Best Tag Team Tournament: Round 1, Group C

[Vastardikai]

We are halfway through the first round, and already some big names have fallen. Group C is probably the best grouping of this tournament.

Group C:
Heavenly Bodies vs Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee
The Usos vs Los Guerreros
Eliminators vs APA
Harlem Heat vs Beer Money Inc
Steiner Brothers vs Brisco Brothers
Brain Busters vs British Bulldogs
Briscoes vs Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens
Young Bucks vs Blue bloods

Get Hyped, Dudes.

[#1-norm-fan]

Patterson and Stevens were probably, by all accounts, the greatest tag team ever. But lack of footage hurts them. Wish they were facing The Young Bucks so I could give them an easy bye this round.

[Bad News Gertner]

"Stevens"

[Bad News Gertner]

I think the Eliminators are hurt by the lack of teams to work with in ECW that could work their style. They were never gonna have classics with the Gangstas, PE, Pitbulls etc.

I think the Bulldogs are miles better than Arn and Tully. The Brainbusters never did it for me.

[Vastardikai]

"Stevens"

That was my big fear, getting a classic's name wrong. :(

[Bad News Gertner]

The Usos might be the best team in WWE history

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Name a Blue Bloods match you fucking frauds. Fuck off.

[Destor]

Two guys whove never worked together are a better tag than the bucks. At least they didnt shit the bed every night

[Supreme Olajuwon]

This must be what it was like when the Pharisees talked bad about Jesus

Just absolutely despicable behavior that history will condemn

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Young Bucks are pool scum.

[Lock Jaw]

Heavenly Bodies vs Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee: Never seen either, so I dunno

The Usos vs Los Guerreros: Love Los Guerreros, but The Usos may or may not be the GOAT and the winners of this whole thing.


Eliminators vs APA: Never seen Eliminators so voting for APA. Is that fair? Probably not, but it is also probably the right choice.


Harlem Heat vs Beer Money Inc: Tough one.... I've probably seen only a small sliver of each, but both were good.... gonna give it to Harlem Heat cause I feel like as good and successful as Beer Money was, I felt like it "derailed" them both a little, and helped TNA "lose steam" as two hopefuls were shoved into a tag team...


Steiner Brothers vs Brisco Brothers: Steiner Brothers easy.


Brain Busters vs British Bulldogs: Sucker for the Bulldogs so I vote for them.


Briscoes vs Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens: Wait, which Briscoes are the ROH one, the ones with an e or the ones without an e? Never seen the non-ROH ones.... never seen Patterson/Stevens either so not gonna vote in this one


Young Bucks vs Blue bloods: Young Bucks are pretty bad, any team with Regal on it easily wins.

[Vastardikai]

For the record, the Brisco Brothers are Jack and Gerry. Briscoes are Mark and Jay.

[Vastardikai]

Lawler and Dundee were the top two guys in Memphis for a long time. But I went with the Heavenly Bodies, because they are the second best tag team Cornette managed, and considering who the best are, that is quite the consolation (the Grapplers are third.)

Usos are one of the top teams of all time, Los Guerreros were also damned good. I had to acknowledge the Usos, though.

I went with the Eliminators here. Because they were kind of the ECW Equivalent of FTR, in that they were one of the best tag teams in the world at that time. And their finish (Total Elimination, a variant of the Double Goozle) is just behind the Doomsday Device on the list of coolest tag team finishes of all time. I have a fondness for the Acolytes, just because of what they did to Public Enemy, and Ron Simmons is a straight up bad ass.

Had to go with Harlem Heat. Nothing against Beer Money, Inc. But Harlem Heat were legendary. They turned Global on its head during their run and were amazing in WCW.

In a shoot, the Steiners vs the Brisco Brothers would be a LOT closer than the poll would suggest. Jack was a beast in his prime, and Gerry was no slouch, either. I went with the Steiners because of recency bias and because they ruled everywhere.

Had to go with the Brain Busters here. But they had a rough draw. The Bulldogs are beasts, but I could see Arn and Tully breaking them down with dirty tricks and double team moves.

I have heard a lot of how great Patterson and Stevens were from Cornette podcasts. But recency bias again reared its head so I went with Mark and Jay.

I had a feeling the Young Bucks were gonna run away with it, so I went with the Blue Bloods, because fuck the Young Bucks. That and honestly, the Bucks wouldn't know how to work against them, because they don't know how to work. Also, Regal and Taylor vs. Londrick vs. The Hardy Boys vs. MNM in a Ladder match.

