Tag Teams

[Tron Cadet]

There just isn't the essential chemistry in WWE Tag Teams anymore.
I'm sick of past Main Eventers ending up strangely paired together (eg. Jericho and Show) just so they are kept on the card and not forgotten by the viewers. Tag Team Matches used to be like a Main Event in their own right.

Where is the bond of Hardyz, Dudleyz, E & C or the original DX. Lovingly predictable, identifiable and thrilling to watch.

Cryme Tyme are probably the closest thing i've seen recently but they have definately a long way to go to get to the stature of the teams mentioned above.

Surely there is enough talent out there to build it back up.

[Gertner]

What's next? Lemme guess, a "I hate how the WWE is shoving Cena down our throats?"

[Tron Cadet]

What's next? Lemme guess, a "I hate how the WWE is shoving Cena down our throats?"

Well, Cena has a personality which is marketable to young kids etc... Don't blame WWE for that.

[Nicky Fives]

3 words..... The Hart Dynasty

[The Jayman]

Well, Cena has a personality which is marketable to young kids etc... Don't blame WWE for that.

oh but we will my friend...we will ;)

[DaveBrawl]

3 words..... The Hart Dynasty

So true.

[Xero]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/218/502911803_a6f566de2c.jpg

[TheZman]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/218/502911803_a6f566de2c.jpg



You know the ladies are all over him in that bad ass attire.

[DAMN iNATOR]

oh but we will my friend...we will ;)

Actually, I'm pretty sure most, like me, who hate everything about Cena, already do blame the WWE for why he's constantly "shoved down our throats" or whatever was said above.

[kareru]

we all know the best tag team in wrestling at the moment is the MCMG

i already bought 3 tissue boxes, best thing i have every purchased

[Jannettyzilla]

Easy solution....

The CONQUISTADORS!

[DaveBrawl]

Los Villanos

[Jannettyzilla]

Or, bring in El Dandy and Hypnosis.

[The Jayman]

Greatest Tag Team of all Time:

Jerry Flynn & Steve Blackman
managed by: Chuck Norris

[Mogadishu]

I'm wondering if it would be in the WWE's best interests to simply have the entire tag team division on one show. Perhaps having the entire tag team division and tag team belt(s) on one show would allow that brand to become more unique....while allowing the opportunity for the WWE to really build a deep and competitive tag team division.

Now - does that necessarily mean that tag team matches can't occur on other shows? Of course not. However - by having the entire tag team division on one show, it allows a chance for the WWE to really build some depth for the division....and not be forced to simply put two singles stars together because they don't have a program (Jericho/Show).

I miss those WWE days when the tag team division was ridiculously deep. You had the New Age Outlaws (or DX - X-Pac/Road Dogg), Head Cheese, Holly Cousins, Bossman/Buchanon, Acolytes, Edge/Christian, Hardy's, Dudleys, Too Cool, etc., etc.

What made these tag teams special was the fact that the WWE invested a LOT into the characters of these teams. The WWE can easily get there again.

[thedamndest]

It's an issue of PPV time. You have two women's titles, two mid-card titles and three top titles for each show. THEN you get to the tag teams. It's easy to see why singles titles get preferential treatment. They're the investment. You build a mid-carder and they one day become your next Rock, Austin, etc. Tag teams back in the day were great, and many singles stars came from them, but with three shows vying for time on the same three hour PPV that they've had for twenty five years, they just don't have the time for both.

[Kami Raki]

Dispose of a women's belt. Most of them can't work anyway.

[Mogadishu]

It's an issue of PPV time. You have two women's titles, two mid-card titles and three top titles for each show. THEN you get to the tag teams. It's easy to see why singles titles get preferential treatment. They're the investment. You build a mid-carder and they one day become your next Rock, Austin, etc. Tag teams back in the day were great, and many singles stars came from them, but with three shows vying for time on the same three hour PPV that they've had for twenty five years, they just don't have the time for both.

Perhaps a solution to the above problem, would be to simply unify a lot of those titles. Have ONE Woman's title and Mid-Card title. One problem with having too many titles in a company, is that the titles lose significance. Perhaps an argument can be made that 'less is more', as it relates to titles.

I think the WWE were on the right track back in 2002 when they originally created the Roster split. The problem however, was that the WWE were really enforcing the split and wrestlers couldn't appear on any show as result. Nowadays - this doesn't seem to be the case. It doesn't appear to be too big a deal when wrestlers switch back and forth.

