Roundtable: Tag Team Appreciation

In honor of Tag Team Appreciation Month at Canadian Bulldog’s World (a fantastic site for old-school fans with special features and lists on the history of tag team wrestling all throughout May), The Wrestling Estate has evaluated the best duos of the squared circle.

Do you prefer tag team wrestling to one-on-one matches?

Canadian Bulldog: It’s not an apples to apples comparison, to be honest. What I love about tag team wrestling is that you can create a completely different environment than you can with a traditional one-on-one. Perfect example: I once spent money (good money) in 1992 to see a house show in Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, main-evented by The Undertaker & the Ultimate Warrior against The Berzerker & Papa Shango. Now… if you’d advertised either of the feuds at the time (Undertaker vs. Berzerker or Warrior vs. Shango) as a one-on-one match? It would have been dreadful; just awful. But the tag team element (combined with the fact that Warrior and Undertaker had a brutal feud the year prior) made it a must-watch event.

Devonte Grant: Typically no, because I think most tag teams are randomly thrown together and clearly lack chemistry. All things considered, I think it all depends on what works best. A great tag team with chemistry would be more entertaining than a random singles match, and vice versa.

John Corrigan: Yes, there are more options, and not just the traditional heel beat down and hot tag formula. I love the closing seconds of an eight-man tag when everybody hits their finisher and the crowd goes banana.

Adam B. Yuro: It all really depends on the match. I’m not a fan of tag matches when they are just thrown together just to have the people on the card, though.

David Gibb: I feel like this is a false choice. The ideal wrestling card has a combination of singles and tag team matches. (How’s that for a non-answer?)

Chad Gelfand: I think under the right circumstances a tag team match can be better than a one-on-one match. I generally prefer singles matches, but if you get two teams in there that have chemistry with each other, there are few matches more exciting.

Jack Goodwillie: I think all things being equal, it’s natural to prefer the prolific singles feud to the tag team program, but if done right, a good tag feud can be a good second or third match from the main event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXjxNzT-z40

What’s your favorite tag team match?

Canadian Bulldog: I have several favorites, but one I will highlight is Rick & Scott Steiner versus Lex Luger & Sting from the first SuperBrawl PPV. At the time, The Steiner Brothers were THE best act in wrestling — innovative and tons of fun to watch — and of course, Sting and Luger were the two top singles guys in the promotion not named Ric Flair. What started off as a scientific match with tons of high spots became very heated, very quickly, and even the screwy finish (Nikita Koloff ran interference) didn’t detract from what was a really cool attraction.

Grant: Too many to name. One that sticks out to me is the Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Young Bucks at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor XV. I was watching that match on the edge of my seat; the storytelling and spots were amazing. Two great teams on their A-game, that match was awesome.

Corrigan: American Alpha vs. The Revival at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. It’s a tragedy what both teams have become because this match was fucking awesome and has the second best finish I’ve ever seen. (Sorry, I love you.)

Yuro: The first TLC. The Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian put on an amazing match. They all worked really well with each other.

Gibb: Fantastics vs. Sheepherders at Clash of the Champions II. If you think you hate the Bushwhackers, watch that match.

Gelfand: The WrestleMania X-7 TLC match. That match may also be the most exciting match in WWE history. It was breathtaking action from start to finish featuring the best tag teams from that time period in the Dudleys, The Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian.

Goodwillie: Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho vs. the Two-Man Power Trip of Steve Austin and Triple H from Raw 2001 is firmly in the conversation for one of Raw’s greatest matches, and for good reason. It had all the makings of an instant classic and a little bit of everything, including Triple H tearing his quad. It often gets swept under the rug because of the obvious (I feel like I mention Benoit in every roundtable these days), but please check this match out if you have 15 minutes to spare. Honorable mention to any match the following year featuring any combination of Los Guerreros, Team Angle, Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit and Edge &Rey Mysterio, as those matches were real barnburners in their own right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWsPehsBFEg

Which duo had the greatest breakup?

Canadian Bulldog: Canadian Bulldog’s World covered this in our Top 50 Tag Team Break-Ups list a few years ago (cheap plug), but for me, it was The Rockers. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty had such a long history in the AWA and WWF. And even though people expected the split to happen (it was telegraphed for months), it still ended up being this incredibly emotional roller coaster, and the gold standard by which tag team breakups are judged by today. “Is there a problem with The Rockers? I don’t THINK SO!”

Grant: The Rockers hands down, especially when you see where Shawn’s and Marty’s careers went afterwards. Man, I can’t think of a better or worse breakup, however you view it. The aftermath of the breakup was nasty.

Corrigan: The Mega Powers, brother. Macho Man snapping on the Hulkster, calling out the lust in Hogan’s beady eyes and then bashing his head in as Elizabeth lay prone on the hospital bed, that’s just good stuff.

Yuro: Braun Strowman and Nicholas…lol. But, seriously Edge & Christian, seeing them break up was a hard one to swallow at first.

