Rebuilding the tag-team divisions

[tehblogger]

After the draft and recent firings, what have we got left? The tag-team division has been decimated. Moore's gone, so the Redneck and the Reject are finished, London and Kendrick have split up, Deuce and Domino are gone, Cantino have split up...this is really something of a nadir. Here's what left.

1.Cena and Batista, which won't last longer than two weeks.

2. Team Priceless, ex-champs and soon-to-be champs again. Young and talented. Rhodes is very solid on the mic too.

3. Cryme Tyme. Unfunny but pretty solid in the ring.

4. The Highlanders. Jobbers.

That's on RAW. On Smackdown and ECW...

1. Hawkins and Ryder. Young and talented, the belts are on the right guys for now.

2. Jesse and Festus. Meh. They should be heel, Festus always looks like the school bully monstering the smaller guys. And he needs a new finisher.

3. Miz and Morrison. But for how much longer? They're both due well-deserved singles pushes and they've made no effort to get their belts back. Their days together may be numbered.

4. Family Finlay. A crappy comedy act who simply demean the entire division. Not a team WWE could possibly give the belts to.

And that's it (hopefully I've left no one out). I guess you could maybe make out a case for including one or two more, such as Chavo and Bam, but they're just infrequent contenders. IMO RAW needs about 7 solid tag-teams to really kick-start the division again, plus 6 on Smackdown with 3 on ECW (interchangeable).

Where should these new teams come from? Suggestions as to who they should be formed of. For starters, I'd love to see Bourne have a run in the division (I enjoyed his match against Chavo and Bam with Ortiz; Bourne covers for Ortiz's deficiencies). Maybe also Elijah Burke? Chavo and Bam competing more frequently? Perhaps even Kozlov and Kendrick? (ok, I plucked that one out of the air).

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Burchill and Regal should form a team. Putting them together as English partners just makes sense. Kendrick could well team up with his man Zeke. MVP cud find a partner in Shelton Benjamin i spose, but that's a long shot. I'd say Ortiz and Bourne should stay together as a team but what's the point with no ECW tag belts to contend for? I know the talent exchange is stll supposed to be going on, but right now that seems to apply to Chavo and Bam and no one else.

All of these guys should remain as high end mid carders, but could also gel well enough together to be considered as a formidable tag team imo.

None of these guys should become solely tag team wrestlers, but could easily become good enough to be considered tag title contenders.

 

[Code Red]

Here's something that I find disappointing about tag teams in general in WWE(besides the overall de-emphasis of them): The fact that so few of these teams use double-team offense. Can you name many distinctive tag team maneuvers from any of these teams? Aside from Cryme Tyme, The Highlanders, and Jesse & Festus (whose move, Jesse with a Festus-enhanced shoulder block off the top, is crap anyway), none of the teams use double-team finishers. I've always wondered why we've seen this type of offense fall by the wayside. Has WWE ever considered that crowds might not be into these matches because it has become like watching two solo wrestlers team up, rather than seeing tag teams wrestle like tag teams?

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Some ideas:

1) The Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel - It just makes sense. Start these guys slow, like the WWE did with Michaels/Diesel.

2) Regal and Burchill - I said in a previous thread, just because you have these two team up doesn't mean they can't also pursue midcard and main event titles.

3) I was completely sold on Will's idea for a Shannon Moore & Gregory Helms team reunion, but we won't be seeing that. So instead, how about Helms teams up with London or Bourne?

4) Burke and Killings - Just make Burke a face. It isn't like they're missing out on him being a heel when he never shows up at all anyway.

5) Funaki and Super Crazy - A jobber tag team.

6) Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer - "Team ECW originals and now WWE jobber rejects" essentially lol

7) Chuck Palumbo and Mike Knox - Brute force tag team. Or you could replace one with Snitsky...or Kozlov...or some sort of combo of those four, since they're all pretty much the same guy.

8) The Miz and Kenny Dykstra - I think they should keep Morrison and Miz together, but add Dykstra in the mix and make it a stable that Morrison is the leader of.

9) Santino Marella & (Some new guy) - Give him a guy who has the gimmick of being more along the lines of a personal trainer. He can "train" Santino into becoming someone that can actually start winning matches. Santino can stay a funny character, but he needs to start being able to actually win some matches on his own without making people look bad.

