The State of Tag Team Wrestling in the WWE

[BWEEZY2009]

Is there anybody on here that would like to submit a angle/angles to launch the division to what it used to be.

Let's break down the current division itself before we talk about future plans. I am a big fan of the angles going on in the WWE today (single's division) but the WWE is continuing to crap all over the Tag Team Division. Right now it consist of three tag teams: (3.5 if you include RTruth JoMo)

ShoMiz- It's been less than 3 months and they are already showing signs of a possible break-up coming. If you ask me, Big Show is going to get sick of Miz (they hinted this on Raw with Show tired of Miz calling the shots) and take the turn. I personally wouldn't mind seeing them breakup, but at the same time I believe they need to create a tag team or bring up a tag team from FCW before the break up.

The Hart Dynasty- I personally really enjoyed the face turn and the hint of a big push with a future feud with ShoMiz in the near future. My guess is that the WWE will have them take the titles from ShoMiz to create the ShoMiz break-up

Baretta/Croft- To be honest, I really can't get a good read on these guys to submit a positive or negative feedback. I've seen all there promos/matches but i don't think the IWC/WWE Universe has seen enough of them yet to see if they will get over in the division. I personally hope they they don't give them the quick push than start to sqaush them like they have done in the past with tag teams coming up from FCW (Deuce/Domino, Cryme Tyme, James/Idol Jesse/Festus, ECT)

JoMo/R-Truth: Don't know if this is a long term plans. Looking at the line-up for smackdown this week it does show that they are teaming up again this week so maybe they are a long term thing.

What I would do.

The Straight Edge Society will gain another member before the end of summerslam. The rumors are that Joey Mercury is the front runner for the faction. I don't want to see CM Punk leave the main event scene just to launch the tag division back so if Mercury comes back put him and Gallows together. Mercury and Gallows both have had tag team experience and i would not mind seeing this team at all. WWE is lacking in Factions and Tag Team wrestling so in a way this could help both. Punk's promos are over enough to launch this faction.

Got to bring up a team from FCW/Sign a team from ROH (cough the Briscoes cough) - In FCW right now you have the Fortunate Sons (Brett Dibiase and Joe Hennig) The Uso brothers (Rikishi Fatu's Sons) and the Rotondo Boys (IRS sons) Even if your saving Joe for a single push in the future you can bring up Brett and have him tag with Ted (who's push is delayed with Orton getting over as the face and not him) With Rhodes most likely going to Smackdown in the Draft it will be the ending of Legacy (even though we already know its over but that'll be the nail in the coffin) So it free's up Ted. The Uso's I believe have the FCW Straps as we speak but i haven't caught the FCW results in a week or two. They are very athletic for their body build (much like there father was in the Headskrinkers and all the samoans who have come into the Wrestling family) Haven't seen enough of the Rotondos to make a review but anything is a possibility when the division is this low in teams. Also the Briscoe Brothers of ROH (if you haven't seen them get on Youtube ASAP and check them out) receiver two tryout matches a couple months ago and Ace and McMahon were said to be Very High on them Their contract is up in the Fall and I would make that a priority signing if I was head of talent.

Matt Hardy/Justin Gabriel: Gabriel will eventually land on the main roster even if he doesn't win NXT. He's very Athletic and is over with the fans. Matt Hardy's major push has been delayed about 29 times now and once again he sits with no for sure angle. I hate seeing Hardy buried and if there not going to use him in the main event scene atleast let him help his rookie get over more. They have worked together on NXT and I actually enjoyed there in-ring chemistry together.

A lot of great minds on this website and was wondering what you guys thought. Please add in some Ideas and some angles to freshen up the Tag Team Division. I'm not implying it has to be 1998 where they had 10 Tag teams... but THREE?....not to mention one of them is showing signs of a break-up.

