Twin Magic/The old switcheroo

[Chili]

4 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Did Chris Candido & Tom Pritchard do this as the Body Donnas? 

I used to like when Money Inc would swap places behind the ref's back and DiBiase/Irwin would just clap his hands loudly and the ref would acknowledge it as a tag and let the match continue. 

I think Zip's debut was a switcheroo involving bizarrely a match between Candido and Rad Radford. 

[chokeout]

2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

I liked when the Brain Busters did it at SummerSlam 89 to beat the Hart Foundation. Yeah, Arn and Tully look nothing alike but the way they did it with Arn using Bret’s arm to hide his balding head so the ref wouldn’t clock it, it actually worked as a one off finish.

The set of bastards. 

That's the sort of stuff that makes good wrestling great. Just a wonderful little detail. 

[Winston]

The two Doink's at WrestleMania 9 is another one.

[Just Some Guy]

Is the worst example of this Barry Windham being fake Sting during Halloween Havoc 1990?

[The King Of Swing]

3 hours ago, Just Some Guy said:

Is the worst example of this Barry Windham being fake Sting during Halloween Havoc 1990?

Nah imo that honour goes to Kevin Nash dressing as Sting at one of the WWIII PPV's. 

[air_raid]

19 hours ago, jazzygeofferz said:

I used to like when Money Inc would swap places behind the ref's back and DiBiase/Irwin would just clap his hands loudly and the ref would acknowledge it as a tag and let the match continue. 

I fucking hate that spot. I hate any spot that makes the ref look a moron. The spot usually coincides within the same match as the ref not allowing a tag the babyfaces make which does happen but that the ref doesn’t see. Such glaring and frequent inconsistencies should have the refs regularly suspended or sacked for not doing the job properly. You don’t call what you don’t see. I’m very happy with the concept of “heels cheat behind the refs back” but the ref shouldn’t facilitate it and allow the bad guys to get away with something and the good guys not. That’s bias.

[CavemanLynn]

3 hours ago, air_raid said:

I fucking hate that spot. I hate any spot that makes the ref look a moron. The spot usually coincides within the same match as the ref not allowing a tag the babyfaces make which does happen but that the ref doesn’t see. Such glaring and frequent inconsistencies should have the refs regularly suspended or sacked for not doing the job properly. You don’t call what you don’t see. I’m very happy with the concept of “heels cheat behind the refs back” but the ref shouldn’t facilitate it and allow the bad guys to get away with something and the good guys not. That’s bias.

That's just bad working though. The idea that a ref would hear a tag he doesn't see but see a different guy in the ring and therefore assume a tag had occurred is fine. The ref should hear and acknowledge the protests of the crowd, so next time he hears a tag but doesn't see one, he makes it clear he's not being caught by that again, even if the tag DID happen. It's not the ref being dumb; it's the heels being smart and the ref being taken advantage of but trying to do his best job. The problem is, as with so many spots today, that today's workers make it all about getting themselves over, so the true payoff never comes, and yes, everyone looks stupid.

[CTXRussomark]

9 hours ago, air_raid said:

I fucking hate that spot. I hate any spot that makes the ref look a moron. The spot usually coincides within the same match as the ref not allowing a tag the babyfaces make which does happen but that the ref doesn’t see. Such glaring and frequent inconsistencies should have the refs regularly suspended or sacked for not doing the job properly. You don’t call what you don’t see. I’m very happy with the concept of “heels cheat behind the refs back” but the ref shouldn’t facilitate it and allow the bad guys to get away with something and the good guys not. That’s bias.

I didn't really care about the ret looking stupid but I do remember thinking more times than not they'd do that spot and the heels would have had plenty of time to tag properly if they wanted to.  So it was just cheating for cheating sake and I never thought the faces were being overly hard done to. 

[Duke]

19 hours ago, CavemanLynn said:

That's just bad working though. The idea that a ref would hear a tag he doesn't see but see a different guy in the ring and therefore assume a tag had occurred is fine.