10) Harry Smith and T.J. Wilson - Come on. Just makes sense. Add Natalya in to make a mini-stable.

11) Carlito and Ricky Ortiz - They look alike, they called Ortiz "the Latin Assassin", etc.

12) Charlie Haas and Jamie Noble - Both guys are technically sound, but have no real place in the WWE, so why not just tag them up and give them a gimmick of being really dedicated wrestlers as opposed to just entertainers?


WWE has the options, they just don't want to do it. Some think that by doing this, you'd ruin the midcard, but like I said before, just because they team up doesn't mean that they can't challenge for singles titles as well. Jimmy Wang Yang was teaming with Moore and they still had singles matches, for instance. The people backstage are either too stupid to think of teaming people up like this, or they simply don't want to do it (the more likely scenario being the latter).

 

[My$terio_Fan]

It's going to take alot to rebuild the WWE's tag division. All they need is about 6 solid tag teams to make a good divisioN. First WWE should unite the tag divisons and make one belt. In one division you have Team Priceless, highlanders, & Cryme Time from Raw, Ryder/Hawkins & Jesse/Festus from smackdown. Then they could bring up some developmental talent or steal some of tna's tag teams. WWE needs to realize that it is beneficial for them to build up a good tag division.

 

[Mr. TM]

Future World Tag Team Champions- Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix. Beth is in line for a Chyna like push. After winning the Woman's title, and having Santino get the Intercontinetal Title, They will cash in on the Tag Team Titles too. They will be similar to Lance Storm, who had all the titles. This will continute Santino and Phoenix as being WWE's true power couple. They will then feud with Smackdown's! Edge and Vickie for supremacy of the WWE.

 

[Miko]

I actually hate the state of tag team wrestling at the moment, I remember even as a kid being more interested in the Hardys vs Edge and Christian than The Rock vs Austin, I dont know why, I just was.

The thing is wrestling is all about the singles competition these days, everytime they get a decent tag team some genius thinks "these guys are a good team, so they must be even BETTER on their own" and the process of this has made the tag belts meaningless.

I think the tag team division needs a lot of work, the idea of chucking random guys together is a quick fix that should be utilized for now, but if I had anything to do with it I would be looking to bring in young tag teams, guys that are actually partners and keep them that way, that way the random pairings can put them over when the time comes.

I seriously think that if young teams were gradually introduced into the mix over time the tag team division could prosper again, WWE have had the right idea with The Major Brothers or Rawkins and Hyder because they actually look like a tag team, same with Cryme Tyme, I think it'll be a slow road but thats how I'd set about accomplishing it.

 

[tehblogger]

Here's something that I find disappointing about tag teams in general in WWE(besides the overall de-emphasis of them): The fact that so few of these teams use double-team offense. Can you name many distinctive tag team maneuvers from any of these teams? Aside from Cryme Tyme, The Highlanders, and Jesse & Festus (whose move, Jesse with a Festus-enhanced shoulder block off the top, is crap anyway), none of the teams use double-team finishers. I've always wondered why we've seen this type of offense fall by the wayside. Has WWE ever considered that crowds might not be into these matches because it has become like watching two solo wrestlers team up, rather than seeing tag teams wrestle like tag teams?

You're absolutely right, of course. Though you might not have noticed that Hawkins and Ryder are using a double Edgecution (or at least that's what it looks like to me) as a finisher (check out their match with Moore and Yang last Smackdown). The fun thing about TNA tag-team matches is that you do see real team work, as opposed to just two singles wrestlers slapping each other's hands occasionally. WWE, take note.

I do believe things will improve, though. At any rate, the tag divisions have sunk to such a low point they can hardly get any worse. However, with Team Priceless (who look to be gelling very nicely, I enjoyed their match with Cena and Batista) and Hawkins and Ryder holding the belts, I think things can improve on the back of these two young and talented teams. They just need some people to have non-repetitive feuds with.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Here's something that I find disappointing about tag teams in general in WWE(besides the overall de-emphasis of them): The fact that so few of these teams use double-team offense. Can you name many distinctive tag team maneuvers from any of these teams? Aside from Cryme Tyme, The Highlanders, and Jesse & Festus (whose move, Jesse with a Festus-enhanced shoulder block off the top, is crap anyway), none of the teams use double-team finishers. I've always wondered why we've seen this type of offense fall by the wayside. Has WWE ever considered that crowds might not be into these matches because it has become like watching two solo wrestlers team up, rather than seeing tag teams wrestle like tag teams?