As result - I think it would be easy for the WWE to stick an entire tag team division on one show....and then if they want to make someone into a legit singles star, have them cross over to another show.

If it was up to me, here's what I'd consider doing:

ECW:
-ECW title
-Women's title

The ECW title would basically be the equivalent of a modern day Cruiserweight title (I would put all the CW's in ECW), but it would be called the ECW title so that it would have more significance amongst the fans' eyes. Guys like Rey Mysterio, Evan Bourne, Chavo Guerrero, Brian Kendrick (gets re-hired) etc. would be the staple of this division.

Smackdown
-WWE title (or World....I don't know which title is on which show)
-Tag Team Division

The Smackdown World title would be the modern day version of the Intercontinental title, but it would still be called the WWE (or World) title so that it doesn't lose prestige amongst the fans' eyes. I'd have guys like Zack Ryder, John Morrison, The Miz, MVP, etc., compete here. A lot of these guys could also be tag teams (i.e. Morrison/Miz).

RAW
-World Title (or WWE)
-Hardcore title

One thing that I loved about the 1998-2000, was how the Hardcore title (24/7) strategically allowed a lot of wrestlers to get significant amounts of air-time. The Hardcore title was unique, and also served as a perfect 2nd-tier storyline from the more important angles. A lot of memorable backstage scenes also occurred as a result of the Hardcore belt.

Although the WWE has a PG label now, I think it would be cool if they could somehow bring back the Hardcore title. Hornswoggle would be interesting in this division.

[Tron Cadet]

It's an issue of PPV time. You have two women's titles, two mid-card titles and three top titles for each show. THEN you get to the tag teams. It's easy to see why singles titles get preferential treatment. They're the investment. You build a mid-carder and they one day become your next Rock, Austin, etc. Tag teams back in the day were great, and many singles stars came from them, but with three shows vying for time on the same three hour PPV that they've had for twenty five years, they just don't have the time for both.

I agree, it's probably gone REALLY downhill since they extended to ECW. But i reckon they could still do it. Back in the day a PPV would consist of Light Heavyweight, European, Intercontinental, Hardcore, Womens, Tag Team and WWE(F) Champisionships and plus some non-titles.

They've already gotten rid of the Cruiserweight. But yeah, Get rid of one womens title, and bring back Trish :p

[Mr. Nerfect]

Caylen Croft and Trent Beretta are apparently two of the better workers in FCW. They are a team called "The Dudebusters" and have Jenny Cash as a valet. I think she was dressing up as a French maid to accompany the team at one point. Bring them up to one of the rosters.

Next, put Carlito and Primo back together. Neither is doing particularly well by themselves, and they could actually get over as a pair of bickering brothers. When they lose a tag team match, they can have a singles match against each other the next week, or something.

I never liked the idea of this team before, when it was just thrown together, but you could have the bad-ass natures of Charlie Haas and Mike Knox bring them together as a team. Perhaps even have JBL show up with them once, and put them over. Or re-hire Jim Cornette to be their manager.

Jamie Noble isn't doing anything, and would be ideal for a tag team. Stick him with Jimmy Wang Yang, and together they could be almost an inverted version of The Jung Dragons. Instead of Jamie pretending to be Asian, you have Yang pretending to be a redneck. Funaki is also free, so have him become friends with The Great Khali, with the Punjabi Playboy protecting Funaki, and actually getting the guy some wins.

Bring up Alberto Banderas to be the hired goon for Chavo Guerrero, and let them get into the divison together. And then there are the "desperate measure" teams. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins could be put back together as a more contrasting team to what they originally were. Ryder's got a bit more credibility now, and is developing his own persona. You can also bring up Brett DiBiase to team with Ted DiBiase, at least for a little while.

I just got eight teams together. Do a tournament with them, or something.

[thedamndest]

As much as I would like there only to be one Women's champion, there really can't be if they have two shows that are separate entities. Otherwise you end up with one roster overloaded with Divas and one roster with a few Divas who occasionally have matches just for the hell of it, but with no real point to it because ultimately there is no belt on the show. They're being pushed as legitimate competitors now, so you can't have them feuding over Al Wilson's corpse.

Basically the same thing with tag teams. Why would you put a tag team on your show if you had no tag belts? Both shows need a set of tag belts, or the tag belts need to be interchangeable as they are now.

