WWE News: Backstage Notes On Upcoming Plans For WWE Tag Team Championships

One of Triple H’s most transparent initiatives since assuming an executive role has been to revitalize the WWE tag team division. Clearly, his biggest imprint is felt in NXT, but the renewed interest in pushing the tag team division as a whole has had a positive impact on the main roster. He first helped initiate a revival three years ago, before taking a bit of a dip last year and then getting resuscitated again in 2016.

The current WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day, is a big reason for the current uptick. Their current reign has lasted more than 275 days, the longest a tag team has held the belts since 2008 when Carlito and Primo (The Colons) stood atop the division for 280 days. However, if Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston hold on to the WWE Tag Team Championships for one more week, they’ll have the longest combined reigns ever. Keep in mind, the World Tag Team Championships were decommissioned in 2010, as Demolition’s combined days as champs totaled 698 days over three reigns.

The New Day first won the gold at last year’s Extreme Rules by defeating the team of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, then dropped them at Money In The Bank to the Prime Time Players, before regaining them at SummerSlam in a fatal four way match with PTP, The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores. They’ve held the tag team championships ever since and are now 2-0 as a unit at Extreme Rules shows after successfully defending them against The Vaudevillains this past week.

Aiden English and Simon Gotch received an impressive push upon their post-WrestleMania debut, winning a tag team tournament to determine new number one contenders for the tag team championships and the right to face The New Day. But there were reports that Vince McMahon and some other WWE officials have not warmed up to their gimmick, and that’s why it may appear as if they’ll only be getting one shot for now.

Cageside Seats is reporting that The New Day will transition from The Vaudevillains into a feud with the Social Outcasts for the tag team championships. And by the looks of it, Heath Slater, Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel will merely be another stopgap before the money feud goes down in a few months. The Outcasts will proceed as a three-man team after Adam Rose was granted his release last week, making this rivalry with The New Day an even match-up. But as of now, there are no plans to take the WWE Tag Team Championships off The New Day in favor of the Social Outcasts.

What this means for The Vaudevillains is unknown, but if The New Day is busy with the Social Outcasts, The Usos are tied up with The Club and The Dudley Boyz feuding with Enzo & Cass, they might be left out in the cold for the time being. The plan for The New Day is to retain the tag team championships through Money In The Bank and Battleground, before entering into a program with Enzo & Cass heading into SummerSlam.

Enzo recently returned to television on this past week’s RAW to help further their angle with the Dudleyz, but it’s unknown whether he has been fully cleared to actually compete in the ring. A potential program with the champions would, of course, be contingent upon Enzo’s health. Should The New Day retain on June 19 in Las Vegas, they’ll have avenged the last time they lost the WWE Tag Team Championships when Darren Young and Titus O’Neil beat them at 2015’s Money In The Bank pay-per-view.

The thing to keep an eye on is if WWE moves forward with another program of babyface vs babyface. Enzo & Cass are more over than any team at the moment, and The New Day just completed their face-turns prior to WrestleMania.

[Image via WWE]