Recognizing The Forgotten Tag Teams

[Post]

Ok, thinking outside of the box here...Playboy Buddy Rose and Pretty Boy Doug Somers.

They won the AWA tag titles from Hennig and Scott Hall and had a pretty good feud with Jannetty and Michaels. The clicked really well together and with their manager, Sheri Martell.

I loved their nicknames. Buddy Rose didn't always look bad, but in the AWA, Rose looked like absolute shit, but he was the "Playboy." I feel bad for the guy because he struggled with weight problems for a long time, and his weight contributed to his death. Doug Somers was definitely not a "Pretty Boy." Dude was ugly as sin.

But, they were pretty entertaining as a team. Buddy Rose was pretty athletic for a guy his size and would show off with 1 armed pushups. Not the WWF's "Blow Away" jobber that I remembered.

Anyway, I happened to see them a few times over the past 2 months on ESPN classic AWA wrestling and I thought they deserved a mention.

 

[The Crock]

I'm going to have to agree with the Rougeau Brothers. They got some pretty massive heat, and they were EXTREMELY entertaining. It really is a shame that they are so often forgotten, when they put in some great work. The thing that put them over the top was Jimmy Hart, just like you said. Jimmy Hart was a great mouthpiece and he added to the overall heat they garnered as a team. In the 80s - 90s the WWF had a plethora of great tag teams, and it was such a very strong division. The contrast between today's tag division and that era's tag division is striking.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

NAO - Like somebody said earlier, these guys were THE top tag team in WWF for several years, even being booked to make LOD look like chumps a couple of times. If it hadn't been for the TLC matches in 2000 to 2001, people would probably consider the NAO's to have had a bigger impact than they do.

APA - Again another team that was made to look dominant on a regular basis. If there was ever a multi-team match the Acolytes more often than not always won. Their tag team combos were also badass. The double spinebuster and the double powerbomb looked so devistating back in the day. These guys even won No DQ handicap matches with ease, and they were regularly shown beating the holy high crap out of people in bars. The APA were presented as legit tough guys, and then the comedy elements came along after, except shockingly they actually worked!

Los Guerreros - Everyone loves to bleat on about Eddie Guerrero and his 'Lie, Cheat' Steal' work, but seemingly forget that he spent a good year and a half doing it in tandem with Chavo before it ever became his gimmick alone.

The Impact Players - Even i don't have a great deal of knowledge about these guys in ECW. Obviously i know that they consisted of Lance Storm and Justin Credible and were managed by Dawn Marie, and held the tag titles there a few times, but that's about it. Most people who think of ECW tag teams get as far as the Dudleys, Public Enemy and the Eliminators and that's it. Rarely does anyone think of Tha Gangsta's or the FBI or even Sabu/RVD. Now, that's probably because most of those other teams weren't great, but i always found myself wanting to see more of the Impact Players, and was disappointed when Credible joined X-Factor and Storm ended up tagging with Awesome before just simply tagging with Christian, and then doing nothing.

 

[ramblinroy682]

The Warlord and the Barbarian. I know they were a knock off of LOD but I actually liked them. Also, I would have to throw in the Killer Bees, they gave birth to the switching partner gimmick so frequently used by twins today. I also liked the Dynamic Dudes, Johnny Ace and Shane Douglas.

But my favorite tag team off all time was the Hollywood Blondes. Stunning Steve and Flyan Brian. They are about as good as you can get. Loved them.

 

[Dyno Kid]

I would have to throw in the Killer Bees, they gave birth to the switching partner gimmick so frequently used by twins today.

Not that they were the first team to do it but the Fabulous Ones were doing the switching partners years before the Killer Bee's ever did.

Stan and Steve were a great team and get over-looked by today's fans. They had some great bloody brawls with the Moondogs and the Sheepherders back in the mid-80's in Memphis !

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I was always a fan of the Tazz and Raven tag team, back in 2000.

As you can see from my sig, I am a big Raven fan and marked the fuck out when he debuted in WWE, interfering in a strap match between the King and Tazz, helping out the former ECW champion.

WWE never really had much of a plan for Tazz or Raven, they just seemed to drift along aimlessly, which was a criminal waste of their talents. BUT, after Raven had made such an impact on his debut, they were immediately thrown together as a tag team. I thought this was a good idea, as they worked well together, and had two differing styles which made them unique in the tag team ranks at that time.

Although they did get a few title shots, and appear as a tag team on a couple of PPV's, they never really were given a good run and the alliance was short-lived. I always thought that with their ECW connections, they could have had a great feud with the Dudley Boyz, and would have had great chemistry in the ring, having worked together countless times in ECW. If they had put this match on at a PPV in Philladelphia, the roof would have come off and it would have been a huge success. But, once again, another wasted opportunity by the WWE.

