It's that time of year again. Tag team tournament time. Oh, I remember the old days. Having been active on the forum for three decades already, I was surprised it took so long for our first tag team tournament to sprout up in 2007. A spin-off of The WrestleZone Tournament and created by tournament mastermind The Shockmaster (AKA Uncle Shocky AKA Paul Bearer), the tournament was a resounding success, even if AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels were knocked out in the semi-finals. Who's heard of Harlem Heat anyway? Edge & Christian won that year, benefitting from the smark culture of the forums that was soon to die off.
One year later, our dear Shocky decided it deserved a sequel. Trimmed down to a leaner, meaner 64 team format - replacing the redundant 128 team one - the tournament saw just as many thrills and spills as a bunch of nerds getting angry at each other over fictional tag team matches on a wrestling forum can reasonably give. With members more, um, "educated" this time round, Edge and Christian didn't make it to the finals, though they did go far. No, this time it was up to 2007 runners-up The British Bulldogs to duke it out with The Hart Foundation. Bret and Jim, having never even come close to losing at any point in the tournament, made short work of the British tandem, marking the beginning of Bret Hart's incredible streak - he would go on to win every tournament he was entered into past that point. His undefeated streak lasts to this day.
And now here we are. Our beloved Uncle Shocky having disappeared into the internet wilderness, it was up for the staff to collectively pull this tournament together. After much deliberation, we decided that fuck it; we'll just rip off Shocky's ideas but modify them a little bit. So here's how this year's tournament will go down.
1. There are 64 teams.
2. No teams can "clash" - that means no sharing members. The Smoking Gunns and the New Age Outlaws cannot both feature, for example.
3. 32 of the teams will be chosen by the staff. I took the liberty of making "locks" - based broadly on "Shocky's Locks" from last year. These are highly presitigious teams with a few favourites of mine (well, one favourite of mine) thrown in.
4. An additional 24 teams will be chosen by nominations from non-staff members. They will fight it out in battle royal polls for a place in the tournament.
5. Eight (or sixteen) teams will be random pairings, borrowing from TNA's appalling "Deuce's Wild" idea. These teams will be made up of tag team wrestlers who have had their partners robbed from them and maybe one or two big singles wrestlers. These will be picked by... well, we'll figure something out. Don't you worry.
6. Vote based on whatever criteria you like. Personally, I like the "shoot kayfabe" criteria on who would have won during their primes, based on their skill in kayfabe. Others just like the basic idea of picking whoever's better, and so on and so forth. Try to keep arguments relatively rational though.
7. There's nothing quite like getting worked up over something that doesn't matter. So do it. No, seriously. It's what these tournaments are all about. Post often, with passion and be proud of your geekiness.
I think that just about covers-- wait a second! One more:
8. I'm not going to actually ban or infract people that do "tactical voting" and the like - that would be downright silly. However, do it and be prepared for people to be pissed at you for ruining their fun.
Without further ado, let's begin the selections!
Locks:
1. The Hart Foundation - Bret Hart & Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart - Reigning Champions
2. Edge & Christian - First Tournament Winners
3. The British Bulldogs - Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid - Two-Time Runners-Up
4. The Steiner Brothers - Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner
5. Demolition - Ax & Smash - Shocky's Favourites
6. The Road Warriors - Hawk & Animal
7. The Dudley Boys - Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley
8. Harlem Heat - Booker T & Stevie Ray
9. The Outsiders - Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
10. Money Inc. - Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster
11. Latin American Xchange - Homicide & Hernandez
Admin Picks:
IC25:
12. The Hollywood Blonds - Steve Austin & Brian Pillman
13. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono
Slyfox:
14. The Mega Powers - Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage
15. Lex Luger & Sting
Luther:
16. Dave Taylor & William Regal
17. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Moderator Picks:
Sam:
18. Beer Money Inc. - James Storm & Robert Roode
Becca:
19. The Rockers - Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty
NorCal:
20. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle
C.M.:
21. The Hardy Boyz - Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy
KB:
22. The Headshrinkers - Samu & Fatu
48.7:
23. Chris Jericho & The Big Show
Xfear:
24. Rob Van Dam & Sabu
Harthan:
25. The Briscoe Brothers - Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
FTS:
26. The Brain Busters - Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard
jmt225:
27. Raven & Stevie Richards
Lee:
28. Team Priceless/Legacy - Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Jr.
Shadowmancer:
29. Extreme Horsemen - Steve Corino & CW Anderson
Ricky:
30. New Age Outlaws - Road Dogg & Billy Gunn
Will:
31. The Impact Players - Justin Credible & Lance Storm
NoFate:
32.The Miz & John Morrison
Battle Royal Winners:
33. The Rock 'n' Sock Connection - Mick Foley & The Rock
34. Cena and Batista
35. The Fabulous Freedbirds - Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts
36. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels
37. Motor City Machine Guns - Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin
38. Billy Kidman & Rey Mysterio
39. Brothers of Destruction - Undertaker & Kane
40. Owen Hart & Yokozuna
41. Acolytes (Protection Agency) - Bradshaw & Farooq
42. The Holy Demon Army - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
43. The Midnight Express - Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey
44. The Rock 'n' Roll Express - Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson
1. The Hart Foundation - Bret Hart & Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart - Reigning Champions
2. Edge & Christian - First Tournament Winners
3. The British Bulldogs - Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid - Two-Time Runners-Up
4. The Steiner Brothers - Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner
5. Demolition - Ax & Smash - Shocky's Favourites
6. The Road Warriors - Hawk & Animal
7. The Dudley Boys - Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley
8. Harlem Heat - Booker T & Stevie Ray
9. The Outsiders - Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
10. Money Inc. - Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster
11. Latin American Xchange - Homicide & Hernandez
Admin Picks:
IC25:
12. The Hollywood Blonds - Steve Austin & Brian Pillman
13. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono
Slyfox:
14. The Mega Powers - Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage
15. Lex Luger & Sting
Luther:
16. Dave Taylor & William Regal
17. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Moderator Picks:
Sam:
18. Beer Money Inc. - James Storm & Robert Roode
Becca:
19. The Rockers - Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty
NorCal:
20. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle
C.M.:
21. The Hardy Boyz - Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy
KB:
22. The Headshrinkers - Samu & Fatu
48.7:
23. Chris Jericho & The Big Show
Xfear:
24. Rob Van Dam & Sabu
Harthan:
25. The Briscoe Brothers - Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
FTS:
26. The Brain Busters - Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard
jmt225:
27. Raven & Stevie Richards
Lee:
28. Team Priceless/Legacy - Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Jr.
Shadowmancer:
29. Extreme Horsemen - Steve Corino & CW Anderson
Ricky:
30. New Age Outlaws - Road Dogg & Billy Gunn
Will:
31. The Impact Players - Justin Credible & Lance Storm
NoFate:
32.The Miz & John Morrison
Battle Royal Winners:
33. The Rock 'n' Sock Connection - Mick Foley & The Rock
34. Cena and Batista
35. The Fabulous Freedbirds - Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts
36. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels
37. Motor City Machine Guns - Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin
38. Billy Kidman & Rey Mysterio
39. Brothers of Destruction - Undertaker & Kane
40. Owen Hart & Yokozuna
41. Acolytes (Protection Agency) - Bradshaw & Farooq
42. The Holy Demon Army - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
43. The Midnight Express - Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey
44. The Rock 'n' Roll Express - Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson
