*Merged* All Tag Team Division Discussion

[closet_fan]

What I would do is re-sign maybe 2 former big-name tag teams and throw together guys who are barely getting any air time. They were able to do it with AirBoom, why not other guys who are sitting around doing nothing? The teams they bring back will legitimize the division and also help push the newly formed tag teams.

And for God's sake, please get rid of those belts. They look awful.

 

[brochester8]

Outlaws - With Roadog getting good pops I feel these guys could make another run to really make the division interesting again. Roadogs mic work is awesome in which it'd make there tag matches watchable against most anyone.

Hart Dynasty - To me it was a very bad move breaking them up, I hope they bring Harry back and reunite those guys.

Now as for bringing back I'd go with them but a new tag team would be something they attempted in FCW and was rumored to come up.

I'd put Ted Dibiase with Joe Henning and call them the Fortunate Sons. I thing those 2 could make good tag -team and it'd get them over as heels or faces. Probably heels as somewhat of spoiled kids. Dibiases mic work seems to be improving and I feel they ned to do something with Henning.

 

[MrHollywdHotstuff]

The tag team division needs revamping, its not what it used to be and there aren't i-deal tag teams right now that could compare to yester-year ones like Legion of Doom, Money Inc. Hogan and Savage etc.. They need to and the tag team titles too.

 

[steverod31o]

A good team I would like to see comeback would be Showmiz, good heels and a nice combination of brains and braun. Big time heels so whoever they face they would get big pops. As a face tagteam to comeback would have to be the Hart Dynasty. They had great chemistry, only thing missing was good mic skills but they could have improved through time on that.

 

[theBec2101]

If your meaning more relevant teams then what about the Edge Heads. Team Angle(Shelton and Hass), Carlito and Primo,

Harlem Heat – at the time this team had it all. They were unstoppable till the NWO and we see how that all went after awhile.

Booker T and GoldDust this would be good just to feud with Cody and whoever he wanted to partner up with.
I know you guys say the Dudley boys, But I don’t think it would work because Bubba doesn’t like to put newer talent over and gave them a hard time in WWE. Plus we only watched them cause of the table or hardcore matches.

Wait.............did someone really say the Headbangers. Kids theres days.

The Steiner Brothers, they were Classic.

Kane and RVDwas good that team had size, streangth, quickness and a lil high flying.

 

[ECW Dan Selby]

I have an idea.

Do an angle about it. 'Calling All Tag-Teams'.

You get guys backstage in discussion. Guys who havn't been used in sometime or havn't gotten their break. You can do things over Twitter with it, YouTube. Guys on the search for their ideal tag partner.

You get successes, you get some failures (resulting in the two turning on eachother after 1 match or whathaveyou).

You get fresh new teams WITH reason (not just 'Oh, here's blah blah and blah blah together all of a sudden! We'll give them a name soon perhaps?'), all aiming for the gold.

Then you get your old-skool surprises. Your NAO, your Haas/Benjamins, your Dudley Boyz etc etc. They all help add presteige to the division that it oh so desperately needs.

Plus, with NAO/Dudleyz, you get a tonne of work done via the stick. I'd personally love to see it.

Plus, it wouldn't take up too much of the show, as it'd slow burn over weeks and weeks, on both Raw and SD!

 

[BaconBits]

I don't know if bringing older teams back is the way to go. Reforming some of the present roster into true tag teams, particularly, some dudes that are languishing. Perhaps even bringing up some dudes from FCW and packaging them instantly as tag teams for their "big show" debuts would be the way to go instead. A start would be making Ezekiel Jackson and Mason Ryan a dominant heel team with a heel manager. Then bring up a team from FCW or points beyond to be a face team in that Rockers/Rock and Roll Express vibe, just modernized to be their rivals off the bat. And you build from there. It's easier to debut guys in a tag team setting, so that's something to consider.

 

[D-Man]

So your basis on tag team wrestling not being a draw is because they don't put much of an effort into it anymore?

