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Last time we checked in it seemed as though the world of tag team wrestling was picking up steam. Almost a month has gone by now and unfortunately no progress has been made in the tag ranks in my eyes. Miz and Morrison still have their belts, as do the Carlito and Primo. In TNA we’ve seen a few matches but Beer Money still hold the straps. With the release of Mr. Rock ala Rock and Rave Connection, another tag team has died.
In looking back at this month only one tag bout really caught my eye and it was Miz and Morrison vs. Carlito and Primo who I will refer to as the Colons from this point forward. That match took place on a recent Smackdown and I felt it really stole the show that night. Miz and Morrison are fantastic heels and The Colons are excellent performers. They had a match of back and fourth pinfalls and false finishes. Nice tag ins and outs. They told a story all the way through. The ending with Miz and Morrison cheating but still taking Carlito’s Back Cracker move in the mix was phenomenal. My only dislike came at the end. WWE should have put the Colon’s over here. Miz and Morrison have enough star power now to help others out. The Colons could have used that win more than Johnny and the Miz. Plus, Miz and Morrison would have lost to the other tag champs, which wouldn’t have hurt them at all.
Another tag match that I thought stood out was between 4 singles competitors on Smackdown. HHH and The Undertaker vs. Big Show and Edge. The in ring action was really solid. These are four of the best performers in the world and they showed why. Edge plays heel in such a way that is so genius, the guy just never disappoints. The back story between Big Show and Edge has really gained some momentum. What I really liked in this bout was that four singles wrestlers used the “tag team playbook” as it were. Many times singles guys and gals just go and repeat their stuff that they normal do but in a tag match that isn’t what should be happening. Undertaker and HHH utilized the hot tag and in and out sequences, Edge and Show used heel tactics. The ending was perfect with show laying out Edge. I hope the tag divisions keep an eye on matches like this and learn from them.
Classic Tag Match of the month:
Besides checking in each month on the current tag division I plan to do two things. I will do a top ten list of the ten best tag teams and I will do a section called Classic Tag match of the month where I do a little memory lane tribute to some classic matches. Seeing as I just finished watching the Starrcade DVD set I find it only appropriate to talk about the Road Warriors vs. The Midnight Express in a scaffold match – Starrcade 1986.
Some people say this match wasn’t stellar. I think that it is one of the greatest of all time. The nay Sayers pick at it because there was a lot of slowness to the match and that was a result of all of the men involved (including Cornette who tore ligaments and hurt himself very badly when he dropped from the scaffold at the end of the spectacle) being careful with what they are doing. The Road Warriors and The Midnight Express are arguably the two greatest tag teams of all time for very different reasons. One was just absolute brute force and great charisma (not the best on a 20 foot high, 5 foot wide scaffold, however) and the Express was known for technique and quickness. Hawk and Animal really did their best to make things safe as did the express. They told a story, heels vs. faces, everything else can go by the wayside.
The match was about putting on a show. Every hit, every bump, every angle, every fall was done just right (with the exception of the “Cornette Plunge”). If the tag teams of today want to know how to put on a spectacle, how to wow a crowd, this is the match to look at. In fact, I can only think of three matches in the history of wrestling that are on par with each other in the realm of making memories. So many matches are around that we could say; “what great technique”, or “how great were those performers”. But Mankind/Undertaker: Hell in the Cell, Piper/Valentine: Dog collar and this Scaffold Match to me are the three matches that placed a lasting memory of a spectacle, or event. They won’t ever be forgotten. They will never be repeated. They may have been brutal and above all else they all never should have happened because they were so unsafe, but they did and we are the luckiest fans in the world to have this as are lasting wrestling memories.
Top Ten Tag Teams
1.) Priceless
2.) Beer Money
3.) The Colons
4.) Miz and Morrison
5.) Motor City Machineguns
6.) Cryme Tyme
7.) The Beautiful People
8.) Finlay/Horny
9.) Team 3D
10.) Biscuits and Gravy
