The tag team division finally gets a pulse
Look, I love the legends as much as the next fan who grew up with a poster of the Bella Twins on their bedroom wall. But watching Paige and Brie Bella challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships felt like a trip to a museum exhibit rather than a high-stakes wrestling match. On July 18, at the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, the business finally corrected course.
Fatal Influence snatching the gold from those two wasn’t just a shocker; it was a reality check. Fallon Henley and her squad have been grinding for a spotlight that felt perpetually out of reach. When Fallon finally secured the pinfall, the energy in the arena shifted from polite nostalgia to actual, tangible hunger. It turned the division from a retirement home back into a shark tank.
The move toward credibility
The reality is that veteran cameos are fine for a pop, but they don't move the needle on long-term booking. You can’t build a future by constantly anchoring the belts to acts that haven’t been full-time wrestlers for half a decade. Fatal Influence winning signifies that the brass is actually paying attention to the work rate happening below the main event scene.
Bringing fresh faces into the rotation is the only way to avoid the mid-card malaise that has plagued this show for months. It feels similar to how AEW Collision has been struggling to find its footing, proving that if the booking isn't pushing a narrative forward, even the biggest stars start looking like they are in a holding pattern. Thankfully, WWE decided against running in circles this time.
Fatal Influence defeated Paige and Brie Bella to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Sure, the match itself had its clunky moments. There were points where the transitions felt like watching a student driver navigate a roundabout during rush hour. You can tell that the chemistry between these factions isn't fully ironed out, and a few of the spots lacked the polish you expect from a title-changing bout. But honestly? I’ll take a little sloppy effort with high stakes over a perfectly choreographed snooze-fest any day of the week.
What happens when the smoke clears?
The real fun starts now that the titles are around the waists of the actual full-time roster. We’ve seen plenty of champions before who felt like placeholders, keeping the belts warm until the next big name requested a move to the brand. This feels different. It feels like the start of a run where the champions are actually expected to put in the work at every house show and taping.
Of course, this isn't free of risk. If they don't start defending these titles with intensity, they are going to look just as vulnerable as the people they beat. We have already seen stars like Saraya struggle to connect when the creative isn't clicking, so Fatal Influence needs to make sure their character work matches their in-ring performance. Being a heel champion is all about being the most obnoxious person in the room, and if they can lean into that, they could hold these belts until the end of the year.
I want to see them run roughshod over the division for a while. Let them cheat. Let them cut annoying promos and gloat about their victory. The goal isn't to be liked; it's to force the audience to buy a ticket just to see them get their teeth kicked in. It is high time we stopped relying on the past to carry the present.
