Fantasy Booking Brand-New Tag Teams for WWE and AEW

Fantasy Booking Brand-New Tag Teams for WWE and AEW

Dec 18, 2022

Professional wrestling has a tag team wrestling problem. The importance of this specific type of wrestling is waning.

This is particularly true of WWE. While The Usos remain the best tag team in the world, the division around them is lackluster.

The WWE women's tag team champions, Damage CTRL, have also been lacking for challengers. It seems any time a new women's tag team is built, another team is broken up.

While All Elite Wrestling has a confident men's tag team and trios division, the women's tag team division is still waiting to get off the ground.

Meanwhile, neither WWE nor AEW have been able to find proper roles for the entire roster. Too many are left waiting for the next shot that could be found with a fresh tag team.

Some names that could easily take advantage of these deficits in WWE and AEW include Dolph Ziggler, Johnny Gargano, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Hook.

The following are ideas for brand-new tag teams that could help put these major professional wrestling rosters back in order.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

No reunion in WWE would be bigger than that of The Prizefighter and The Honorary Uce. These two have been intertwined since KO's first day in NXT (or much further back for those that know the tale of El Generico).

These two have been in so many special moments together, but it would be a perfect new high point for them to win WWE tag team gold together, dethroning The Usos. It would be the first time either won tag team gold and make KO a Grand Slam champion.

Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell

The Poison Pixie needs a tag team partner in her battle with Damage CTRL, and the best option would be her "adopted daughter." Indi Wrestling has earned a shot on the big stage, and reformed The Way would give the women's tag division an established pair.

Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian

The very first AEW tag team champions have been forgotten over the last couple of years. SCU was instrumental to the early days of the company, and Sky and Kazarian are still going strong. Both are healthy and ready to be a veteran team to help young stars.

Thunder Rosa and Ruby Soho

La Mera Mera's unfortunate injury forced her to vacate the AEW Women's Championship. When she returns, she will need an easy place to fit in. She and Ruby Soho have history that can be explored, helping truly establish major teams for a women's tag division.

Dolph Ziggler is one of the longest tenured veterans in WWE, but he always looks lost. Despite some solid recent performances, particularly with Austin Theory, he has struggled for television time.

He is still in a better position than Shelton Benjamin. A rare star who has actually been with WWE longer than Ziggler and had less success, he has always been too talented to waste.

These two collegiate wrestlers came into WWE with technique that few can match. They have worked with many great names, but they have rarely crossed paths.

Once The Showoff loses his bid for the WWE United States Championship, he and Benjamin will be best served working together. They can create the new World's Greatest Tag Team and add a genuinely great team to the division.

Together, they can elevate each other. Even if The Usos are out of reach for a while, they can work with The Street Profits, Alpha Academy, Judgment Day and Viking Raiders and more to build a talented but underused division.

Natalya is the perfect woman to help build the women's tag team division. In her 15 years with WWE, she has done it all, but she does not have a reliable spot on the roster.

What will make the most sense is to pair her with a young star in need of direction. Aliyah has struggled to find her way in WWE, but her most memorable moment in the company so far was her feud with The Queen of Harts.

Both women are former WWE women's tag team champions, but neither tag team lasted. This can work better for both due to the story.

Natalya can take an underperforming rookie under her wing and promise to train her like a Hart. Once Aliyah has proved herself to Natalya, they can carry on the legacy of The Hart Dungeon together.

More important than the television product, the pairing could help push Natalya and Aliyah together to train, and The Queen of Harts can help iron out her partner's limitations in the ring.

Drew Gulak has returned to NXT, and he is looking for help. It seems likely he will slowly build a stable focused on submission offense.

Charlie Dempsey is beginning to find his way in NXT, dominating talent in the ring with his ground game. He has serious talent but needs a guide both on screen and off to help him find his character.

His father, William Regal, will be back in WWE in 2023, but Regal cannot be on TV with him. Gulak is the best man to take that spot. The two have a similar mindset about mat wrestling that can lead into a great tag team.

The two could also be the first two members of a new stable of technicians in WWE developing from the foundations of Alpha Academy. Add in Damon Kemp, Xyon Quinn, Zoey Stark and Blair Davenport to create a group that could genuinely rival Diamond Mine.

No matter what, Gulak and Dempsey together makes too much sense. They can build each other up, and with Regal involved behind the scenes, this is an alliance that could dethrone New Day to become NXT tag team champions soon.

Nikki Cross is fully back to her Sanity roots, but she needs more. She cannot just be the crazy woman on her own. It has been reported by PWInsider that the former leader of the group, Eric Young, will be returning to WWE.

