WWE's Tag Teams

[Jason Mayhem]

Every company needs to sometimes take stock and then change direction, and I can understand many of the changes we have seen in the past 10 years or so in the WWE. The PG thing i think is the right thing to do, getting rid of the hardcore stuff etc, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why they are so down on tag team wrestling.

 

Tag matches and decent proper tag teams (matching ring gear and a team name etc) add variety to their show, and something else to get excited about. Some of the most memorable matches for me have been tag matches. It would also give many of the bottomless pit of mid carders that are currently on the books something to do!!

 

I'd love to see WWE do a reboot on tag teams, just bring in a whole bunch and do a tournament on raw over a month or so, but this just wont happen.

 

So what do you guys think? I think all wrestling fans would love to see a decent tag division in wwe, and it is something they could easily offer within their current PG product, so why do you think that WWE are just not interested in proper tag team wrestling matches??

[truthofsin]

I dont think its a case of WWE not being interested in tag teams more than it being a case of WWE being more interested in creating singles stars.. WWE has had plenty of teams over the past 5 years, but they always seem to jump the gun and split them up in order to push one half as a singles star.. London & Kendrick, Cade and Murdoch, Hart Dynasty, Rhodes & Dibiase, Jesse & Festus, Cryme Tyme, Hawkins & Ryder, Worlds Greatest Tag Team, Miz and Morrison.. Im not saying all those teams were great or that some of the splits didnt work out great in that they created new stars. Simply that all those teams were split for the same reason, or in the case of WGTT and Cade & Murdoch multiple times for the same reason lol..

[Jason Mayhem]

I dont think its a case of WWE not being interested in tag teams more than it being a case of WWE being more interested in creating singles stars.. WWE has had plenty of teams over the past 5 years, but they always seem to jump the gun and split them up in order to push one half as a singles star.. London & Kendrick, Cade and Murdoch, Hart Dynasty, Rhodes & Dibiase, Jesse & Festus, Cryme Tyme, Hawkins & Ryder, Worlds Greatest Tag Team, Miz and Morrison.. Im not saying all those teams were great or that some of the splits didnt work out great in that they created new stars. Simply that all those teams were split for the same reason, or in the case of WGTT and Cade & Murdoch multiple times for the same reason lol..

 

Sure they've had people that have teamed together but only three of those you listed were actual tag teams, Hart Dynasty, Cryme Time and WGTT. Not exactly Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, Demolition, Road Warriors, Powers of Pain, Strike Force, Brain Busters, Killer Bees, Headbangers, Rockers, Power and Glory etc etc is it? The rest were just two wrestler teaming up for a month or two and all over them had the inevitable split. Did any of them have a tag team finisher or any trademark double team moves? Maybe a couple.

 

Remember when WWE (WWF) had 10 tag teams (proper tag teams too!) in 1 match? That's a roster with a healthy tag division!

[truthofsin]

I dont think its a case of WWE not being interested in tag teams more than it being a case of WWE being more interested in creating singles stars.. WWE has had plenty of teams over the past 5 years, but they always seem to jump the gun and split them up in order to push one half as a singles star.. London & Kendrick, Cade and Murdoch, Hart Dynasty, Rhodes & Dibiase, Jesse & Festus, Cryme Tyme, Hawkins & Ryder, Worlds Greatest Tag Team, Miz and Morrison.. Im not saying all those teams were great or that some of the splits didnt work out great in that they created new stars. Simply that all those teams were split for the same reason, or in the case of WGTT and Cade & Murdoch multiple times for the same reason lol..

 

Sure they've had people that have teamed together but only three of those you listed were actual tag teams, Hart Dynasty, Cryme Time and WGTT. Not exactly Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, Demolition, Road Warriors, Powers of Pain, Strike Force, Brain Busters, Killer Bees, Headbangers, Rockers, Power and Glory etc etc is it? The rest were just two wrestler teaming up for a month or two and all over them had the inevitable split. Did any of them have a tag team finisher or any trademark double team moves? Maybe a couple.

 

Remember when WWE (WWF) had 10 tag teams (proper tag teams too!) in 1 match? That's a roster with a healthy tag division!

 

Cade & Murdoch came in as a team following weeks of vignettes promoting them as a team, they had tag moves and even wore team outfits (different but both had the team logo on).

 

Jesse and Festus came in as a team following weeks of vignettes also.

 

Dibiase and Rhodes teamed for the first time in Dibiase's debut match and stayed a team until they split.

 

Miz and Morrison were one of the better tag teams of the last 5-6 years in my opinion as they were presented as a team and actually worked well as one playing off each others strenghs. Neither was a singles star during their tag run either.

 

I dont get how they dont class as proper teams, i just think that times have changed and a team these days isnt just about dressing the same. That to me doesnt make a team.

 

I intentionally left out DX, Miz & Show, Jericho & Show, Edge & Jericho, Kane & Show, Rated RKO etc as those were pairings of 2 singles stars that were still presented as singles stars while the team was together..

