On the most recent episode of SmackDown Live, Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles teamed up to defeat Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler, and the match didn’t disappoint. From the in-ring action to the post-match show of respect, which harkened back to the duo’s days in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the segment left fans wanting more.
The WWE hasn’t been shy about bringing together singles competitors for tag teams, either as temporary storylines or for long-term championship efforts.
From the Attitude Era’s Rock n’ Sock Connection to recent Raw tag team champions Sheamus and Cesaro, pro wrestling is littered with examples of the tag team division being used as a way to get fresh content out of singles competitors. In fact, on that same episode of SmackDown, Tyler Breeze and Fandango, now Breezango, put on their second compelling tag match in three days against tag champs the Usos.
Unfortunately, a more permanent pairing of Nakamura and Styles at this point doesn’t really make sense. Both men are real threats to win the Money in the Bank ladder match next month, and beyond that, they seem to have promising singles runs coming within the next year. But that doesn’t mean that there are no opportunities for makeshift pairings on the WWE roster.
Here are five other teams that definitely should happen.
#1 The Miz and Titus O’Neil
Given their recent character directions, this pairing makes a tonne of sense. The Miz markets himself as an “A-list” celebrity based on his television and movie appearances while Titus seeks to advance his “Titus Brand” to Superstars like Apollo Crews. To strengthen the comparison, both gimmicks are built mostly on elevated self-esteem and bravado rather than genuine accomplishments.
As a result, it would be incredibly easy to have Titus lose what looks like a pending feud with Crews about the time Miz comes up on the losing end of his Intercontinental Championship program with Dean Ambrose.
Then you film a locker-room segment where both men look frustrated with their recent losses. From there, the connection could either begin with a quick feud, or the two could decide that what the “Titus Brand” needs is a real “A-list” Superstar and immediately start working together. Either way, it could make for an entertaining run.
Also read: 5 Tag teams that should reunite in WWE
#2 Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas
For anyone who didn’t know, Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas are real-life brothers and sons of former WWE Superstar Mike Rotunda. As a result of this, some fans have been calling for the two to come together since they both debuted on the main roster, especially since Bray has been a cult leader of sorts that could quickly recruit his brother. These calls have seemed especially appropriate since Bo has never really gotten any traction since coming up from NXT.
After Extreme Rules would seem like an ideal time to bring the family together. Assuming Bray doesn’t win the Fatal Five-way match to determine the new No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship, it could be time for him to pursue tag-team gold again or at least rebuild his family. Either way, the logical choice to start that build would be his blood relative.
#3 Sami Zayn and Tye Dillinger
Both Sami Zayn and Tye Dillinger are incredibly popular with the crowd, and they’re both on the SmackDown Live roster. Those reasons might be enough to team them up, but that’s also not all the support for a pairing of the man behind the “Perfect 10” and the “Underdog from the Underground.”
These two men made complete sense to be brought up to the main roster when they were, and the blue brand is the right place for them. That said, with AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, John Cena, Baron Corbin, Randy Orton and WWE Champion Jinder Mahal on the roster, the singles card is crowded.
The SmackDown tag division is certainly heating up, especially with the New Day set to debut any day now, but Dillinger and Zayn might be able to find a temporary home as tag-team competitors and challengers to the Usos.
#4 Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose
Yes, this has been done before. In fact, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose have technically been paired together on two separate occasions, back when they debuted as members of The Shield and as part of a storyline that portrayed them as brothers of sorts who also competed for the same individual goal to become WWE Champion. But what we’ve never gotten to see is these two men come together to compete for tag-team gold, and doing so could give them a chance to do something different yet familiar for a little while.
Booking them as a team at this point, after both have been in the hunt for various singles titles over the last year, would take some work, but the end result would be worth it, potentially. To get there, you could start with an open tournament to determine the next contenders for the Raw tag team titles, or to crown the champions if the belts are vacant for some reason. You can have more spots in the tournament than you have tag teams to encourage singles stars to team up.
With Reigns and Ambrose both in between runs for singles gold, have them decide to enter the tournament, which they would eventually win to become tag team champions.
#5 Samoa Joe and Finn Balor
Like some of the other entries on this list, Samoa Joe and Finn Balor are far from strangers. They had a major rivalry for the NXT Championship and are both part of the Fatal Five-way at Extreme Rules.
Another storyline that Balor has been closely linked to is the formation of the Balor Club, similar to Bullet Club in Japan. After all, plenty of his merchandise has been branded with the club’s name, and he’s on the same show as fellow Bullet Club alumni Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Therefore, rumours continually emerge that he’ll eventually link up with the “Good Brothers” to form a stable.
But what if the stable instead began with Finn and Joe? They would be extremely formidable as a two-man team and adding in Gallows and Anderson eventually would create the next great WWE faction, one built for classic matches at events like Survivor Series that also tie into longer storylines.
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