have Sable. She entertained fans through her sex appeal. You eventually had that moment she stood up to Marc Mero, even powerbombing him. Trish Stratus was a woman that entertained with her T&A. She eventually stood up for herself against the McMahons. She became a respectable character, and still flaunted her sex appeal at times. That is pretty much how the WWE tried to create centerpieces during the diva era. Sex appeal will help the women get over, then you work to get them respected, both in terms of their wrestling ability and their overall character.

I don't want to make it sound like Damien Sandow did nothing and deserved to be released. The WWE definitely could have done better with him. No need to push him as a main-eventer, but a solid midcard run would have been nice. Nevertheless, it is no huge tragedy that he was released. He can make something of himself in TNA, if they figure out how to use him right.

Back to Slater. The WWE has created a compelling storyline for a lower-midcarder. He has shown to be entertaining. Standing up to Brock Lesnar was his big moment of respect. He has had other moments where he showed heart. It does all remind me of Sandow.

I do not think the WWE will immediately fumble with Slater. They might eventually fizzle him out for the sake of putting another guy at his level through a similar push, but Slater will still be featured well for now without fans having to riot for him. All the way to the tag titles? I will talk about that more next week when I preview Backlash.

Let me do an aside about Smackdown's viewership this week. It had more than 2.8 million viewers. Not the most for Smackdown in 2016. It didn't get more than Raw this week. Not more than Raw has been averaging during this down year. Nevertheless, still better than I expected. It seems some fans did buy into the hype from Talking Smack last week.

But did the WWE deliver something that would keep the fans coming back? If the fans were hoping to hear that Daniel Bryan would come out of retirement for at least one more match, they got nothing like that. If fans tuned in because they wanted to see if Miz would get a monster push, which I doubt, they were probably disappointed with just Dolph Ziggler coming out. They got a pretty mediocre Smackdown. They got some random guy stripping to his underwear and getting chokeslammed by Kane. That was followed by a mediocre main event between Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin. That is not a knock at those two, but it just wasn't a big main event, especially after Raw crowned a new Universal Champion the night before. The WWE did not deliver. If they had really planned the whole time to create something big from that Talking Smack segment, they failed to do it. It does look like unexpected hype came up and the WWE couldn't make something great out of it.

Previewing Wrestlemania 2016: The Undercard

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has never led to a serious push for either of the first two winners. Big Show, last year's winner, certainly already has his career made. He's going to be in the WWE Hall of Fame. Cesaro, the first winner, has had his career go up and down. He has gotten a number of titles and accolades in between depushes. I know about the rumors about Braun Strowman winning and getting a big push later on. Since that might hinge on what the WWE does with Roman Reigns and injury issues, I am not picking him to win. I could imagine someone in The Social Outcasts winning. Would that be an insult to Andre? A jobber winning this? Well, is putting this match on the pre-show insulting? The WWE might do some funny things with someone from the group winning. And I do not think anyone else currently in the match can really benefit from this. I'll go with Heath Slater.

The Dudley Boys face The Usos. This match does not feel big enough for Wrestlemania, but at least there are some feuds going on in the tag division that go beyond the tag titles. Since The Dudleys turned heel just a few weeks ago, logic might say they win this match and continue their push. I am going to go against logic and say The Usos win. The WWE has not pushed The Dudleys well since they returned. At the same time, The Usos have not won anything major since they reunited. I'll go with them.

Kalisto defends the United States Championship against Ryback. Ryback went a few years without ever winning a title. There was a time when he seemed credible enough to win the WWE Championship. That never happened, bu he did win the Intercontinental Championship last year. I would say he does not really need another title reign again so soon. On the other hand, how serious is the WWE in pushing Kalisto as the new Mysterio? Having him bring this up in interviews and talking about him like he is the next Mysterio doesn't mean as much as booking him consistently. If his title reign ends this Sunday and he gets sent back to the tag division with Sin Cara, I doubt he will end up as the new Mysterio. I will say he retains the title.

Another multi-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. Kevin Owens faces Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, Miz, and Stardust. Some of these guys are just extra bodies. This match should have just been between Owens and Zayn. I would say those are the two favorites to win. I would have Owens retain and lose the title later to Zayn in a singles feud.

The New Day take on The League of Nations in a handicap match. Just a few weeks ago, The League of Nations destroyed New Day and actually looked like great heels. They actually looked like a group the WWE was serious in pushing again. Since then, it feels like they have lost some of that intensity. I still hope the group ends up winning the tag titles. Until then, I will say they beat New Day. They should. 

AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho is a match that I do not think needed to happen again. This is the fourth match in a rivalry that is only two months old. This is a rivalry that featured them teaming up and eventually becoming contenders for the tag titles. This is a rivalry that featured the team splitting and one guy turning on the other. All in two months. You would think this kind of story takes a lot longer than this to develop. And yet, here we are.

