The Scarred One
The Greatest of All Time
With the recent Superstar Shake-Up taking place, it appears that the Bar, the tag team made up of "The Swiss Cyborg" Cesaro and "The Celtic Warrior" Sheamus, is no more. Cesaro is now on RAW while it may appear that Sheamus' career is nearing its end.
This made me think of the success these two had over the past three years. Back in the summer of 2016 when the second brand extension began, these two started out as rivals. Following a brutal Best of 7 Series that ended in an anticlimactic draw, Cesaro and Sheamus would be forced to coexist by Raw general manager Mick Foley, who granted them a collective title shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship against the reigning champions, the New Day. They would eventually go on to win the first of five Tag Team Championships, establishing themselves as one of the best tag teams in the company.
This made me think of some of other makeshift tag teams and strange pairings that went on to have great success together. Mostly, these tandems were put together on a whim when creative really had nothing else for them in singles competition. Being placed in the tag team division could be seen as a demotion to some, but it has at times led to major career resurgences.
Two of the best examples of such a makeshift pairing are the New Age Outlaws and the Hollywood Blondes. These are prime example of wrestlers who found instant chemistry together and went on to dominate the tag teams ranks when they initially wanted nothing to do with each other. Not only have rivals-turned-teammates put their differences aside and managed to exceed expectations by winning championships together, they ended up being quite awesome as a unit than when they were singles acts before.
Other examples include the APA. By 1998, both John Layfield and Ron Simmons were struggling to stay relevant in the WWE's Attitude Era. Simmons had recently been ousted from the Nation of Domination by the Rock and had a failed tag team run with 2 Cold Scorpio. Meanwhile, Layfield had a failed run as part of the New Blackjacks with Barry Windham. That all changed in the fall of 1998 when they joined up as the Acolytes, first managed by the Jackyl and then as muscle for the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. As time went on, the gimmick was tweaked as they went from savage occultists to cigar-smoking, beer-drinking brawlers for hire. But the pairing worked out for both men. Simmons was past his prime at that point and the team gave him a few extra years. As for Layfield, it helped him out until he eventually found a singles gimmick that would eventually get him over.
Another personal favorite of mine was Kronik. Prior to forming in 2000 WCW, both Brian Adams and Bryan Clark never had much success on their own. But by coming together, they found something that worked. Many saw them as a knockoff of the APA as they were also portrayed as muscle for hire, but they eventually got over as a tag team and perhaps one of the only few things that was good about 2000 WCW. In a shoot interview with Clark, he talked about how it just clicked with Adams and how he wished they had started teaming together years prior.
But the topic of this thread revolves around what might have been. When you guys think of it, who comes to mind as what could've possibly been a great makeshift tag team. Who were two guys you think would've worked well together but were never given the chance to.
Speaking of 2000 WCW, my example would be the tag team of Mike Awesome and the Wall. Instead of paring the Wall with the Misfits in Action and portraying Awesome as first "The Fat Chick Thrilla" and then "That 70's Guy," I would've had these two join forces for a potential feud with Kronik. Both guys were known for delivering powerbombs and chokeslams through tables and both men were really big dudes who could move. Granted this was 2000 WCW and Vince Russo was in charge, but it still seemed like an intriguing pairing.
But what are your examples? It could be from any point in time and any promotion. But please don't use examples like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan or something like that. It needs to be two guys who could benefit from teaming up together.
This made me think of the success these two had over the past three years. Back in the summer of 2016 when the second brand extension began, these two started out as rivals. Following a brutal Best of 7 Series that ended in an anticlimactic draw, Cesaro and Sheamus would be forced to coexist by Raw general manager Mick Foley, who granted them a collective title shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship against the reigning champions, the New Day. They would eventually go on to win the first of five Tag Team Championships, establishing themselves as one of the best tag teams in the company.
This made me think of some of other makeshift tag teams and strange pairings that went on to have great success together. Mostly, these tandems were put together on a whim when creative really had nothing else for them in singles competition. Being placed in the tag team division could be seen as a demotion to some, but it has at times led to major career resurgences.
Two of the best examples of such a makeshift pairing are the New Age Outlaws and the Hollywood Blondes. These are prime example of wrestlers who found instant chemistry together and went on to dominate the tag teams ranks when they initially wanted nothing to do with each other. Not only have rivals-turned-teammates put their differences aside and managed to exceed expectations by winning championships together, they ended up being quite awesome as a unit than when they were singles acts before.
Other examples include the APA. By 1998, both John Layfield and Ron Simmons were struggling to stay relevant in the WWE's Attitude Era. Simmons had recently been ousted from the Nation of Domination by the Rock and had a failed tag team run with 2 Cold Scorpio. Meanwhile, Layfield had a failed run as part of the New Blackjacks with Barry Windham. That all changed in the fall of 1998 when they joined up as the Acolytes, first managed by the Jackyl and then as muscle for the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. As time went on, the gimmick was tweaked as they went from savage occultists to cigar-smoking, beer-drinking brawlers for hire. But the pairing worked out for both men. Simmons was past his prime at that point and the team gave him a few extra years. As for Layfield, it helped him out until he eventually found a singles gimmick that would eventually get him over.
Another personal favorite of mine was Kronik. Prior to forming in 2000 WCW, both Brian Adams and Bryan Clark never had much success on their own. But by coming together, they found something that worked. Many saw them as a knockoff of the APA as they were also portrayed as muscle for hire, but they eventually got over as a tag team and perhaps one of the only few things that was good about 2000 WCW. In a shoot interview with Clark, he talked about how it just clicked with Adams and how he wished they had started teaming together years prior.
But the topic of this thread revolves around what might have been. When you guys think of it, who comes to mind as what could've possibly been a great makeshift tag team. Who were two guys you think would've worked well together but were never given the chance to.
Speaking of 2000 WCW, my example would be the tag team of Mike Awesome and the Wall. Instead of paring the Wall with the Misfits in Action and portraying Awesome as first "The Fat Chick Thrilla" and then "That 70's Guy," I would've had these two join forces for a potential feud with Kronik. Both guys were known for delivering powerbombs and chokeslams through tables and both men were really big dudes who could move. Granted this was 2000 WCW and Vince Russo was in charge, but it still seemed like an intriguing pairing.
But what are your examples? It could be from any point in time and any promotion. But please don't use examples like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan or something like that. It needs to be two guys who could benefit from teaming up together.
