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The 7 - Pro Wrestling - Tag Team Division
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Rozicot
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#1 Posted on 24.3.04 1921.22
Reposted on: 24.3.11 1922.30
What can the WWE do to improve this god awful mess? I don't know what on earth they have been thinking when they turned a successful division into a collection of teams that are singles' wrestlers thrown together.

Even relatively recently - Hardyz, E&C, Dudleyz, Headbangers (they should definately reform!), New Age Outlaws etc. were all established tag teams that worked well against each other. Now...no offense intended against the abilities of any current wrestlers...there is no sense of unity at all.

Do people agree (or am i alone in thinking this)?

Bring back The Headbangers!
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XPacArmy
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#2 Posted on 24.3.04 1937.02
Reposted on: 24.3.11 1937.08
Well really it's not just WWE it seems like the whole tag team thing is rocky in wrestling itself. But with TNA, I think they have a good amount of teams right now. And WWE, well they seemed to split some teams with the draft, I am waiting to see how they handle that.
SC
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#3 Posted on 24.3.04 1937.20
Reposted on: 24.3.11 1937.35
    Originally posted by Rozicot
    Do people agree (or am i alone in thinking this)?


Given that there have been roughly 394 posts in the last two days regarding the shameful lack of credible and interesting tag teams, I would say you're not alone.

    Originally posted by Rozicot
    Bring back The Headbangers!


I do think you're alone here, however.
Dave Gagnon
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#4 Posted on 24.3.04 2201.13
Reposted on: 24.3.11 2201.26
    Originally posted by ScottieKStones
    Bring back The Headbangers!


I do think you're alone here, however.


They were a good team. It's too bad that The Godwinns defeated them, though.
geemoney
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#5 Posted on 24.3.04 2254.39
Reposted on: 24.3.11 2255.17
    Originally posted by Dave Gagnon
      Originally posted by ScottieKStones
      Bring back The Headbangers!


    I do think you're alone here, however.


They were a good team. It's too bad that The Godwinns defeated them, though.

I preferred the Godwinns in their short-lived "Southern Justice" gimmick.
ekedolphin
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#6 Posted on 24.3.04 2309.37
Reposted on: 24.3.11 2309.37
Screw The Headbangers, bring back Strike Force! Ha!

Me, personally, I'd like to see them do something with Matt Hardy for a change!
evilwaldo
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#7 Posted on 24.3.04 2321.48
Reposted on: 24.3.11 2322.05
    Originally posted by ekedolphin
    Screw The Headbangers, bring back Strike Force! Ha!

    Me, personally, I'd like to see them do something with Matt Hardy for a change!


Maybe we need to upgrade to version 2.0.
Quezzy
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#8 Posted on 24.3.04 2340.16
Reposted on: 24.3.11 2340.39
I wouldn't mind seeing a Matt Hardy/Lance Storm team, even if Lance has to be a MFer, it's better than what he's doing now.
Stilton
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#9 Posted on 24.3.04 2350.01
Reposted on: 24.3.11 2350.06
    Originally posted by Quezzy
    I wouldn't mind seeing a Matt Hardy/Lance Storm team, even if Lance has to be a MFer, it's better than what he's doing now.


Damn, that would be awesome! Turn Lance heel and team him with Matt Hardy. Yes! This makes sense for two reasons:

1) Lance is a proven tag team worker. Almost all of his career success has been as part of a tag team, from his early indy work with Jericho, to the cWo in WCW, right on up to the Un-Americans.

2) Lance is terrific heel. The biggest push he's ever had was with the cWo gimmick in WCW, and he cut some AWESOME promos back then and could really draw killer heat.

I'd love to see Matt and Lance be a dominant team. Both guys are excellent technical wrestlers and can do convicning aerial work. Great suggestion.
Pike
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#10 Posted on 25.3.04 0138.36
Reposted on: 25.3.11 0138.47
I think one little problem is that I think a lot of the guys only want to be single and only do tags because it gets them on tv. I mean it seems like no one wants to be in a team these days. Plus when you put two singles together it kinda takes away when they walk down alone and not toeghter.

I also like the Headbangers they were fun. I miss the tag teams from back in the day.
It's False
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#11 Posted on 25.3.04 0423.50
Reposted on: 25.3.11 0428.19
The problem with WWE's tag division is that they're throwing together random teams while breaking up potential teams with staying power. TWGTT, La Resistance (Conway & Dupree), and CadeDrak should NOT have been broken up. There were also potential tag teams like Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore that weren't given enough of a chance.

