Tag Teams and Solo careers and fans

[Chrome]

I was thinking the other day, their have been a lot of good tag teams out there in the history of wrestling.. but normally the tag teams were only good together.. once they became solo wrestlers, the fans would lose love/faith in them.. SOME can emerge and become stars.. (HBK, Hart, Booker T,etc..) but what about the other guy in the group?

This got me thinking.. what tag teams had both guys so popular that many would love them regardless if they were in a solo act or tag team but both would be so over.. which tag teams accomplished that?

I can think of a few.. but I wanted more input from others.. now that you see what I mean.. the ones I can think of off the top of my head are..

The OutSiders.. (Kevin Nash/Scott Hall) both were cheered and rooted to win in singles or tag team and had a very sucessfull careers.

DX (HBK/Triple H) same scenerio as above..

Mega Powers? (Hogan / Savage) yeah yeah I know .. hogan blah.. but Savage wasn't in wrestling that long when this started.. this elevated him more..but both were loved for YEARS after this.

Von Erichs (David, Kerry, Kevin)
These guys were rock stars in popularity .. sold out everywhere.. tag team and singles titles these guys were huge solo or teaming.. its a shame that not many talk about how great the Von Erichs were.


I think of great tag teams.. the midnight express, rock n roll express, the legion of doom, the hart foundation, the rockers, the bulldogs, harlem heat, etc .. together they were great.. but.. individually normally either ONE or none was able to do it long term with the same success.


So my question is who else can you all think of?

 

[Foshinzo]

Honestly, I think that that's what makes some tag teams really great is that they're most of the time a combination of two guys who aren't amazing singles performers, but they are put together because they either came up through the ranks with each other and/or they have good chemistry. The tag teams you mentioned as afterthoughts are considered to be some of the greatest ever, and that's because I feel the two were inseparable, at least when they were competing together. I don't remember anyone who wasn't surprised to see HBK split from Jannetty, but I think that's what made it great was that it was treated like a big deal by the bookers. I know that's because HBK was in line to receive a big singles push, but tag teams are always better (IMHO) when they're treated like a solid entity, not just two guys competing together. That's why I'll always remember E&C over Rated RKO, because E&C was two guys who at the time were inseparable, but with Rated RKO, both Edge and Orton had had singles success and it felt like it was just a plot device. Coincidentally, that's what I think ultimately is wrong with the tag division in WWE, right now: none of the teams (other than the Usos who will probably be future endeavored after Mania) have come up through the ranks together. You don't feel any chemistry between the two. The two whom I think have the most chemistry together are Santino and Kozlov, but even then, they were both introduced first as singles performers. Sorry about the little lecture, but I'd rather see more teams like Midnight Express and The Legion of Doom than I would see a team like Rated RKO. It's not that I think Rated RKO is bad, by no means am I saying that, but it's easy to get more attached to a team like The Bulldogs or Demolition than it is a team of two successful singles guys who you know aren't going to last a long time as a duo. Maybe once the main event picture and the mid card picture are more clearly defined, WWE will start putting more genuine tag teams together in order to keep some guys in the spot light, but I know that's just wishful thinking.

Anywho, as for your actual question, the only team I can think of that maybe could have been fan favorites as singles performers were The Steiners. I know that sounds stupid, and I know it's quite the stretch, but they were way over in WCW and Scott did go on to have a successful singles career. The only problem is Rick, but that's just because Rick was pretty much booked as a simpleton and that's probably because he had no charisma. But, if they'd sort have turned him into a Junkyard Dog type figure, then I think he could have at least made a go at it. He was nowhere near the level of JYD when it came to working a crowd, but the WCW crowd wanted to like him enough that I think he might have pulled it off. I'm not saying that he could have been anything close to main event talent, but this is all hypothetical and my guess is that he could have at least gotten to the point where he had PPV matches in order to get a cheap pop from the crowd.

 

[Chadmw]

The problem with your choices of DX, Outsiders and espcially the Mega powers is they were all popular solo stars before the teamed up (the possible exception being HHH in DX).

Teams that started off mainly as tag teams and helped push both to popularity as solo stars would be Miz and Morrison, and they are the only ones I can think of quickly, as usually one or both of the members of the tag team fade after they are broken up

 

[S.J. Maximus]

How is Edge and Christian not example of this? I know Christian isn't a world champion (at least in the WWE he isn't) but he's been in title matches and has won every other title the company has had to offer. His career isn't over so who knows? He may win the world title this year and solidify his main event level talent. As for Edge, I really don't have to explain how he's a big star now.

If you want to count Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit because they teamed together as the Radicalz and ended WrestleMania 20 as world champions then they'd also qualify. The only problem is that there were more than just those 2 radicals when they came in.

For the most part, this is hard to do because of the reasons Foshizno explained - the best tag teams are the ones where the combination of talent draws the crowd reaction.

 

[Kiefer-Zeus]

I can't believe you didnt include the Hardy Boyz in this!

I know Jeff has had the TNA, WWE and World Heavyweight!

But Matt was just as popular in 05-07 an at one point was in line for a World Title until plans changed when Jeff came back, but still got a decent ECW Title run!

 

[godfather8789]

I know it's still early in both of there careers but what about the miz and JoMo. They are perfect for this thread as future stars in the company. Miz has a pretty good title reign going that may end soon, he will have more to come. Plus John will most likely hold the title at the end of this year. I would like to see him get drafted to smackdown and win it there. But they were and entertaing team that will lead to stardome.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

but Savage wasn't in wrestling that long when this started

Savage was wrestling for over 10 years when the Mega Powers started, much longer than Hogan too.

But I'll also say Edge and Christian. Both had good solo careers, wouldn't you all say?

 

[eromenation18]

This is one question I've though about for quite sometime. In my opinion the only real tag teams that were able to split and be a success solo wise is two teams..The Hardy's and Miz/Morrison.

The Hardy's were great as a team but individually were as popular as any other WWE superstar at one time. Jeff Hardy ended up being a world champion and was so popular at one point that Vince had no choice but to put the belt on him. Even though Matt Hardy never really became the world champion (outside of the ECW Title) he was still so very popular with the fans. The fans was the single reason why he was brought back to the WWE in 2005. Its a shame his stock went down and ended up asking for his release from WWE.

As for Miz and Morrison, time will tell but were definately getting there. Miz is obviously the WWE Champion and i still think will be the next big babyface at the end of this year. Morrison on the other hand is in a tough spot. Hes really over with the fans, hes a great athlete but just can't quite grab the attention that Miz can get. I'm not quite sure as to how WWE should make Morrison a world champ but he should be world champ this year.

Easily two of the best tag teams in the last decade. That being said, four of the greatest individual careers in the history of professional wrestling.

 

[BobbyDigital]

I'll go with Sting and Ultimate Warrior. I forget what they were called in the territories.

I think my favorite singles wrestlers that teamed up for an extended period of time was Kane and RVD. They were cool

 

[pauldwku]

How can nobody mention The Hollywood Blondes. Tag team champs in WCW. Brian Pillman, was one of the most entertaining performers in the biz, and could have been huge if not for his early death and a horrendous car accident near the end of his life, and then that other guy, I believe his last name Austin turned out a be OK.