Let's take a minute to talk about HOT TAGS [Archive]

Supreme Olajuwon

10-14-2011, 01:32 PM

They've been a staple of pretty much every tag match ever. The heels dominate most of the match, the beat down face connects with a "desperation maneuver," then crawls over to his partner at the very last moment and makes the hot tag. The fresh face then cleans house and the crowd goes wild.

So what are your thoughts about the hot tag?
Do you love it or just really really like it a lot?
On a team where one guy is always the hot tagger and the other the hot taggee, do you consider the guy who always needs to make the hot tag the bitch of the team?

Also discuss great tag teams of the past and who played which role.

MoFo

10-14-2011, 01:33 PM

Shawn Michaels is king of making hot tags

Cena is best at 'cleaning house'

10-14-2011, 01:38 PM

I hate them because...
They've been a staple of pretty much every tag match ever. The heels dominate most of the match, the beat down face connects with a "desperation maneuver," then crawls over to his partner at the very last moment and makes the hot tag. The fresh face then cleans house and the crowd goes wild.
Same shit every time.

And because...
On a team where one guy is always the hot tagger and the other the hot taggee, do you consider the guy who always needs to make the hot tag the bitch of the team?
Yes. Road Dogg was a bitch because Billy Gunn always got the hot tag and had to come rescue the match.

CSL

10-14-2011, 01:40 PM

BUMP N FEED BUMP N FEED

Supreme Olajuwon

10-14-2011, 01:50 PM

Road Dogg was pretty clearly the weaker of the Outlaws, so it made sense.

I think Hawk always tagged in Animal, but I never considered Hawk to be the weaker of the two.

On the Steiners Scott always tagged in Rick and I never considered Rick Steiner to be the stronger of the two.

MaxPower

10-14-2011, 01:57 PM

The Rock n Roll Express, Ricky Morton was always the weaker of the two

Anybody Thrilla

10-14-2011, 02:06 PM

In Air Boom, Evan Bourne seems to be the face in peril while Kofi cleans house, but even still, Evan gets to shine in the ring more. I'm really liking them as a team so far, I must say.

As far as the actual hot tag, it's a necessary evil. I always know it's coming, but there are still matches where the guys are so good that I don't even really notice it.

Blakeamus

10-14-2011, 02:14 PM

Supreme Olajuwon

10-14-2011, 02:20 PM

Anybody Thrilla

10-14-2011, 02:28 PM

I like HOT TAGS...but I do agree how Road Dogg was always taking the heat. Although I wouldn't consider him the weakest. To me, if you are starting the match for your team, it is because you are strong enough to set the tempo, get the fans involved, and bump n feed.

I think Supreme is thinking more from the perspective of a casual observer as opposed to someone who would use the term "bump n feed". You guys are both right, though.

Blakeamus

10-14-2011, 02:28 PM

Well if you consider the LOOK and not the PSYCOLOGY of wrestling, I'd say Road Dogg looks weaker...

Waylander

10-14-2011, 02:29 PM

I'd prefer them to be used sparingly, use them in every match and it all becomes a bit predictable.

Anybody Thrilla

10-14-2011, 02:31 PM

I think hot tags in every match are fine, as long as the outcomes vary between heel and face victories. I love when the faces make the hot tag and the fresh guy comes in like a house of fire...only for the heels to pull out a quick underhanded tactic and get a quick pin.

BigCrippyZ

10-14-2011, 02:35 PM

When I was skimming the thread titles, I originally read this as "Let's take a minute to talk about HOT DOGS"

Blakeamus

10-14-2011, 02:37 PM

It could work to use them sparingly, but that is what tag team matches are all about. Predictable? Yes. But it makes the crowd get really behind it regardless of that.

Emperor Smeat

10-14-2011, 02:52 PM

Don't have a problem with hot tags because majority of the time the heels are making small mistakes to allow the opportunity for the tag instead of just complete dominance and the face guy getting beaten always has multiple chances for the tag.

Only issue I have is when there is the random tag match putting 2 faces in a makeshift team and its always the same guy getting the tag regardless of the pairing.

CSL

10-14-2011, 03:00 PM

hot tags have existed almost as long as tag wrestling itself (never thought of the guy taking the heat as weaker either, he's usually the "worker" of the team or at least that was the case a lot more in "ye olden days", also can be "the little guy" taking the heat and building to the "the big guy" or in most tag matches in WWE now, it's usually simply the guy higher on the card/more over getting the hot tag so in that case kind of weaker I guess), it only stands out more now because guys aren't teaming together 365 days a year learning how to tag wrestle/the tag division is non-existent so the matches tend to follow the same formula. You watch The Brainbusters, Rockers, Harts etc and you won't notice the build to/execution of the hot tag half as much because you're too busy being entertained by them taking different paths to reach the end of the story/a bunch of other tag match "tricks" and so forth.

Pintint

10-14-2011, 04:24 PM

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/000/866/972/f707fbd4dd2ca9c8_crop_340x234.jpg?1269493657

Which one of these two looks weaker to you? The chiseled one or the one with the braids?

The one that doesn't look like a lamp.

On topic, I think hot tags are a necessary part of a great tag team match.

Rammsteinmad

10-14-2011, 04:40 PM

I'm wrestling in a tag team match on Halloween with a bunch of people who don't 'get' what hot tags are all about. The literally have no sense of psychology at all. It's a shame because they can pretty much pull of any move, but without any psychology all they basically do is one move after another, with various pausing and stalling inbetween.