 

[johnnyblaze3:16]

i have a few ideas, i like the idea of putting mvp and kofi together (seeing as kofi's not getting pushed) they could even win the straps and get over. i also like the dibiase angle bring up the foruntate sons and put that together. my favorite idea is cody rhodes and dustin rhodes (take away goldust). and one random idea to spice it up how bout a mcyntire/shamus team (they need to build there characters) all of the above could really use somthing to do and would get them the credibility

 

[Wainy]

I've always been a fan of tag-team wrestling, ever since I was a kid. Watching the likes of L.O.D, Demolition, The Rockers, Hart Foundation & The British Bulldogs made it hard not to be. Even the likes of the Bushwhackers, The Beverly Brothers, Power & Glory & The Rougeaus where a better option than what WWE forces on us now. The division is at it's worst ever & it's down to one thing... THERE ARE NO TAG-TEAMS!!! To me, a tag-team has to have a few basic elements. 1. They need to come in as a team. Not just stick 2 long term employees together one week & call them a team. 2. Give the team a name. Apart from Showmiz, no WWE team has an actual name, I hate it when they jus put 2 people together & call them by there names, that's not a tag-team. 3. Give them a look/matching outfits. Make them look like a team, there's no image association between most teams in the WWE now. 4. Keep the Teams Together. I hate the fact that Vince feels good TV is always created by splitting a team up, any good run for a team is finished within 6 months to a year when the in-evitable turn/draft split kicks in. 5. Get some Tag-teams. Keep Barretta & Croft, just Christen them. Maybe they're not the best, but they are a "proper tag-team"... Almost. Bring up the fortunate sons, they have endless potential. The Straight Edge Society idea with Joey Matthew/Mercury would be a great idea & then... Get stealing! Go to ROH & bring in The Dark City Fight Club & The Briscoes, check the contract status of The MCMG's & Beer Money inc in TNA. It's a long road ahead for the division, but it's definately saveable

 

[marklouis]

I think MVP/Mark Henry could be a pretty good heel tag team. Have MVP go back to the "spoiled athlete" gimmick and have Henry be the bad ass enforcer he was when he was ECW champ. They could have a pretty good feud with the Hart Dynasty, who should take the titles as soon as possible.

If not MVP/Henry, then definitely the Straight Edge Society. Gallows really has nothing to do other than help Punk, so put him in a team with someone and let them compete for the titles.

Morrison/Truth need to break up, and Morrison should turn on Truth, turning him heel. Morrison is a better heel, and he and Truth could have a good feud. Hopefull this will only be a time filler until Morrison is pushed into the main event scene.

Those young teams sound promising, espescially the Dibiase/Henning team. I wasn't impressed with Croft/Baretta when they were on ECW.

You could also turn Cryme Tyme heel, although they seem to be relegated to nothing more than a joke.

BTW, they need to get rid of one set of belts. Why do they need 4 belts?

 

[Da Deadman]

After some thinking, I've written down a few (maybe far-fetched) ideas:

First, I'd keep Ted and Cody together until Night Of Champions, and I'd have Ted introduce Brett into the group as a "replacement" for Randy, by then, I would've had ShoMiz split up (In an attempt to eliminate most or all make-shift teams in WWE) and have them drop the belts to The Hart Dynasty, which would lead to Cody and Ted w/ Brett managing them facing The Hart Dynasty for the belts. Cody gets pinned, and enraged, Ted calls to Brett and they lay out Cody, followed by "The Million Dollar Man" coming out and reuniting with his sons as a manager. The following night on RAW, The Hart Dynasty would face Croft and Barretta but be attacked by The Dibiases (Obviously that wouldn't be the actual team name) shortly after winning. As the sons hold DH or Tyson down, I'd have the Million Dollar Man walk over to lay a finishing blow to the face on him, but before he gets the chance, Bret (Hart) comes out and The Hart Dynasty fights back, just as Cody Rhodes, his brother Dustin, and Dusty himself come out and shockingly realign themselves with the Dibiases, outnumbered, the Hart Dynasty is aided by a returning Teddy Hart (Hopefully with an attitude change) come out and save The Hart Dynasty, setting up a family feud between the Dibiase+Rhodes family w/Dusty and Ted Sr. (with both sets of sons in it for themselves and the tag titles) versus The newly formed Hart Dynasty (Kidd,Smith,Teddy,and Natalya w/ Bret)

Maybe it's a bit far-fetched, but I'm positive that it could be done, and as for the Bret and Teddy run-ins, that would only take place on THAT night, not every other night *cough* TNA *cough*...And that's coming from a TNA fan.


Now over on Smackdown I would have CM Punk and the Straight-Edge Society attempt to convince a returning Joey Mercury to join them, with Morrison and a reunited Melina trying to persuade a confused Mercury to reform MNM after SES takes out R-Truth, to which he agrees. Morrison and Mercury battle with Punk and Gallows while Melina feuds with Serena to help her get over in the Womens Division.

