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TAG TEAM WEEKLY

September 5th - September 12th 2007

Introduction:
This was a heck of a week for tag team wrestling. We saw new number one contenders as well as new tag team champions emerge in TNA. We saw one of the best battle royals ever put on in history and it only involved the talent of the tag division from TNA. We saw tag titles lost and then regained by Cade and Murdoch of the WWE. We saw story's furthered by the use of Deuce and Domino. All of this just made a fantastic week of wrestling and this is going to be fun to write about today in Tag Team Weekly.

Another tag match that stood out this week was Batista and Kane vs. Khali and Finlay. It was a rematch from the last SNME. It stood out because it was very well done. When Kane and Finlay were in the ring it was just seamless and both teams actually worked well together. Yes, Khali is still the train wreck he has always been, but the other three really stepped up and took the slack. This, in contrast to Sting and Angle vs. Team Pac Man is interesting as in that match from the No Surrender PPV just didn't do anything for me. They also had three veterans and a horrible fourth man, yet they couldn't produce the effect needed that the WWE rematch did.

On to the teams for this week.

Cade and Murdoch
They lost and regained the titles over the weekend at house shows in South Africa. Then Cade got beat by London in a singles match. Until this feud (maybe at Unforgiven?) is settled, they get a thumbs in the middle.

The Highlanders
Rory and Robbie beat two unknowns at the heat taping this past Monday and then were seen ringside for the McMahon segment with Hornswoggle. These guys are simply just not being pushed right now and it is really unfortunate, especially considering all WWE creative has to do is look over old Bushwhacker tapes from the vault and use them as an example to get this team over. Thumbs down.

Kendrick and London
While in South Africa at a house show they beat Cade and Murdoch for the tag team titles. The night after their big win they retained those titles. Then in their last night they lost the titles in Johannesburg. On Raw they rebounded just a little bit by having London beat Cade. What is interesting is that they used cheat tactics to do it. Maybe we just saw a different side to London and Kendrick. Thumbs up.

Deuce and Domino
Deuce lost to Matt hardy who wasn't even dressed for the match. On top of that with both Domino and Cherry at ringside they couldn't stop MVP from cheating to get Hardy the win. I didn't mind that D and D dropped the titles for the sake of the best feud going but there is no reason to make the top heel team in WWE look like fools and more importantly make them look weak to the audience. Thumbs Down (Mostly to creative for dropping this ball).

Jesse and Festus
Okay, so week after week I keep giving Jesse and Festus a thumbs down because they never get in the ring. This week however the Dalton boys did a fantastic job in their vignette backstage. They made a classic line "Gee Festus, with a face like that maybe someday they'll name a box after you too!" It was seriously brilliant stuff and came across really funny. They even helped elevate the cruiserweight feud between Hornswoggle and Noble. Thumbs up!

Matt Hardy and M.V.P
Well, I am very disjointed about this whole thing. On one hand, FINALLY at a PPV we are gonna get a smackdown tag title match. It has been a while, I believe since Vengeance (and that one was against an unannounced Legends team) we haven't seen that. On the other hand though, I really would like the tag titles to be up for grabs between two actual teams not one team (D and D) and a mixed singles star team. On top of that, though I love my tag team divisions, I think the best feud of the year has been Hardy and MVP, and I think WWE creative is making a mistake by not pulling the trigger on the U.S. title match at Unforgiven. As for this week Matt Hardy beat Deuce and MVP actually assisted. Thumbs in the middle.

Abyss and Jay Lethal
Both men here had singles division championship matches at the PPV but on Impact they teamed to face the then tag champs Sting and Kurt Angle and they won. Obviously they both are going down different paths and neither of them lead back to each other or the tag division but it is unfortunate because they could have made a very strange, yet formidable team in TNA.

Sting and Kurt Angle
They had some fantastic promos on Impact this week and then lost both their match on impact and then the match at No Surrender, thus loosing the Tag straps. I'd say this team is done unless they go into a feud with Team Pac Man. What concerns me more is that the match at the PPV was atrocious and that is truly bothersome. Sting and Angle are two of the best ever. Killings is a former world champ and a great hand. Those three should have been able to carry a better match with Jones or not. Thumbs down on all accounts.

AJ Styles and Tomko
They won the battle royal at the PPV along with the MotorCity MachineGuns and then had a match after it to decide the number 1 contender spot. To me, this match, as short as it was stole the show on Sunday night. Styles and Tomko get the win and that is a huge one. Also, realize from start to finish Styles was out wrestling for over thirty minutes. The man is undeniable. Thumbs Up.

The Steiners
They are on injured reserve and let the young bucks go out and have their day in the sun at the PPV. Thumbs in the middle.

Team Pac Man
On Impact they did a few fairly good backstage segments and then spray-painted Angle's back after his match with Abyss and Lethal. Again, I think the spray can thing is really old but I guess it is effective for heel heat these days. Then Team Pac Man went on to win the Tag Team Championship at No Surrender this past Sunday. For winning the titles I have to give them a thumbs up but it pains me very much. I hate this angle, I hate this team and I see no need for Pacman Jones to be in TNA.

Motorcity Machineguns
They co-won the TNA rumble for the tag division on Sunday night and then barely lost to Styles and Tomko. Both teams were cheating near the end and all the participants gave it their all. Thumbs up.

XXX/LAX/,havoc & Raven/Williams & Shark Boy, Team 3D
VKM, Jimmy Rave & Lance Hoyt, Sonjay Dutt & Eric young Well, here is the rest of the best. Because honestly all these teams tore it up Sunday during the tag team rumble. Every single person here (And yes, I include VKM), busted their butts to make this match a highlight of the night. Thumbs up to all these teams.

In Closing
It was hard this week to pick a winner for the Best Tag Team of The Week Award because there were so many great one's, but in the end I chose Tomko and AJ Styles. AJ absolutely was excellent over the weekend at the PPV and really set a high bar for the rest of the teams to look up to. Tomko played his part well, which is that of a human wrecking machine. They have that old adage of little-fast-smart-guy with big-rough-mean guy and it is going to work for them. Until next time folks!