 

[The Idiot]

A week or two ago I did a thread recognizing some of the forgotten stars of wrestling. It was meant to discuss some guys who rarely, if ever, are mentioned on the forums. This thread is the same thing but the tag team version. Teams like LOD, The Hart Foundation, and The British Bulldogs are often recognized on the forums. Who are teams that never seem to get enough recognition here?

I’ll start with The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. I think this team is very underrated. I never cared for them as a face team at all, but when they turned heel in 1988 they really stepped up their game. They had kind of a confusing heel turn when they decided to move from Montreal to the United States. They went on an on about how much they loved the USA. Doesn’t seem very heelish does it? There was just something about them that made them seem very insincere and the fans weren’t buying it. The fans suspected that they shouldn’t trust the Rougeau Brothers but they hadn’t done anything to really turn heel.

Eventually they took on Jimmy Hart as a manager and the heel transformation was complete. We now had more than enough reason to hate the Rougeaus. Jimmy Hart had recently split with The Hart Foundation and there was a story where the Harts still owed him a percentage of their earnings. Jimmy Hart decided to give that money to the Rougeaus. With their false sincerity, new manager, and a feud with the newly popular Hart Foundation, the Rougeaus were becoming the most hated team in the WWF.

There were other things that made the Rougeaus hated too. The fans looked at them as wusses. They were always hugging each other and doing some sort of flamboyant taunt at their opponents. They sang their own entrance music about how they were ‘all American boys.” Half the song was in French and there was the classic line “we don’t like heavy metal, we don’t like rock and roll, all we like to listen to is Barry Manilow.” As a kid I absolutely hated the Rougeaus which makes me appreciate them when I look back. By the way, I now find their theme song to be awesome.

One thing my hatred made me overlook was the Rougeaus were pretty good in the ring. They had good matches with The Harts, The Bulldogs, and The Rockers. They never got a title run as they were around during Demolition’s domination. I would have liked to have seen a short program between Demolition and The Rougeaus but it never happened.

So The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers are my choice when recognizing the forgotten tag teams. Who’s yours?

As a little bonus here’s the sweet Rougeau theme.

[YOUTUBE]hn701jXWtkE[/YOUTUBE]

Edit: I hope you guys can see the video. From my computer I can't see it or tell if it posted.
Tastycles Edit: We couldn't, I fixed it

**Thread of the year**

Great topic and even better pick!!

My pick: The Brain Busters

You want to talk old school tag teams? Look no further than Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. They are about as old school as you can get. One of the greatest heel tag teams in the late 80's. With their traditional red tights and boots, walking out to the ring with no entrance music (only boos), and managed by the greatest of all time, Bobby Heenan (Hence the name, "Brain" Busters). They were technically sound in the ring and worked perfectly as a team as they would pride themselves on outsmarting their opponents. The Spike Piledriver was their finisher something you wouldn't see in today's WWE. They were also former WWF tag team champs after beating Demolition for the titles. (I believe it was a 2/3 fall match but not 100% certain on it). They went on to feud with the Hart Foundation, and then a legendary feud with a series of classic matches with the Rockers.

Before their days in the WWF as the "Brain Busters" they teamed together in the NWA and were pretty much the founding fathers of the Four Horsemen, one of the greatest stables of all time. They had some classic battles with the Midnight Express and the Road Warriors and were the first tag team ever to be crowned NWA and WWF tag team champions.

A classic tag team in professional wrestling history....the Brain Busters will never be forgotten.


Their one and only Wrestlemania appearance:

 

[8thwotwATG]

A tag team that I don't hear mentioned a great deal anymore would be the team of Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo, who were waaay over in the WWF/E back during the early days of Hogan's first title run. I remember their run w/Nicolai Volkoff and the Iron Shiek during this time period. Both of these guys could work a match as singles wrestlers as well, as both had a good deal of sucess as singles. However, both Windham and Rotundo were most sucessfull in the WWE when they teamed w/ each other(though argument could be made for Rotundo's work w/Ted DiBiase as well.)That being said, It's my belief that the technical skill of both of these guys and the ability to make a lot of other teams look good helped to make them one of the better teams of the mid 80's.

 

[LKOKDJE]

The Jumpin' Bomb Angels were an awesome, high flying female tag team, imported from Japan, who wrestled in the WWF! As a kid it was nice to see a team that was the female equivalent to the British Bulldogs and The Killer Bees!

Doom was HARD! The Natural Butch Reed and Ron Simmons were ultra-intimidating! Those two brothers kicked ass and took names, and made history while doing it! Brutal, powerful, and Ron Simmons would become the first African American heavyweight champion of a major federation!

I loved the speed, athleticism, and sheer power of Soulman Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas. Tony Atlas..the ORIGINAL World's Strongest Man and Rocky Johnsn; the father of THE ROCK, also made a historical first..the first AFrican-American tag-team champions of a major federation!

