[The BoogeyMan]

Am I the only one who doesn't like The IWC's idea of "what makes sense" when making a Tag Team?

I mean, we all agree that the Tag division has been kinda' "meh" for 5 years or so. Good at times but never consistently amazing. Thus why we've had a collection of randomly paired guys. Now if you read any of the tag team threads around, you'll see a whole bunch of suggestions for possible future tag teams but (and I hate this so much) they're all just people who have one common physical trait in common.

For example, so many people here suggest tag teams just made of up black guys. R-Truth and MVP, JTG & MVP etc. I mean The Nation was a great faction but it's lazy booking to make teams like MVP and Mark Henry. Then you've got teams made up of guys who are just foreign (Rene' Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki). Or guys who are tall (Big Show and Kane's tag title run).

Sure, WWE may be partly to blame for this. They've made a whole host of thrown-together, no-logic tag teams. But whenever other teams come out, like Cody/McIntire, people trash them? Fuckin' wha?

Look at Cody/McIntire. People have said they've got nothing in common but lets look at this seriously. They're both hated in the locker room (hate can unify people), both very sure of their own superiority, both were drifting around IC Title level and looking to add to the resume'. In these respects, their tag team makes PERFECT sense. Now look at MVP and Mark Henry. Their only common denominator is that their black. Yet nobody bats an eyelid.

Let's look at other "thrown-together" tag teams. Chris Jericho teamed with Edge before Edge was injured. Now Jericho and Edge, yes, have the Canadian background BUT they're both hugely successful guys, have feuded with a lot of the same people (again, hate can unify), both love being Champions, dominating AND having the Belts puts them on both shows (and both love the spotlight/exposure). When Big Show took over, Jericho used him as protection and The Big Show also loves to dominate, win Championships and associate himself with big names (ie. nWo, Invasion, etc). Look at "The Two Man Power Trip" as just another example that personality means more than physical appearances.

So yeah, this is just me kinda' letting loose about "what makes sense" in terms of Tag Teams but yeah, I'd love to hear what everyone has to say.

 

[Ph3n0m]

What makes sense for me... two people having a chemistry... two people having a REASON for being a tag team... two people who WRESTLE like a tag team, rather than wrestling like two single guys who happen to be in a team (double team moves and a finisher and using classic tag team strategies).

It almost saddens me to say it, but I almost think they should scrap the division rather than let it run into any more disrepair.

There was a small glimmer of hope when the HD got given the belts and a new, fresh tag team in the Usos were brought up to seemingly feud with them.

But it seemed they were more interested in pairing Snuka's daughter with Santino than establishing the Usos.

 

[Cerbs]

"Meh" for only FIVE years???? Shit, try about 10 years.

Simply put, the best tag teams have almost always been about teams that were not inevitabely split to pursue singles titles. The only notable exceptions being the Rockers and the Brain Busters (The Hardyz maybe, but I'm still not convinced Jeff Hardy will be as heralded as he is 20 years from now).

But when you look at the New Age Outlaws, the Road Warriors, the Dudley Boyz, and Midnight Express, ect, their success is unparralelled (And I guarantee people will still know who the BUSHWACKERS were in 20 years). I just get irritated when great teams are ALWAYS split up. And it's because the singles titles are now regarded as being "better" or "more prestigous" than the tag titles, which is NOT how it has always been. Today's WWE uses the tag team division to make future singles stars, which doesn't leave the tag team division with any credibility. And when they're not doing that, they're letting odd-bed-fellow singles stars hold the belts until a singles angle opens up for them.

TL;DR: The belts just simply don't serve the same purpose they once did and WWE only concentrates on singles titles.

 

[imEnigmaticAsshole]

i read someone that vince doesnt really do much with tag teams because he doesnt think they can draw..............hell yeah they can draw!! (if they r booked right)..hell, if any1 is booked right they can draw...

 

[Something Savage]

Tag teams can draw, and Vince knows it. The TLC concept was a big draw for WWE in 2000 and 2001, and the concept has since led to the creation of Money In The Bank, which is still being used as a draw to this day - such a draw, in fact, that they've now created an entire PPV event around it.

TLC never would've taken off without people fully supporting the teams of E&C, the Hardyz, and the Dudleyz. It just wouldn't have been the same without teams that the fans cared about. Nobody would've been lining up to see the Hardyz back then if they were booked like the Usos of today. Likewise, nobody would've gave a rats ass about the Dudleyz if they were never given a gimmick to work with and just booked like a couple of Dudebusters.

It's all in the handling, the booking, and the treatment of these pairings.

As far as what "makes sense" in tag team booking, the rules have been bent before. In fact, tag team wrestling was in the dumps in the mid 90's. It took two random jobbers being thrown together to form a team to give tag team wrestling a facelift.

That's right. Jesse James and Billy Gunn were two guys who were barely considered mid-card acts. They were essentially just jobbers. But, after they were paired together (with very little in common) and pushed to the moon, the tag team scene became revitalized.

With a centerpiece for the division to revolve around, and a new team to build challengers specifically for, there was a new purpose. The division was allowed to flourish and grow again. All because the WWE made up their minds to do something with James and Gunn.

Looking at the landscape of today's tag division, why can't that solution come from a similar notion? Why not pair a great talker (Santino? Ryder?) with an athletic worker (Masters? Ziggler? Swagger?) and just strap a rocket to their asses?

If WWE made up their mind to pair two guys, make them the new face of the division, and really get behind them... then the division could be rejuvenated in short order.

There doesn't really need to be any "common denominator" at first. James and Gunn had next to nothing in common in the beginning. Now, with their best days behind them, it's hard for anyone to imagine one without the other.

 

[bellywolves]

Personally I think they could have easily put the tag titles on Crime Tyme back when they was just about to challenge for the belts. WWE should take a note out of TNA's book when dealing with the tag division. I wouldn't even mind them bringing back gimmick, stereotypical tag teams as long as there is some form of respectable tag division.

 

[bjnelson19705]

What makes sense for me... two people having a chemistry... two people having a REASON for being a tag team... two people who WRESTLE like a tag team, rather than wrestling like two single guys who happen to be in a team (double team moves and a finisher and using classic tag team strategies).

It almost saddens me to say it, but I almost think they should scrap the division rather than let it run into any more disrepair.

There was a small glimmer of hope when the HD got given the belts and a new, fresh tag team in the Usos were brought up to seemingly feud with them.

But it seemed they were more interested in pairing Snuka's daughter with Santino than establishing the Usos.

I'm piping mad that the WWE kept burying the Usos and splitting Tag Teams up.:cussin: