I miss... The Basham Brothers

[D-Man]

I was sitting around watching Raw last night and this simple thread series topic popped into my head. I know many other before me have created similar trends but I really want this one to focus on short-term gimmicks, angles, stables or pairings that we may or may not have forgotten about. I'll call it the "I miss..." series.

Today's focus: I miss the Basham Brothers.

If you blinked, you might have missed these guys. But at the time, they were a great, tandem tag team and former WWE tag team champions.

Danny Hollie and Doug Basham came up through Ohio Valley Wrestling. While there, they had an extensive feud with each other as singles competitors. Both men impressed the WWE and, as a result of their chemistry in OVW, they were paired up in a tag team and billed as kayfabe twin brothers, the Bashams. Shortly after their debut win against Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hottie, Linda Miles joined the party as Shaniqua.

The Basham Brothers captured WWE Tag Team Championship gold in October of 2003. They would hold the titles for 105 days and drop them to Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hottie. They had one more title reign in 2005 but that one only lasted 40 days.

While a short-lived tag team, I loved these guys. they had a weird, dominatrix-like gimmick and they worked very well together in the ring. Shaniqua was quite the presence back then and she towered over others in the Divas roster, at the time. If these guys were around in today's WWE, I think they would've had some more mileage.

What is everyone else's thoughts on the Basham Brothers? Do you remember these guys? If so, let's weigh in about them here.

 

[#hamler]

Don't forget their god awful stint in TNA.

It's funny, I loved their feud against one another in OVW; probably one of the more intense rivalries in that company's history. Damaja has always been one of my favorite guys down there but this team was more of a swing and a miss for me. I liked the gimmick of them portraying brothers for the most part. It was interesting seeing them switch places mid match kind of what the Bella Twins use to do. But what drew the line for me was Shaniqua. They had a dominating manager, ok fine. But the bondage/S&M shit threw me off pretty damn bad. I won’t even dare *********e to it so why do I need to see it on TV? It didn't click with me and it's one of the few times I've been weirded out from wrestling. Other than that, they were your regular, run of the mill tag team. They worked great during the whole JBL cabinet thing but much didn't come from it. They were there to take care of JBL's light work but didn’t amount to much during that angle. If it weren't for this god awful tag team division we have currently, I wouldn't miss them. But given the severe lack of depth that is the division today, I would take them any day of the week.

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

I was just thinking about this team the other day.

I remember them being a entertaining team back in the day with their feud vs Los Guerreros. But I agree with Hamler, the bondage stuff really turned me away from them.

This reminds me, does anyone remember Gymini? That team Simon Dean brought in, what ever happened to them?

 

[DX Mols]

How could you possibly miss these 2? They never amounted to anything and for the life of me I cannot remember them cutting a single promo or doing anything memorable other then being part of the guys that got beat up trying to protect JBL's title reign.

They were part of the Cabinet weren't they or am I confusing them with another bland tag team?

 

[D-Man]

They never amounted to anything and for the life of me I cannot remember them cutting a single promo or doing anything memorable

Yeah, nothing memorable.

other then being part of the guys that got beat up trying to protect JBL's title reign.

They did that, as well. But they were most known for defeating Los Guerreros for the tag titles who were the strongest tag team the WWE had, at the time.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Yeah, nothing memorable.

There've been plenty of forgettable tag team championship reigns (they're easily in the majority of tag team championship reigns) and the Basham Brothers' was one of them. Well, two of them.

One of them appeared on a leaflet stuffed through my door advertising a "former WWE superstar" though, so I'll never forget them.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan, M.D.]

I more so remember them as part of JBL's cabinet than anything else. While you had Evolution on Raw you had The Cabinet on Smackdown. I enjoyed their work actually and do miss them now that I think about it. They were a good team in all honesty and I wish they would have been around a little bit longer.

 

[daddyJ_t]

if lynda miles wouldve kept her ********er shut they couldve continued the gimmick and been around longer perhaps. her flaunting her boob job saying the swelling was perminent damage from jbl clothesline from hell? wtf ever. i kinda dug the gimmick. it was in a way a more sexual version of demolition. demos wore the leather and spikes while the bashams wore leather and ball gags. the cabinet run sucked. they get another good female manager and i could see them returning with the gimmick and tearing up the division. maybe instead of ball gags, black zipper masks or something close to what doom wore.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

These guys had potential, but the booking was shocking. I always thought they should have been the new Demoliton - Full on masks/face paint and bring back Smash to manage them, WWE probably still could get away with doing it but they had the right mix in the ring and could have rode a nostalgia wave to the tag titles in a time of very non-descript teams.

As for Linda Miles/Shaniqua - Amazing how she could win Tough Enough and be used so badly.

 

[SaveUsCMPunk]

They had such bad ass theme music. Especially that last one which I was told was inspired by "Kill Bill." When they split up, Doug kept that theme and Danny had some other theme. It makes me wish I hadn't stopped watching Velocity because "The Bashman" seems like it was an interesting gimmick. He had a pretty cool titantron too. I also remember reading that they were Paul Heyman's security in WWECW.

 

[Winds-Of-Change]

I loved The Bashams. It was during that time that I believe tag teams started to fade out and they were practically the only established tag team left.

They gave a great match with Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio at.. No Way Out 2005 If I remember correctly. Such an underrated team..
When we read about WWE bringing back past stars to give the roster depth, these guys should be brought back to establish the tag division. I know they were hardly The New Age Outlaws or The Dudley Boyz in terms of being over and longevity as a team, but they were great workers, Doug Basham especially is a solid, solid worker. Bring them back WWE! I miss them also

 

[berlinbrawler]

Wow, they really did have their share of fans.

Well, I guess it was only me then who saw nothing special about them at all. Honestly, I didn't think they were very good. Their wrestling was solid, alright, but nothing out of the ordinary. If they did have some magic feuding against each other in OVW, I saw no evidence of that in their tag team.

As for Shaniqua, I thought she was kinda gross and clumsy. The gross-part is a matter of taste, I grant.

Then there was that Bondage & S&M gimmick. Sheesh. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem whatsoever with the subject of BDSM. But that doesn't mean I want that anywhere near my weekly wrestling fix. I like to keep my rasslin and fetishes separate, thank you very much. Way to remind me that I'm actually looking at oiled up half-naked men all the time...

And then the WWE didn't waste any time slapping the tag titles on them. That was at a time in the WWE when all you needed to do to become tag team champions was to be a tag team. That's the one thing I'll say for the Basham's - at least they were a real tag team and not two entirely different guys with no team name and separate looks and entrances...

All in all, I thought they were pretty forgettable. But evidently that's just me.

 

[HBsam31]

I liked them as a team, and I remember them most in JBL's cabinet. I honestly didn't like the dominatrix thing as it was kinda weird even by WWE standards. With today's tag division the way it is, I actually long for more teams like the Bashams. Teams that look like teams. They weren't the greatest team ever, but they had a good team look and put on good matches. I wouldn't say I miss them, but I sure do miss teams like them.