There are two periods in WWE/F history since McMahon took over from his dad that tag team wrestling has worked, and worked well. In the mid-late 80's when he had teams like the Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, Demolition, Rockers, Killer Bees, Strike Force, ect... and in the Attitude Era with teams like E&C, Hardy's, Dudly's, APA, ect.

During both those periods, tag team wrestling was absolutely a draw, and not so coincidentally, the WWE did their best business ever during those periods.

I agree and disagree here.

I agree because tag team wrestling was a part of the product that WWE was selling, so technically we can consider it a draw.

But I disagree because it was also paired with the fact that these time periods produced two of the largest booms in the history of professional wrestling. When you've got a singles roster consisting of guys like Hogan, Savage, and Warrior putting up monster numbers in the 80's while the Rock, Austin, Taker, Mankind, HHH, Angle, DX, McMahon, etc. did it in the 90's, you really don't need much more to be a draw. Aside from your sporadic TLC matches, did fans actually buy tickets in order to see these tag teams? Granted, they made a nice added bonus to the show but they weren't the sole reason for tickets sales. And whether they existed on the roster or not, the main draws (like the guys I mentioned) were the guys bringing in the majority of the cash.

In today's market, pro-wrestling is on a decline. It's the exact opposite as a boom. The audience has changed. The demographic has changed. WWE is marketing to different types of people. In summation: things change and the WWE has to adapt. Unfortunately, one of the biggest changes is that no one cares about tag team wrestling just like how they don't care about women's wrestling. Sad, but true.

But why did tags work then and not any other time? It's simple. They actually put the time into the division. They recruited established tag teams. They put guys who normally would have been stuck in the mid card with nothing to do into exclusive tag teams. They promoted the division and made it feel important.

They have not done that in about a decade now. Yes occasionally they put together a real tag team, but typically it's only one or at the most two at a time... and they never keep them together for any length of time. How is a fan supposed to get invested in the teams... or the division itself for that matter... when it's treated as an afterthought?

No, tag team wrestling draws... but like anything else, only if the efforts put into it to make it a draw.

Effort can only go so far when you're putting it towards people who really don't care about what you're selling, in the first place. So you'd rather see the audience force-fed tag team wrestling just to satisfy your personal preference for it? Listen, I'm in my 30's and I watched wrestling in the 80's. I grew up with tag team wrestling. The 2nd Golden Era is what hooked me on professional wrestling with a large contribution being the tag team division. But unlike the majority of you guys, I can see the enormous difference between the product then compared to what it is now. Trust me when I say that tag team wrestling was bigger in the 80's than it was in the 90's and today's tag team wrestling wouldn't hold a candle to either of those eras. The market just has no room for them.

It's not the lack of effort or emphasis... it's about promoting something that has the capabilities of being marketable in today's world.

 

[ECW Dan Selby]

There's a bit of a flaw in your argument, D-Man.

You say no one's cared about tag wrestling for the past 10 years. Give me one reason why they should with the half-arsed tripe they've put out there?

Monkey_Mania got it dead on: What do they have to lose when they're spending time on guys like Mason Ryan and, i'll add him, Jack Swagger? They have no major appeal, lack mic skills, and lack any real natural charisma.

Yes, you won't get 5 star matches out of NAO, but you will have a team that can talk (ok, 50% of the team can..) and work (not 5 star, but work) and who younger up and coming tag teams and learn a great deal from.

To say that tag wrestling can't draw now is nothing more than a presumption, as we havn't had the opportunity to find out.

WWE have no problem in building an angle and dropping it like it never happened. If it doesn't work, they havn't lost out. They've done it 100 times before.

 

[kdk5680]

Just like another poster before you, you're not looking at things the right way. I fully understand how they were all originally tag team members who found success once they branched out into singles divisions. I also completely understand their contributions towards the tag team division 10 years ago. But when was the last time an audience bought a ticket to watch tag team wrestling.