 

[MancMark]

Some suggestions have been made here. The New Age Outlaws are vastly underrated I think, but I'm not sure they're really a forgotten tag team.

I'm going to suggest Kronik. A lot of people probably didn't like them particularly because the era of WCW they came into was pretty bollocks. I always liked them as a big powerful team, and in many ways they were WCW's version of the APA. They looked like they'd walk all over you, and they had a good finish. I thought they were one of the few good things about WCW towards the end. It never really worked for them when they made it to the WWF, but I think along with the APA and Undertaker/Kane as a team, there was never going to be room for them.

 

[Davi323]

I am gonna go with the Fabulous Freebirds. Considering everything these guys accomplished in the ring, the influence they had, being involved on one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history, it astonishes me that the Freebirds are not on the WWE HOF. I almost didn't want to mention them, because in my mind, they will never be forgotten...but they hardly ever get mentioned by anyone. In addition to their six man success, they also were successful in the conventional tag team format. Ever hear of the rule that allows any two members of a group to defend a tag team held by the group? That's called the Freebird rule.

 

[Dyno Kid]

I am gonna go with the Fabulous Freebirds. Considering everything these guys accomplished in the ring, the influence they had, being involved on one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history, it astonishes me that the Freebirds are not on the WWE HOF. I almost didn't want to mention them, because in my mind, they will never be forgotten...but they hardly ever get mentioned by anyone. In addition to their six man success, they also were successful in the conventional tag team format. Ever hear of the rule that allows any two members of a group to defend a tag team held by the group? That's called the Freebird rule.

I don't think the "Boys from Bad Street" are forgotten, especially by the I.W.C. but a team from their era that I feel is overlooked and forgotten is the "Dynamic Duo" of Gino Hernandez & "Gentelman" Chris Adams !

What a great heel tag team led by one of the top 10 heels of the past 30 years in my opinion in Gino ! He was just so naturally cocky, arrogant, and hateable that you wanted to kill the guy ! Throw him together with Adams, the man who did the ultimate act of betrayal and sin in the state of Texas by turning on the Von Erich's and you had a heat getting team ! They were great workers and promo guy's who had many a great match with Kevin & Kerry back in 1985 climaxing with the famous hair vs hair match at the Cotton Bowl in October of that year !

 

[Marky-Marc]

Seriously? Some great teams have been mentioned, and some pretty dumb ones too, but as soon as I read this thread one team popped into my head. Multiple time Tag Champs, dominated the division for close to 3 years and personally I absolutely hated them:

MONEY INC.

The Million Dollar Man (One of the best heels in wrestling history) and Irwin R. Shyster (IRS for those of you not paying attention lol this name is awesome) were great together. They were cocky, rich, douchebags, led by Jimmy Hart at first, these guys were instant heat. When you can do the most heated promo on a given night and Dibiase doesn't even speak, you know you have gold. IRS' promos about American being filthy tax cheats were always so good, and the guy wore his red tie while fighting, it was classic, Gorilla Monsoon would ask Heenan every night "Why would he wear his tie in the ring/" Always made me laugh.

They held the titles I think 3 times before they split so Dibiase could have one last singles run before he retired in 1993. They fueded with the Steiners, Men on a Mission, Hogan/Beefcake.

I always hated them when i was a little kid and hated that it seemed like they constantly had thr Tag Titles, but looking back on them now they were certainly one of the greats nad definitely do not get enough mention.

 

[realoldskoolfan]

"Hollywood" John Tatum and Jack Victory

mid card team from the World Class days managed by Missy Hyatt who had a coule runs with there tag straps, then moved onto Bill Watt's UWF promotion where they teamed with Eddie Gilberts Hotsuff International faction before Missy turned her back on them and joined Gilbert. had a couple runs with there tag team belts then moved onto the short lived Wild West Wrestling in Dallas, a promotion competing with World Class around 1987. held there tag belts twice.

just your typical cheap heat heel team but man did they really get under fans skin and could work a great match. had an ongoing fued with the Fantastics in every one of these promotions. when a promotion needed a Midnight Express type team, they called these guys.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

I got a couple real winners for you:

1. The Lumberjacks (Yukon John Nord and Scott "Flash" Norton): You may remember these two gentlemen separately (Nord as the Bezerker in WWF and Norton in WCW) but they tagged up in Gagne's AWA wrestling and were a rough, tough, power team. They had a couple good matches with the next team on my picks:

2. The Destruction Crew (Wayne "the Train" Bloom and "Mean" Mike Enos): These two guys were among the more dominant teams in AWA and were managed by Paul E. Dangerously (That's Paul Heyman for those who don't remember). Their tactics with Heyman helped Heyman to become the hated heel that he played so well in other promotions.