He should go back to a stable that NXT built up but failed to execute on the main roster. First, he and Cross can reunite, followed by bringing in more talent.

Cross could use a tag team partner in this stable. Doudrop would be the most obvious answer, but Sanity needs fresh stars as well as familiar. Alba Fyre can fit that aesthetic perfectly, and she and Cross have a Scottish connection.

The two together can make an immediate impact on the women's tag team division. Both are immensely talented while waiting for a genuine spotlight.

Sanity will also need at least two other men to become a full-on stable (Gallus would fit the role perfectly), but Cross and Fyre can be the chaotic heart of this reborn group no matter what.

Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis have been connected for a long time, but they have never been a true tag team. Everything Monday Night Raw has done so far is building to the two working together.

Johnny Wrestling is one of WWE's best tag team wrestlers. He and Tommaso Ciampa were a foundation of NXT, putting on unforgettable matches with The Revival, Authors of Pain and Undisputed Era.

Since The Blackheart is injured at the moment and still is connected to The Miz at this time, The Tortured Artist is the next man up. Lumis may not be at Ciampa's level, but he is a character worker who can add a different dynamic to Gargano's work.

Raw's tag team division would benefit from Gargano and Lumis together, but The Tortured Artist would benefit all the more. He needs in-ring refinement that he can get working with a great performer regularly.

The Way is ready to make a main roster comeback. Even if Austin Theory is on his own, Gargano and Lumis combined with a reunion of Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell could be the spark the red brand needs.

Serena Deeb is important to AEW's women's division in ways that are not often seen on television. As a trainer, she can help develop a new generation of women in AEW. However, she should still be on TV regularly.

One of AEW's most promising young female stars, "Legit" Leyla Hirsch has been out injured but should be ready to come back soon. When she does, she could use some support as well as veteran guidance.

The two make perfect sense together as The Professor and her student. The two can bend and break opponents together while setting up an interesting heel tag team for the growing division.

While AEW has built many interesting female alliances already, Deeb and Hirsch could be the most imposing team in the company at a time that AEW is seemingly ready to make this division happen.

The story of "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Hook began at AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming 2022.

Perry was betrayed by his closest friend, Luchasaurus, but he cannot stop himself from calling out any heels he has a problem with. He tried to go after Big Bill at Dynamite but found himself out-numbered by The Firm until Hook arrived.

The Handsome Devil has made it his mission to help anyone who needs support. He and Danhausen even tagged together for a time when "Smart" Mark Sterling and Tony Nese would not leave the odd "Very Nice, Very Evil" man alone.

Perry and Hook, though, does not need to be a one-off pairing. These two young stars are arguably core pillars of AEW's future and can make each other better.

Perry is a tag team expert who is looking to become more. Hook is a talented guy trying to escape the confines of his current role. They can tag together at times, but this is about making both men feel like serious performers who can become great champions.

Saraya made her surprise return to wrestling recently and was quickly cleared for action. She defeated Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, at AEW Full Gear 2022 to declare she was all the way back.

She has declared her next match will be on January 11 on AEW Dynamite, tagging with a mystery partner against Baker and Jamie Hayter.

The hype is building for who could be her partner. While there are many options, none would make as great an impact as pairing her with the former Sasha Banks, Mercedes Mone'.

Mercedes and Saraya have a long history, including The Boss accidentally ending The Anti-Divas's career for a time. The two stay in close contact. As Saraya stated on The Sessions, The Boss was the first person she contacted after getting cleared.

Saraya recently stated in an interview with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes.com that she sees "space for a women's tag division." What better way to get that division off the ground than to tag with the woman who walked out of WWE for disrespecting the women's tag division.

Mercedes is the most talked-about wrestler outside of WWE right now. According to PWInsider, The Boss will return to wrestling on January 4 at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17.

While there is no word yet of a contract with AEW, NJPW and AEW are on good terms and have been known to share talent. Saraya and Mercedes together is absolute money.

The Jericho Appreciation Society is at a crossroads. Chris Jericho's group was supposed to replace The Inner Circle for years to come, but it has grown stale because of a lack of interesting stories.

The first step will be deciding where Daniel Garcia fits in. The Wizard has decided that The Dragon Slayer needs to learn from Sammy Guevara to reach his full potential.

Garcia and Guevara may be a part of the same stable, but they are very different characters. Together, they could rise together or turn against one another.

Regardless of the end result, this is an interesting alliance with serious potential. Guevara can help Garcia develop as a character worker and make him more over than ever.

The Acclaimed need fresh rivals, and Garcia and Guevara are good enough to give them a great title defense even at a major AEW pay-per-view.