"The Dashing One's Are Finished:" Another Team Gone?

[Viola Moonlight]

As we saw on this week's episode of SmackDown!, Drew McIntyre walked out on his partner "Dashing" Cody Rhodes as Big Show was delivering the chokeslam, allowing his team to pick up the loss... which would later on cultimate in a segment where the two seemed to part ways on bad terms over the incident. This happened on the exact same episode that these two dubbed themselves a new tag team name and issued a challenge towards the Nexus about the tag team titles that they lost (as well as venting at how the belts have been "passed around" the group), with Rhodes emphasising that he was specifically a tag team wrestler when Show asked him for a match. So... it seems that Rhodes and McIntyre are parting ways after being around for only a few weeks, though the way it happened with the whole team unity being at the forefront of the match and the disillusion happening afterwards. It's pretty fast for a team to break up (anyone notice that this isn't the first team that Big Show has broken up this year?).

Honestly, I'm not surprised considering the reactions they received when visiting the RAW show as well as Rhodes clearly being the more interesting of the two who could survive on his own. However, in the big picture, this is yet ANOTHER tag team that's being split over something quite small (reducing the division's already small size) and freeing up the schedule of two more heels to over-saturate the SD brand. Not to mention that Drew McIntyre as a singles competitor has previously proven to be quite underwhelming for the most part. You've got some good in the fact that Rhodes can shine by himself... but the negatives outweigh the positives by a lot.

Keep in mind though that Rhodes said that they are finished (and with the whole Jericho leaving fiasco at the Six Pack Challenge, anything is possible). So, do you reckon they are done? Was it a good decision that this happened or do you feel that they could have achieved so much more together?

 

[Xemmy]

Yes, it's a safe bet that they're done. They might fued very briefly, but then one will fall off into obscurity for awhile. Personally I think that with Smackdown being over-run with midcard heels as it is, it was a bad idea to break them up at this point in time. Kofi Kingston, Kaval, Rey and Big Show are the only active mid-card faces on Smackdown plus 1 or 2 that they aren't using. As of the last couple of weeks and there are 5 or 6 active heels and several more they aren't using. Drew and Cody working as a tag team kept them busy. With them split off, who are they going to fued with individualy. One of them is going to end up getting dropped off, and ignored and it's probably going to be Mcintyre. I think they could have done very well in the Tag Team division. Established heels have had a track record of doing well when tagging over the last few years. Though it's probably a good idea to have the belts on Nexus, the Nexus could have survived without them, and breaking up "The Dashing Ones" seems like a bad move for them. Even if it's a terrible team name.

 

[GLOBAL ICON]

No, it was a good move. WWE is currently building stars for the future. Barrett, Gabriel, Bryan, Miz, Sheamus, Morrison, Dolph, Kofi. And probably, these too are also the future. Yeah. Especially Cody. So, as a tag-team, they could have never survived. Believe it or not, they were a horrible tag team. So by breaking them up, it is easier to give them M.E building jobs. Have McIntyre hold the I.C belt and have Cody fued with the upper mid-card guys like Show. Or even a fued with Rey would be awesome.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I loved the camera work at the end of the match. In close-up, you saw Cody getting pinned...... but the camera angle also included a long-range shot of Drew getting a look at what was happening as he rolled out of the ring. Excellent work by the production staff.

As to the break-up, we figured the alliance wouldn't be one of long term. As a team, they were better than I thought they'd be, but it was obvious their futures lie in another direction. Cody has his dashing gimmick going and he can play that for awhile.

Drew, however, needs someone to be mad at because he's at his best when he's infuriated. Look at how much more interesting he was last night when he was pissed off at Cody. I think his partnership with Cody was a way station for him; a program designed to set him up as a singles competitor again. Now, he can feud with Cody for a short time. Then, he can start going up against the top guys in the brand.

Watch it happen.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Meh. The Tag team division in the WWE is dying, and it'll probably end by 2011's Wrestlemania if the current attrition rate holds up. "The Dashing Ones" weren't anything great, but they could have bulked the division up, and who knows, they could have gone face as a comedy team.

 

[Davi323]

They were never a real team to begin with...they were two singles wrestlers put together because the writers had nothing else for them to do...they have no history together, nothing in common. Them breaking up means the writers have something to do for either McIntyre or Rhodes as a singles wrestler, which both of them are.