Again, same with a mid-card title. Both shows need one. ECW is excluded because its roster is far too small to warrant having such a title and the show is only an hour. You'd basically be giving the title to guys who have been there four weeks. It would be a training wheels title.

We need to accept that the old model of "One world title, mid-card title, tag titles" model for the WWE has been dead for a long time. There isn't going to be any great consolidation of titles because they have the man power to warrant keeping them.

[DaveBrawl]

Or, bring in El Dandy and Hypnosis.

La Parka & Psychosis may be the greatest team of all time.

[Tazz Dan]

What's next? Lemme guess, a "Look a n00b posts a new thread lets all flame him because we feel we're better than him."


:|

[Mogadishu]

As much as I would like there only to be one Women's champion, there really can't be if they have two shows that are separate entities. Otherwise you end up with one roster overloaded with Divas and one roster with a few Divas who occasionally have matches just for the hell of it, but with no real point to it because ultimately there is no belt on the show. They're being pushed as legitimate competitors now, so you can't have them feuding over Al Wilson's corpse.

To be honest, I actually think it would be a great idea if there were two "types" of women in the WWE.

-Women that are there for wrestling.
-Women that are there for eye-candy.

For example, women that want to wrestle for a belt can be placed on one show (lets say, ECW), and women that just want to be there for 'eye candy', can be purely used as valets on the main shows (and on occasion, can do bullshit matches like mud wrestling and feuding over Al Wilson's corpse ;)).

By having a show where there is a LARGE and COMPETITIVE women's division, perhaps the WWE can really target a whole new demographic (for example, young girls that look up to tough and powerful females.....or horny males for that matter :p).

The more unique you can make a show, the more potential demographics that you can target.

That's why I LOVE the idea of ECW becoming stacked with Cruiserweights and women that can wrestle. A show like this would target two very specific demographics, and just like the old ECW, would be extremely unique. Vince McMahon would also get his wish since a show like this would be a 'global' family brand.



Basically the same thing with tag teams. Why would you put a tag team on your show if you had no tag belts? Both shows need a set of tag belts, or the tag belts need to be interchangeable as they are now.

You wouldn't. What I meant to say was that one the show that DIDN'T have a tag team division, you could still have meaningless tag team matches on a weekly basis. For example - let's say Cena is feuding with Orton while Triple H is feuding with Jericho.

Voila - next week on RAW, Cena/HHH vs. Orton/Jericho. Basically - all these teams would be no-strings-attached. We'd still see tag matches on this show (for variety), but it wouldn't be for any tag team belts. Make sense?


Again, same with a mid-card title. Both shows need one. ECW is excluded because its roster is far too small to warrant having such a title and the show is only an hour. You'd basically be giving the title to guys who have been there four weeks. It would be a training wheels title.

Good points. I still think at this point however, it's more important for the WWE to consolidate/eliminate a lot of their titles. In this case, I truly believe that "less would be more."

[Mogadishu]

C.

I just got eight teams together.

I like your thinking. I think one thing that the WWE could do better, is keep tag teams together for a little while longer before splitting them up. Miz/Morrison is a good example of that. These guys could have easily established themselves as a TRUE dominant tag team. Here is my list.

-Hass/Benjamin
-Miz/Morrison
-Ryder/Hawkins
-Carlitto/Primo
-MVP/Mark Henry
-Rhodes/Dibiase
-Cryme Tyme

Other teams that you mentioned that I didn't.

If you put these guys on one show, it can create a real competitive tag team atmosphere. For a lot of these teams, you can make these "duo's" almost permanent.....even if they are vying for a singles title.

For example - if Benjamin gets a singles title shot, Hass can support him at ringside. If Hass and Benjamin are competing against one another for a singles title, there can be an implied understanding that they are still friends, but are going for the singles gold.

Sometimes - it's easier to achieve character maxmization as a duo, then it is by yourself.

[Stealth-Icon]

Dispose of a women's belt. Most of them can't work anyway.

Why stop at one? Drop them both.

