how to make the tag divison better?

[Indifferent Clox]

What do you propose they do to give the tag team division more meaning?

[The Jayman]

have actual tag teams

[Nicky Fives]

Simply give them time to develop characters and feuds.... the same can be said about the Divas Division..... Having an establised tag team back (i.e. The Dudley Boyz) might help spark the initiative, or simply having Road Dogg as the full-time "Tag Team Agent" to help create the matches and ideas for storylines.....

[Corporate CockSnogger]

I'd probably scour internet forums and see what ideas people who have never been in the business have said a thousand times per year.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Beside what has been said above, have actual tag teams, and not "random main eventers thrown together for a tag match."

I mean, It's pretty much every week we have two faces teaming up to face their respective ppv opponent/current feud. Punk and Orton vs Miz and Del Rio, Ryder and Orton vs BArrett and Ziggler, Cena and Punk vs Del Rio and Miz, Cena and Ryder vs R Truth and Miz, etc, etc, etc.

Not only is it overdone, it makes feuds drag on and on because the we're seeing the two guys feuding fighting each other constantly. Instead, if you get some credible tag teams, you could put them on the opposite side of that equation. For one moment, let's pretend "Air Boom" is a credible, well built tag team that actually consists of real tag team wrestlers, as opposed to two singles guys thrown together.

Now imagine if instead of having the above combinations, have the feuding face and heel team up against the established team, or two faces who have different opponents at the ppv teaming up to fight the established team. Now imagine if the established team actually does well, and even legitimately wins sometimes.

I mean, if Ryder and Ziggler were forced to team up against Air Boom, and could actually lose without arguing with each other, and without looking weak because they lost to a tag team, that would be a huge step in the right direction. They need to bring back the idea that the tag team is greater as a whole than the parts that make it up. So while Evan Bourne may not be able to beat Ziggler or someone by himself, as part of his team with Kofi, he can.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Also, bring back Tag Team names. Air Boom is awful, but it's a step in the right direction. No one cares about the tag team of Santino and Trent Barretta. But if a team has a common design, style, moves, and name, people start to care more.

[Jura]

I don't care about Primo & Epico but I hope they get more TV time because that means more Rosa Mendes.

[CSL]

bring in Hero to team with Claudio, bring them up to the main roster than have them SNAP AND DESTROY EVERYBODY

[whiteyford]

Originally Posted by What Would Kevin Do? They need to bring back the idea that the tag team is greater as a whole than the parts that make it up. So while Evan Bourne may not be able to beat Ziggler or someone by himself, as part of his team with Kofi, he can.

I've never understood why this isn't the case more often, a dedicated tag team in kayfabe should be better than two guys thrown together at random no matter who they are, especially if they happen to be tag champs. Two main eventers who've never tagged before losing cleanly to the tag champs hurts no one but would put over the tag team.

[Lock Jaw]

Originally Posted by The Jayman have actual tag teams

This.

And they should all have quality 90s-style gimmicks.

[Hanso Amore]

Originally Posted by CSL bring in Hero to team with Claudio, bring them up to the main roster than have them SNAP AND DESTROY EVERYBODY

That leads to a Work Rate on a Pole match against the debuting Tyler Black and *insert Name here*

There is no hope for this. Air boom had a nice start. They go well together and are over. They are the High Flying tag team.
But not once in their run have I see a promo, or any kind of mic work or character development.

The only thing that saved Tag Wrestling in the late 90s was the Outlaws getting Mic time, and then EnC, Duds and Hardys dropping giant never seen before spots.

Rinse and Repeat.

[Hanso Amore]

They also need a development system that delivers young talent ready to work solid matches.

[Rhaps]

Speaking of Air Boom..kinda..

Anyone else remember when CM Punk and Kofi were tag champs?

[MoFo]

Bring back DX

[Xero]

You have a tag division, for starters.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

The KoW would be great for the tag team division. This is really pipe dream booking, but have a team made up of two guys decently high on the card win the tag belts. Maybe someone like Ziggler and Swagger, or a face equivalent. Then have the KoW come in and just crush them in a tag match to win the belts from them. I don't mean squash them, but that them come out as a completely organized unit, operating like a great team, busting out some unique double team maneuvers, while the "champs" are really only doing the random occasional double team move.