Gibb: Shawn and Marty, obvi! If it wasn’t for the Rockers’ breakup, we wouldn’t put the tag team breakup on a pedestal conceptually the way we do, and you wouldn’t be asking this question.

Gelfand: I know the popular answer is probably Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, but I have to go with Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. The Festival of Friendship segment was amazing and the reveal of Jericho’s name being on the list is one of my favorite reveals in wrestling history.

Goodwillie: You can go a number of different ways here, and honestly the D.I.Y. breakup stacks up well even with the greatest breakups ever. Personally, every match I saw of the Kevin Steen-El Generico tag team told me they had unlimited potential as a unit and just when it looked like they were going to ascend to the mantle of the world’s greatest tag team, Steen violently turned on his happy-go-lucky partner, setting the wheels in motion for the Kevin Owens character we know today. What makes this the greatest breakup; however, is the aftermath. The two went on to feud for three years crescendoing to violent match after violent match, with each match comfortably satisfying the viewer. And if ROH storylines were canon to WWE storylines, let’s just say it would be preposterous to have these two as an alliance in the present day.

What’s the worst tag team you’ve ever seen?

Canadian Bulldog: I never cared much for Men On A Mission. Sure, Mo and Mabel (terrible names, btw) wore similar outfits and had the same rap gimmick (thanks to their “manager” Oscar), but nothing they did ever really clicked. They just looked dangerous in the ring, and not the “Brock Lesnar” kind of dangerous, either. Frankly, I’m shocked that these two even went anywhere in the WWF, even during the gimmick-laden mid-1990s.

Grant: Slater Gator. Everything is wrong with that. Everything.

Corrigan: Is it fair to bash a team simply for obeying their boss? 99% of the time I’d say no, but The Johnsons (a couple of dudes dressed as giant dicks) are that 1%.

Yuro: They are good wrestlers, but I just don’t like them – Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn.

Gibb: *Insert all your favorite Jim Herd stories here* Honestly, though, probably the Harris Twins. Blu Brothers, DOA, Creative Control…that’s a lot of bad gimmicks, and I don’t remember them having a single memorable match on pay per view.

Gelfand: The Gymini. They were Simon Dean’s goons. Do you even remember them? Enough said.

Goodwillie: ECW’s Danny Doring and Amish Roadkill. I always thought Doring was okay, very pedestrian all around, but Roadkill, aside from having a weird connection with the local Philadelphia audience, was almost a zero in the ring. True story, but Bruce Prichard once pitched an opponent for The Undertaker at what I believe was WrestleMania 22, and that opponent was Roadkill. Needless to say it didn’t work out.

What is the greatest tag team of all time?

Canadian Bulldog: It’s a tough choice because there are so many great teams from different eras…but my all-time favorites were The British Bulldogs (no relation). Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid were just ridiculously ahead of their time, mixing brute strength with some of the most exciting aerial moves for their era, and taking sacrifices that literally shortened both of their lives. That unfortunate note aside, do yourself a favor and watch some of their stuff in Japan during the mid-1980s or their numerous run-ins with The Hart Foundation in the WWF. The Bulldogs are the template for which every great tag team should aspire to be.

Grant: My favorite would have to be the Hardy Boyz. Despite their generally different wrestling styles and personas, they have amazing chemistry. They move as a unit, a true team when they’re together. Plus, they influenced and inspired many of their peers and those who came after them.

Corrigan: It pains me to admit because one of them blocked me on Twitter, but The Young Bucks have become the greatest duo. Their matches keep getting better with age, they’re one of the few legitimate headlining teams today, they’ve influenced an entire generation and they’ve changed the game: taking control out of the promoter’s hands and building their own globally recognized brand.

Yuro: The Outsiders have been one of my favorites of all time.

Gibb: The Midnight Express. I say Eaton and Lane, but if I was older I might say Eaton and Condrey.

Gelfand: I’m partial to the Hardy Boyz. Their style was revolutionary and they influenced a whole generation of wrestlers.

Goodwillie: Honorable mentions to Los Guerreros, Haas and Benjamin, E&C, The Eliminators, Hart Foundation, MNM, Steenerico, the Briscoe Brothers, America’s Most Wanted and the Hardy Boyz, but is there any other correct answer than the Midnight Express?

Notice that most of the tag teams I just mentioned came out of a 10-year period. Prior to that, the Midnight, along with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were the Alpha and Omega of tag team wrestling, and part of that lends itself to just how good they were in the ring and drawing heat. The Joey Ryan fan club can say what they want about Jim Cornette, but when it came to living his gimmick and getting over two great hands with limited-to-no mic skills (because let’s face it, Bobby Eaton would have been in the NWA World Championship picture if he had any semblance of charisma), nobody can touch Cornette. His contributions cannot be discounted and, for that reason, my vote goes to the Midnight (I prefer Sweet Stan to Loverboy Dennis personally).