Will there ever be a tag team as fearsome as the Road Warriors?

[Maestro48239]

not sure if there's a thread about this, I looked for a while and didnt see one. so here goes.

in the early 1980s, there arose a tag team that was so fearsome and brutal that even as heels, people were in total awe. they were called the Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal. managed by Precious Paul Ellering, they went on to capture numerous tag team championships, and leave in their wake a trail of carnage and destruction wherever they went.

I had read about these guys in various magazines but had never seen them, because in Detroit, there was only WWE on TV. then a couple years later I was at a friends house who had cable, and on ESPN they had AWA wrestling at the time. when Black Sabbath's Iron Man hit, and these monsters came rushing out, I felt every hair on my body stand on end. I never saw anything like them, they were impervious to pain, and delivered beatings like I had never witnessed. they were the most impressive tag team I had ever seen. it was like watching a fatal car wreck, gruesome to watch, yet you couldnt look away. the way they slaughtered jobbers was definitely a sight to behold. heres an example...

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now against big name teams, the opponents usually fared no better! they were THE team to beat through the 80s and into the early 90s. the only way they lost titles back then was due to interference. you couldnt beat these guys cleanly.

my question is this....will there ever be another team that makes you sit there slack-jawed in total amazement as the Legion of Doom? the WWE tried with Demolition, but even though they were an impressive tag team, EVERYONE knew them for what they were, a WWE ripoff of the LOD. and quickly forgotten about as soon as Vince signed the LOD.

what say you?

 

[Somewhat Large Gonzalez]

Demolition had the same affect on me as a kid. I hate it when they're referred to as an LOD ripoff. Yes, Vince created them in LOD's image, but they had their own thing going on. I do feel that The Road Warriors are/were the best tag team of all time, though.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

The Road Warriors were huge guys. Big, tough, strong, and mean looking, especially with those spikes! They were the perfect wrestlers for the time, which is why they got pushed to the moon. In my opinion they are the greatest tag-team of all time. Everything they did looked devastating and their gimmick was one of the best.

However, they basically squashed every team they faced and in the wrestling world right now no wrestlers seem to get booked like that. Hell, even Goldberg didnt get that kind of treatment when he joined the WWE. Wrestlers are expected to have 15-20 minutes matches and I dont know if the RW ever did that.

I cannot see any team coming in now being booked as the Road Warriors did, especially not in the WWE, as we know Vince is not interested in tag-teams any more. Imagine today, if the RW debuted in the WWE, they would be broken up within a couple of years, one labelled the Jannety of the team and then probably released. Sad really.

So my answer is no, no team will ever be booked to look as fearsome as the Road Warriors.

 

[Frankie J]

NO WAY! No body can beat The Road Warriors. I loved them because like you said the just dominated in the ring. I mean really these guys would kill you if you even thought of shooting them in the ring. That's what i loved about them, two strong style killers. I love their promos as well. And on top of all that they had the crazy 80's make up and hairstyles. Two total badasses. No tag team comes close today i feel because there basically is no tag team division in wwe. And like you said if there is they pull a barbeshop segment on the guys.

 

[Maverick29]

Well, first you'd have to top their entrance theme, and then you'd have to top their entrance it self (who could forget hawk going up on the top turn buckle while posing and sticking his tongue out with the strobe lights for effect?), then you'd have to top their gear (spikes!), and then you'd have to top the physique and face paint, and then wrestling ability... in short, nope, don't see it happening in this life time.

Would I like to though? Hell yeah! IMO The tag team division in the WWE as of late is an utter joke.

What a rush!

 

[a0161613]

There's no chance of it happening now. Without a territory system or even a few legitimately big companys to work for, no team (or individual for that matter) has the chance to build up such a rep. And in most cases, the LoD won most of their matches based on their rep.

These guys were average workers, dangerous even, but their teamwork made them. Most teams are put together by chance and never have the time to build any chemistry. And then, bookers are all too keen to split them up to exploit any potential money-making ability as soo stars.

So no, the business is different and companies are too desperate to find their next star. Tag teams are suffering because of it.

 

[Rasha]

Have you guys not seen TNA's Ink Inc? Surely they...



Nope, can't even keep that joke going. It's too ridiculous. But seriously, I've never liked playing the "nobody will EVER" card because we have no freakin' idea. Did you ever think you'd see someone as popular as Hulk Hogan again? I didn't, but sure enough TWO guys named Austin and Rock came along at the same time and managed to pull it off.

It does seem like the current trend of tag teams being more high-flying, spot-heavy duos will make it difficult for anyone to match the Road Warriors' ferocious image, but without a crystal ball or a Flux Capacitor we can't know for sure.

 

[mikeyboy]

no and the reason why is people just wouldnt be as shocked at the look they had at the time, not many guys had the muscular figures like they did, nowadays its more common , the make up hadnt really been used befoe , it was matter of the right place at the right time for them, if they had came around ten years later they wouldnt had seemed so fearsome.