WWE Tag Team Division Discussion

[Richie Freebird]

I was watching one of the late 80's Survivor Series the other tag with the 20 man tag matches - now that was a stacked tag division. Are there even ten tag teams in WWE these days?

 

Ah, Survivor Series '88. My favorite ever Survivor Series.

 

Here's how that bout lined up, it is indeed a stacked division:

 

Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian), The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty), the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid), The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), and The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers)

 

vs

 

WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax and Smash), the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard), The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov), The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) and Los Conquistadores (Uno and Dos).

[Professor Paul's Bin]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this but just after the recent draft.. Swagger/McIntyre were teamed up and I thought they looked pretty badass together. I just don't see why they didn't continue building them up as it would have made much more sense, the two have more potential and than the Otunga/McGuicutee and The Fuckin Usos combined.

 

Bare in mind I am a McIntyre mark and just want him on TV. Preferably with something decent and in some title division

[aaron]

Ah, Survivor Series '88. My favorite ever Survivor Series.

 

Here's how that bout lined up, it is indeed a stacked division:

 

Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian), The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty), the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid), The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), and The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers)

 

vs

 

WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax and Smash), the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard), The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov), The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) and Los Conquistadores (Uno and Dos).

 

 

Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid.... three of the very, very best in-ring performers ever ever ever.....

 

From that to The Briscoes? Fuck...

[Icon]

The Briscoes arent too bad at least there better then otunga and henning jr

[ColinBollocks]

Zack Ryder needs to form a team with someone and call themselves The Broski's. Maybe do a nice angle where he takes a 'Regal-type' and slowly turns him into a Broski. Actually Ryder and Regal as an odd couple team would be ace. Needs a touch of Scott Stanford though.

 

I'd cream my frillies if Beer Money were to get signed and used properly. Too good for the current TNA, sadly.

[BiffingtonClyro]

Zack Ryder needs to form a team with someone and call themselves The Broski's. Maybe do a nice angle where he takes a 'Regal-type' and slowly turns him into a Broski. Actually Ryder and Regal as an odd couple team would be ace. Needs a touch of Scott Stanford though.

 

I'd cream my frillies if Beer Money were to get signed and used properly. Too good for the current TNA, sadly.

 

I thought Ryder was in a part time tag team with Curt Hawkins called the Major Broskis?

[Vito]

The Briscoe's? Really? I suppose every division needs cannon fodder.

Have you actually seen the Briscoe's lately? They're far from the skinny kids that they used to be.

 

Many people within the WWE, Hunter included, have complained that wrestlers these days don't have the benefit of traveling around and honing their craft outside of the WWE, most of the companies talent is plucked from its feeder promotion so we have wrestlers making it on to television with very little experience working in front of proper crowds and very little ideas of who their characters are. What do we know about the current Tag Team champions? We know about Nexus, but in terms of character and gimmick they don't really have anything going on which makes them stand out.

 

Between them the Kings Of Wrestling have about twenty four years of wrestling experience and have wrestled all over the world, The Briscoe's have been a tag team for a lot longer than the Kings, around eleven years, but are not quite as well traveled. Both teams are no strangers to the WWE either.

 

As a fan of tag team wrestling I'd like to see a serious WWE tag team division built around solid, experienced, versatile and marketable tag teams. The KOW, The Briscoe's, Beer Money would be the most obvious 'must have' signings, within the WWE you have The Uso's who need work but have finally started heading down the right path, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes would be a cracking heel team, maybe Colt Cabana could team up with Santino for a while. It's madness to suggest that the WWE doesn't take tag team wrestling seriously because "it doesn't make money", especially whenever the company has needed a financial shot in the arm recently they've reformed bloody DX.

[King Pitcos]

Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes would be a cracking heel team

They weren't last time. And that's the thing, it doesn't matter which teams WWE hire or put together until someone makes a commitment to actually giving everyone below the main event something worthwhile to do. McIntyre and Cody vs The Usos every week for no reason wouldn't help either team. Beer Money vs Kings of Wrestling every week for no reason wouldn't do anyone any good, either.

[PSF]

When the tag division was alive and well, Tag Team Main Events (Cena & Mysterio vs Miz & Truth etc...) were none existent. Now the main event of Raw & Smackdown is filled with them. Why would someone care about the tag titles on 2 no bodies when they can watch the main event including the main guys on the roster?

