The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship belts remained vacant since the former champions relinquished those. Sasha Banks and Naomi were the duo who did the unthinkable of walking out of the May 9 episode of WWE Raw where they were already booked to feature in the main event scene.
Amid a lack of talents from WWE Raw and Smackdown rosters, the plans for crowning new champions via an already announced Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament were on a halt for months. Then on last week’s Smackdown, it was announced that the tourney will kick off on this week’s Raw and it did proceed with the schedule.
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Heading into Raw from Cleveland, the bracket for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament to crown new winners was unveiled. Eight teams were revealed alongside four matches with a surprise pair from NXT.
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Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament bracket revealed on Raw
On the left side of the single-elimination bracket, there are Tamina and 24/7 Champion Dana Brooke, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai, Alexa Bliss and Asuka, and Nikki ASH and Doudrop. On the right side, the bracket has Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah, Xia Li and Shotzi, Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark of NXT, and Sonya Deville and Natalya.
The left side of the Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament seems stronger as the pair of Sky/Kai and Bliss/Asuka are heavy favorites to win. They are also likely to collide in the semi-finals. Most of the teams on the right side are random tandems, but the pair of Nikkita/Stark is rather interesting.
Stark has just returned to action on NXT from a serious knee injury. She was a surprise entrance in the NXT Women’s Championship Number-One Contender’s Battle Royal on the July 19 episode of NXT 2.0. Stark eventually emerged as the winner and she will get her title match against the champion Mandy Rose on the Heatwave special episode on Tuesday, August 16.
Nikkita Lyons is another name who is being built as a strong babyface who would step up to the champion, down the road. But for the time being, the fresh pair from NXT would go after the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
In the first match of the Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament on Raw, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY defeated the team of 24/7 Champion Dana Brooke and Tamina. They will now be facing the winners of Alexa Bliss and Asuka vs. Nikki ASH and Doudrop, a matchup announced for next week’s episode of WWE Raw.