My point is that tag-team wrestling, and the lesser belts(IC and US) were ways to help bring exposure and development to the younger wrestlers. When Jack Swagger, Shaemus, Alberto del Rio are shoved into the main title hunts, given a belt, only to have it taken away from them by the "big names" then relegated to mid-card status, it makes them and the title look weak.

I believe with a unification of the main belts(whc and WWE) in to one champion, an emphasis on letting younger, lesser known wrestlers go after the lesser belts, with an introduction of new wrestlers through the tag-team division, we would have a better overall product.

You have said a couple different times "if it aint broke, dont fix it", yet the ratings continue to drop. Sounds like something is broke to me.

As far as my converstion with Billy Gunn, it was at the Tigin Irish Pub in St. Louis with X-Pac and Josh Isenberg(one of the editors of this site). Just saying.

 

[D-Man]

There's a bit of a flaw in your argument, D-Man.

You say no one's cared about tag wrestling for the past 10 years. Give me one reason why they should with the half-arsed tripe they've put out there?

No argument here. The division lost its interest because of a combination of things but that's not what's being discussed here. We already know what got us here but we're discussing how to get ourselves out of it. More so, we're discussing whether it's even worth the effort to get the division of of this proverbial hole.

To say that tag wrestling can't draw now is nothing more than a presumption, as we havn't had the opportunity to find out.

WWE have no problem in building an angle and dropping it like it never happened. If it doesn't work, they havn't lost out. They've done it 100 times before.

Putting effort towards the division takes money and time (which costs more money). The WWE needs to analyze whether the "juice is worth the squeeze." Will they get THAT much of a return on their investment? I suppose only they can answer. But if I were calling the shots and the singles division is still the breadwinner of the company, I would leave things as they are.

 

[TheChosenOne10]

I think theres a few teams that should come back, just bringing one in won't do anything...

London & Kendrick: Fast paced, crowd dug them, and were putting on fantastic matches in 2006(?). Both guys can continue to put on those high, fast, action packed matches.

Haas & Benjamin: Not much needed to say here. The best tag team in the world imo. It was a shame they ever got split up and eventually released. They could work as a heel team or face team and would be able to put on classic matches with the teams I'm naming in this post and any other team WWE can scrap together.

MNM: Though the split did help establish Morrison, I think he's doomed alone because of his weak mike skills and his backstage antics. Bring the 3 of them back and get the tag division going again.

Gabriel & Slater: I know they're still employed but put them back together. Teams have heated break ups all the time only to get back together months or years later. They didn't even have much of a break up. They aren't doing anything and were a solid entertaining team.

Cutty & Harris: Again same as the one above. Id like to see these two change up the gimmick though, would enjoy a redneck team of some sort that are tough and hick.

Hart Dynasty: The split didn't do anyone any good. They were a great team and should have never been split up. Bring back DHS and get him and Kidd going again.

Ryder & Hawkins: I hate Ryders gimmick. I know the guy can work but I like Hawkins a lot to and I think the tag division would benefit more than anything else.


With these teams, some already in the WWE, we could get an awesome tag division again I don't think its to much of a stretch to get these guys.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I agree and disagree here.

I agree because tag team wrestling was a part of the product that WWE was selling, so technically we can consider it a draw.

But I disagree because it was also paired with the fact that these time periods produced two of the largest booms in the history of professional wrestling. When you've got a singles roster consisting of guys like Hogan, Savage, and Warrior putting up monster numbers in the 80's while the Rock, Austin, Taker, Mankind, HHH, Angle, DX, McMahon, etc. did it in the 90's, you really don't need much more to be a draw. Aside from your sporadic TLC matches, did fans actually buy tickets in order to see these tag teams? Granted, they made a nice added bonus to the show but they weren't the sole reason for tickets sales. And whether they existed on the roster or not, the main draws (like the guys I mentioned) were the guys bringing in the majority of the cash.

I'm not going to disagree that both those periods had major singles draws, and anything under them could have drawn as a result, but you're missing something here.