No it's not! Part of the refs job is to see the tags because there are visual indicators as to whether it's a legit tag or not. Is the partner holding the tag rope? Are they even in their corner? Did I actually hear someone slap someone else and mistake it for the sound of a tag?

The ref is also supposed to signal the tag is legal so he can keep track of the legal men in the match.  I know noone pays any attention to this any more, but it's definitely an inconsistency that makes the ref look bad out of laziness 

[air_raid]

19 hours ago, CavemanLynn said:

The ref should hear and acknowledge the protests of the crowd, so next time he hears a tag but doesn't see one, he makes it clear he's not being caught by that again, even if the tag DID happen.

Ah, maybe ONCE do I recall seeing that spot and it was hilarious seeing the heel pitch a fit about not being allowed in after actually tagging. Might have been DiBiase, now that I think about it.

13 hours ago, CTXRussomark said:

I didn't really care about the ret looking stupid but I do remember thinking more times than not they'd do that spot and the heels would have had plenty of time to tag properly if they wanted to.  So it was just cheating for cheating sake and I never thought the faces were being overly hard done to. 

I liked that. Cheaters gotta cheat regardless, it’s in their nature. Funny. I’m far more used to seeing the “swapping the abdominal stretch” spot. Babyface is trapped in the hold, decent distance from the corner, hasn’t moved an inch, is still in the hold but the other bloke has it on now. Come on ref, how likely was a tag here? Who’s standing on the apron now, Inspector Gadget?

One of my other strong memories of a “tag not happening” and being crucial also involved Money Inc. At Survivor Series 92 at the end of Nasty Boys/Disasters vs Money Inc/Beverlys, when Sags sneaks in to roll up Irwin seconds after the Natural Disasters are eliminated, The Brain protests “But there was no tag!!” Now, I know Bobby is a heel and supposed to give the other heels an excuse, but this was weak by his lofty standards. Typhoons just been eliminated; who exactly was supposed to tag Sags into the match? Of course, Heenan redeemed himself by muttering about the Nastys’ win “… stood on the apron all night, didn’t do a damn thing!”

The psychology of that match was completely fucked. The Beverlys went out first leaving Money Inc against insurmountable odds 2 vs 4 (an odd position to put heels rather than faces in) against the two teams Jimmy Hart had betrayed - the Disasters who I never felt the fans had really taken to, and the Nastys who’d only just turned. Rather than take a brief, amusing shit-kicking, Ted and Irwin fought the odds bravely including lengthy heat on the Disasters, finally eliminating them, before succumbing exhausted to the fresh Nasty Boys. Huh?

Suppose it serves them right for picking losers for partners.

Edited April 16, 2022 by air_raid

[Jazzy G]

There was some twin magic on Rampage last night with the Renegade Twins. 

[air_raid]

31 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

There was some twin magic on Rampage last night with the Renegade Twins. 

Does Renegade and Warrior at Fall Brawl 98 count?

[King Mal the Glorious]

1 hour ago, jazzygeofferz said:

There was some twin magic on Rampage last night with the Renegade Twins. 

Which one of you is Tony Khan then?

[Carbomb]

I know the Bellas are shite and all that, but I'm guessing they're probably the longest-running example.

EDIT: Also, have I misremembered this, or was Colin Delaney one of a pair of twins who worked the indies? I'd imagine he and his brother (if he was) would've done this fairly often.

Edited April 16, 2022 by Carbomb

[CavemanLynn]

9 hours ago, Duke said:

No it's not! Part of the refs job is to see the tags because there are visual indicators as to whether it's a legit tag or not. Is the partner holding the tag rope? Are they even in their corner? Did I actually hear someone slap someone else and mistake it for the sound of a tag?

Good points. If he hears a tag, but turns round and sees the two heels fucking a door knob in the corner, then by rights he should be pulling them up on it. But if he hears a tag, turns and sees one man in, one man out, then he has to see it as himself slipping up and 'playing advantage.' Otherwise, the logical extreme becomes having to 'stop play' any time anyone protests a call or lack thereof. Again, it comes down to the heels planning to show arse further down the line, getting cocky and getting caught trying to con the ref again, creating an opening for the faces to strike and get their just desserts.