The best thing to do at this point is to start grooming tag teams in OVW and hope for the best.
Mayhem
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#12 Posted on 25.3.04 0755.00
Reposted on: 25.3.11 0755.08

I would hate to see Lance Storm as an MFer. Lance is too established to be someone's lackey. I personally wish they would try and push the Lance Storm/Val Venis team.

Matt needs to be more established as a singles star (a la Christian). He already had a successful run in a tag team.
Tenken347
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#13 Posted on 25.3.04 0801.57
Reposted on: 25.3.11 0803.55
Really, a lot of the problem with the tag teams, including some of the ones they just broke up, is that they were too vanilla. Look at Cade and Jindrak. That's a team they could have done something with, if anyone cared. It's the same with Val and Storm. I think these teams really need a gimick and a mouthpiece, and give the fans a reason to invest. Once the fans invest in a couple of teams, it's not hard to build a division around them. That's what happened when you had the Hardy's/Dudley's/E&C going. Just a few teams that people had a reason to care about.
madiq
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#14 Posted on 25.3.04 0903.50
Reposted on: 25.3.11 0904.14
Oh damn; am I going to have to do my "Five Unities" post again?

Suffice it to say that is ironic that in a company that places a heavy emphasis on SE storytelling, there isn't more emphasis on team-building. While I hear the point that wrestlers themselves are individualistic, the nature of tag team wrestling is teamwork, and there's no "I" in teamwork. Any storyline based around two singles wrestlers coming together to form a team should adequately sell fans on the idea that these men have chosen to, for one reason or another, combine their efforts in pursuit of greater glory. One necessary component, in my eyes, is forming a named Unit, so that a third party can recognize that the pair are in it together.

Looking back to one of the most popular mismatched tag teams in history, The MegaPowers were never about the pursuit of tag team gold; they were about two world champions coming together to face common enemies. Even still, they saw the coming together of Macho Madness and Hulkamania as such an important step that it necessitated a certain degree of unity.

In reality, there aren't that many tag team story arcs. Teams come together, achieve a certain degree of success, break up, feud, and go their separate ways (perhaps to reunite somewhere along the line.) But in order to play out these repetitive arcs, the E has to convince fans to emotionally invest in the teams involved. This won't happen if THEY don't invest in them. For my money, creating a team-up of Wrestler A and Wrestler B, then calling it A&B, shows a lack of imagination. If A&B break up, Wrestler C can take B's spot with ease. Therefore, the breakup isn't a messy divorce, which would lead to more drama and higher stakes. It's more like the severing of a casual relationship - "I mean, it's not like you guys live together" - in that people assumed it was inevitable.

Which brings us back to team-building. What do all of our tag teams stand for?
1. Evolution - Domination of the WWE; pursuit of gold and accolades.

2. Basham Brothers - Domination and bondage, although with no dominatrix, they seem directionless. Shaniqua, it appears, wanted her charges to win matches to receive their "punishment," so I guess the ambition was hers.

3. Jindrak & Cade - Young guys just trying to make an impact.

4. Venis & Storm - Mackin the hoes?

5. Booker & RVD - Weed and Wendy's?

6. APA - Making money, drinking beer, kicking ass together.

7. Dudley Boyz - Winning tag team titles and putting people through tables.

8. Hurricane & Rosey - One's a superhero, fighting for all that's right and good (usually losing). The other is a trainee, LEARNING how to be a jobber.

9. La Resistance - They're French, protesting their unfair persecution. (Well, one's French, and the other one loves French culture.)

10. World's Greatest Tag Team - Winning titles and proving their name.

11. Akio & Sakoda - Supporting and backing up Tajiri.

12. FBI - Pasta and Parmesan?

13. Kidman & London - Getting off Velocity?

14. Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty - Shaking that ass and doing the worm.

Given that most of these teams have either no reasons for being or weak ones, it's no wonder that the divisions are in shambles. There needs to be booking centered on tag teams, and the tag titles specifically. It isn't enough that there's a champion and contenders; the pursuit of a title should be part of SOMEONE'S story arc. "Climbing the ladder" is okay, but not if teams will be included in Tag Team Turmoil matches every few months.

So my hope is that if the WWE plans on rebuilding the Division, it does so with a recognition that two guys, hastily thrown together, does not a tag team make. The E has to make the TEAMS mean something in order to make the DIVISIONS mean something.

*****

Lance Storm and Matt Hardy isn't a bad team, but both men deserve to be the "Captain" of their next team. I think if Storm forced Val Venis heel again, and became the spokesperson for wrestling-centrism (against fun and games), he could develop a heel following.

