Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: WWE Tag Team Division on Cusp of Resurgence

1. New Additions Will Bolster WWE Tag Team Scene

An influx of talent suddenly has the anemic tag team division looking robust again.

The New Day has been several rungs ahead of its peers for the past few months as the hugely entertaining trio drift along without strong rivals. The Usos and The Dudley Boyz were engaged in a listless feud that hurt both teams' momentum. The Social Outcasts have yet to click as a faction.

Enter Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady.

The NXT transplants sauntered onto the WWE stage on Monday's Raw, and immediately began tearing into The Dudley Boyz. Amore showed off his trash-talking skills, telling D-Von Dudley that he would put his "lazy eye back to work" and promising that Big Cass would flatten them both.

An audience that drifted in and out all night had all eyes and ears on The Realest Guys in the Room. 

This feud has tremendous potential. It pits two strong talkers in Bubba Ray and Amore against each other. It sets up the classic old-lions-versus-young-lions dynamic. And the veteran Dudley Boyz make good first rivals for the newcomers, as Greg Parks of Pro Wrestling Torch pointed out:

One team doesn't fix a sagging tag division, but Amore and Cassady aren't alone.

The Vaudevillains are set to debut on Thursday's SmackDown, according to WrestlingInc.com (warning: contains spoilers). The former NXT tag champs will add variety to the team landscape. Their old-timey gimmick will be a fun part of an increasingly varied division.

And Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are poised to follow them into the WWE spotlight. Speculation about their arrival began when they left New Japan Pro Wrestling earlier this year. 

That picked up after NXT trainer Matt Bloom posted what looked to be a shot of Anderson at the WWE Performance Center. This week, Scott Hall tweeted a photo of the former Bullet Club member backstage at Raw:

If those two bruisers show up in the coming weeks, every team in the division should be grinning. Anderson and Gallows will elevate all the squads around them right away. They have been a consistently compelling team in Japan for years now.

Should they show up alongside The Vaudevillains and Amore and Cassady, WWE's booking options will multiply in a big way.

The New Day can battle The Bullet Club. Amore and Cassady can introduce themselves by outlasting the hard-nosed Dudleys. And The Vaudevillains could provide a fresh set of rivals for The Usos.

New blood and fresh stories will invigorate the tag team division. The competition to rise to the top will be far more competitive. The New Day will go from ruling a sparse kingdom to fighting off a number of new armies intent on taking the group's throne.

The lack of that kind of excitement is exactly what has ailed the WWE tag division. Cures for that are imminent. 

2. Zack Ryder Joins Unsought Club

Ryder made Intercontinental Championship history, but not the kind he can brag about.

After losing the IC title just a day after winning it at WrestleMania, he joined the two-days-or-less club. Per WWE.com, seven IC champs have failed to hold on to the belt for at least three days:

• Dean Douglas (20 minutes)
• Chris Jericho (1 hour)
• Triple H (18 hours)
• The Miz (1 day)
• Zack Ryder (1 day)
• The Mountie (2 days)
• The Miz (2 days)

WWE's failure to run with Ryder's underdog story was baffling. Going the surprise route at WrestleMania gave Ryder momentum he hadn't known since 2012. Suddenly, there was a reason to invest in his journey. 

The company put that to rest early, having Long Island Iced-Z serve as champion for less time than The Mountie in 1992. 

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Diamond Dallas Page

Page entered the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal nearly 25 years after his in-ring debut. Before he was wrestling and long before he became WCW world champion, he was a loudmouth manager. 

Working for the American Wrestling Association in the late '80s, Page played a flashy, cocky advocate—a precursor to the character he would later play as a wrestler. Madusa, Col. DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Pat Tanaka all used Page's services. 

Seeing Page at work with outfits as loud as his promos, it's hard not to pine for the days when more managers stood at ringside in support of their clients, adding a layer to the story told in the ring.

4. Keys to Maximizing New Arrivals

Once the buzz wears off from Enzo Amore, Colin Cassady, Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin all debuting on Raw, WWE can't let these fresh faces wilt. Too many NXT call-ups have been neglected and underused, doomed to obscurity way too early on.

The formula to effectively transitioning them from NXT is to showcase their characters, provide them strong rivalries and allow them to earn wins or cause damage.

WWE has done well so far with that last part in regard to Corbin. The Lone Wolf won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania and followed that up by leaving Dolph Ziggler lying.

Continuing to present him as a formidable force is a no-brainer. Let him feast on R-Truth and Goldust. Have him injure a midcarder in need of time off.

As for Amore and Cassady, The Dudley Boyz are a smart choice as the duo's first rivals. Beating veterans with resumes like their own has meaning, even at this stage in their careers. Plus, the Bubba Ray Dudley-Amore verbal showdowns will be money.

Crews' limited mic skills make him the NXT transfer most in need of vignettes or video packages to help introduce him to the audience. We need to know who he is and why we should root for him. Positioning him against an enemy who can help bring that out of him should be high on WWE's priority list.

As exciting as these additions are, it doesn't take much to see promise fizzle out in the transfer between NXT and WWE. No one knows that better than Tyler Breeze, who played Crews' first stepping stone on Monday night.

