During Friday night's SmackDown, it was confirmed that WWE plans to unify the Women's Tag Team Championships and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships.
Fans were surprised when Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre were called up to the main roster with the NXT titles, and they'll square off with Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey a couple of weeks from now. It's an intriguing development, but there's a good reason for the change.
According to multiple outlets, WWE CEO Nick Khan has pushed for the unification as he wants NXT to no longer be viewed as a developmental brand.
This would explain why we've seen main roster Superstars like Baron Corbin and Mustafa Ali on the show, and the recent challenge to World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins from Bron Breakker. While we're sure Triple H is on board with the idea creatively, that's not Khan's driving motivation.
Following WWE's sale to Endeavor, the expectation is the company will score another massive payday for the weekly TV rights to RAW, SmackDown, and NXT. Boosting the latter's ratings means it's going to increase the value of the overall deal.
On the plus side, it's also been revealed that WWE is looking to completely overhaul the Women's Tag Team division, hence why we'll see a single set of titles defended across all shows.
The titles have been an afterthought from the start, often rarely defended or the subject of controversy. Rousey has made it clear she wants to put the belts on the map, and it now appears WWE is going to make them as important as Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' Undisputed Tag Team Championships.
It's about time, eh?