IC25's New Editorial - The Dudleyz a Dying Breed?

[IrishCanadian25]

Are the Dudley Boyz the last of a dying breed?

(alternate title - How Shawn Michaels helped kill tag team wrestling)​

Wrestlezone Forums are in a bit of an uproar. About everything, really, from turning John Cena heel to Matt Hardy potentially going to TNA and everywhere in between. A small bit of noise has been made, however, about a subject I think is vastly more impactful. Why would the WWE even tease a break-up between the Hart Dynasty?

I blame Shawn Michaels for this. I have often called the end of the Rockers the "prototype for all tag team splits." Tease it for a while, give Michaels a mild attitude, make it look like everything is cool, then BAM! CRASH! More onomatopoeias than the original 1960's Batman TV Series. What made the split so amazing, though, wasn't just the fact that it was done so well. It's what Shawn Michaels BECAME. One of the 5 greatest professional wrestlers of all time, on my list at least, even though I was always a Marty Jannetty fan. (Yes, I know. Shut-up.) Since that moment, the tag team split has been overused as a vehicle to try to manufacture the next HBK, or:

Steve Austin was originally a Hollywood Blonde and had a big split with Brian Pillman. The rest is history.

Harlem Heat were 10-time champions, but Booker T became the true breakout star and a World Champion.

Edge and Christian were tag team stalwarts in the late 90's / early 00's. Edge alone is a future hall of famer.

Scott Steiner, Bret Hart, Jeff Hardy, Davey Boy Smith, and so many others went from tag team to singles stars. But the key with the all time greats was the amount of time they spent as a team. After the early 90's were over and the Mega-Powers, Rockers, and Blondes had all busted up, it seemed that no tag team would ever be safe.

And then there's the Dudley Boyz. The dying breed. The pure tag team.

I realize that WWE tried to give them singled careers for a cup of coffee when the brand split first occured, but that was mainly just to drive shock value and show the fans that the brand split was unpredictable. The Dudleys were inseparable, and more than any team in history other than MAYBE the L.O.D., their legacys were inexorably linked. ECW. WCW. TNA. WWE. Japan. It never mattered because these guys were together 'til the end. We speak of their legacy the way we speak of many massive singles stars - an entity unto themselves - the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

One thing I credit TNA with is how they've handled some of their tag teams. America's Most Wanted had several runs on top, and their breakup was extremely well done, despite being a blatant copy of the Rockers. (replace 'window' with 'beer bottle' and there you have it.) The Motor City Machine Guns have been fantastic together, and despite the fact that an eventual split and riveting feud seems inevitable (though I'm convinced Russo and Co. could burn cereal just by pouring milk over it), you really buy into them as a team.

The Hart Dynasty may well be shotgunned into a breakup to give Tyson Kidd and DH Smith a match against one another for no apparent reason other than to further stomp on the tag team division of the WWE. At this point, neither will be a breakout star. WWE is trying to use a microwave on a recipe that calls for a slow cooker. Tag Teams rarely get the chance to make a name together before they are forced into the split ---> feud. The Dudleyz will go down in history as the last surviving pure tag team with the heads chopped off of the other teams in a world mad with singles stars.

The Dudleyz are a dying breed. And it's Shawn Michaels' fault.

 

[Ferbian]

I think the reason why WWE, as well as TNA in some way always wants to create the next big star, and will mostly resolve into the position of splitting up a team in order to push the most talented star, is because let's face it - Tag team wrestling is not interesting anymore. It has never truly been interesting in the same manner as a hugely popular singles star.

We're always gonna have that one, or many persons that are gonna complain about someone not getting a world title. Some of these guys would've still been in a tag team if you go by the Dudley career of staying a tag team. And we would've missed out on a lot of great superstars that made a much bigger effect in the mid-card or main event than they ever did in the tag team division.

Shawn Michaels for one, innovative tag team wrestler sure. But he was a much more innovative and much better singles wrestler. This applies to a lot of guys, much ala Edge who was a talented as hell tag team wrestler, but much much more interesting as a main event wrestler during his first few years.

And it just proves my point. Tag team wrestling is a dying stipulation if you will. Tag team wrestling never were, never will be and never should be as interesting an aspect as a singles star. The main event is always gonna be singles stars, and the main event should be where the future lies for each and everybody. So of course they'll split a tag team eventually.

Although, I'm sure there's somewhere in this thread that you're implying that we should learn to split it more effectively and create a tag team of two successful wrestlers. Sure it's doable, but not in the same manner as one and the other. Edge and Christian were successful as fuck in their respectable singles careers. But Edge, being the more talented of the two, obviously got the upper hand.

And we'll have to live with the fact that this is most likely how it's gonna be, forever and ever. Cause, let's face it.. It has worked for the majority of times. And even if it worked only say 10% of the time, well it's 10 % of producing the next big star, the next top dog, the next rating drawer. Shawn was a rating drawer (Not a big one, but he held a troubling WWF on his shoulders) Austin was a rating drawer, and one of the biggest ever, Booker T was successful in the main event and popular. Edge pulled the biggest WWE rating in years once etc.

 

[Alex]

Well it seems to be true, ever since The Rockers broke up, various tag teams have followed suit with one member becoming a bonafide star while the other not so much. The Dudleys have been the only team to my knowledge that formed after 1992 to have pretty much stayed together (except that small disbanding during the brand split) Every other team in recent memory has broken up with one member getting more fame than the other and in a way Shawn Michaels is to blame. If Shawn Michaels hadn't become as popular as he did we might still have great tag teams, but on the other hand we wouldn't have had so many famous Michael matches.

I can't speak for the Hart Dynasty (haven't watched WWE in a while) but it seems likely that the Motor City Machine Guns will split with one getting more fame than the other literally because they believe one will be bigger on his own.

 

[a0161613]

I have a huge problem with WWE creative when it comes to tag teams. They happened upon a great idea with the Barbershop. They had all the ingredients.

And when it comes to the individuals involved, there may have not been a better team for it to happen to. And just like they do with a lot of creative ideas, they then bleed them dry. The urge to reuse an old formula is irresistable.

The Dudleys never were going to be a success on their own. They absolutely lacked any of the tools. Their look was cheap, they weren't able to stay in shape and relied on a gimmick to get them over. They were decent on the mic but you didn't want to see them separately. But as a team they could work with anyone.

But it is the fact they appreciate that they were not anything special that perhaps helped them more than anything. They knew that it would be stupid to split them and they were proved correct when it has happened.

They have a big rep for being stiff and horrible to work with but they will go down as one of the greats simply because of their successes that has taken place wholly as a team and not because they achieved tag success on the way to bigger and better things.

It is a crying indictment of the state of tag wrestling. But it is a moan for another time but that might be HBK's fault too.

 

[Funkydr79]

Tag team wrestling is a dying stipulation if you will. Tag team wrestling never were, never will be and never should be as interesting an aspect as a singles star. The main event is always gonna be singles stars, and the main event should be where the future lies for each and everybody. So of course they'll split a tag team eventually.

I whole-heartedly disagree with this statement. Throughout the 80's and early 90's Tag Team wrestling was a staple of the wrestling world. Tag Teams and that brand of wrestling can absolutely main event! Think about the Midnight Express vs. Rock N' Roll Express. Midnight Express vs. Road Warriors. Freebirds vs. Von Erichs.

With the right storyline, build, and the respect that tag team wrestling deserves it can be everything singles wrestling is AND MORE!!

I have long thought that the WWE or TNA should create a one-hour show exclusively for Tag Teams. Put your tag titles on that show. Have it be the be all and end all of tag team wrestling. WWE Could even book it as its own independent promotion. Create a venue where tag teams are allowed to flourish and grow without breaking up in less than a year. Put Michael Hayes on screen as GM of that brand as the master of Tag Team Wrestling. I think you could get people tuning into that more regularly than much of the other stuff that's put out there. It's worth a shot anyway!

 

[Kenny Powers]

It agree that The Dudley Boyz, like them or not, will go down as the last pure tag team. These two were tag teams since the beginning. Its rare that you see a regular tag team today that are still together. Most tag teams are random single wrestlers thrown together. TNA and ROH are really the only ones today that actually have a tag division. WWE has given up on their tag division a long time ago. Michaels only excelled as a singles star, because he was that good. The same can be said about Steve Austin.

That doesn't mean that every tag team should break up in hopes that they will be bigger singles stars. The Hart Dynasty and The Uso program actually gave life to the tag division before the Dynasty squashed them and split up. The Hart Dynasty barely gets a reaction as a tag team and now that they are split they get no reaction at all.

The Miz and John Morrison is the only tag team I can think of recently in WWE that have excelled as singles stars. None of them are at Shawn's level yet, but they are working up to it. They weren't even a tag team that long though when you think about it.

WWE and other companies need to develop a strong tag division before they push their singles stars. That way when someone leaves a team it will be noteworthy. Also, it wouldn't kill someone to actually have a pure tag team that will never split.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

actually i believe that Marty Jannetty is the guy who killed tag team wrestling.

think about it.at the time they were split up wwf was high on both of them.michaels was perhaps better on the mic but maybe jannetty was as good as hbk in the ring.jannetty couldnt just handle the pressure and succcumbed to mediocrity while shawn just kept rising.

so the reason everyone started searching for the next hbk was because marty could not attain the same levels as his partner.thats where the cliche started that when a tag team splits up one guy rises and the other guy vanishes

as for the dudleys yeah they are the last pure tag team of wrestling.a reason for which they should blame only themselves.niether of them was anything special to warrant a push.at the best time in their careers they were the third best tag team in wwf.behind edge and christian and the hardyz

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Some tremendous reaction here so far, which I appreciate.

I want to throw some reaction out to some of your collective points, and I'll do so without using quoting.

I personally don't feel that great tag-team wrestling has to die out in the WWE, nor do I feel that it's a bad thing to use tag team wrestling as a breeding ground for future breakout singles star. In my column, I used the term "WWE is trying to use a microwave for a recipe that calls for a slow cooker." What I mean by that is that they are impatient and unwilling to give something the time necessary to make it come out really well.

They seem to be getting better at that. Look at the Nexus storyline, the RAW GM storyline, and the Undertaker / Kane feud. All three of those creative ideas are being given time to build slowly, and the pay off will be better as a result. People don't just watch Raw to watch the show (well, some do), but rather they watch Raw to check in with the storylines. I, for one, was really interested to see how the Cena / Nexus angle played out last night, and while I was a casual Cena fan for a while, I now cannot wait until he flips out and takes out all of Nexus.

Some of the all time great matches I can recall are tag team matches. Perhaps Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart created the ladder match, and perhaps Shawn and Razor Ramon brought it mainstream. But teams like the Dudleyz, Hardys, and E&C took tandem efforts to a whole new level. I remember the days when I was just as interested in seeing the Steiner Brothers vs Money Inc, The Beverly Brothers vs The Nasty Boys, and the Godwins vs the Smoking Gunns as I was many other matches.

I'll lay this idea out as well:

WWE tried - and really shit the bed with - Divas NXT. Why not try a tag-team NXT, where the pros are all-time tag greats? Special apperances by Road Warrior Animal, Shawn Michaels, etc? This way, if you have 8 rookie tag teams instead of 8 rookie singles wrestlers, you're spotlighting 16 wrestlers rather than 8. Plus, say 4 teams get the call up and the rest go back to OVW - that's 4 more tag teams that enter the roster ready to go and with a potential storyline.

I'll go ANOTHER step further. Rumors persist of a WCW-themed Hall of Fame Class for this year's Wrestlemania in Atlanta. Why not look at doing a tag-team theme the following year? Induct the Steiners, Legion of Doom (are they in already? I don't recall...), Money Inc., Nasty Boys, Hart Foundation (DiBiase and Bret Hart would be in twice, which is awesome) and why not double up Shawn Michaels by inducting both him AND the Rockers? The Natural Disasters? The Rock N Roll Express. The list goes on and on.

What WWE could use is a commissioner of tag team wrestling. One on-screen talent designed to run and advocate for the tag team division. Michael Hayes comes to mind.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

It all seems to boil down to one thing and that's next to no creative focus on the tag team division.

Look back to the beginning of this decade, and you'll remember that E+C, the Hardyz and the Dudleys had been fueding for the better part of mid 1999 through to early 2001. Two full years nearly of the same three teams fueding.

Now what was the last tag team fued you can actually remember in the last three years? And i don't mean two tag title matches between the same two teams, NOR do i mean a month long program between unified tag champs and some random challengers.

You're only answer is of course the Legacy/DX fued from last year, which coincidentally, had nothing to do with the tag division.

Like IC has stated, there's three massive fueds going on right now which have all had several months worth of build towards them before they've truly kicked off.

The tag division NEVER gets that kind of treatment. Seemingly now, it's always:-

-New tag team debuts
-Challenges tag champs
-Wins/loses
-If they win, they defend the tag belts until they lose them and then split i.e. Miz/Morrison, Harts
-If they lose thay hang around and wrestle now and then, and are THEN split up i.e. Cryme Tyme and probably soon, The Usos.

Because these guys skip staright from debut, to title match, to splitting up, there's no time at all for the wrestlers to develop as individuals within the team, so there's no way for you to pick one over the other, and then when they DO split up, you find you don't care about either one, or if you do it's because you're one of the few fans at home that somehow HAS managed to develop some sort of interest in the tag team, despite having only been on the roster some 30 days.

If they debut as a team and aren't given time to get over AS a team, why would we care about them individually?

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

I always enjoy reading IC's articles on the main site & his latest was no exception. It is nice to read article that challenge the reader to think as well as offer an unbiased opinion regarding the general wrestling community/product. Which is unlike every other article that gets posted on wrestlezone.com which repeatedly slanders one wrestling company, rather than discuss, positively or negatively, wrestling in general.

I have zero issue with a tag-team splitting up and both memebers becoming single wrestlers when it makes sense. The Rocker's splitting made sense and without it Shawn Michaels may not have been able to have been the successful singles legend he is today.

Recently the WWE had one of their tag-teams in Cryme Tyme split just for the sake of splitting. Currently the WWE are teasing the future split of the Heart Dynasty.

Did Cryme Tyme need to break up? Does The Heart Dynasty? No, not right now. The Cryme Tyme split did nothing for either persons involved, and while its too early to see the results of The Heart Dynasty split, I can't help but think that the results will be the same.

A tag-team split would mean so much more if the WWE put the effort into making a successful tag-team get over. Until the WWE decide to dedicate a couple of minutes a week in showing the world what tag-team wrestling can be, it will be Vince McMahon & WWE creative that kills tag-team.

 

[Icedawg316]

a lot of good points and I really do agree. The WWE to me is obsessed with the whole Michaels/Jannety situation from so many years ago. They break up just about every single team trying to find that main event talent. Vince has lost his patience, you saw the Hart Foundation together for few yrs before Bret broke out on his own... that won't happen anymore. I'm not sure why now they are trying to break up the Hart Dynasty it makes no sense both guys are still pretty raw to me & could use some work.

So you add no patience, and the fact that now a days tag teams don't even really have 2 other teams to feud with in the first place.

 

[Ferbian]

I whole-heartedly disagree with this statement. Throughout the 80's and early 90's Tag Team wrestling was a staple of the wrestling world. Tag Teams and that brand of wrestling can absolutely main event! Think about the Midnight Express vs. Rock N' Roll Express. Midnight Express vs. Road Warriors. Freebirds vs. Von Erichs.

Yes, I know that tag team wrestling was a staple of professional wrestling. However you have to admit that back then they couldn't compete with the big guys of the singles division? Hulk Hogan, Ted DiBiase, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat etc.

All of these were superior in demand, attraction and most likely also in entertainment than tag team wrestling ever were.

All of this can apply to the 90's and the 00's as well. Tag team wrestling always has, and most likely always will take a backside to singles competition.

Now IC, I've wanted to make a reply to these things for a while. Sorry for the delay.

WWE tried - and really shit the bed with - Divas NXT. Why not try a tag-team NXT, where the pros are all-time tag greats? Special apperances by Road Warrior Animal, Shawn Michaels, etc? This way, if you have 8 rookie tag teams instead of 8 rookie singles wrestlers, you're spotlighting 16 wrestlers rather than 8. Plus, say 4 teams get the call up and the rest go back to OVW - that's 4 more tag teams that enter the roster ready to go and with a potential storyline.

WWE already seems to be slowly fading away on the whole deal of NXT. If WWE wants to rebuild the tag team division and make it important again I doubt they would do it through NXT. The discussion has already been going on the forum, and I seriously see absolutely no chance whatsoever from the FCW guys to truly bring together 8 tag teams that would be interesting, or for that sake could make it work at all.

Besides, I doubt that WWE would take the time to actively pull out guys from their retirement or backstage jobs for the sake of presenting themselves as tag team pros. Let's not forget that the pros at times gets into the ring to wrestle with, or against rookies both in singles as well as tag team matches. It would just generally be a mess I'm sure.

I'll go ANOTHER step further. Rumors persist of a WCW-themed Hall of Fame Class for this year's Wrestlemania in Atlanta. Why not look at doing a tag-team theme the following year? Induct the Steiners, Legion of Doom (are they in already? I don't recall...), Money Inc., Nasty Boys, Hart Foundation (DiBiase and Bret Hart would be in twice, which is awesome) and why not double up Shawn Michaels by inducting both him AND the Rockers? The Natural Disasters? The Rock N Roll Express. The list goes on and on.

