Sunday, December 5, 2010

Canon Review Listamania: The Top 7 Tag Teams in the last 30 years

The idea for this post came from a discussion I had last week with my sister and Canon Review reader Maggie W. See, Maggie was watching the WWE DVD Allied Powers: The World's Greatest Tag Teams (a DVD I've had for months and yet to view or review, by the way) and we were discussing the DVD when she asked who I thought was the greatest tag team of all-time. Well, I then said that she would have to wait until I reveal the answer on The Canon Review. Originally, this was to be a top 10 list, but Maggie wanted only the top 5. Eventually, we settled on the nice even number of seven, and well here we are. Eventually, I decided to limit this list to tag teams from 1980 onward, as I haven't seen enough of teams like The Fabulous Kangaroos or Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens, so instead of running the danger of misplacing them, I have decided to only focus on those teams that I have at least a passable knowledge on. So, without further adeiu, here are some teams that didn't quite make the list for a variety of reason.

Edge and Christian, The Hollywood Blondes, The Eliminators, The Dudley Boys, The Hart Foundation, Harlem Heat, The Texas Hangmen, Los Guerreros, Wrath and Mortis, The Rockers, The Rock N' Roll Express, The Heavenly Bodies, Fire and Ice, JeriShow

Now onto the list itself:

7. The Hardy Boyz - While the Hardy Boyz may be a little strange outside of the ring, inside of the ring, these two can go. They may not have been the first tag team to rely heavily on aerial maneuvers, but the Hardys may be the best high-flying tag team in the sport's history. Over the years, the Hardys have had captivating matches with a wide variety of opponents, from their long feuds with Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boys, to top-notch matches with teams like MNM, The World's Greatest Tag Team, and Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. With seven world tag team titles to their credit and a huge fan following, the Hardy Boyz are likely the most popular team over the past 10 years, and one of the best in the ring as well.

6. The British Bulldogs - The Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith may had grown to despise each other, but while they were a tag team, they were pure magic. A great combination of aerial ability and technical wrestling made the Bulldogs one of the premier tag teams of their era. After excelling in Stampede wrestling and becoming one of the top tag teams in Japan, the Bulldogs arrived in the WWF in 1985, and their innovative moves and pugnacious styles made the Bulldogs one of the most popular acts of their era. Their long standing feud with the Hart Foundation is still regarded as one of the best in wrestling history, and many, many wrestlers have been influenced by the British Bulldogs. Despite the team's tragic end, the British Bulldogs are still remembered today as one of the best and most influential tag teams to ever wrestle.

5. The Holy Demon Army - For eight years, Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue were the best tag team in the best wrestling promotion in its time, All Japan Pro Wrestling. From 1993-2000, Kawada and Taue not only excelled as singles wrestlers, but managed to consistently put together classic matches together as a tag team. The Holy Demon Army's wars with teams like Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi, Misawa and Jun Akiyama, Kobashi and Johnny Ace, No Fear, the Miracle Violence Connection, and other teams are remembered by those that witnessed them as some of the greatest tag matches in the history of wrestling. As individuals, Kawada and Taue were two of the top wrestlers of their era, and were just as good, if not better, as a tag team.

4. The Brainbusters - Even though Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard were only a team for a little more than three years, their excellence is still enough to put them on this list. Masters of tag team psychology, the two original members of the Four Horsemen (along with Ric Flair and Ole Anderson) had great matches with a variety of teams in the NWA. Matches with the Road Warriors, The Rock N' Roll Express, and Lex Luger and Barry Windham established the Brainbusters as one of the top teams in the world. After jumping to the WWF in 1988, the Brainbusters didn't slow down a bit, soon becoming the top tag team in a loaded tag team division. The Brainbusters had a series of top-notch matches with teams like the Rockers, the Hart Foundation, and Demolition, and in 1989 they became the first tag team the win the NWA and the WWF tag team titles. Yes, they only were a team for three years, but their mastery of psychology, technical wrestling, and hard hitting style made the Brainbusters a memorable tag team.