[Fatty Facesitter]

It's important to remember that actual tag team wrestling itself isn't dead, there are tag team matches on virtually every show each week. It's the creation of marketable tag team acts that are the problem. It's a shame, as I think there's potential money to be made if WWE could pair two talented guys together who aren't really doing a lot at the moment and give them a chance to get over and play off of each other.

[truthofsin]

It's important to remember that actual tag team wrestling itself isn't dead, there are tag team matches on virtually every show each week. It's the creation of marketable tag team acts that are the problem. It's a shame, as I think there's potential money to be made if WWE could pair two talented guys together who aren't really doing a lot at the moment and give them a chance to get over and play off of each other.

 

im with you all the way on that point, 2 teams that spring to mind as being created by the '2 guys with not a lot going on, so lets pair them' method would be The Acolytes and The New Age Outlaws. Both of whom went on to have great success.

 

I think WWE needs to be more patient when splitting the teams it creates instead of trying to turn a team into marketable single stars. Experience should show them that it works out a lot better if a team is together for longer before a split. Would Edge have been ready for a singles run if they'd have split the team earlier? Maybe, but i'd say he for sure benefited from the extra time as a member of a team and was more ready for the singles run as a result..

 

WWE has shot themselves in the foot time and time again by splitting teams too early. A team is a good way to cover a guys weaknesses while he matures as a performer and i think a lot of new stars could have been created if they'd learned patience.

[mackie]

There must be a financial aspect to this as to bring a tag team around to all the shows cost twice as much as a singles star. Plus you won't make as much money in merchandise with a tag team as its the same merchandise for 2 people. Also with the frequency of injuries these days having a tag team doubles that risk.

[spartan]

The tag team division in WWE has never been the same since the increase in PPVs. Previously, when there was only a handful of PPVs per year, story lines could take their time to build and for the most part champions held the title for quite a while.

 

Occasionally, part of the story lines were tag teams breaking up and feuding. Because of the infrequent PPVs and the many main event stars to fill the spots on them, there was no rush to break up tag teams in this respect. Tag teams could be tag teams, and the tag team title meant something. IMO this changed when we went to monthly PPVs. Going from essentially 4 PPVs to 12 meant story lines being rushed through quicker, a bigger need to build singles stars and less focus on tag teams, often splitting them way too early.

 

Long gone are the days of a proper WWE tag team division ala Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, Demolition, Rockers, Powers of Pain, Nasty Boys, LOD, Dudleys, Hardys etc, and the WWE is weaker because of this. TNA has shown how much tag team wrestling can still get over. Beer Money and MCMG are just 2 examples of this.

 

I really hope the WWE makes an effort to resurrect tag wrestling, but honestly I just can't see it happening.

[AshC]

Watched a bit of WrestleMania 2000 the other night, the amount of regular tag teams on the show was unreal. Hardys ,Dudleys, Edge & Christian, Too Cool, Radicals, DX, the APA, Headbangers, Kaientai, Bossman & Bull, Head Cheese, T & A, Mean Street Posse, D-Lo and Godfather, the Hollys at a push...

[Cobra1000]

Yeah I love Tag Team Wrestling. It just strikes me as odd that WWE doesn't use it. Surely a health Tag Division = Money? Tag Teams can surely be just as big a draw as singles wrestling.

 

I thought earlier last year it was getting better with Hart Dynasty, the Uso's, Santino and Kozlov and The Nexus/Corre teams, but then Hart Dynasty broke up and things went rubbish again.

[King Pitcos]

Hart Dynasty were fucking shite. So are the Usos. They're the sort of teams that should be wrestling Kaientai and the Mean Street Posse on Heat, they're not the kind of teams that can spearhead the resurgence of a tag division.

[Cobra1000]

Hart Dynasty were fucking shite. So are the Usos. They're the sort of teams that should be wrestling Kaientai and the Mean Street Posse on Heat, they're not the kind of teams that can spearhead the resurgence of a tag division.

 

Yeah, but in fairness to them, do you even think they were given a fair shot? They are a bit shit, Hart Dynasty are boring as fuck, but Natalya gave them a bit of interest and given a semi decent push up and some other teams around them they might have been alright.

[King Pitcos]

More than a fair shot. They hung around with Bret, they battered Vince McMahon, they beat Big Show and Miz for the titles, they beat Jericho and Miz to retain the titles. And nobody watching ever even considered giving a turd about them.

[Ron Simmons]

More than a fair shot. They hung around with Bret, they battered Vince McMahon, they beat Big Show and Miz for the titles, they beat Jericho and Miz to retain the titles. And nobody watching ever even considered giving a turd about them.

What I've never understood is the belief that Tyson Kidd is this exceptionally gifted technical wrestler. I genuinely don't remember enjoying a match of his during his time in WWE; he's boring to watch at best, mind-numbingly tedious at worst.

[the_mole]

According to those podcasts that the former WWE's do, apparenty Vince isn't a fan of tatg teams because "why pay two guys to perform, when you can just have one guy do the same job"