The state of the tag team division has been something of a sticking point for The Revival over the last few weeks — too many fluke losses and Lucha House Rules for their taste — so their first night as Raw Tag Team Champions was right up their alley: A rematch of a 2016 contest against NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa & NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano that was named the match of the year. To be sure, the arrival of the onetime #DIY was a godsend for tag-team aficionados; the two teams put on an impromptu classic that seemed to foreshadow a new, ultracompetitive era for Raw’s tandem division (former champs Bobby Roode & Chad Gable were pointedly wondering why they weren't involved in the action) and gave The Revival the kind of competition they crave. The result, however, left something to be desired for the self-proclaimed “Top Guys.”

Ciampa & Gargano did, indeed, give them a hell of a fight — more, perhaps, than they were ready for, as Dash & Dawson found themselves quickly put on their heels by Gargano’s speed and The Blackheart’s cruel ingenuity. Any strategy the champions had quickly went out the window, and the match quickly careened into a sequence of rapid-fire pin attempts. Dawson found himself on the wrong end of a slingshot spear from Gargano, which set up a fateful tag from Ciampa and the duo’s rattling finisher of a running knee and superkick to either side of the head that they call Meeting in the Middle.

The good news for the champs is that they could try to write it off as a fluke, as Ciampa and Gargano have unfinished business at Full Sail with various challengers and, perhaps, each other. This may be a one-off reunion, and it might be better for The Revival’s reign if it was. Because for one night at least, they got exactly what they wanted, and they weren’t ready for it.

The NXT Champion and the NXT North American Champion comment on their non-title victory over Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival in their Raw debut.