[Mr. Nerfect]

As far as the Women's Title and Divas Title go, let's look at the women the WWE have on their shows:

Alicia Fox
Beth Phoenix
Brie Bella
Courtney Taylor
Eve Torres
Gail Kim
Jillian Hall
Katie Lea Burchill
Kelly Kelly
Layla
Maria
Maryse
Melina
Michelle McCool
Mickie James
Natalya
Nikki Bella
Rosa Mendes
Savannah

Out of them, most are actually fairly good workers. Beth Phoenix, Gail Kim, Katie Lea Burchill, Mickie James and Natalya are probably the best workers out of all of them, and should ideally be hovering around a title for women workers. But, in addition to them, Alicia Fox, Jillian Hall, Melina and Michelle McCool are also fairly solid workers. Then you have the women that aren't really there yet, but are on the way -- Brie Bella, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Layla, Maria, Maryse, Nikki Bella and Rosa Mendes. I'm not sure where exactly Courtney Taylor and Savannah lie on the ability scale, but I am sure they are closer to the bottom than the top.

Let's call the first group "female wrestlers." These are the women the company should be hanging their hat on when it comes to title matches. The third group are my idea of "Divas." They can continue their training, as they all seem to be showing growth as performers, but for the most part, let them be valets. Eve is already attached to Cryme Tyme, which is good. Rosa Mendes is with Carlito and Beth Phoenix. This is also good. Maria can be put full-time with Dolph Ziggler, which may work, and Layla is sort of linked with Michelle McCool. Only Kelly Kelly and The Bellas really need people to accompany to the ring and stuff.

The middle group is a "hybrid group." Michelle McCool probably leans more towards the "wrestler" side, I guess. But basically these women can be used to get the other ladies over, and maybe occasionally get a run with a title themselves. While these women are more than just eye candy, their talents could come in really handy as a "manager."

Now, dividing these groups by three, you only get two really good female workers for each show. I guess you could take the two off ECW, where there isn't a title for them, and stick one on RAW and one on SmackDown!. That gives you three really strong female workers for each show. Is that good enough to sustain two separate divisions? Probably not, to be honest with you.

If you do put two really good female workers on each show, then it may be best to share a title between the brands. This is done very easily -- just have Mickie James (she seems the best candidate right now) win the Women's Title, and then go between all three shows as roaming champion. Then you can divide up the wrestlers, hybrids and valets amongst the three brands.

[DaveBrawl]

Wow, even TPWW has dropped tag teams to talk about the womens titles.:nono:

[Kami Raki]

Wow, even TPWW has dropped tag teams to talk about the womens titles.:nono:
That just shows you the WWE's current attitude toward tag teams. Unless you have two people that would rather tag team success over singles success, you won't have a strong tag team division.

[thedamndest]

To be honest, I actually think it would be a great idea if there were two "types" of women in the WWE.

-Women that are there for wrestling.
-Women that are there for eye-candy.

For example, women that want to wrestle for a belt can be placed on one show (lets say, ECW), and women that just want to be there for 'eye candy', can be purely used as valets on the main shows (and on occasion, can do bullshit matches like mud wrestling and feuding over Al Wilson's corpse ;)).

By having a show where there is a LARGE and COMPETITIVE women's division, perhaps the WWE can really target a whole new demographic (for example, young girls that look up to tough and powerful females.....or horny males for that matter :p).

The more unique you can make a show, the more potential demographics that you can target.

That's why I LOVE the idea of ECW becoming stacked with Cruiserweights and women that can wrestle. A show like this would target two very specific demographics, and just like the old ECW, would be extremely unique. Vince McMahon would also get his wish since a show like this would be a 'global' family brand.

That was more or less what happened initially when the rosters first split. Raw had the decent talent and Smackdown got the Torrie Wilson feuds. At this point there are almost 20 Divas on the roster and some are much better than others, but they are all "ring ready." If you sent a bunch to Smackdown to just be valets it would be a tremendous waste of money. You'd basically be paying Divas to have matches on Smackdown and Superstars but with no way to challenge for the Women's title.

The easiest solution would be to make the Women's title global, like the tag belts. Women from all shows can continue to compete for the number one contender's spot, there are no pudding matches, and the champ can show up anywhere, any time.

I see what you are saying about giving the shows a specific appeal to a specific demographic, but from the WWE's perspective they would like to have as wide appeal as possible on all shows. Their numbers have been increasing with female fans, so I don't imagine that Divas will be undressing or going to one show any time soon.

[Tron Cadet]

But I'm sure WWE could send a talent scout out to some locally run Promotions to find some Tag Teams that suit each other. Ones that just flow.