A report has shed light on why WWE has not held the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in recent years.
Speaking on WrestleVotes Live, Joey Votes suggested the tournament’s absence is due to the current depth of the NXT roster rather than a lack of interest from WWE or NXT’s creative team. The discussion began after a listener questioned why the tournament had been dropped despite WWE’s recent emphasis on developing its own tag teams.
“I think it comes down to the roster that NXT had,” Joey Votes said. “They had it through 2024. I don’t know if it was well received that year. No indictment on Shawn Michaels or the creative staff there, but to have a tag team tournament, you need a lot of talent.”
According to Joey Votes, the issue is having enough established teams available to fill a tournament bracket without disrupting ongoing storylines.
“Talent that you’re not using elsewhere. You can’t pluck from different storylines necessarily to be in these tournaments. So back in the day when NXT had stacked, stacked rosters, it made sense.”
WWE Could Bring Back The Dusty Rhodes Classic If The NXT Tag Roster Improves
He added that the tournament could return in the future if NXT’s roster reaches that level again.
“Maybe they can get there again one day. But I just think over the last couple of years, they didn’t have the roster to pull off a tag team tournament.”
TC also pointed to changes in WWE’s developmental system, noting that young talent now has additional platforms such as WWE EVOLVE and LFG, reducing the need for a tournament to provide exposure.
“It was done for a reason, to get some of these young talent exposure that they’re now using for NXT and LFG differently than they had back then.”
While the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic has not been officially discontinued, the comments suggest WWE’s current focus on talent development and roster management has made the tournament less of a priority in recent years.