As for Matt Hardy, he really just needs a feud with a wrestler who is more popular than he is, so he can get mic time to play off of him. I think sticking him in the tag division would be a bad move, unless he was a face.
Stilton
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#15 Posted on 25.3.04 0954.39
Reposted on: 25.3.11 0954.50
    Originally posted by Mayhem

    I would hate to see Lance Storm as an MFer. Lance is too established to be someone's lackey. I personally wish they would try and push the Lance Storm/Val Venis team.


This could work, but I think both men, and especially Sean Morley, would need some repackaging for the push to be successful. The Val Venis gimmick is dead. It's so Attitude-era, and little more than a homage to (i.e. cheap rip-off of) Rick Rude's old gimmick. Sean needs a new character. Not Val. Not the Chief of Staff. Something less contrived and more natural, I think.

I love Lance, honestly, but I really think he's got to do something with his hair. The crew-cut might be his trade mark, but it's starting to look a little thin, and the last time I saw him on TV you could see his scalp through the top of it. I have no doubt, though, that a big bad heel turn with lots of indignant, vitriolic mic-time would be the best thing for Lance. Lance could actually have a nice little fued with Benoit in the interim to set this up. Their wretsling styles are such they would both make each other look awesome in the ring--two Dungeon graduates. Both of them being from Alberta could be a hook. "Atlanta*, Chris? Have you forgotten where you come from?" Get the rubes chanting "U-S-A!" at Lance, and you're halfway there. During the feud with Benoit, Morley could be Lance's "helper" interfering with the matches and so on, to re-establish them as a team.


*(I keep half-expecting Benoit to say "ALTA" means Alberta, not Atlanta. Get it right, guys!)
JLids12
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#16 Posted on 25.3.04 0954.53
Reposted on: 25.3.11 0955.04
I think that the problem is that they stick guys together that should be singles wrestlers. In the past, the WWF introduced tag teams as tag teams from their inception. Now, they'll put two guys together who are known for their work in the singles ranks.

Also, tag teams need tag team names. Not just Wrestler A & Wrestler B. They have to dress similarly. They need their own music. Also, tag team wrestling does take a bit of psyschology. How to use the ring, how to use tags, when to tag, hot tags. They also need a believable two man finisher. The Hart Attack Clothesline, the Doomsday Device, and The Tower were great finishing moves.
svt4real
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#17 Posted on 25.3.04 1019.34
Reposted on: 25.3.11 1019.34
Hardyz, E&C, Dudleyz,

some of the best match's ever!!!!!!!!!
ScottLadd
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#18 Posted on 25.3.04 1210.07
Reposted on: 25.3.11 1210.16
Make more teams and keep them together for longer. TWGTT were a great team and could have had a few more months or years together. And give the new teams decent gimmicks, even silly old school ones, double team moves and as someone else said NAMES not just wrestler X and Y. Something to stop them being stale before they have got onto the shelf.
Hoodle
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#19 Posted on 25.3.04 1507.53
Reposted on: 25.3.11 1508.11
Here are some potential teams, as I see it:


SMACKDOWN!:

1. Rikishi/Scotty (c)
2. Jindrak/O'Haire (YES, breaking O'Haire/Cade up was great)
3. Bashams
4. Dudleys
5. London/Kidman
6. Akio/Sakoda

I think the best thing WWE can do with Smackdown! right now is to move London/Kidman into primetime and push Jindrak/O'Haire as monsters. So there - 6 teams, two of which would be very new/fresh and have decent connection, plus some long-since established teams in the dudleys, bashams, and the champs. Maybe bring up a team from OVW to fill out the ranks? If so, thats 7.

7 is pretty good!

RAW:

1. Evolution (c)
2. T&A (why not? its not like they're doing anything else)
3. Lance Storm/Val Venis (again, why not?)
4. La Resistence v. 3.0
5. Hurricane/Rosie
6. Rhyno/Dreamer

Again - there's 6 perfectly usuable tag teams. Bring up one more from OVW and you have 7.

The situation isn't so much "there are no teams" so much as it is "the WWE writers don't put any effort into the tag division." There are plenty of viable combinations of wrestlers floating around the rosters, its simply a matter of the writers caring about tag wrestling. The biggest thing is that these teams need to establish their identities.

Also, I'd like to point out that we were in a very similar situation back in 1999, just before E/C, Dudleys and Hardys broke out onto the scene. Just before those 3 teams, there was almost NOTHING in the tag team scene, and that was for the entire combined roster.

So in other words - don't worry, it'll probably work out.



svt4real
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#20 Posted on 25.3.04 1539.16
Reposted on: 25.3.11 1541.59
ok would this be great or what

get edge and christen back
the hardy's back
eddie and benoit
the dudley's
kane and undertaker
new age outlaws
and the worlds greatest tag team


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