Fans tend to forget that WWE can pull out all the stops for tag team wrestling. Although classics in tag team wrestling are not likely in today's product, the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships are honorable titles to hold that the fans definitely overlook.
Even with the Universal, Intercontinental, and WWE Championship being the central focus of programming, their storyline and match quality has dropped below that of the tag titles. That is not to say it is a consolation nod for the tag gold, in fact here are five ways for why both the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championship are the most prestigious.
10 Raw: Foundation
The Raw Tag Team Championship cannot be confused with the World Tag Team Championship that were defended on Raw from 2002 to 2009. The Raw Tag Team Championship's lineage actually traces back to the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown in 2002.
"The SmackDown 6" first went to battle over the titles in the best-rated segments across both shows. Many noteworthy names and teams would hold the titles in its early years including Batista, RVD, MNM, The World's Greatest Tag Team, The Basham Brothers, and Too Cool.
9 SmackDown: Building Blocks
Some championships are not well received at first and take a while to become accepted. Examples of this are the 24/7 Championship and the Universal Championship. Similar to the 2002 brand split, Raw drafted the WWE Tag Team Championships in the 2016 brand split but SmackDown would debut their own tag belts soon after which would become a hit.
Also like 2002, the segments for SmackDown's tag team gold were some of the best rated across the brands due to the unlikely tag team of Heath Slater and Rhyno becoming fan favorites and very proud inaugural champions via a tournament victory. The titles remain an honorable achievement since its inception.
8 Raw: Specialty Matches
Specialty matches were greatly utilized in rivalries over the Raw Tag Team Championship. Title matches have occurred through Ladder, No-Disqualification, TLC, Ironman, Steel Cage, and Hell In A Cell matches. Of those who won the gold in these matches were D-Generation X, The Hardys, and The Bar.
Although shenanigans are inevitable in specialty matches, they were not just random matches thrown together at the last minute. The specialty matches were used properly as feud blow-offs or enhancers. Raw's tag gold brings out meaningful specialty matches resulting in quality programming.
7 SmackDown: Lengths Gone To Be Champion
Specialty matches and high risks are no stranger for SmackDown Tag Team Championship competition. Some of the greatest wars in WWE history, not just in the tag division, have occurred through competitive and stipulation matches involving the tag championship. The lengths gone have been immortalized.
The New Day vs The Usos in a Hell In A Cell match at the namesake's event in October 2017 well-exceeded its expectations. The New Day vs The Bludgeon Brothers on SmackDown on August 21, 2018, is another battle worth watching. Competitors will risk their bodies and go to war for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
6 Raw: Hall Of Champions
It has commonly been done when a superstar wins a championship for the first time, they list off names of prior champions, some of which are legends. Usually, this is with the WWE Championship but the Raw Tag Team Championship's legacy is untouchable.
In that class includes Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Chavo and Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Big Show, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Kane, Daniel Bryan, The New Day, The Hardys, Cesaro, Sheamus, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, The Shield, The Usos and even the New Age Outlaws. New champions join an excellent club.
5 SmackDown: Alumni Of Holders & Records
The SmackDown Tag Team Championship also has an incredible lineage of champions. Heath Slater and Rhyno were loved as the inaugural champions. American Alpha, The Hardys, The Revival, The Bar, The Usos, Miz and Morrison, and The New Day are noteworthy teams to have held the gold.
Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Shane McMahon are all in the hall of champions. The New Day are also a record-setting (at the time of writing) six-time champions. The best part, all reigns were with honor and pride; even if pancakes were involved.
4 Raw: Match Quality
Earlier it was mentioned that "The SmackDown 6" stole the show in 2002 in honor of the WWE Tag Team Championship. 2003 also featured incredible tag title matches but there have been more recent title fights that are very worthy of a watch. For starters, The Shield vs Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre at Hell In A Cell 2018 was a classic.
The Usos vs Cesaro and Tyson Kidd at Fastlane 2015 is worth watching. The Hardys vs The Bar at Extreme Rules 2017, Street Profits vs Murphy and Seth Rollins at Elimination Chamber 2020, and The Bar vs The Shield at SummerSlam 2017. The Raw Tag Team Championship can have more fierce competition than WWE Championship matches.
3 SmackDown: Show Stealer
Even though the WWE Championship is the cream of the crop in regards to the company's championships, it has not always provided the best programming. 2017 and 2018 had questionable booking in the shocking reign of Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura's war of the crotches.
Tag title matches on both pay-per-view and SmackDown involving The Usos, The New Day, and The Revival since 2016 have sometimes been the best-received match of the week. The tag title matches at TLC 2019 and Elimination Chamber 2020 out-rated the top-tier rivalry and title fights those shows.
2 Raw: Memorable/WrestleMania Moments
The Raw Tag Team Championship has given fans many underappreciated moments, The Hardys made their return to WWE at WrestleMania 33 through the Raw Tag Team Championship. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins won them on Raw in 2018 in honor of their stablemate Roman Reigns who announced his leukemia diagnosis hours earlier.
Braun Strowman also did the unthinkable by winning the titles with a ten-year-old at WrestleMania 34. Cesaro's teeth were impaled into his gums and jaw during a title fight at No Mercy 2017. D-Generation X, The Usos, and The New Day also won their first tag championships through these titles.
1 SmackDown: Memorable Moments
The crowing of the first SmackDown Tag Team Championship brought weeks of great television, as mentioned earlier, through Heath Slater and Rhyno; including Heath getting an in-ground pool from the resulting riches! New Day's fifth title victory brought about a coronation from the five-time WCW Champion, King Booker.
Xavier Woods performed a near-coast-to-coast springboard elbow drop on the August 21, 2018, SmackDown to win the titles. At WrestleMania 35, The Bar won the crowd over in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match; Sheamus cleared the ring with Beats Of The Bodrhans while Cesaro gave Richochet thirty-two go-arounds with the Giant Swing.