I want to say a few things about how this feud has been developed since Chris Jericho turned heel. I have seen some fans criticize the WWE for taking so long to make this match official. They waited until the final Raw before Wrestlemania. I do not have a problem with that. The story is that Jericho was trying to avoid facing Styles again. Styles had to get Jericho to agree to it. This isn't bad storyline development.

The other part of this storyline that I want to bring up is the WWE bringing up "AJ Styles" chants. That supposedly annoyed Jericho. The issue I have isn't really the fact that Jericho is pretty over in his own right, even as a heel.This is about Styles. They obviously want the guy over. They are not burying his popularity. But how about they stop pointing out that fans like him and actually take advantage of what makes him phenomenal and develop his character better. Push him better. Fact is, I am not impressed by those chants. Maybe my memory is going bad, but I am sure I remember times when fans have reacted to wrestlers better. Those "AJ Styles" chants can be better. The WWE needs to put more work into AJ Styles. Smarks will cheer for him because he is great wrestler. Marks will cheer for him because he is pushed as a face. Beyond those fans that are either always criticizing the product or buying into it rather easily, how about the general audience? AJ needs to win those fans over. The WWE needs to do more than run a storyline about people chanting for him. He's not Daniel Bryan.

As far as the winner, it has to be Styles. Jericho is a jobber to the stars.

Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar is a big match, but not one of the likely two candidates to close the show, despite the presence of Brock Lesnar. Not to knock Ambrose, but this feels like the weakest Wrestlemania opponent Lesnar has had yet. It is a great push for Ambrose and will help elevate him, but Lesnar has faced guys with more star power or where there was something on the line in his other Wrestlemania matches. This is still a match many wrestling fans will look forward to.

And it is going to be a street fight. On the one hand, I like that the WWE has really made a storyline out of the match type. Hardcore legends have been utilized to push this feud. On the other hand, I think the WWE could have told a better story. Brock got mad at Ambrose for getting in the way of Brock getting a title shot. He attacked Ambrose in the parking lot the night after that. Just build on that intensity that was there. I feel how the WWE has handled the story these last few weeks has highlighted the match type more than the intense emotion that was there. Either way, should be a fun match.

The wildcard in this match will be The Wyatts. Dean Ambrose obviously has a history with Bray Wyatt. Brock Lesnar, moreover, was supposed to have a mini-feud with Bray. Bray was injured and that match got ruined. I doubt the WWE will have it end like that. They will go at it down the road. Will the WWE use this match at Wrestlemania to build up to that future match? The Wyatts don't have anything else going for them right now. Because there will be no disqualifications in this match, you can definitely imagine The Wyatts getting involved. Will it be a poor way for Dean Ambrose's feud with Brock Lesnar to end to just use this match as a stepping stone for another feud for Lesnar? That's another issue. Let's see how the WWE actually handles the match and what comes after.

Who wins? How often does Lesnar lose? Network specials aside, Brock Lesnar has not had a PPV win in a while. He lost at Fast Lane. He lost at the Royal Rumble. Is Vince McMahon going to be worried about Lesnar possibly starting to look weak? Some fans say that they cannot imagine Ambrose beating Lesnar cleanly. Well, can you imagine it with weapons involved? An extreme spot? It could happen. Of course, as I said, interference is likely. Cleanly or not, Lesnar has not won a big match in a while and I think he will win one here.

The Highs And Lows Of The Tag Division

With the finals in the tournament to find new #1 contenders for the tag titles postponed, that gives me extra time to talk about who I think should win. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Since the current Tag Team Champions are being booked as faces at the moment, it would make sense for the heel team to face them. That would be Rhodes and Sandow.

How about a triple threat? Have both teams challenge Kane and Daniel Bryan. Can you really imagine Rey Mysterio being left off the card? Assume that his illness is not a factor at all. The WWE would definitely like to use him. At the same time, having just Mysterio and Sin Cara face Kane and Daniel Bryan may be awkward. Both teams would be faces. Besides, Rhodes Scholars would have their momentum killed if they just lose like that. What happens after? Do they still stay a team? Interfere in the tag title match? Even if Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio don't win the tournament, I can have an easier time believing they will still team together through the fact that they have this angle where Rey is Sin Cara's mentor. There are a lot of possibilities there. Even if Sin Cara goes back to getting solo feuds, they can still have Mysterio get involved very easily. Getting back to the topic, I still feel both teams should get the title shot. Both have momentum and are made up of guys the WWE cares about pushing. It would be tough to pick one over the other, potentially leaving the other out in the cold. If I had to choose just one team to win this, let it be the heels. Not only would it make sense, but the face team can still survive.

The tag division focus has mainly been on upper-midcarders and midcarders currently. However, there are some lower-midcarders who have been getting more time because of recent events in the tag division. That is always a good thing.