Cryme TYme have that whiplash/splash move where Shad hangs JTG upside down over his shoulders and then whips him over and on to their opponent.

Miz and Morrison have their slingshot into a forearm, followed by the opponent falling back onto Miz's knees followed by a springboard elbow across the throat by Morrison.

Highlanders have a double reverse suplex as their tag finisher.

Edgeheads have a double team Implant DDT as their tag finisher

Cade/Murdoch had that crappy chop black/lariat combo as their tag finisher

MNM had the Snapshot (elevated DDT) as their tag finisher.

But you're right, double team moves are near to non-existant and it does help significantly to get a tag team over imo. It seems that only the established tag teams ever do these types of move but as its one established tag team to a roster now, that's why it's so bad right now.

The thing that makes this whole situation so much worse is that this year's WWE game is primarily focused on tag team wrestling and well oiled tag teams, which they don't actually do themselves. It's like saying, 'ok you want better tag wrestling? Do it yourself, on your own time!'

 

[buddy_z34]

just like the cruiserweight division, the WWE has the talent to put together a very great show every week. but they seem to be wanting to push single stars more and more now trying to find that Austin or Rock character again.

McMahon will never again put the shows on one brand again. that is what is utlimately giving WWE it's problems. the feuds get played over and over again because of the limited number of resources/wrestlers on each show. we only get one draft every year so we see the same feuds and wrestlers.

this leads to crappy divisions like the cruiserweight, womens and tag team divisions not having good wrestlers because they are being split up.

just imagine if we had HHH, Taker, Cena, HBK, Edge, Batista, Kane and Jericho battling it out for the two HW titles.

MVP, Kennedy, Matt, Jeff, Umaga, Shelton, Killings and Carlito battling it out for the US and IC belts.

Cruiserweight/LH belt coming back with Rey, Bourne, Wang Yang, Helms, Chavo, Jesse, Richards, The Kendrick and London.

womens title with Beth, Mickie, Natalya, McCool, Victoria, Kelly Kelly and Go Daddy girl.

tag team division with Team Priceless, Cryme Tyme, Miz and Morrison, Hawkins & Ryder, Kendrick & Zeke, Bam & chavo, highlanders and Jesse & Festus.

i dont know about you but that has the potential to be the greatest era of the WWE.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

WWE really need to do something here. They have a hell of a lot of guys just floating around the jobber pool or who just aren't being used at all, and this would be a great way to give them something to work with and exposure.

For instance, on Raw, they could team up Burchill and Regal again. They were a hell of a great team back on SmackDown (even after Burchill became a pirate...) and could be even better on Raw, as both guys have improved as performers. Another team that could work, if they ever decide to let Bob Holly out of the doghouse, is Holly and Charlie Haas. I loved this team back when they were on SmackDown. And Charlie needs a goddamn push now! He's too talented not to get one. There are other ones as well, but I'm not gonna bother to come up with anything else right now kid.

SmackDown has a huge amount of talent that could benefit from this. I wouldn't mind seeing another high-flying team in Jimmy Wang Yang and Super Crazy, after the untimely release of Shannon Moore (peace bro!) or that goddamn awesomest of team-ups (to someone, anyway.) Vladimir Kozlov and Umaga. Heck, Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer could come from ECW. At one point after Ron Killings' return, they could team him up with Shelton Benjamin - THAT would kick ass sirs. Again, vast potential here, especially with the talent exchange thing. Either way, I seriously hope that Hawkins & Ryder do not keep the Tag Team Championships for long, as they are one of the least impressive teams I have ever seen win tag team gold. No offense to either of these guys, but how they still have a contract is a mystery to me. A tag team title win would have been better for La Familia earlier, also, because it just seems odd to give them the titles now, when all signs point to the imminent destruction of La Familia.

Again, WWE have the chance to create a good tag team division. They'd better start utilizing their potential soon. A good tag team division = good entertainment = money.

