On this week’s edition of WrestleMania Rewind on the WWE Network, the focus of the program was the “triangle ladder match,” featuring The Hardy Boys, The Dudley Boys and the team of Edge and Christian from WrestleMania 16. As is the case many times when I watch stuff from “the good old days” of the Attitude Era, it got me thinking about what is missing from today’s product. In this case, what is missing from today’s product is an established, legitimate tag-team division.
The three teams I just listed above are all Hall Of Fame level tag-teams, which were only three teams from that era, which had a ton of established, legitimate additional tag-team acts. You think back to other tag-teams from that era such as the A.P.A., the New Age Outlaws and Too Cool, just to name a few. Tag-team wrestling was taken seriously, largely because of the incredible work that the initial three teams I mentioned put forth on a week-in, week-out basis.
Flash-forward to today, where week after week we see the same match between The Usos and The Wyatt Family, and the lack of importance behind the WWE Tag-Team Championships. I believe it was the duo of Randy Orton and Batista a few months ago that almost laughed at the idea of competing for the tag-titles, as if it were so beneath them that the mere idea of competing for them seemed like an absolute joke to them.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
The Usos are a great tag-team. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, also a great tag-team. There is a couple of good teams that are around today, however there is no supporting cast to make those teams seem like the “cream of the crop,” as opposed to “the whole ball of yarn.” They basically are the tag-team division. Most of the other tag-teams that exist today are basically a joke. They aren’t taken seriously and why should they be? No emphasis is put on the tag-titles or the division in general.
I think back to Evan Bourne’s release and imagine, what if WWE paired him with someone like Tyson Kidd? Both are guys who are just hanging around, doing basically nothing other than filling under cards on the “B-town” house shows.
Once again, it doesn’t have to be that way.
I think back to the formation of the New Age Outlaws. Initially, after “The Roadie” and “Rockabilly” failed, they were pretty much just thrown together because “creative” had nothing for them. The result? One of the most famous tag-teams of that entire era was born.
WWE should seriously consider pairing up guys like Bourne and Kidd, as there are a ton of other examples of guys like that who are very talented, however they are sitting around doing nothing. Why not pair up a few of those type of guys and see what they can do in the tag-team division?
As noted in this week’s edition of WrestleMania Rewind, it only takes one or two great showings to establish yourself and elevate your team to the point where you’re a legitimate part of the card that people buy tickets to see, as opposed to “time-fillers.”
Not too long ago the mandate in WWE was reportedly such that the tag-team division was going to be taken seriously again. The team of Goldust and Cody Rhodes were tearing things up. The Shield were doing the same. There was some stuff that was getting going around that time and you look around now and realize it was all for nothing. Now Goldust and Cody “Stardust” Rhodes act like goofballs for seemingly no reason in backstage segments. The Shield was broken up, as it should have been, although one could argue that it was a premature move to make.
Regardless, with a weekly three-hour RAW show that needs some added excitement as opposed to matches just being thrown out there to eat up time off the clock, and a heap of talent sitting around doing nothing, why not try and legitimately re-establish the tag-team division? I see no downside.
At the same time, I highly doubt it will happen anytime soon. WWE seems content on doing business they way they are these days, even though all the ingredients are there to revive a division that at one time — the Attitude Era for example — was one of the key factors in the success of WWE, as well as one of the key factors in WWE over-taking WCW in the ratings and ultimately winning “The Monday Night Wars.”
What do you guys think? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also add me on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.