Hot tags are also better after a false hot tag... like the face finally makes the tag, but the referee didn't see it, thus the guy taking the beating has to go back and take some more.

The Macrem

10-14-2011, 04:44 PM

If you look weak next to Billy Gunn you know you have serious problems.

CSL

10-14-2011, 04:45 PM

The literally have no sense of psychology at all. It's a shame because they can pretty much pull of any move, but without any psychology all they basically do is one move after another, with various pausing and stalling inbetween.

Literally describes 80% (and the number is rising) of independent wrestling across the world, from shitarse cowboy promoter running in front of 6 people to ROH.

Kane Knight

10-14-2011, 04:48 PM

I like them. I think they could be used sparingly, but as long as it's exciting, I don't care enough to complain.

There's a lot of times in westler where you know what's coming and you don't care. Wrestling can be formulaic and still fun. It's only when it's formulaic and boring that it's a problem.

And yes, it's easy to view the dedicated tagger as the bitch, since 80% of the time their job is basically to get the shit kicked out of them.

Rammsteinmad

10-14-2011, 04:51 PM

Literally describes 80% (and the number is rising) of independent wrestling across the world, from shitarse cowboy promoter running in front of 6 people to ROH.

Sadly, I agree. I've always prided myself on excellent ring pschology. I'm certainly not as technical as Daniel Bryan, or charismatic as John Cena, nor can I cut a promo like CM Punk (though only Punk can do that), but I do have a good fucking knowledge of psychology.

Fucking sick of guys just pulling of one move after another, with no logic to where they are.

I kid you not... we had a tag match in March, where they didn't 'get' the psychology of hot tagging etc... they did the hot tag... and then repeated the whole beatdown and did that 'false tag' spot... Urgh... It killed me inside. Thankfully it wasn't really a wrestling town and nobody really gave a shit.

Rammsteinmad

10-14-2011, 04:53 PM

And yes, it's easy to view the dedicated tagger as the bitch, since 80% of the time their job is basically to get the shit kicked out of them.

Dunno if this is a legit case or just me talking shit, but sometimes it could be a case of some wrestlers 'taking a better beating' than their partner... like, they're easier to get behind, or better at selling how desperately they need to get out of the ring.

The Macrem

10-14-2011, 04:54 PM

I bet you perked up when you took stock and realised that you are not Billy Gunn.

Hanso Amore

10-14-2011, 04:59 PM

Dunno if this is a legit case or just me talking shit, but sometimes it could be a case of some wrestlers 'taking a better beating' than their partner... like, they're easier to get behind, or better at selling how desperately they need to get out of the ring.

I think thats fair.

Morton could sell a beatdown for anyone. I think 90 percent of the time I watched him as a kid I was screaming for him to hold on, kick out, or get to his corner.

VSG

10-14-2011, 05:05 PM

The Macrem? Really?

The Macrem

10-14-2011, 05:06 PM

I still don't understand that 'The One' alias.

Lock Jaw

10-14-2011, 05:08 PM

I always just wanna see the dynamics of a tag team match flipped turned upside-down. Like the faces are beating on one heel, but then the heel makes a hot tag to his partner.

The Macrem

10-14-2011, 05:12 PM

yeah and a complete absence of Billy Gunn.

Supreme Olajuwon

10-14-2011, 05:23 PM

K you killed your own joke. You can stop now.

Supreme Olajuwon

10-14-2011, 05:24 PM

The Macrem needs to make a HOT TAG to his partner with fresh jokes.

The Macrem

10-14-2011, 05:28 PM

Billy Gunn is not a joke Supreme. That's quite an unfair comment regarding a model professional.

Anybody Thrilla

10-14-2011, 05:57 PM

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/8541/vlcsnap2011050711h12m15.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/684/vlcsnap2011050711h12m15.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

CSL

10-14-2011, 06:08 PM

why does he look like Joey Mercury after he got twatted with that ladder? most strange

The Macrem

10-14-2011, 06:08 PM

I've seen worse degenerations following a family dispute.

Kane Knight

10-14-2011, 07:32 PM

Dunno if this is a legit case or just me talking shit, but sometimes it could be a case of some wrestlers 'taking a better beating' than their partner... like, they're easier to get behind, or better at selling how desperately they need to get out of the ring.

Sometimes, it works. Usually, it looks like one dude can't wrestle and the other guy carries the team.

Supreme Olajuwon

10-15-2011, 12:37 AM

Well oftentimes the heels cheat to gain the upper hand, so it doesn't matter how strong the face is. But the way they edit their matches now, the faces will be dominating, they cut to commercial, we come back and the heel has the face in a rest hold. So who knows how they got into that predicament? We can only assume it was due to weakness.

Mr. Nerfect

10-15-2011, 03:58 AM

I remember Big Show coming in off a hot tag in a main event on RAW after freshly turning face a few years back, and it was stupendous. Hot tags are a necessary part of tag team wrestling, but I wouldn't mind it if guys tried some other stuff. The Usos and Hawkins/Reks had a pretty decent tag team match on NXT this past week, and what I loved was how The Usos controlled the first part of the match -- almost as if they were "isolating" Curt Hawkins. It makes total sense, because The Usos have been teaming longer and know each other better.