The main reason that both those time periods worked so well, and that there was so much that could draw back then, is because the WWE was able to use their ENTIRE roster properly both of these times.

Everyone had a role both of those times. People were used properly. As there really is only so much room in the singles division, part of this meant that those who didn't have a role there got put into the tag division, and were actually given a role there.

And yes, people did buy tickets to see tag teams back then. The first ever live card I went to had Savage defending the IC belt against Tito Santana... but I got my dad to buy tickets because I wanted to see the Hart Foundation against the Rougeau Brothers. Went back the next year because the Harts were fighting the Bulldogs, and I couldn't miss that.

During the Attitude Era, some of my favorite segments were Edge and Christian's 5 second poses.

Sure I'm likely a minority in that regard, but just having a strong tag team division sells a card so much better. You can have Austin/Rock headlining a show, and it will sell... but if every other match is a Steve Lombardi vs a Barry Horowitz, do you think it's going to sell as well as a well balanced card? Or is it going to be a show where everyone shows up 5 minutes before the main event?

In today's market, pro-wrestling is on a decline. It's the exact opposite as a boom. The audience has changed. The demographic has changed. WWE is marketing to different types of people. In summation: things change and the WWE has to adapt. Unfortunately, one of the biggest changes is that no one cares about tag team wrestling just like how they don't care about women's wrestling. Sad, but true.

Effort can only go so far when you're putting it towards people who really don't care about what you're selling, in the first place. So you'd rather see the audience force-fed tag team wrestling just to satisfy your personal preference for it? Listen, I'm in my 30's and I watched wrestling in the 80's. I grew up with tag team wrestling. The 2nd Golden Era is what hooked me on professional wrestling with a large contribution being the tag team division. But unlike the majority of you guys, I can see the enormous difference between the product then compared to what it is now. Trust me when I say that tag team wrestling was bigger in the 80's than it was in the 90's and today's tag team wrestling wouldn't hold a candle to either of those eras. The market just has no room for them.

It's not the lack of effort or emphasis... it's about promoting something that has the capabilities of being marketable in today's world.

I do not agree with this. I will agree that people currently don't care about tag team wrestling... but at the same time, are they given a reason to care about it?

No I believe that if they put the effort into the division, start putting guys that aren't being used in it, actually keep teams together and market them as teams... that people will care about it again.

And no I don't want people force fed tag team wrestling for my satisfaction. I simply want to see the WWE once again make use of it's ENTIRE roster. The only way to do that effectively is to make real use of the tag team division.

 

[dvyhnz]

Here's an idea - once they've got a few teams set up, give them some in-ring promo time. When was the last time you've seen a tag team cut a great promo in the ring? The Outlaws used to kill it with their catch phrases.

I think there are plenty of guys on the roster to pair up - i.e. Gabriel and Slater, Baretta and Reks, Kidd and Cutty, Alex Riley and Ryder. I'd love to see a short run from the Outlaws to get things started. I remember the epic tag battles between teams like Money Inc., the Nasty Boys, LOD, Headshrinkers, etc.

 

[RManske2]

I agree with a lot of people here saying that bringing back old teams probably won't solve the issue but if I had to pick one I would go with Haas and Benjamin since from what I could remember both of those guys could go in the ring pretty good.

If I had a chance to make a change I would try to find a way to create a mix of a young guy and veteran to form a tag team with some meaningful story. The post about Road Dogg and whether he could still go got me thinking if you could take him and guys like William Regal, Golddust, and maybe a few others (veteran guys that can work in the ring and know the business) and create storylines where they work with younger guys trying to get established. It gives the veterans some time but not so much on a schedule aspect and younger guys a chance to get some in ring work and see how they do while learning from guys that are respected.

Maybe start them on Superstars and just see where it goes from there...