[King Pitcos]

When the tag division was alive and well, Tag Team Main Events (Cena & Mysterio vs Miz & Truth etc...) were none existent. Now the main event of Raw & Smackdown is filled with them. Why would someone care about the tag titles on 2 no bodies when they can watch the main event including the main guys on the roster?

That's not very true. During the days of the TLC teams, there were always tag main events on Raw and Smackdown. Often including the tag teams, there'd always be stuff like Rock and the Dudleys vs Angle, Edge and Christian etc.

[Dirty Eddie]

When the tag division was alive and well, Tag Team Main Events (Cena & Mysterio vs Miz & Truth etc...) were none existent. Now the main event of Raw & Smackdown is filled with them. Why would someone care about the tag titles on 2 no bodies when they can watch the main event including the main guys on the roster?

 

It's like anything in wrestling, the announcers, talent, managers, GMs etc... have to give the fans a reason to care about what they are seeing.

 

In the specific case of Tag Team Wrestling, it should be pushed that it is an actual 'team' match, where is doesn't necessarily matter whether you are a world class singles wrestler, it's all about the team aspect, with stuff like - "the teams you are about to watch later tonight are masters of the double-team moves, they have flawless game-plans and both will be looking for their devastating tag team finishing move".

 

Two randoms teaming up should almost always lose to a proper tag team. It used to be the case, and Jim Ross was always class at putting over how well tag teams work together and how unique and exciting their offense can be.

 

Tag Wrestling is a different art to a singles match. the stuff you get in RAW main events are not true tag bouts. Seeing the deathly boring Otunga/McGillicutty doing a couple of actual double-team-moves was great, but we needs loads, loads more of that, matching gear, a team name etc...

 

Hogan and Savage were a part-time Tag Team in 1988, that didn't kill of the division then.

 

WCW used the on/off tag team of usual main eventers Sting and Luger to often compete with the top tag teams, but the likes of the Steiners and the LOD were treated like a big deal, and it took the very best singles wrestlers in the company to team up and stand a chance against them.

 

It's all about how you build something up and present it to the audience.

[Cobra1000]

I would cream myself if Beer Money showed up in WWE.

 

Probably like everyone, I'd like a ressurected Tag Team Division, I seriously think the Uso's are pretty good and worth keeping around, McGuillicutty and Otunga have some nifty double team moves and aren't THAT bad in the ring, but they shouldn't be Champions. If we got Kings of Wrestling, Beer Money, and a few teams put together from the roster like Bourne and someone, Hawkins and Baretta as Dudebusters part 2, Tyler Reks with someone in an old school power and paint team - greatness. There plently of guys on the roster that they don't use that might be good for stuff like this.

 

...but if they are gonna hype it up, I'd like to see the division mean something again, highlight videos of past great tag teams and what not, desire videos and all that stuff.

[Vito]

They weren't last time. And that's the thing, it doesn't matter which teams WWE hire or put together until someone makes a commitment to actually giving everyone below the main event something worthwhile to do. McIntyre and Cody vs The Usos every week for no reason wouldn't help either team. Beer Money vs Kings of Wrestling every week for no reason wouldn't do anyone any good, either.

I completely agree. In my opinion the companies creative and booking departments need a massive kick up the arse because aside from the CM Punk and Mark Henry storylines the companies other feuds have been painfully repetitive, how many times have Ziggler and Kingston met each other this year? Or Orton and Christian? I don't think people should be watching two hours of Raw just to see what Triple H, John Cena and CM Punk have to say to each other. Obviously the main event feuds should be the focal point of the show but that doesn't mean that everything else has to have no importance placed on it at all.

 

When the tag division was alive and well, Tag Team Main Events (Cena & Mysterio vs Miz & Truth etc...) were none existent. Now the main event of Raw & Smackdown is filled with them.

Do you live in opposite land?

[Carbomb]

Have you actually seen the Briscoe's lately? They're far from the skinny kids that they used to be.

 

I don't think the issue is with their looks, it's with their actual matches. They're even spottier than Daniels. When they work heel, they tone it down, but even then it's still difficult to watch.

[Vito]

That's the kind of thing that will get trained out of them, isn't it. I remember a comment HHH made shortly after Punk was first signed in which he said something along the lines of "he's just a small guy who stole a load of Japanese moves", and after some time in development he simplified his offense and fit in perfectly. I'm not saying that the Briscoe's should be on TV now, all I'm saying is that they have a gimmick, which is more than can be said of the current tag champions.