5. Celebrating the Pioneers

The legitimacy of the WWE Hall of Fame just went up tenfold. The company has added a "Legacy" wing to the institution.

Stars from yesteryear can now get their due. The first inductees to this new section of the Hall include the legendary George Hackenschmidt, Lou Thesz and Mildred Burke. 

This is an undoubtedly excellent idea. There are numerous stars from before WWE's inception who should be honored. And adding more icons from other eras boosts the Hall of Fame's prestige. 

Farmer Burns, Jim Londos and other great wrestlers are now poised to be celebrated on WrestleMania weekend. 

6. Watch Out for Ospreay 

Whether he is part of the Global Cruiserweight Series or a full-time NXT roster member, chances are we will see Will Ospreay in a WWE ring.

The New Japan Pro Wrestling star from London is a dynamite performer armed with top-flight athleticism. WWE scouts are sure to notice his work.

Former TNA and WWE writer Vince Russo already has. Russo said of Ospreay on the WINC Podcast, "He's a great worker, and he works his character in the ring as well. That's why I fell in love with him immediately."

7. An Introduction to Apollo Crews

Fans saw flashes of Crews on Monday's Raw, as he bested Tyler Breeze with little effort. For those wanting to see more of his eye-catching offense and get an idea of what to expect from him moving forward, take a look at these recommended matches: 

• Apollo Crews vs. Finn Balor: NXT, Nov. 4, 2015
• Apollo Crews vs. Tyler Breeze: NXT TakeOver: Respect
• Uhaa Nation vs. BxB Hulk: Dragon Gate Champion Gate in Osaka 2015
• Uhaa Nation and Ricochet vs. Monster Express: AAW The Chaos Theory 2014
• Uhaa Nation vs. AR Fox: Absolute Intense Wrestling They Live 2011 (Video contain brief NSFW language from the crowd.)

One can see from this list that he works extremely well against small, quick guys like Balor and Fox. WWE should keep that in mind when choosing his future rivals.

The company certainly can't go wrong with booking Crews against AJ Styles.

8. Shortest WrestleMania Matches Ever

WrestleMania 32 didn't just break the all-time attendance record for the event, but also the record for shortest WrestleMania bout. The Rock knocked off Erick Rowan in an impromptu match that lasted slightly longer than the referee's three-count.

That's three times shorter than Sheamus' famously quick victory over Daniel Bryan in 2012.

Rank	Match	WrestleMania	Match Time
1.	The Rock vs. Erick Rowan	32	0:06
2.	Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero	24	0:11
3.	Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus	28	0:18
4.	The Hart Foundation vs. The Bolsheviks	6	0:19
5.	Rey Mysterio vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield	25	0:21
6.	Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna	9	0:22
7.	King Kong Bundy vs. SD Jones	1	0:24
8.	Red Rooster vs. Bobby Heenan	5	0:31
9.	Earthquake vs. Adam Bomb	10	0:35
10.	The Road Warriors vs. Power and Glory	7	0:59

What does being on the wrong end of an historically brief showdown with The Rock mean for Rowan's future? He can take solace in the fact that at least one loser on this list (Yokozuna) went into the Hall of Fame and that Bryan's peak came after his 18-second defeat.

Just don't tell Rowan how SD Jones' and Adam Bomb's careers panned out.

9. While Natalya Chases Charlotte...

When the women watching Charlotte's championship ceremony tired of hearing her prideful speech on Monday's Raw, Natalya found herself alone with the champ. Their faceoff hinted at a title-centered rivalry between them.

That's an excellent idea, as there is potential for a great story and some great matches there. What of the rest of the women's division, though?

WWE has too often failed to develop rivalries with women outside of the championship picture. That's left too many wrestlers sitting on the bench, failing to gain any momentum as they wait for their turns to go after the gold.

Instead, the company should look to utilize more of the division, telling stories with Paige, Sasha Banks and Company.

Have Paige and Naomi engage in a bitter rivalry. Both wrestlers should be looking to be the next top contender. Along the way, Naomi can show what depths she will go to for that prize, while Paige fends off her and Tamina. 

Banks should go on a tear.

Let her storm through the division by felling Summer Rae, Alicia Fox and Emma. Dominant wins and fiery promos will prime her for another title shot and get the fans even more behind her.

As for Becky Lynch, WWE would be wise to show how heartbroken she is after her loss at WrestleMania.

After getting so close to the women's title and failing, Lynch can become disengaged and frustrated. Show her soul-searching in vignettes where she wanders around the city or tearing up in an interview with Micheal Cole.

A story of redemption then waits for her. 

10. Doing Away with Divas

Not only has WWE replaced the butterfly-emblazoned Divas title with the more prestigious-looking Women's Championship, but the company has stopped used the term "Divas" altogether. The women competing in the ring are now referred to now as "Superstars."

ESPN's David Shoemaker shared a photo of the WrestleMania program which announced the change:

This is a welcome step. The word "Diva" is laden with negative connotations. "Superstar" sounds more like the athlete-superhero combination that these performers are.

Count this shift in terminology as another victory for women's wrestling. Here's to more coming in the months and years ahead.