So that makes:

1.)Croft and Barreta (Throw them on NXT as arrogant mentors to a rookie)
2.)The Hart Dynasty (Tyson,Teddy,David,Natalya w/Bret)
3.)The Rhodes Family (Cody and Dustin w/ Dusty)
4.)The Dibiases (Ted and Bret w/ Ted Sr.)
5.)MNM (Morrison,Mercury,and Melina)
6.)SES (Punk,Gallows,and Serena)


As for the gaps made for these storylines, I'd draft Justin Gabriel over to Smackdown to fill the void made by JoMo, have Daniel Bryan feud with The Miz over the U.S. Title, have Matt Hardy continue to mentor Gabriel even after NXT to make give him more time to loose those extra pounds he's gained before stepping into the ring again,know in my heart that he can still produce the great matches he was producing on 2008.


Let me know what you think!

 

[#hamler]

They need to put christian and edge back together. Ted and bret could be the new legacy with cody turning face if he teams with dustin. perfect storyline. they should also try and bring some FCW tag teams to the wwe main roster. or hell, break up Shomiz and make miz and Daniel bryan team together. That'd be interesting.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Never quite understood the reasoning behind Unifying the Tag-Team Championship while there are 2 (4 if you include NXT and Saturday Night Main Event, but one doesnt host tag teams and the other is very rare) shows that showcase enough dual competition that could support their own gold. But what can you do.

As for getting tag-teams to a very promising level, they should reinerate Christian & Edge (which I am sure a few people have already said in this thread), get Bret Dibiase into the picture and let him tag with his brother Ted, have Matt Hardy team up with someone on the roster that isnt being worked with to their potential, maybe Shelton Benjamin or Dolph Ziggler (all 3 are experienced in teamwork), and they IMO should bring back a famous team to put the division over...some guys that still could wrestle (like New Age Outlaws, etc)

I would love to see the tandem of Brothers of Destruction (Kane & Taker) back in the tag division. Would make sense because neither one is really doing much anymore. Another good one would be Rated RKO now that Orton and Edge are faces.

 

[ramblinroy68]

I think they may be on the right track with the Hart Dynasty. They need to give them the belts and have them knock off Croft and Baretta. After that there won't be any other real teams to feud with. So, WWE needs to create a couple of teams for their competition.

I would have:

Joe Hennig/Cody Rhodes: Call them Legacy or The Perfect Dream or the Fortunate Sons or whatever. I think they could be the modern day Anderson and Blanchard.

Zak Ryder/Vance Archer: They would need a name but I think they would be an interesting pairing. The loudmouth cocky guy with the big quiet bad ass. Almost like a very poor man's Michaels and Diesal.

Shelton Benjamin/Ezekial Jackson: I would give them a mouth piece like Teddy Long. He could be booted from the GM role and come back with these guys to reek havoc.


I also think the WWE missed an opportunity to have a couple of interesting tag teams with some of the guys they let go

Paul Burchill/DJ Gabriel: Have Regal as their manager. Call them the Union Jacks. I know we've seen British Tag Teams before, but have them go bad ass. Beat the hell out of guys. Don't be the proper wrestlers. Let them just beat people up ala the APA.

Snitsky/Knox: Two Huge crazy SOB's. Would have been scary together.

 

[Sharp_Shooter]

I see a lot of people in here talking about an Edge/Christian reunion and I don't understand why. I'm not big on either of them, but Edge is a main eventer & Christian is one step away from that(surprised he didn't win MITB). Doing tag matches would seem a step down to me.

And I can't speak on those minor league wrestlers, I don't keep up with that. But I feel that WWE has too much talent for them to look other places for teams. They have a whole lot of players who can shine & be better performers if they had time to really learn the ring & work the mic. Here are my suggestions:

Ziggler & Knox: I'm big on "big & small duos" and I feel both of these men are respectable performers. Only thing that's holding these two back is the ability to make people truly hate them. So give them 30 second promos where the mic man hypes them up, give Ziggles a gimmick line, let Knox talk about surgically removing some guys eyeballs, & let them lose to Cryme Tyme or whoever. They're jobbers anyway.