[Destor]

In a shoot the briscoes would get murdered by the stieners. Steiners had 80lbs on em

[Mr. Nerfect]

I loved Londrick as a team. :(

[Mr. Nerfect]

I had a few that caused me pain. I feel like Lawler & Dundee were bigger deals in wrestling, but the Heavenly Bodies are such a pleasure, even if their work doesn’t feel as historically significant (to me anyway).

I also went with Beer Money and feel guilty about it. Harlem Heat are legendary. I just went with what was in my heart though. TNA had some really great tag teams that TNA’s scope as a promotion let down.

[Bad News Gertner]

In a shoot the briscoes would get murdered by the stieners. Steiners had 80lbs on em

Yeah the Steiners were freaks of nature.

[drave]

Rick > Scott.




I said it.

[Bad News Gertner]

Scott at his peak as a character was so broken down physically. Especially his back and coming down with drop foot. Rick at his peak as a character is probably with the Varsity Club where he's still young and can go.

[drave]

I liked him more as a kid too. Always thought it was funny when he'd crawl like a dog and piss on his opponent.

[#1-norm-fan]

I might have liked Rick more as a kid but Scott was world champion material. If not for the value of the team, I think Steiner taking the title off Flair in ‘91 could have been money.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Rick > Scott.




I said it.

I saw later Rick which has skewered my perception. There was nothing uglier than late 90’s Rick Steiner on rented WCW VHS tapes.

[Maluco]

The Usos might be the best team in WWE history

As someone who watches and appreciates older wrestling, I am really surprised by this opinion. The Usos, like the New Day, are still together because WWE is lazy and never try anything with anyone. They couldn’t even be bothered to give New Day a good story for a singles run. Just keep them together and keep mulling along with no direction and tired antics.

Teams like the Hart Foundation and The Rockers had far superior workers, were massively over at a time where that actually mattered and actually has memorable moments and feuds.

Being Roman’s lackeys is the highlight of the Usos career and their longevity is because no one is watching and nothing ever happens on WWE TV.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’ve grown to appreciate The Usos more over the years (thought they were kind of horrible back in 2016). But I don’t have a desire to go back and re-watch their work. They’re very “modern” to me. Would be two of the biggest stars on the roster in AEW. Very talented guys, but their tag team package feels a bit “one-note” to me, even though they are “very good.” Their significance is up there though.

I’m ready for singles runs for those guys. I enjoyed Jey Uso when he was doing that.

The New Day should probably rally behind a returning Big E when that first happens. I think the window for splitting and feuding them effectively has passed, and I get why they were reluctant. The Big E push didn’t work out as planned. Kofi Kingston as a singles heel would be interesting. Xavier Woods is good but I don’t care about him.

[Maluco]

I’ve grown to appreciate The Usos more over the years (thought they were kind of horrible back in 2016). But I don’t have a desire to go back and re-watch their work. They’re very “modern” to me. Would be two of the biggest stars on the roster in AEW. Very talented guys, but their tag team package feels a bit “one-note” to me, even though they are “very good.” Their significance is up there though.

I’m ready for singles runs for those guys. I enjoyed Jey Uso when he was doing that.

The New Day should probably rally behind a returning Big E when that first happens. I think the window for splitting and feuding them effectively has passed, and I get why they were reluctant. The Big E push didn’t work out as planned. Kofi Kingston as a singles heel would be interesting. Xavier Woods is good but I don’t care about him.

It might have worked if they had any heat behind it. Their break up would have been a big deal and could have launched a heel Big E and face Kofi into a proper title picture and a money match with real emotion behind it. But they just kept them together and mulled along. It was never going to work while they were together. No one wants to see a tag guy in a world title feud. JBL only worked because he reinvented himself and we bought into him as a singles guy. Justin Hawk as world champion would have been terrible.

Longevity only means something if you have stayed relevant, exciting and over that whole time. New Day and The Usos have been tired for years. A singles run for the Usos is well over due like you said.

They are up against teams on this list who could have headlined cards in their day and drawn a massive crowd. They just aren’t in the same league as some of the teams in the brackets.

Even them beating the Guerreros is bizarre because they were both far superior workers, far more charismatic and were more over than the Usos ever have been.

[Bad News Gertner]

I think they are outstanding and could work in any era and in any territory. A more talented version of the Islanders who I also adore.

[Sepholio]

I'm with Gertner on this one. Usos easily one of the best teams ever. They are on the very very short list when talking about WWE teams, as are New Day.

[Sepholio]

Feel like you can really tell how someone feels about modern WWE in general by how they talk about Usos/New Day.

