Street Profits Are Good Enough to Break NXT Tag Team Curse on WWE Main Roster

NXT tag teams haven't had the greatest success on WWE's main roster over the past six years, but based on what we've seen from them so far, The Street Profits have quickly proved to be the exception.

The former NXT Tag Team Champions debuted on the June 23 edition of Raw and proceeded to serve as the backstage narrators of the show for the next four months. Despite the lackluster start to their main roster run, Street Profits earned exposure from their weekly segments on the flagships show while continuing to compete in NXT.

Their loss of the NXT Tag Team Championship in late August (and subsequent failure to regain them) paved the way for them to officially join the Raw roster in the 2019 WWE Draft. It was only one week later that they wrestled and won very first match on the main roster (in the main event, no less) against The O.C., sending the message that WWE intends to push them to their fullest potential.

If Street Profits can manage to maintain the momentum they have, they will become the first tandem to not be marred by bad booking in their rookie year on the main roster.

WWE has promoted its fair share of NXT tag teams since 2013, but none of them have been nearly as exciting or as compelling as they were down in developmental. The trend started with The Wyatt Family's Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, who were broken up before they could win tag title gold together.

Other teams, such as The Ascension and The Lucha Dragons, weren't even given a chance to get over with the audience. Rather, both pairs of former NXT Tag Team champions were booked to look like losers upon their arrival on Raw and faded off into obscurity almost immediately.

The main roster hasn't been kind to tag teams from NXT in recent years, either.

American Alpha were a tremendous tandem that never had their characters fleshed out. The Revival, on the other hand, have already won three tag team titles this year, yet are reportedly still aiming to exit the company when their contracts expire next year, per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com.

Perhaps the more egregious example of a duo who could have gone a lot farther than they did is Enzo Amore and Big Cass. They were far more popular when they debuted than Street Profits are, but they fizzled out after constantly losing whenever it mattered most.

A majority of these teams were just as talented as Street Profits are, but what separates Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford from the rest is their ability to make anything they're involved in work. That includes those corny and redundant backstage segments they were relegated to many months that had no business being as amusing as they were.

During their two-year stint in NXT, they slowly worked their way up the ladder in the tag team division and earned a reputation for being fan favorites at Full Sail University. Their long journey to the NXT Tag Team Championship culminated at TakeOver: XXV in June when they won the gold in an outstanding Ladder match to a raucous reaction.

In addition to being a blast to watch in the ring, their entrance alone captivates crowds, as seen on Monday's Raw. While the promos they cut that night weren't anything out of the ordinary, their "We Want the Smoke" catchphrase caught fire with the fans in attendance.

The segment served as a small taste of how beloved they can become if WWE can stay the course with them.

While tag team wrestling hasn't been the main roster's forte in several years, Street Profits are both talented competitors and entertaining personalities. If they can break this tag team curse WWE has had going with tandems that graduate from NXT and proceed to flop, fans will be open to seeing more fresh faces grace the division eventually.

Undisputed Era, in particular, can be real game-changers once they accomplish all they can in NXT and make the move to the main roster. That's assuming Street Profits will take off as expected and set a new precedent for the heights tag teams can reach in WWE.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.