Carmella, Queen Zelina Defeat Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H. to Win WWE Women's Tag Titles

Carmella and Queen Zelina are the new tag team champions in the women's division after dethroning Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. on Raw Monday night.

Zelina delivered a Code Red to Nikki to earn the victory. 

The result ends Nikki and Ripley's reign at 63 days. The pair didn't have much of an opportunity to establish themselves as a tag team.

They beat Natalya and Tamina for the gold on Sept. 20 and made a successful title defense on Oct. 4.

That proved to be the only time Ripley and Nikki defended the titles on WWE programming. Any tag team-related storylines were effectively sidelined during the build to Survivor Series. Ripley, Zelina and Carmella all represented Team Raw in a winning effort over Team SmackDown on Sunday.

Zelina and Carmella could theoretically have a strong run together. They're great heels who play well off one another, and Zelina can feel especially confident after having won the inaugural Queen's Crown tournament in October.

But the new champions will struggle to overcome the problems that have plagued the tag team belts almost since their inception in 2019. WWE has treated them as a total afterthought, and that has led fans to follow suit.

The company has also significantly thinned out its women's division over the last few years through roster cuts. That makes it almost impossible for any two wrestlers to establish themselves as a formidable team for more than a few months at a time.

Ripley, for example, is already being mentioned as a possible contender for Raw women's champion Becky Lynch, which doesn't bode well for her partnership with Nikki.

Losing Monday might actually signal bigger things to come for the 25-year-old.

Nikki, on the other hand, continues going in the wrong direction. Rather than serving as a springboard, her cashing in of the Money in the Bank briefcase may have been more of an aberration.