[#1-norm-fan]

I think of The Usos like I think of The Bar. They may be great teams but they existed in a time where nothing they did mattered. If their matches didn’t matter, fuck ‘em. Whether it’s their fault or not. Not my job to create an even playing field for them to be judged on.

[Lock Jaw]

When I say UCE, you say O!

UCE!

[Mr. Nerfect]

It might have worked if they had any heat behind it. Their break up would have been a big deal and could have launched a heel Big E and face Kofi into a proper title picture and a money match with real emotion behind it. But they just kept them together and mulled along. It was never going to work while they were together. No one wants to see a tag guy in a world title feud. JBL only worked because he reinvented himself and we bought into him as a singles guy. Justin Hawk as world champion would have been terrible.

Longevity only means something if you have stayed relevant, exciting and over that whole time. New Day and The Usos have been tired for years. A singles run for the Usos is well over due like you said.

They are up against teams on this list who could have headlined cards in their day and drawn a massive crowd. They just aren’t in the same league as some of the teams in the brackets.

Even them beating the Guerreros is bizarre because they were both far superior workers, far more charismatic and were more over than the Usos ever have been.

I almost went with Los Guerreros over The Usos just because Eddie & Chavo weren’t really together that long and didn’t actually have too many *great* matches either. But the ones they did have stand out to me, so that’s a curve I’m willing to accept in their favor.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think they are outstanding and could work in any era and in any territory. A more talented version of the Islanders who I also adore.

The guys are very talented. It’s incredible the size they have kept off as Samoans. They may have actually been better in a different time and place. If they were in New Japan or AEW now, the internet would be going nuts for them (not that they get a bad rap now).

I just don’t care about their modern tag work. They’re definitely “WWE Hall of Famers,” for whatever that’s worth.

Weird to think Jey Uso has had two Hell in a Cell matches in his career.

[Jordan]

I think The Uso's and The New Day are almost interchangeable to be named "best WWE team of this generation". The DVD you could create with either team's best of matches would be a really fun collection. I'd say coming in behind them is probably Harper & Rowan because the three of them had so many matches together. Good stuff even if it wasn't featured at the top of the show.

[Maluco]

Fair enough points, but I just can’t agree at all. There is so much to good tag team wrestling. The psychology and ability to get fans to buy into a match is more difficult than for singles stars. They have to tell stories and keep you invested in matches in a very particular way. Proper tag team wrestling is an art form and modern teams just go full pelt for 15 minutes and call it a match.

No one really cares or remembers and then they do it again the next night. There is no build, subtlety, climax or story within the match.

I think they are great athletes but they would have been sat down in the territory days and would have been needed to be told really basic things about what tag team wrestling is. Slow down, make sure things you are doing mean something, react to what is happening etc…

They wouldn’t have been cut out for the territory days and certainly couldn’t have had cards built around them or their feuds.

How much more would one of those Big E suicide dives have meant if he only busted it out at a crucial time in a massive match? Instead, he did it every Smackdown for 4-5 years, it meant absolutely nothing, and he is now at home with a broken neck. It’s the same story with the Usos and basically all of AEW. 100% every night, full speed chaos and it all means nothing.

They are a world away from the truly great teams of the past who perfected the art form.

[Vastardikai]

And the Winners of Group C are:

Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee
The Usos
APA
Harlem Heat
Steiner Brothers
British Bulldogs
Briscoes
Young Bucks via Tiebreaker. (FUCK!)

Group D is coming up shortly.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Bucks fucking suck. Kudos to you for being fair, Spilchuk.

[Evil Vito]

Name a Blue Bloods match you fucking frauds. Fuck off.

I love how the only match that ended up getting named in this thread was a 4-way ladder match that was more well known for high spots done by everybody else including poor Joey Mercury getting his face decimated. Not any regular Blue Bloods tag match.

Can't say the Bucks don't get people to feel if they got this many people to vote for the goddamn Blue Bloods.

(they'll get absolutely merked next round though)

[Destor]

If the feeling youre manifesting in the consumer is a desire to never see you again its hardly a boon

[Vastardikai]

I love how the only match that ended up getting named in this thread was a 4-way ladder match that was more well known for high spots done by everybody else including poor Joey Mercury getting his face decimated. Not any regular Blue Bloods tag match.

Can't say the Bucks don't get people to feel if they got this many people to vote for the goddamn Blue Bloods.

(they'll get absolutely merked next round though)

I mean, there aren't as many matches with the lineup of Regal and Taylor that I could recall. Most folks know the Blue Bloods as Regal and Eaton. And because of the one wrestler in a team rule, I went with the better team for him. That said, I could have done Regal and Brookside, as there is a bit of a lack of British Tag Teams.