 

[legend killer 93]

i havent been a fan of tag team wrestling for years, due to how bad it truly has gotten, the only time i really enjoyed tag matches was in the days of The Hardys, The Dudleys, E&C, A.P.A etc..
but to answer the question, i think if the wwe were able to get the likes of M.C.M.G, Beer Money, Kings Of Wrestling, Haas & Benjamin, then i think it would begin to look alot better than it is at the moment.
with them 4 teams, as well as, AirBoom, The Uso's and Primo & Epico, i think it would be a step in the right direction.

 

[Khalifa]

NO ONE! They need to keep bringing up the younger talent instead of bringing down main event guys or old tag teams for 4 months to try and help make the division only to ruin it when they leave. The tag teams that are currently in here are the teams that should bring it up. Given the right amount of time and build they can easily do it and make the tag team atleast a tiny bit better than what it is now. But it's not only the tag teams fault, it's the WWE's fault as well because they are putting no time into the division like they use to.

I'm sick of people like DX, Jericho, Big Show and the Hardy's coming down to the tag team division only to leave 4 months later and when they leave it's like they didn't even care about the tag titles like they should of and that they don't remember anything from the previous 4 months. Like fair enough that they should have there eyes on the main event, but even when people like Edge or Jeff Hardy were in the main event it was always told how good they were in the tag division and how it brought them up and stuff. But when you hear Jericho wrestle do you ever here about his tag team titles run? If you do it's hardly ever.

WWE need to keep this generation of tag teams and help them build it up again. It's the only way to solve it.

 

[dman1373]

Effort can only go so far when you're putting it towards people who really don't care about what you're selling, in the first place. So you'd rather see the audience force-fed tag team wrestling just to satisfy your personal preference for it? Listen, I'm in my 30's and I watched wrestling in the 80's. I grew up with tag team wrestling. The 2nd Golden Era is what hooked me on professional wrestling with a large contribution being the tag team division. But unlike the majority of you guys, I can see the enormous difference between the product then compared to what it is now. Trust me when I say that tag team wrestling was bigger in the 80's than it was in the 90's and today's tag team wrestling wouldn't hold a candle to either of those eras. The market just has no room for them.

It's not the lack of effort or emphasis... it's about promoting something that has the capabilities of being marketable in today's world.

To use force feed, is a little strong. By bringing in the nao, it wouldn't need to be more or less tag wrestling matches. But when bringing in nao it will bring eyes to those tag matches. Even if you think their old, this, that and, the other, you still have to admit that they have more charisma than any other tag team in the wwe. I know thats not saying much. Also when you have a guy that can talk you won't lose so many viewers. Say its only .1 more during their match then it would have been. Thats still .1 then you would have gotten with the usos or primo and epico. It also opens the nao up to a new fan base and more potential of selling dvds and dx gear(and the dx gear would go like hotcakes.)

 

[DrMantisToboggan]

As we all know the tag team division in the WWE is trash right now. Here's a couple of directions I think they could go with the tag team division.

1. Bring in some tag teams from ROH, TNA, etc that have been together for a while and can put on good matches. I watched ROH a couple of weeks ago and saw a tag match that was better than any tag match the WWE has had in a long time. You get those guys and you'll see an improvement in not only the tag team division but the entire card overall. Tag teams can help set the pace for the rest of the show and can make the mid-card very respectable.

2. Get rid of the tag team division and bring back the cruiserweight division or you can call it light heavyweight if you need to. That'd be a great mid-card spot for guys like Kofi, Rey, Bryan, Bourne if he isn't fired, Tyson Kidd, etc. Those would be great matches to watch and you could really showcase the speed and high flying that really gets the crowd going which seems to be a tough job these days.

3. Put more than 2-3 teams together from inside the company. Yes I know everyone wants to be the next Shawn Michaels or the next Stone Cold but guess what, most guys just won't do that so what's wrong with being the next LOD or the next Rockers or the next Midnight Express? Nothing. This is a good way to get guys that deserve some TV time a spot on the show and get them more TV time. They could have guys like Tyler Reks, Hawkins, Riley, Brotus Clay, Kidd etc form tag teams and get in experience and some time to shine. It's gotta be better than having them sit in the back. I don't think the whole not being good on the mic should apply either. It's not like everyone was wanting to see the Hardys or the Dudleyz because of their mic skills. It's because they put on great matches. Sure it helps if they can but I'd rather have them out there tagging and have limited skills on the mic and work on them than to just have them in the back pretty much doing nothing.