Zack Ryder got over on his own a year ago. Trying to get him a legitimate push must have been like getting a tooth yanked out of your mouth for the WWE. They obviously did not want to do it. When they finally gave him a midcard title, the reign was crap. Beyond that, they used Ryder to put over Cena's character. Once he did that, they phased him back down. Now, he is teaming with Santino Marella. It may not be too much, but at least I see him getting featured more. They have a gimmick going. It is better than being completely lost in the shuffle.

Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre, and Jinder Mahal. Jinder Mahal? Really? I never thought I would live to see the day. Before this boy band was created, none of these guys were being pushed too well. Heath Slater had an angle going where he was jobbing to legends for months, then continued to be used as a jobber after that. Jinder Mahal was last relevant when the WWE used him to put over Ryback in a minor feud. Drew McIntyre has been even less relevant than that. Combined and given this gimmick, these three are actually being used well. I know what you are thinking, these guys have a stable going, not a real tag team. True, but is it hard to imagine that they will be involved in tag matters? I consider them a part of the recent interest being put in the tag division. Good for them. Yes, even Jinder Mahal.

Leaving Wade Alone

I talked about Nexus last time, so might as well talk about Smackdown's version, The Corre, this time. The group is dead. What more is there to say?

Zeke is the Intercontinental Champion. I never really liked him. Where can this push really go? Another Bobby Lashley? At best, I can see Zeke ending up as an upper-midcarder. He will be pulled in for a few main-event feuds now and then, but he will never really stick long in the scene. I also do not see his overness holding firm. Big brutes pushed like this do not always work out well. I do not see Zeke having the hype of a Goldberg. I do not see him being as entertaining as Big Show can sometimes be. Until whatever happens happens, no one can complain about this guy not being pushed right now.

Slater and Gabriel are still a pair. If the tag division was more respectable, I would say having them still be a team was a good thing. Who can they feud with on Smackdown? The Usos? The amount of credibility and attention those two have gotten in the last few weeks was indeed for the benefit of Slater and Gabriel. After that, they are still just jobbers who can be used for great wrestling matches on Superstars. Yeah, they can wrestle. Does that mean the WWE is pushing them respectably? No. Back to Slater and Gabriel. Justin Gabriel has a lot of talent in the ring. I would say that they should get him a female manager to speak for him and push him on his own. Slater? He can be sent back to Raw to be a part of an Otunga-led Nexus. That's just what I would do.

Wade Barrett. So much was invested in this guy. And for what? Just so they could feed him to John Cena. What did having him reform a stable on Smackdown do? Who did the destruction of the group really put over? Zeke? I don't think so. Corre could have stayed together without Zeke. The group just destroyed itself from the inside and fizzled out after that. Pretty stupid. I hope Barrett wins Money in the Bank. He has some main-event build already, so putting it with him would not be too much of a reach. If not that, what is left for him? A feud with Daniel Bryan. Match quality is one thing, and I know Daniel Bryan can go, but what would really be the point of that feud? Filler? Nothing fresh to do with these guys? There is a story with the two. Both were a part of Nexus in the beginning. But I feel the feud would have been better if Wade still had a stable or they were fighting over a title. What about pushing Barrett in the main-event feud without winning the briefcase? That is an option, but I do not see Orton's feud with Christian justifiably ending this month. Wouldn't be fair to Christian to be written off that easily. Until feuds to reshuffle, Barrett doesn't have anything to really make him stand out.

Rising Corre

Big Show is being used as a credible jobber to make fresh, rising heels look good, but you already know that! Nothing too new for Big Show there. In this instance, an entire stable is benefiting from him.

Big Zeke is getting to show off his strength. I still don't care too much for this guy. Another muscle guy. I didn't know the WWE desperately needed another Lashley around.

Barrett, no matter how they want to sell it, is the leader figure around here. He gets more momentum and credibility as he heads into Elimination Chamber. He didn't look too horrible in the Royal Rumble either. I am not saying this guy is walking away with the title anytime soon, but they are building him in that direction better than they have some, like Sheamus.

Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. I've been wanting them to get back the titles for a while now. They seem to be closing in. The tag division will suck whether no matter who holds it, but I think the titles should be on a team with a little more respectability. Santino doesn't need it for his comedy act. And Kozlov? I have no idea what to say. Tag defenses have comprised mainly of Santilov losing against a team one week, then retaining against that team the next week. No storyline. No hyped build. It is down there with some Diva's Championship reigns. Horrible booking. Not very entertaining and does not add value to the titles, which is something I know a lot of people care about more than me. Let Corre hold some gold now.

My point is that Barrett's group still has great potential to it. Punk's Nexus seems like crap. If done correctly, Corre can be a true main-event stable. Will that screw over Del Rio, another rising heel? I hope not.