I like the idea. However I don't necessarily see it. There's way too many teams that are either too few of legacy, or for that sake were bigger singles stars. Shawn Michaels as you bring up, great singles legacy that steamrolls and buries his Rockers legacy.

Also, I don't see what stops them from just single handedly inducting tag teams into their Hall of Fames. I mean, they've done it before, they've even inducted families. What is there to stop them from inducting tag teams in Atlanta? Next year again etc?

What WWE could use is a commissioner of tag team wrestling. One on-screen talent designed to run and advocate for the tag team division. Michael Hayes comes to mind.

Which would require to actually have something worth presenting for it to have a commissioner. We already have a struggling tag team division with few teams split across two shows. Why introduce a commissioner to something I doubt many cares about? Besides, we already have general managers that could easily take care of the tag team division as well if it really gets necessary.

 

[Lee]

Simple enough the decline in tag team wrestling has been a combination of a few things, the two that seems prevalent in this thread are:

1) An increase in the Rockers style split ups
2) A severe decrease in life time tag teams (were there ever that many to begin with really?)

Alas though I think it dips a bit further than this. Two words "Brand split."

Have a quick think how many tag teams have been split by this, the likes of Legacy, Miz and Morrison, Dudleys, Jesse and Festus to name a few. That seems all like a good reason to blame the decline: teams being "forced" to split. However I think the draft runs deeper than that:

There were five real matches on Raw this week, of which three were multi men matches. Ignoring the battle royale there were two tag team matches, one with the tag champs v the Harts and the other inovled two former NXT rookies v John Cena and Randy Orton. Needless to say which match got people talking more: that's right the one with the main eventers in. Since the brand split it's been very common to have a main event as a tag team match, you get on average two or three a week (plus a six woman diva tag match). Completely saturated with tag team matches, baring in mind this used to be a gimmick match, in the UK on our main wrestling show we'd get two or three tag matches a year in order to keep them special. It's the same with triple threats, they've lost their lustre.

The problem is ultimately down to the brand split: More individual stars needing time on their show being put in a tag team match which over shadows the lower to mid carders in the tag division.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

While yes I agree that the Dudley's are that of a dying breed. As in the true tag team. I can never remember myself saying, "Holy Shit, I really need to shell out 50 bucks to see that tag team championship match." Wrestling has changed a lot, and people just aren't as interested in seeing tag teams compete anymore. Thus I don't really think that Rockers really had anything to do with it. I just think it's more of a financial decision. Nobody pays to see tag teams, at least they haven't in a long time.

Don't blame the Rockers, blame the evolution of the business and money.

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

While yes I agree that the Dudley's are that of a dying breed. As in the true tag team. I can never remember myself saying, "Holy Shit, I really need to shell out 50 bucks to see that tag team championship match." Wrestling has changed a lot, and people just aren't as interested in seeing tag teams compete anymore. Thus I don't really think that Rockers really had anything to do with it. I just think it's more of a financial decision. Nobody pays to see tag teams, at least they haven't in a long time.

Don't blame the Rockers, blame the evolution of the business and money.

Is the fact that no one pays to see a tag-team match the fault of the tag-team, or the company that continues to limit the time and effort that is put into the division?

I believe that if a tag-team has the right talent, is given a proper storyline and given the proper amount of time to build the story to get the fans involved then it is possible to for it to make some money.

Because no effort or hint of focus is being put into the tag-team division, fans can't get as involved emotionally as they can for singles matches. Because of this, no one really cares if the Hart Dynasty breaks up, unlike when it happened to The Rockers.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Team 3D are in fact a dying breed. They are the last tag team specialists. Every other tag team is viewed as "who will be the Michaels and who will be the Jannetty?". I don't think it's fair to pin all of the blame on Michaels though. He was offered the chance to do a singles career. If you were a tag team specialist and you were offered the chance to become a midcard champion or possibly even a world champion, wouldn't you take it? It destroyed Jannetty's career, but that's WWE's fault, not Michaels. They could have booked him as a stronger midcarder with Michaels getting pushed higher. Look at Miz and Morrison, both guys are getting pushed. That should be the new standard of tag team splits. Why push one guy and future endeavour the other when both could go on to become singles champs? Then there's the issue of tag team divisions not being as prestigious anymore. People would rather be world champion. Shawn Michaels didn't start that. World titles have always meant more than tag titles. However, Team 3D are the last true tag team specialists and in the future I think that all tag team splits will either use the formula that started with Michaels/Jannetty or the newer one used with Miz & Morrison. Tag team wrestlers get promoted to the midcard, as it's viewed as a more important division.