What do you think would be the best for the future of the tag division?

 

[Mr. HD]

I think the Tag Team Division is doomed.

I mean after all, when WWE breaks up teams like The Hart Dynasty and Cryme Tyme and don't give teams like The Usos any air time, I'm not surprised.

It's hard nowadays to throw two random guys together and expect them to get over. Air Boom was doin a pretty damn good until Evan Bourne decided to ruin the entire thing.

Epico and Primo are doing a good job right now, especially with the help of Rosa and there really is nobody to challenge them unless you wanna turn The Usos face or put Kofi with Rey when he gets back.

They need to start bringing in developmetal talent and guys like The Kings of Wrestling or MCMG. They would do wonders for that Division. Or if times get desperate, then reforming The Hart Dynasty or Cryme Tyme could be taken into effect. Former Teams like The Outlaws can only do so much.

 

[Masson26]

unless you wanna turn The Usos face

The Uso's have been face for a long time now....though judging by the non reaction they received during the rumble, theres work to do there..i really think that bringing back there dad as a manager could really help them get over.

 

[TempestH]

There are a lot of teams I'd like to see..

1. K.O.W. - They've already made attempts to sign Chris Hero, with the only problem being that he failed a drug test. Hopefully they succeed at another attempt.

2. John Cena & Zack Ryder - Have John Cena step down to upper midcard after WM28, and make him and Zack Ryder a regular team. If Cena supposedly loves Ryder as much as we've been shown to believe, I can see him correlating his color scheme to Ryder's.

3. Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks - I feel that a huge boat was missed in making Hawkins & Reks the new Miz & Morrison with their Midcard Mafia cartoon.

4. Miz & Alex Riley - I'm thinking that the two should reunite as faces. They have a streamlined look which is way too good to pass up. All they would need is a matching color scheme.

5. Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez - I propose giving Ricardo the Mr. Kennedy gimmick, so that he can introduce himself, and follow it up with the Del Rio introduction.

6. Johnny Curtis & Derrick Bateman - The two of them are probably the most entertaining of the low card guys, but their talents are being wasted feuding with each other. The Maxine angle should lead to them reuniting.

7. New Age Outlaws - They'd be good for a few nostalgia pops.

8. Booker T & Goldust - They both can still go, and not only could they help the tag division, they could also add a bit of star power to the shows.

 

[the_vipers_enigma]

It is no secret for anyone that the tag team division of WWE is a big joke at the moment.But after giving it some thoughts do you think that if two established superstar like Cena and Orton(it's not necessary to be them just the first that came up to me) are turned into a tag team will help the division.That way we will have Primo&Epico,The Usos andThe two established stars which can battle for the titles.

 

[TempestH]

I would much rather see Cena team up with Zack Ryder. They already have proven chemistry, and I can see Cena changing his attire to match Ryder's color scheme. Plus, we'd get to see Cena/Ryder vs. Hawkins/Reks.

 

[Radical Canadian Goose]

With Cena/Orton you would be creating The Two Man Power Trip version 2.0. I like this idea because it would do 2 things it would create new fresh main events not involving the likes of Orton and Cena. For me I would finally pull the trigger and put Swagger and Ziggler in the tag division. I would have 8 teams in the tag division that can put on great matches together. My tag division would consist of:

Cena/Orton
Ziggler/Swagger
The Usos
Primo/Epico
Hawkins/Rex
Kofi/Gabriel
Kidd/Barretta
Hero/Claudio

I think we would get some solid matches out of this division and it doesn't need to be permanent just enough time for Cena, Orton and Ziggler to give a proper rub to the tag division