 

[Tastycles]

The answer to the Tag Team divisions problems won't come from putting a load of jobbers together to make more teams, because that'll be rubbish. Just a load of shite matches between people that nobody cares about.

The answer is two fold. Firstly, unite the titles, make everyoe fight for one. Have a #1 contender on each brand and defend it on PPV. The title used to be worthy of PPV time, and it can be again, provided the teams are good.

The second part is to put people who are being earmarked for future success in teams when they arrive. The best era in recent memory was at the turn of the century, when the two biggest teams were the Hardys and Edge and Christian. All 4 of them were breakout stars to varying degrees, and they earned their salt in the tag teams first. The equivalent people in recent history are people like CM Punk, Kennedy and MVP. Would it have been detrimentl to their careers to team them up? Certainly not. Would it have improved the tag team division? Certainly.

There is room for similar gimmick wrestlers to be in teams, e.g. Cryme Tyme. But the people who will be pushed in the future like Evan Bourne and Paul Burchill should be put in teams now (obvs. not those 2 together), because it'll make tag teams look like they matter. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes is an excellent starting point.

 

[jasu]

Well now it seems even harder to rebuild the division since the WWE just released a bunch of mid and low card wrestlers who could of helped and legit tag teams. Moore is gone so goodbye to the team of yang and moore. Highlanders, D&D, L&K are gone aswell so three legit teams are gone, i enjoyed the team of dreamer and colin but they turned colin heel and then released him, i really liked the team of henry and big dadd v but now henry is champ and big v is gone too, I would of really enjoyed the team of crazy and nunzio but he got the boot aswell ........ so whos left

Rhodes & Debiase
Cryme Tyme
Hawkins & Ryder
Jesse & Festus
Santino & Beth ... I guess
Holly/Venis/Haas ... any combination would work
Miz & Morrison ... they wont last because they will recieve single pushes again
Finlay & Hornswoggle .... losing to this team will only do harm to the division
Regal & Burchill .. its been done before but Im positive Regal wants a singles push
London & Noble would be a pretty sweet team if put together
DH & Wilson would be the best thing for the division (these guys are good)

 

[mcflyboy]

I'm going to go out on a limb here, so bear with me. First of all, I will agree that there are a lot of legitimate complaints in this thread about the tag team scene, and these complaints make sense. True, we don't have the glory days of when tag teams were at their heyday, and I will admit that I also to some extent miss the days of truly great teams going at it, and getting excited about the possibility of a face team getting to walk away with the titles after defeating a great heel team.

In contrast, it appears that the tag team division is a haven for wrestlers who fall into one of two categories. Of course there are always exceptions but this seems to be the main ones:

1. New up and comers that have sort of a "wait and see" status attached to them. They are new or close to it, and they aren't really ready yet for a single's push

2. Wrestlers that are at the midcard level, that the company wants to keep on TV but the creative teams don't have anything for them right now, so they form a tag team to keep them around for a while. Some of these guys eventually get back into the single scene, while others this is the first sign that they won't be around next year at this time.

So to mimic what others have already said, the tag teams are not what they used to be, and are used for something else entirely now. However, I will go out on a limb by saying...is it really so bad? Without the tag team division the way it currently is, where would the wrestlers that fall into one of the two categories listed above go? At least this way, we get to still see them on television and they don't vanish as soon as they would if there were a more fully developed tag team division.

I also believe it is worth mentioning that perhpas there isn't really much of a tag team division right now per se, but another reason that it might not really matter so much is that when you watch a regular raw or smackdown...it is very common for matches (especially the night's main event) to consist of some sort of impromptu tag team thrown together for storyline purposes at the beginning of the show. So while they may not be competing for tag team gold and these teams won't necessarily be considered a "great tag team", we still do get a fair amount of tag team action.

So to summarize, I do agree that the tag team division is not what it used to be, compared to say the late 80s. But on the other hand, I would argue that it does currently serve a worthwhile purpose that is not necessarily bad in itself.

