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When Tag Teams split & one member doesn't get repackaged?

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Simpsons Modern Life 
#1 · (Edited)


Ok, this is something I was just thinking about, when Tag Teams split up, specially in the past, usually you get one talent being pushed as a star with the other left behind to just be there basically, however you often notice that the one's who are left behind and not so much invested in are the one's that tend to just continue with the gimmick they had in the tag team, where as the others are repackaged completely and pushed to the moon, of course there is a few exceptions, which I'll explain.

However, in The Rockers thread I was talking about how the WWE did clearly try with Marty I think, I think they did invest in him more than they should have done really, from what I heard in regards to his unreliability issues, the WWE put the IC title on him and even the Tag Team belts too alongside the 1-2-3 Kid, however it still felt as though Marty wasn't really getting the push like Shawn was at the time, as he was still stuck in the same old Rockers attire and gimmick, I get how when teams split, one goes heel and the other stays face, however it's not always the case, as The Hart Foundation showcased also, but often you do notice that the one who is left with the done and dusted gimmick of the tag team, which is also done, is pretty much left behind really, give and take the odd occasion.



As I say, Marty was just running around doing the same old Rockers thing on his own where as Shawn had evolved and was working with Sherri getting this huge push, Tito Santana was another one who after Strike Force, was still running around in the same trunks where as Rick Martel was getting the huge push as The Model, you can tell which talents are being left behind and which one's are getting the push as often those talents have NO creative effort from the WWE, it's like, right, you continue doing that while we work on this guy and then you can fade off kinda thing.



There are of course some exceptions, the most obvious one being Bret Hart, after The Hart Foundation both Bret and Jim were still pretty much in the Hart Foundation attire, until of course Jim went into the New Foundation and High Energy, but even then, you felt like Bret was completely on his own now where you still felt Jim was stuck back in the Hart Foundation, even with the change of attire he was still clinging on to that, hence the New Foundation where Bret just seemed like he was completely his own person, even though he pretty much continued the Hart Foundation gimmick, maybe Bret just suited that so well it was silly to change that and I'm glad they didn't, but in general, it's usually as mentioned above, one talent is given no effort by the WWE and pretty much jobbing really while the other is pushed and often repackaged.



The other exception that comes to mind is Roman Reigns, however I feel that the whole Shield thing they continued with him and his whole push in general was very force fed, that it kinda didn't work, it did, of course, cause Reigns is doing his thing now, but even though he was getting the push out of the three, the other two still were getting decent enough pushes, specially Rollins, but it felt like those two guys had evolved and become their own, where as Reigns felt stale and held back in The Shield that he hadn't evolved, I think this was maybe to do with his progress as a talent that they wanted to nurture this, but in general, this comes to mind also for me, in the same way that Bret does and getting the push, yet staying with the attire of the tag team.



So what are your thoughts to this, do you feel that when talents split and teams are broken that both the talents should be repackaged, or do you feel that it's just laziness with the WWE which is pretty much showing, look, they're not putting any effort into you, but they are this guy, do you feel they could have at least put some effort in with the remaining tag team member, even if they weren't getting the huge push as the other that was pushed to the front, I guess what I'm asking is ....

Should more effort be put in to the remaining tag team member basically, in your opinion?

What are your thoughts, I thought this could be an interesting discussion and would love to hear some thoughts and vibes from you guys.​
 
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#2 ·
When it comes to Marty, Tito, and other guys in the old days, I have to wonder if there was a reluctance on their part to change their characters up. I thought Marty could've easily transitioned, stopped using the Rockers music, and switched his look up but I have to wonder if he made a call to stay like that, or at least didn't push for something different, because it worked before so why rock the boat? There was a comment made in the Rockers thread about Marty being happy with where he was and not wanting to evolve, and I couldn't agree more. I think if he had a good angle for his character and brought it to Vince, especially given that the talent in those days had considerably more creative input, he could've made himself a bit more current. I mean, even when he came back in the mid 90s with Al Snow he stuck to the Rockers deal, and if I'm not mistaken, still pretty much dresses like that when he does shows now.

To answer the actual question tho, yeah I feel like creative should invest time in both characters to give both kind of a new feeling and look. Sure, tag teams usually break up when one is poised to climb the singles ladder, but to have one guy kinda stuck in the past is just sad. I still think Reigns should change his music from the Shield's. That just feels lazy to me.
 
#3 ·
I agree with you, and I do feel that it's just laziness really in regards to the WWE, if a tag team is done, it's done, both talents should be repackaged individually I think, not have one holding on to what they were in the past while the other is pushed to the moon with a new gimmick, look etc...

Like you say, I get that one is poised to climb the ladder, but that doesn't mean the other should be left just running round with a gimmick from a tag team that is no more.

I mean, Jim Neidhart seemed to feel very left behind also, and I know Bret also kept The Hart Foundation look too as an exception, changing the silver shades to pink, but it just felt weird I think them doing this, same with Tito running around in Strike Force trunks, Marty as The Rockers all the time, it's like, the team is done and dusted with and that's holding a talent back I feel.

I can understand the argument if people say 'Yeah but he's continuing what he was, as he didn't turn his back on this', but I don't think that's a strong enough argument to do it really, because it still feels, to me, that they're held back and old news basically, while the other is the one to watch, it makes the one left behind very uninteresting more times than not.

I suppose another example is Davey Boy, who kept the British Bulldogs gimmick as The British Bulldog, but I dunno, it seems like it's only fitting for very few without them feeling stale, Tito was way too good to be running round left behind with the Strike Force gimmick and this applies to many other talents too, shouldn't happen to any really in my opinion, but yeah, I completely agree with you, it just feels completely lazy to me.

I agree about Reigns too, I have done since day one, I get they were nurturing him at the time but they could have made more effort to evolve him more so, who knows, maybe people would have taken to him more had he have come out with something new and fresh, as opposed to sticking with The Shield persona, a gimmick and team that was done and dusted with and had that image to go with that team, it feels very lazy I think :)
 
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#6 ·
Re: Billy Gunn; Guy seemed to be more of a tag team guy than anything. In a tag team he was part of 2 of the best tag teams in WWE history. On his own he was terrible.

Oh and re: the topic how about the Natural Disasters? Earthquake seemed to maintain a presence in the ring after they broke up. Typhoon became the Shockmaster and was never the same.
 
#7 ·
Yeah, I think with them, Earthquake was Earthquake before the Natural Disasters and Typhoon was just changed to adapt to this from Tugboat to Typhoon, so it's easy for Earthquake really to carry on after, didn't Typhoon have a singles run as Typhoon, I'm not really sure?
 
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