 

[Ferbian]

Not like it really matters. It was decent while it lasted, but really they are both better suited for singles competition. While Cody has a past as a tag team "specialist" him and Drew are just better off as singles wrestlers in the mid-card / Upper mid-card if anything.

I can't help but wonder though if it spells for some kind of face turn for one of them. Cause with the tension, it's bound to seem like some kind of feud is about to take place between the two. Not that I would want to see either one of them turn face. But who knows, WWE might.

 

[Notorious718]

Yeah I was thinking about what Ferb said about a face turn for one of them. Maybe it's just me but I don't see a face turn being a feasible thing for either of these guys which is a shame considering Smackdown is overloaded with heels at the moment. That said, I still think breaking these two up was a good move. They were very underwhelming as a tag team and had an even more forgettable reign as tag team champs. These two are better off as singles competitors and making a name for themselves individually anyway. Hopefully, they won't fall into obscurity now that they've broken up though.

I guess it's safe to assume they won't get their tag team championship rematch.

 

[future admin]

I never really thought that these guys would win the championships from the start. But it is the WWE's tag team division, which is just about non existant.
Cody and Drew should have been singles competitors, not in a pointless tag team. They might feud for a bit, and if they do, I would think Cody would be the face, in all honesty, I can't see Drew becoming face.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

A tag team officially names itself and then breaks up all on the same night. That's gotta be some kind of first. I'm actually holding out a little hope that they might get back together, that last night will be worked into just being some sort of hitch in the road, but I doubt it. The WWE tag team division is pretty much on life support at the moment. It consists of about four tag teams at the moment: The Hart Dynasty: though they're on the verge of breaking up, The Usos: they had a lot of potential and it's been squandered thus far, Santino & Koslov: are little more than comedy relief, and Slater & Gabriel: a couple of guys that have barely teamed together in matches and were handed the tag titles.

Yeah, I think it's pretty safe to say that any momentum the tag division gained from JeriShow & ShowMiz is pretty much gone. Nice work there Vince.

 

[JBK2008]

Awful, awful thing to happen. They named themselves and broke up in a night. They were together were what a month or so and were actually tag team champions?!? Where the fuck does this make any sense. Clearly Cody was the favorite and Drew could be left in the dark now that this team has split. I liked these two as a duo. Cocky, brash and ruthless. The tag division is already hurting on teams. Why did this happen. I hope somehow these two get backtogether.

 

[Daniel]

I never really liked them together as a tag team. They were good as friends in the feud with Matt Hardy and Christian, but as a bona fide tag team they looked a bit unconvincing. Their own gimmicks lend themselves better to being individuals. McIntyre is the Chosen One. One being the operative word. Rhodes is a vain narcissist. The only thing they had in common is that they are the future of WWE.

The way the break-up was handled was perfect in my opinion. It didn't have to brew like many others as they hadn't been around for very long. They have both been kept heel as neither was in the wrong or right. And it caught people off guard.

I don't understand why some people think that The Dashing Ones splitting up makes the tag division worse. The worst thing that has happened to the division is them holding the only tag titles whilst doing not much more than appearing on Superstars. Why the very talented Usos couldn't hold them I'll never know.

 

[The Calgary Kid]

I am neither surprised, nor disappointed by the breakup. We are looking at two massive egos whose only common trait was their sense of entitlement. Their pairing in the first place was quizzical to me, as there was no real reason for them to link up, beyond each having separately had singles matches with Christian and Matt Hardy. I do not think that it hurts the division at all, as they were never a legit tag team, nor did they have any chemistry on the mic or in the ring. We're not talking about E & C here.

The split was bound to happen sooner or later, and I think that they did it in the right way. Two jackasses saw an opening for the advancement of their respective careers by teaming with a dominant and available partner. Their egos were bound to play a factor sooner or later, and after losing the belts, they made a final play at unity and felt dissatisfied with the others' contributions. A face turn for either of them would be stupid and out of character. The two of them going their separate ways by exhibiting their respective self-serving attitudes was the ideal way for the team to end, with the mentality of "Clearly, I'm better than he is and he's holding me back, so it's time to prove that to everyone". I'd like to see them avoid each other, at least for now, and focus on their own careers.