Basically introduce the KoW as a tag team that is obviously superb together as a team. Then, after they win, have them declare themselves the best tag team in the world, and decide they will only fight tag teams they deem worthy. Then have a sort of mini tournament to find them a team to fight, but the catch is that the teams in the tournament have to be devoted teams. Maybe have Johnny Ace make all the new "teams" sign contracts saying that for X amount of time, the members of the team will be unable to compete for individual titles, and are only eligible to hold the tag team title.

I know that seems like an odd way to go about it, but it'd be an interesting twist. Still, if you had guys who sort of committed to tag team wrestling, and made that their goal at the time, and obviously sacrificed a singles career for the time being, it may make people care more.

Plus, you could get some other interesting angles out of it too, like when teams break up, but they still are bound to be a tag team wrestler for awhile longer.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Make sure you don't lose two tag teams including the tag team champions and top contenders for 30 days due to drugs....oh wait.

Don't make tag teams just to have them break up to have just one of as a main eventer....oh wait.

Don't have only two tag teams champions and contender...oh wait.

Have teams...yeah you know the rest.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Originally Posted by Rhaps Speaking of Air Boom..kinda.. Anyone else remember when CM Punk and Kofi were tag champs?

Probably CM Punk's darkest moment in the WWE in my opinion. Lost in the shuffle and then put with Kofi in a random tag team championship team.

[XL]

Whilst I'm not a huge fan of the "throw guys together" mentality, at this moment in time - when the division is virtually nonexistent - I'd take any guys that "creative has nothing for" and find something for them to do in the tag division.

You already have the following teams:

Air Boom
Epico/Primo
Reks/Hawkins

Team up DiBiase with McGillicutty as "Perfectly Priceless" or something similar. Two guys with wrestling in their blood, who have similar looks/styles.

Have William Regal become a mentor and tag team partner to Drew McIntyre and play up the British background of both men as "The Empire". If Regal can't go in the ring anymore/full time, you could throw Mason Ryan in there, that'd give him chance to become more experienced in the ring whilst not in a huge role.

How'bout we turn Alex Riley back to the "asshole jock" character he used when he was on NXT as opposed to him being the "oh yeah, remember that guy" guy. Team him with Swagger - another guy pretty much lost in the midcard - and have them become kind of a frat boy faction. If not Swagger, use Johnny Curtis or Derrick Bateman. Or all of them as a group? I imagine them having some kind of overzealous coach managing them. A heel JR could be gold.

Whilst Cody is doing great and moving up the card, there's always the opportunity to team him with his brother as "Golden Rhodes"/"Rhodes To Gold". Could work as either face or heel.

I'd like to see Christian become a manager/coach to a guy or 2 whilst he's injured. Again a guy like Johnny Curtis would be great for this or he could just take Hawkins/Reks under his wing. I imagine Christian using the crutch to help his guys win.

So, your division would be:

"Air Boom" - Kofi & Bourne
"Los Aviadores" - Epico & Primo
"The Faith" (or something equally as awful playing up the
'Christian' name) - Reks/Hawkins (w/ Christian)
"Perfectly Priceless" DiBiase & McGillicutty
"The Frat Pack" (shitty name tbc) - Riley & Swagger/Curtis/Bateman
"The Empire" - McIntyre & Regal/McIntyre & Ryan w/ Regal
"Golden Rhodes" - Cody & Goldust if needs be.

[XL]

Sorry for the *NOID POST*.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Pretty good lists of teams, but you're crazy if you think McGillacutty will ever have anything associated with Perfect/Perfection in his career. He's never going to show half of the ability his father had.

A few questions though :

Aren't Hunico and Epico already a team with Primo as a singles guy and Rosa manager?

Why would you break up the only heel team they have left in Zig/Swag?

[Juan]

Feels like there's a thread about this every few months

[XL]

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon Pretty good lists of teams, but you're crazy if you think McGillacutty will ever have anything associated with Perfect/Perfection in his career. He's never going to show half of the ability his father had. A few questions though : Aren't Hunico and Epico already a team with Primo as a singles guy and Rosa manager? Why would you break up the only heel team they have left in Zig/Swag?

I was under the impression that Hunico was the singles guy and the Colon cousins were the team. If I'm wrong then change it around (or play in Freebird style).

Ziggler is on the verge of a big push, Swagger needs to be cut loose for that to really kick into gear. Besides, they aren't really all that much of a team (no team name, no matching attire or any common ground - that has been played up on TV - aside from being managed by Vickie).

