Triple Threat Tag Team Matches

[Dagger Dias]

This has become my least favorite match type in recent years. Why is that? We often end up with someone from "Tag Team A" tagging in someone from "Tag Team C" instead of his tag team partner. I've never understood why fans are supposed to expect it to make sense for a wrestler to tag in one of his opponents. I get that we are supposed to, through suspension of disbelief, take what happens in kayfabe as part of a show. That is obvious.... but this match type is where I draw the line. If I was in a tag team match, I'd rather lose the match than tag in someone from another team. That's an OPPONENT, not an ally. They should only tag in a tag team partner, or have someone from all teams in the ring at once if there are more than one team participating.


What are your thoughts on this match type and how it gets booked? Does seeing wrestlers tagging in a wrestler from an opposing team instead of their actual partner annoy you too? Should someone from all three (or all four if under Fatal Fourway format) teams be in the ring at once? Why or why not?

Keep in mind this is about the match type itself, so your answer does not have to be about WWE specifically. If you have examples of how this is done in other federations, please share that in your response. I posted it in this section for that reason. Also keep our forum rules in mind.


Discuss!

 

[The Brain]

I don't mind it so much. If you want to suspend disbelief you can make sense of it through a kayfabe point of view. Person from Team A is in the ring with person from Team B. Team A tags person from Team C. He does this so he and his partner can rest while their opponents punish each other. Team A just has to be sure to break up any pin attempts. Also it seems like most tags in these matches are involuntary blind tags which upset the person being tagged out. Someone from Team A would just need to wait for the right opportunity to make one of these tags to get back in the match.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I've always believed that given the format used for a typical three way dance, that the most logical way to have a tag team three way dance would be to have one member of each team be legal and only able to tag in his own partner. I still fail to understand why this is not the format used by most promotions during multi-team tag matches that aren't utilizing some type of non-tag stipulation(like a tornado or ladder match for example where all members are perpetually legal). Slightly off-topic, but tag team cage matches where teams have to execute tags have never made sense to me either.

In fact all three way dances are by definition No-DQ as well. So in matches like tag team 3-ways, tag team steel cage matches or tag team street fights, or other similar variations, that utilize tagging of a participant's partner, its always confused me how we are supposed to accept wrestlers abiding by tag-legalities when there are no disqualifications, and the referee is powerless to prevent anyone from being involved in any portion of the match. But, Fuck Me, right?

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I don't mind it so much. If you want to suspend disbelief you can make sense of it through a kayfabe point of view. Person from Team A is in the ring with person from Team B. Team A tags person from Team C. He does this so he and his partner can rest while their opponents punish each other. Team A just has to be sure to break up any pin attempts. Also it seems like most tags in these matches are involuntary blind tags which upset the person being tagged out. Someone from Team A would just need to wait for the right opportunity to make one of these tags to get back in the match.

I can understand this, but I much prefer when each team has an active member in the ring at all times. 3 teams meaning 3 active wrestlers in the match (1 from each team). This enables interesting partnerships to develop as members of rival teams can team up and take on a common enemy.

I see the benefits to both types though, but I'm personally not a fan of the more commonly-used kind of Triple Threat Tag Team match where members of team A can tag in members of Team C.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I see the benefits to both types though, but I'm personally not a fan of the more commonly-used kind of Triple Threat Tag Team match where members of team A can tag in members of Team C.

I'm not a fan of it either, yet it does present something different from what we usually see, which, in a 'sport' where pretty much everything that can be done has been done, can be refreshing.

It's also a problem that tagging in someone from another team guarantees you can't win the match while a representative from your team isn't in there.....but you certainly can lose the match; in fact, you've sacrificed your team's ability to affect the outcome.

In multi-team tag matches, participants should want to be in the ring as much as they can......which makes me think of another factor: it used to be that tag team wrestling required the guy in the ring to actively tag out.....hand to hand. When did the concept of the guy outside the ring touching his partner from behind come into being? The guy in the ring might not even want to come out, but if he's tagged, he goes.

In a Triple Threat, this can be especially disadvantageous for the wrestler in the ring in that a guy from any team can tag himself in by reaching and tapping him.

I think I like the old way better. Even if it involves painstakingly dragging yourself across the ring to reach your partner, at least you willingly made the tag. Triple Threat matches further complicate this concept.