The one who will likely benefit the most is Cody, as he's got more momentum and heat with his new gimmick (the introduction of which, almost immediately followed by joining a tag team was bizarre), better mic ability, better ring ability and, well, better everything. Drew can't get over by himself, with good reason, and he benefited more from having Cody with him than vice versa. I think that Creative is getting frustrated with Drew and the team was a way for him to have something to do and prove his worth to WWE. That didn't work out very well, and I get the impression that he's being given another shot at establishing himself as a singles competitor so that they can see if it helped him at all as an individual. My guess is that the rope is growing shorter for him. If you've read my other posts about him, you can probably imagine that I'm not disappointed about that.

 

[ABMorales787]

WWE has basically labeled Tag Team wrestling as a cheap and unsuccessful way of getting one guy over by breaking them up. Out of all of the currently active teams in WWE, this one was the one that was clicking the most. Unbelievable, bu true. They were consistently on shows. It seemed WWE found the second coming of Miz and John Morrison. I know all great things come to an end, but this was just absurd and a bitch slap to tag team wrestling in general. Basically, it's WWE saying if you're not over by yourself, your not over period.

They keep trying to reproduce the past and each and every time it becomes more and more of a failure.

 

[TheFighters]

This team wasn't really good so not disappointed with the split up Lol more upset of the Hart Dynasty problems then Cody and Drew parting ways.

 

[Yuridius]

Yeah, this tag team is pretty much done with. The tag team from my stand point did not make much sense beside the fact that both were getting lost in the shuffle of Smackdown. It seemed more like a booster shot for both of, but more for Drew. It would make sense for Cody to have some problems coming out of a long tenured tag team of Legacy, but Drew was at the point where their tag team was forming having real problems gaining any momentum after his Work Vista had expired.

As many have mentioned, the tag team division is starting to die in the WWE, which is a sad thing. But the answer is not throwing two random mid-carders together and hope it works out with them. Because using this as an example, it goes no where.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Maybe Drew and Cody will get back together at some point, because if not, then this team can be looked at as one huge failure. It's not Cody and Drew's fault. WWE probably doesn't have anything for them at the moment that will give them a significant amount of air time, so they were thrown together as a tag team. Yeah, I know they won the tag team championships, but their reign didn't last too long, and they never really got a chance to establish themselves as WWE's top dog in the tag team division. I don't know what's going to be next for Cody and Drew, but they're probably not going to see any real spotlight for a while.

This is sad. WWE's tag team division isn't going anywhere, and it's been that way for a while now. When the WWE Unified Tag Titles were established, I thought things would change. JeriShow and ShowMiz got things off to a good start. DX's tag team title reign wasn't too bad either, but things have gone down hill since then. The Usos and The Dudebusters have potential, but we HARDLY ever see them on TV. Santino and Kozlov are just there for laughs, and everyone else gets randomly thrown together. Otunga and Cena lost the titles one night after winning them. Gabriel and Slater are the current champions, but who knows how long that's going to last? Again, this just sad....very, very sad.

 

[HamsterWrestler]

That's one less tag team in the dying tag team division now.

How much tag teams are left now? I say 3.

It sucks because the teams that are left aren't as interesting as the Dashing Ones could have been. They had cocky attitudes and good in ring skills.

By the way, who's going to be the heel and who's the face?

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Let's just face it the WWE tag team division is something that is almost non-existant and really when something happens like this don't be disappointed just expect it. I still have a shred of hope they will re-unite because they are just another two names to add to the long list of heels on Smackdown at least as a team they have something to d, which is why they became a team in the first place due to lack of anything to do.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

What a totally pointless tag team title reign. Another nail in the coffin of a once-grteat division by WWE management. Well fucking done

While I see singles careers for both Drew and Cody in their futures, there would have been nothing wrong with keeping the two of them as a tag-team for a good few months, unless WWE have something big planned for one if not both of them.

Making a team, winning the titles, finally choosing a team name and then breaking them up in the space of a few weeks is just completely pointless. If WWE knew they were going to split the team up, why bother coming up with a team name for the duo? If they were only ever going to be stop-gap champions it is a complete waste of time.

WTF does Vince have against tag team wrestling?!

 

[Dagger Dias]

It's been a few weeks now and I'm glad this team is done. From the moment they won the tag titles they already had me lost. Both guys are obviously destined to have decent singles careers, so why make a pointless tag team out of them? Nexus could have still gotten the Tag Team Championship without The Dashing Ones' reign ever happening. I see it as the two of them got another title added to their list of accomplishments and both have moved on to better things now. I don't think they could have achieved much else together. Drew's a future world champion and Cody has been doing good as a singles star too. They should remain split up because both are better than being stuck in a random team.