3. Badd Company: Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka, the members of this team, appeared in earlier posts as the Orient Express. Back of the Destruction Crew, they were among the best heel tag teams along with this team:

4. The Texas Hangmen (Psycho and Killer): No tag list can be complete without the twin switchers from Waco, Texas. These two guys took the twin heel concept and combined it with the Texas bullrope into a vicious tag team that few had seen up to that point, unlike this final team on my picks:

5: The Ding Dongs: Known mostly for their loud, bell-covered suits, this team was purely comic relief. Sadly, their only notable match was getting destroyed by the Skyscrapers (Dan Spivey and Sid Vicious).

 

[gd]

America's Most Wanted were pretty solid. Storm and Harris individually are pretty average wrestlers, but they were able to make it work together. Pretty solid name as well. Worked perfectly as heels and were great foils to Staniels. Their match at Slammiversary 2005 I believe was a stone cold classic. It involved Gail Kim and didn't even suck.

If it wasn't for the fact that people seem to enjoy Beer Money even more and that Braden Walker completely bombed in the WWE they might be a little more recognized.

 

[JJYanks121]

I'll offer up a more recent one that I don't think will ever get the respect they might deserve:

Too Cool

I know I know. They were jokes right? Except that these jokes won the WWF Tag Team Championships during a huge time for business in the WWF.

I remember attending a show in 2000 where these guys HEADLINED. It was Monday Night Raw! While the year 2000 is usually remembered for Edge and Christian and the Hardys, these guys were insanely over and at the end of the night, their dancing shtick had like 10 guys in the ring with them having a good time. You know you are popular when you get that kind of treatment.

Looking back, their gimmick may be "stupid" or "childish", but damn if it wasn't fun! People popped for the Worm almost as much as any other move at the time, and Rikishi became a star merely by associating with these guys. It took 4 gimmicks, but the big man finally made it because he was a "cool" 400 pounder that could dance.

I submit to you this team, as despite the fact that there is no discernible marketability to any of these guys by themselves (maybe Rikishi), but together, Too Cool were one of the most popular acts for a time. They may not be remembered as fondly as E&C or the Hardys since no one broke out and became champion, but Too Cool were a fun, insanely popular act at the beginning of the milennium.

 

[longlivetheBrood]

Hands down the Kansas Jayhawks. Bobby Jaggers and Dutch Mantel these guys were rough, tough and ready to fight. I remember their battles against the Koloffs, cowboys vs. Russians, bullwhips vs. chains.

The Fantastics...had to mention them because one of them smiled and pointed at my Fantastics sign at a live event when I was like 11.

Rhythm & Blues...classic veteran tag-team of the Honky Tonk Man and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.

Superpowers..."American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and "Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff. The original Austin/HHH and Hogan/Macho Man.

The Mod Squad...tough-looking police-state types that feuded with the Rock & Roll Express back in NWA.

Sooo many more, Heavenly Bodies, Well Dunn, New Breed, the Dream Team (Beefcake/Valentine), Rick Rude & Manny Fernandez, Jimmy Valiant and Bugsy McGraw, Afa & Sika the Wild Samoans, Harcore & Crash Holly...I could go on all night,

 

[byrnside]

My top two choices were already taken, those being The Nasty Boys and Money Inc., so I've thought of a few more.

Rob Van Dam and Sabu, managed by Bill Alfonso. Not much to say here. Former ECW tag champions in these guys who constantly tore the roof off of every bingo hall they performed in as a team. Perfect combination of guys who were "friends" but ended up not getting along very well together as a team and had some awesome matches against eachother in the process.

My other choice:

The Godwinn Cousins, Henry O. and Phinneas I. The hog farmers from Arkansas. 2X Tag Team Champions. Henry debuted in late '94-early '95 and flew solo until his cousin Phinneas came along almost two years later. Frtom there they would be managed by Hillbilly Jim and go on to win the tag titles, until Phinneas fell in love with Sunny and they lost the titles, ditched Hillybilly Jim, and eventually turned heel.

After several months of running around in overalls without shirts, they eventually alligned themselves with Jeff Jarrett and turned into Southern Justice. I always thought Southern Justice had potential to be a really cool tag team, but they were never really given the chance because Mark Canterbury aka Henry Godwinn injured his neck pretty severely [either from a botched Doomsday Device or in the Brawl for All tournament, I can't remember] and Phinneas went on to become our beloved Mideon.

 

[LynchCats]

I don't think they've been mentioned but the Harris brothers in both of their WWF incarnations, the Blu Brothers and DOA. I know DOA also included two other wrestlers as well, but DOA by themselves were part of a major feud with D-X and the New Age Outlaws.

Another one from the late 80s/early 90s that I don't see being named yet was Power and Glory. Another team that was in the thick of the tag team title hunt but never could quite get there.