The Revival Returns to WWE Raw Poised to Shake Up Repetitive Tag Team Division

The return of The Revival will give WWE Raw's tag team division the wake-up call it sorely needed.

Tag wrestling has been tremendous on Monday nights, but it's been a showcase of the same two teams over and over again. With Scott Dawson's biceps now healed, though, the face-punching artistes who once reigned over NXT are back. 

On Monday in Rhode Island, The Revival competed in televised action for the first time since July. The duo steamrolled Heath Slater and Rhyno, resuming the roll they were on before injury struck.

The arrival of those two bruisers couldn't come at a better time. Raw badly needs fresh faces in its tag team scene. The Shield needs new obstacles. And as WWE moves closer to WrestleMania season, it needs its most talented performers on deck.

Despite the athletic efforts of guys like Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, Raw has dragged of late. Repetition has caused the show to stagnant. So much of it feels like holdover material until WWE emerges from its slow season.

That sense of malaise hung over Monday's show thanks to familiar matchups. Kyle Fowle noted on Real Sports 101 that the latest Raw featured "a number of matches that are basically slight variations on matches we've either seen last week or plenty of times in previous weeks."

That's too often been the red brand's MO. Raw is in the process of running The Bar vs. The Shield feud into the ground. 

Rollins, Ambrose and Jason Jordan vs. Samoa Joe and The Bar unfolded on Monday. Rollins took on Sheamus the week before. The week before that, The Shield met The Bar in a title match. The Raw before that saw Rollins tangle with Cesaro. In fact, The Kingslayer has battled Cesaro and Sheamus in some form 19 times since July 31, per CageMatch.net.

That's pure overkill. 

Meanwhile, the division's other teams have mostly hung out in catering. Slater and Rhyno are rarely used. There's been no clear plan for The Club. WWE never made up for the losses of The Golden Truth and Enzo Amore and Big Cass, either.

Enter The Revival with fists at the ready.

Dawson and Wilder have proved they deliver big matches in big spots. They have told engaging, dramatic, violent stories in the ring on a regular basis. Their throwback style and in-ring psychology make them top-notch foils for any babyface squad.

With them back on the scene, The Shield now has a grade-A option to clash with in the weeks ahead.

That's a money feud WWE could lean on as 2018 kicks off or save for the WrestleMania stage. And it's one that should be booked before The Hounds of Justice part ways again.

WWE's options expand and improve with The Revival smacking folks in the mouth. If the company wants to tell another Cinderella story with Slater and Rhyno, there is no one better to overcome during that process than The Revival. Dawson and Wilder would thrive in slugfests with The Bar. They would make terrific champs, too, as we saw during their NXT run.

None of that was possible when Dawson was on the sidelines or when Wilder was recovering from a broken jaw earlier in the year. 

The Revival is all healed up now, though, and ready to bring its edge to Raw each week. And everyone from The Shield to Slater has to be thrilled.