The Piledriver Report 09.28.12: Tag Teams, Back Again!

THE GOLDEN ERA

British Bulldogs vs. the Hart Foundation. The Midnight Express vs. the Rock n’ Roll Express. Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson vs. the Rockers. The Dudleys vs. Edge and Christain vs. the Hardys. These are just four examples of some of the great tag team rivalries over the last twenty plus years in the professional wrestling industry. Along with these memorable rivalries, there were other great teams, such as the Road Warriors, Demolition, the New Age Outlaws, the Steiner Brothers, MNM, Sabu and Rob Van Dam, the Eliminators, Harlem Heat, and the Miz and John Morrison.

While the value of titles in wrestling have decreased over time, there was a period where the tag team championships were just as important as the major singles titles in every pro wrestling company. The tag team scene was so huge that the National Wrestling Alliance held the Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament from 1986-1988. While a Jim Crockett Promotions team won the tournament each year (The Road Warriors in 1986, Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes in 1987, and Lex Luger and Sting in 1988), the tournament featured different teams from around the world “competing” for the cup. In the mid-late eighties, tag team wrestling was in its golden era.

In the nineties, tag team wrestling, especially in the WWF started to decline as midcard tag teams like the Godwins, the Quebecers, Men on a Mission, and the Body Donnas burst onto the scene. However, by the late nineties, there was a renaissance in the tag team division. ECW featured an outstanding array of tag team talent, such as the Gangstas, the Eliminators, the Pitbulls, Public Enemy, the Dudleys, and Axl/Ian Rotten. The WWF took notice, and with the Hardy Boys and Edge and Christian leading the way, there was a tag team explosion in the company.

THE REVIVAL

The two teams started to have a rivalry in 1999 where Edge/Christain, former Brood members, faced the the Gangrel led New Brood team of the Matt and Jeff Hardy. The duos competed in a series of “Terri Invitational Tournament matches, where the winners gained the managerial services of Terri Runnels. At the October 17th, 1999 No Mercy pay per view event, the Hardys faced Edge and Christian in the WWF’s first tag team ladder match. While the Hardys won the match, both teams were elevated due to the outstanding work that the four men displayed in the contest. As Matt Hardy was once quoted, the match elevated the two teams from “WWF wrestlers to WWF Superstars.” The WWF threw the newly-signed Dudley Boys into the mix, and the fans were treated to three incredible high profile Triple Threat matches between the two teams.

The first match took place at WrestleMania 2000 where Edge and Christian won the WWF Tag Team championships (and turned heel afterwards) in a three team ladder match between the Hardys and then WWF champions the Dudley Boys. At that year’s SummerSlam event, the three teams one upped themselves by competing in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, also won by Edge and Christian. The three teams competed in their greatest match against each other at WrestleMania X-Seven when Edge and Christian won TLC II.

The closest the WWE has come to a tag team revival was during the SmackDown! Six days in 2002 when Kurt Angle teamed with Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero partnered up with Chavo Guerrero, and Edge tagged with Rey Mysterio. The three teams, whether working traditional tag team matches or tag team triple threat matches, put on a wrestling clinic for the fans. The No Mercy match between Angle and Benoit vs. Edge and Mysterio won the Wrestling Observer’s Match of the Year in 2002, while Eddie and Chavo Guerrero took home the Tag Team of the Year honors.

Since the glory days of Edge/Christian vs. the Hardys vs. the Dudleys and the SmackDown! Six, the WWF has put a de-emphasis on tag team wrestling. Every once in a while, a team would break through like the New Age Outlaws, MNM, Brian Kendrick/Paul London, and The Miz/John Morrison to make the fans think that the WWF/E will start to push the tag team division again. Eventually though, the division would fizzle out once again.

THE COMEBACK

The tag team division appears to be on the upswing once again. According to reports, Triple H is the man largely responsible for bringing back tag team wrestling into the forefront in the WWE. The make shift WWE tag team champions of Daniel Bryan and Kane are oddly entertaining. While Daniel Bryan can have a Match of the Year with any wrestler in the company, it has been his shits and promos with Kane that have been stealing the show recently. Their segments with a very nervous psychologist by their side have been the best non-wrestling taped segments in years. If it were any other two performers, these segments would probably die a quick death. However, the two men have made it work.

Bryan and Kane aren’t the only teams that have put a spotlight on the tag team division in the WWE recently. The Prime Time Players were receiving a nice push when they were managed by Abraham Washington. While the group has seemed to lose some steam without him, they still have the potential of being a top team in the near future. Primo and Epico and the Usos are both solid tag teams that could flourish in the division if they are put over some of the new teams that have sprouted up in the WWE recently. However, I don’t see either team rising about the Killer Bee/Los Boriquas level. Kofi Kingston and R-Truth reigned for months as the tag team champions. They were basically one of the standard “let’s throw a couple of singles wrestlers together to make a team” type of tag team. However, both men gelled nicely, and work well as a team. Instead of getting lost in the singles shuffle, they were able to stay relevant as tag team champions.

The WWE has actually created some new teams that you could be excited about. Unfortunately, these teams aren’t “tag team specialists” like in the old days, but singles wrestlers that were paired together to make a team. On the positive side, the partners of each new team blend in well together, because their styles mesh with their teammate.

Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel are both high flying specialists that take you back to the days of the Rockers where they had to rely on the speed and shiftiness, because they didn’t have the size. Both men put on entertaining matches. Zack Ryder and Santino Marella are the comedy team team. While not much is expected of these two, they help bring the fans back down after witnessing an emotionally exhausting match right before these two step into the ring. Plus, with Santino’s “cobra” and his antics, the children in the audience will be paying close attention to this team. One of my favorite new team is Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara. I think this is a great pairing. One of the big complaints regarding Sin Cara is that he botches moves, and can’t work the WWE style. By teaming with Rey, Mysterio can help guide the former Mystico along. Plus, many feel Sin Cara acts as a male diva (not a WWE women wrestler). Maybe if he sees the way Mysterio carries himself, it will rub off on Sin Cara. Unfortunately, I think the Mysterio and Sin Cara team is a short term partnership to build up their match at the upcoming WrestleMania XXIX. Another new team with a ton of potential is the duo of Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Both wrestlers have the same type of personalities, so their tag team combination makes a lot of sense. I saw one promo of theirs on this past RAW, and I am already a fan. I can’t wait to see what they can do in the ring. I am hoping for big things.

On this week’s SmackDown!, it was announced that the WWE will be holding a tag team tournament to crown the next #1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team championship. The first round matches are Rhodes/Sandow vs. the Usos, Mysterio/Sin Cara vs. Epico/Primo, Tyson Kidd/Gabriel vs. Marella/Ryder, and the Prime Time Players vs. Kingston/R-Truth. I think a number of these teams could be pushed as the winners of the tournament. I haven’t felt that way for years in regards to the tag team division. This shows that the tag team scene in the WWE is on the rise. Will it stay there, or will it fizzle out like usual in the WWE? I have my doubts that the WWE will spark a new tag team revolution. However, since they a giving it a push with some good performers anchoring the division, I will enjoy it while it lasts.