Sheamus & McIntyre: Saw someone else say it & I agree. 2 cats that came in the game with all the push. Put them together & the wrestlers & the Universe hates them. Both are pretty good talkers, so let them make up some tag team moves that will eventually(or hopefully) help them with experience for their single careers.

I think a few other teams would work: Kofi & Shelton(let them springboard all over the place), Ezekiel & Mark Henry(no matches: just make them 2, big hitmen) and I sincerely need them to keep Rhodes & DiBiase together. They're not interesting enough to be on their own yet.

 

[BWEEZY2009]

And I can't speak on those minor league wrestlers, I don't keep up with that. But I feel that WWE has too much talent for them to look other places for teams. They have a whole lot of players who can shine & be better performers if they had time to really learn the ring & work the mic. Here are my suggestions

To be honest, I think they have plenty of time to bring up new faces. Think about it.. Raw waste 30 min a week now just on the Divas and the Guest Host. Not saying that I don't like the divas and guest host, but they get way to much time. Smackdown gives Vickie Guererro 10-20 min per week.. once again i don't mind a lil vicky to get her over a the heel in charge... but they waste way to much time. Also you got to think about all the previews/rebounds they use on all the shows. Not to mention you have WWE Superstars which as of late has just been a bunch of matches scrapped together and it seems they put no thought into the show anymore. I personally feel WWE has plenty of spots to try out FCW Talent and make the division interesting again. All the tag matches today are predictable and predictability=turning the channel. However, I agree with your statement if we were talking about TNA.... They have WAY to much talent for 2 hours a week.

WWE has almost 7 hours a week of TV.

 

[BWEEZY2009]

Once again the Uso’s were in the match of the night as their match with Hunico (Mystico) & Tito Nieves (Orlando Colon) was loaded with rapid fire high spots and near falls. The finish came as Jimmy Uso came full speed from the ropes delivering a vicious running Samoan Spike to the throat of Tito Nieves. Great work by all four. - PWZ Staff

Can't wait for this match to be up on youtube.

These guys are rolling

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Evan Bourne and Mark Henry - The strongest guy in the WWE with the fastest guy in the WWE. I think these 2 would make a good combination, Evan Bourne could do his thing and carry the matches while Mark Henry could crunch the opponent and end it.

Benjamin and Bryan - Shelton Benjamin and Daniel Bryan would make an outstanding tag team. Both guys are pretty fast and both are also very good wrestlers and I just think they would compliment each other well.

Kaval and Kane - They really need to bring Kaval up to the main roster, I've always been a fan of the guy. When he comes up he should probably be with someone to help get over and I think Kane would be the perfect guy to do it. He does well with smaller guys and in tag teams, not to mention both guys are both very sinister and high impact, these 2 would make a great heel tag team.

Sheamus and Finlay - Both are from Ireland, both couldn't get a tan if their lives depended on it and both aren't above bending the rules to their advantage. Personally, I would like to make Hornswoggle a heel and be used to help them win matches. I think both could benefit from each other quite a bit.

Ziggler and MVP - MVP needs to be a heel, he's just so much better at it. Ziggler being cocky and arrogant as it is and MVP being the mouthpiece and telling everybody how much better they are, besides both guys need something else to do because they have unfortunately fallen into obscurity for the present time.

Anyways there's a few I would try out and see what happens. I tried to pick guys who I think have a future and tag teams are great ways to do that, and guys like Daniel Bryan need to be in tag teams in the WWE, great wrestler but needs time to develop his personality so he can really get over with the fans.

 

[cm ben]

Some good ideas about teams. Matt Hardy + Justin Gabriel, Ziggler + anybody, might work.

An idea I've been thinking about is this: what if there were 'tiered' tag titles, just like singles titles? An Intercontinental Tag Title and a World Tag Title, for example. It would give both titles more meaning--a World Tag Title would mean something, rather than just being the Unified Tag Titles' place holder for two singles stars. It would give 'low-tier' teams (Croft + Barretta, Cryme Tyme [rip], Hart Dynasty) something to work up to, and it would give low-tier teams something to work towards.

We would need a bunch more teams to make that work, probably. (Which might be good-- might give a purpose to some 'lost' wrestlers like MVP or Ziggler right now; start a tag team and stick with it, to work towards a meaningful title). A lot of people say there are too many titles right now-- but is adding another one a worthy means towards saving the tag division? Maybe? Waht do you think?