 

[Starchild]

There really is a lot of work that could be done here. There are plenty of jobbers or guys who WWE "has nothing for" that could benefit from a good tag team division.
I think Elijah Burke would benefit greatly from being put in a team with Benjamin, MVP, or someone. Evan Bourne would be an interesting guy to have in the division. Maybe team him up with Rey and make a high-flyer team.
Doing this kind of thing also creates an opportunity to make stables come back. If you remember, many stables started at midcard status. Look at the heydays of DX with Trips going for the Intercontinental title, NAO for the tag team, and X-Pac for the European. Same goes for the Nation who DX had some great matches with. Rock was the leader and in the IC picture at the time. Even the Hart Foundation started as a tag team with midcard guys.
I could def. see like a young guns type stable with Priceless, Kennedy, Carlito or someone. And how about a new age Nation with Burke, MVP, Shelton, Killings, Cryme Time?
For every team that is broken up or released, WWE should try to create a new one. If someone isn't doing anything, then it shouldn't hurt to try. I'm not saying just throw two random guys together, but use the talent that you have to the full effect. Only so many people can be in the midcard or heavyweight title picture. Use some other guys in singles feuds, but then take some people you think might work well together and make a tag team. The pieces are there to get the tag team division back, they just have to use it.

 

[MasterDebator]

There really is a lot of work that could be done here. There are plenty of jobbers or guys who WWE "has nothing for" that could benefit from a good tag team division.
I think Elijah Burke would benefit greatly from being put in a team with Benjamin, MVP, or someone. Evan Bourne would be an interesting guy to have in the division. Maybe team him up with Rey and make a high-flyer team.
Doing this kind of thing also creates an opportunity to make stables come back. If you remember, many stables started at midcard status. Look at the heydays of DX with Trips going for the Intercontinental title, NAO for the tag team, and X-Pac for the European. Same goes for the Nation who DX had some great matches with. Rock was the leader and in the IC picture at the time. Even the Hart Foundation started as a tag team with midcard guys.
I could def. see like a young guns type stable with Priceless, Kennedy, Carlito or someone. And how about a new age Nation with Burke, MVP, Shelton, Killings, Cryme Time?
For every team that is broken up or released, WWE should try to create a new one. If someone isn't doing anything, then it shouldn't hurt to try. I'm not saying just throw two random guys together, but use the talent that you have to the full effect. Only so many people can be in the midcard or heavyweight title picture. Use some other guys in singles feuds, but then take some people you think might work well together and make a tag team. The pieces are there to get the tag team division back, they just have to use it.

I love the idea of an African-American stable led by MVP featuring Benjamin, Truth, and Burke, and possibly Cryme Tyme. Even if there is no Cryme Time, a dominating tag-title run could elevate either R-Truth, Burke, or both to a higher level. Look what the tag division did for Edge the Hardys, HBK, and plenty of others.

I remember not too long ago WWE was toying with this idea since it wanted more of an African-American presence on the show. Didn't they say they wanted it to be spurned from MVP believing that he hasn't gotten pushed enough or had enough chances at the world title since he was black? Either way, it looks like La Familia is on it's way out thankfully and the WWE could use a new stable. I wouldn't want them to be called The New Nation or any sort of retread like that though.

I still love the idea of a Randy Orton led stable featuring Priceless being that they are all 2nd-gen superstars. They just need a fourth member and I never thought Carlito or DH Smith were the right fit. If the rumors, bare as they are, are true about a possible Orton/Batista teammup, I'd love to see them join forces with Priceless.

As for the tag division, I see three glaring problems that all of us are aware of and some have already touched on:

1) The tag team champs haven't been made to look good in a long time. Even when it was Cade and Murdoch, they too lost to John Cena in a handicap match at one point. This sort of treatment is inexcusable. As much as the WWE builds up Priceless, each time they lose a damn handicap match, they go right back to the bottom of the ladder.

2) No competition. Priceless has the potential to be a great team. Miz and Morrison already are a damn good one in my opinion. After that, including Ryder and Hawkins, the competition free falls. Build up the other tag teams i.e. Cryme Time, Jesse and Festus, Ryder and Hawkins (duh), and come up with some new ones with new, young talent, not two jobbers thrown together, and build them up as solid competition from the start. We don't need ten good tag teams, we need five great ones for this division.

3) I believe Tastycles stated it above and I'm sure many more have posted about this, but unify the damn titles. Have one team with the belts, and it's almost a quick fix which gives you more time to build up new teams (I also feel that the Women's title should be unified as well, even though I could give a flying shit about it).