Nothing there would be instantaneous though, you'd have to get the pieces into place beforehand so there wouldn't need to be an immediate breakup of the Zwaggler association or Hunico/Epico if they are in fact a team.

[Juan]

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon Pretty good lists of teams, but you're crazy if you think McGillacutty will ever have anything associated with Perfect/Perfection in his career. He's never going to show half of the ability his father had.

Since you already have your crystal ball out, can you tell me tomorrow's lotto numbers?

[XL]

Also, add Husky Harris and Heath Slater as "Generic Hick Tag Team #135".

[XL]

And don't forget The Usos. As if you would.

[Rock Bottom]

put me in charge of it

[Shisen Kopf]

Bring back the Bushwhackers.

[Evil Vito]

Meh, if you want tag wrestling, just watch NXT. Decent amount of regular teams on there and from a strictly in-ring perspective it might be the best show WWE has at the moment.

[Mooияakeя™]

Originally Posted by The Jayman have actual tag teams

This.

And give them decent names. Fucking Air Boom. I mean

[Rollermacka]

Theres only one thing that WWE needs to add to make the tag team division better
HLA!

[Triple Naitch]

More Rosa Mendes.

[Pintint]

Give importance and air time to tag matches and have dedicated tag teams.

They seem to have started doing half of it, with Air Boom/USOs ..

Now we just need feuds to be given time and focus.

[FourFifty]

Step 1: Hire the internet to be in charge of the tag teams.
Step 2: ?????
Step 3: Profit!

[MoFo]

Dunno why evryone hates 'thrown together tag teams'

IMO they are the best kind...

Would you rather see boring ass Hart Dynasty or Usos rather than ShowMiz or JeriShow?

[Aguakate]

Back in the day, most of the tag teams were made up of guys who either were related to each other (The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, The Head Shrinkers, Hardy Boyz, The Steiners), or were very good friends (The Road Warriors, Edge and Christian, Nasty Boyz). The "magic", if you will, in this is that the two members of the tag team would develop a special kind of chemistry, and there would be no "I want to outshine this other guy and go into singles action so I, and only I, can become a star".

Nowadays, we don't have guys like that who come up the ranks together, with that special chemistry, and who truly love tag team wrestling. We just see guys get put together and that's it.

[Taker it Easy]

Here is what you do. Get tag teams. That does not constitute pulling two singles wrestlers together to form a tag team.

[XL]

And where do these magical tag teams come from exactly?

Let's say MCMG are under contract to TNA, so there's no getting them. They could bring in Chris Hero to team with Claudio but you still have the problem that these 2 guys (and any others they might bring in) are still a team that most of the audience are not familiar with/don't care about. We already have teams that people don't care about.

Half the problem is that they don't really feature the Tag Division. There are plenty of tag matches with guys teaming up face other guys but then the Tag Champs are wrestling on Superstars - which isn't even on TV in the US.

They need someone to really focus their attention on the division, be guaranteed time on the TV shows/PPVs, be guaranteed the use of 'x' number of superstars (at the mercy of suspensions, etc) and then build the division through good storylines.

I spent 5 minutes and came up with 6 teams that they could create that would be logically teamed and not just "thrown together". Why someone at WWE can't do the same is beyond me. My guess is they are not allowed to.

There's so much "wasted" talent sat around doing barely anything on shows that aren't even on TV it's unbelievable.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Air Boom is/was doing a great job as the focus team of the Tag Team Division. Both Kofi and Bourne are well liked and over. Bourne kind of fucked that up with his suspension, and Jimmy Uso got his DUI just as it looked like The Usos were about to do something, but there's still uses for both teams.

I like the combination of Epico & Primo. Rosa Mendes is fucking hot, and a great side for them. That they've been getting clean wins over the WWE Tag Team Champions is good for them, too. All they need is some promo time. I'm pretty sure Primo can talk, and Kofi Kingston has had his moments on the mic, too. I think they could more than handle a few "heated words" to talk about why their team is the better than the other's. Have Epico & Primo win the Tag Team Titles, and then go with Air Boom chasing them.

Hunico debuted Donny Marlow as back-up on Superstars this past week. Not sure if the plan is to make them a tag team or not. Personally, I'd rather see Marlow stay in the corner of Hunico, and have Hunico team up with a dude like Tyson Kidd. They can use the gimmick of just being two international talents that feel they are being swept under the rug. Marlow can help them win matches to remind people that they are heels. Perhaps give them a manager?

Since he's been suspended, R-Truth might lose some standing with the company. It's possible he won't, either -- but you could always have R-Truth spend some crazy time thinking about how he sort of dogged his rookie, Johnny Curtis, and they never had their WWE Tag Team Title shot. People might care about R-Truth in a tag team. Alternatively, you could always just have Curtis & Bateman remain the team they are on NXT (and were in FCW). Apparently it seems they are going to feud; but you could just make them a jock heel team that wants to impress Maxine.

Bringing FCW guys up to make tag teams isn't a bad idea, either. Here are some ideas:

* Abraham Washington & Byron Saxton -- two former members of the WWE's announce team/non-wrestling talent roster, all trained up and ready to compete in the tag team division. They would make a great cocky heel team, I think.

* Ascension -- the team of Conor O'Brian and Kenneth Cameron. Shaul Guerrero is optional. I'm not really sure how they would work as a duo, but it's something. Their first feud could be as faces against a heel team managed by Vickie Guerrero. Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks?

* Big E. Langston & Calvin Raines -- these dudes were FCW Tag Team Champions for a while. Too bigger dudes, and a power team is sort of missing from the division right now.

* Justin Gabriel & Leo Kruger -- a tag team based on South African pride. Gabriel takes the beatings and then tags out to Kruger, who is the "heavy-hitter" of the unit.

* The Rotundos -- when Bo Rotundo has recovered from his injury, you have him and Husky Harris return to the WWE and play the role of either faces or heels. They might even need more babyface teams, at the moment.

* William Regal & Peter Orlov -- Regal could be of great use to the tag team division. Have him bring in Orlov as his new protoge, and just have the two stretch out dudes.

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by MoFo Dunno why evryone hates 'thrown together tag teams' IMO they are the best kind... Would you rather see boring ass Hart Dynasty or Usos rather than ShowMiz or JeriShow?

The problem isn't so much that everyone hates "thrown together tag teams" just for the sake of hate. It is the idea that THAT is what tag teaming has been reduced to.

Yes, teams like JeriShow or Rated RKO have their place, but as was pointed out before, lots of times this is just to further a main event angle. Once that ride is over, the team goes away. Half the time, they don't even get a "name".

Hart Dynasty was kind of an unfair point of reference. When they showed up, the only "legit" tag teams that were sold to be a unit were them and Cryme Tyme. Pretty much everyone else were singles competitors teaming against the "established" team just for TV time.

Remember the New Age Outlaws? Remember how over they got, mostly from the strength of Road Dogg's mic work? Yeah, they were two singles guys going nowhere, but found new life as one of the most memorable tag teams ever. Forget these IWC fantasies that either nobody will care about two random people forming a team or that if they tagged in the indys and go on to become established singles stars their pairing will be too random. I know I'm jumping to TNA with this, but MCMG and Beer Money disproved both of those. Outside of the IWC, how many people knew the Guns were previously a SUCCESSFUL team just from watching TNA? You just had one guy who was an on/off X-Div talent and another guy who walked around with a freakin' camcorder. Beer Money was kinda thrown together, and look at their success. It wasn't just their workrate, they also made people care. They made people notice. They made their team look the shit. I daresay it is one of the few things TNA got right in at least giving teams a shot at establishing themselves. We'll save the clusterfucks that happen after that for another argument.

Now think about the recently split Ink Inc. Think about how long they were a team, and slowly got themselves over. Now think about the fact that this never would have happened in the 'E. Shannon Moore would have been jobbed off the face of the earth (they proved that when his build and "debut" was spoiled by CM Punk) and Jessie Neal would have been pushed just from his size, exposed as being super green, and possibly future endeavored without these two ever crossing paths.

WWE has plenty of flailing talent that aren't doing anything better. It shouldn't matter if they are an established team or not. Pair them up, make people CARE that they're paired up, and give them a nudge in the right direction (i.e. make the Tag Titles mean something and have them chase it). It couldn't hurt.

Also, try to make more than one or two freakin' teams at a time. You can't have a tag team "division" with just The Usos and Air Boom. It's like having a Divas division and only having Nattie and Beth everynight. Yes, I know that's the better of the workers, but imagine they're the ONLY TWO ladies even on the roster and they have an eternal feud for the piss-break butterfly belt every week. It would get stale quick.