3. The Steiner Brothers - The top brother duo on the list, Rick and Scott Steiner have one of the most impressive resumes of any tag team. With 11 Tag Team Title reigns (7 WCW, 2 WWF, 2 IWGP) in their career, the Steiners are no strangers to championship gold. Of course, the Steiners earned all of that gold through a hard hitting style and a lot of spectacular moves, both individual and double-team moves. Scott had two of the most devastating finishers of his era with the Frankensteiner and Steiner screwdriver, while Rick displayed a wide array of suplexes to go along with his devastating Steinerline. The Steiners were also able to put together great matches with a variety of opponents, like the Nasty Boys, Doom, Sting and Lex Luger, the Miracle Violence Connection, Money Inc., Harlem Heat, and The Outsiders. With a legendary repeitore and a long line of great matches, the Steiners are clearly one of the best teams of all time.

2. The Road Warriors - Probably the most famous tag team of all-time, Hawk and Animal took the wrestling world by storm in 1983 with their unique look and immense strength, and never looked back from there. The only tag team to win the AWA, NWA, and WWF tag team titles, the Warriors were impact players no matter where they showed up, whether in America or Japan. The Road Warriors were such a success that no other tag team in history have been ripped off more, as teams like the Powers of Pain and Demolition were near carbon copies of the Road Warriors. With manager Paul Ellering by their side, the Warriors became perhaps the most popular tag team of all time, and the duo had legendary matches with teams such as the Brainbusters, The Freebirds, The Koloffs, The Midnight Express, Demolition, Money Inc., and so many more.

1. The Midnight Express - Yes, the Road Warriors and Steiners were bigger stars, and yes the Dudleys/Team 3-D have more titles than any other tag team, but to me, The Midnight Express, whether it's the Bobby Eaton-Dennis Condrey version or the Eaton-Stan Lane version, are tag team wrestling. In the ring, the Midnights could do no wrong, as they invented a lot of double-team maneuvers and could dazzle fans with superb techincal wrestling, top-notch brawling, and an exciting aerial style. Outside the ring, manager Jim Cornette handled the promos for both versions of the Express, and his bombastic style added a whole other element to the Midnight Express. During their tenure, the Midnight Express had tons of legendary matches with teams such as the Rock N' Roll Express, The Fantastics, The Road Warriors, and many other teams. Their mastery of tag team psychology, exciting style, and flawless teamwork is a combination that no other team can match, and that is why the Midnight Express is the greatest tag team in the last 30 years.

Well, thanks for reading. If you want to share some opinions you have about this list, or put together a top seven list of your own, than I would be happy to see your opinions, so be sure to leave a comment on the blog. Also, if you have an idea for a future post, then share those with me either by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com or by leaving a comment on this blog.

3 comments:

  1. The Hardy Boys would be on my top 7, as well, yet I'm not too sure about the other 6 spots. I liked The Outsiders and Los Guerreros, too.

    But I'm just shocked that you didn't put The Rock N Sock Connection on this list! I thought for sure they were your number 1 favorite!

    The DVD pretty much said that they thought the Road Warriors were the best ever, but the match they chose to support that claim was kind of lacking. It was them against Money, Inc., and it wasn't that great of a match. And the manager guy for LOD, his puppet freaked the crap out of me.

    I haven't compiled a list yet, cause I still have a lot to learn about Tag-Matches, but I know that Los Guerreros, Hardyz, Outsiders, and Dudleys will more than likely make my cut.

    Oh, and I started watching the Hell in a Cell DVD, and good lord. I can't handle all the blood. I thought hHh was gonna just collapse with all the blood he lost against Nash. Blegh. The matches are pretty good, but the blood and the barbwire is really starting to make me a bit queasy, lol.

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  2. Was that the LOD match where they came out on motorcycles? If so, then yeah that match sucked.

    I am curious, however, about just why you like the Outsiders so much.

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  3. Yeah, even their manager came out on a motorcycle. A lot of the matches on that DVD were just not good choices to exemplify certain tag-teams. The World's Greatest Tag Team vs Los Guerreros, however, was a pretty good match, but it highlighted the wrong team. They were talking about Haas/Benjamin, yet Eddie and Chavo did much better than they did.

    I dunno. I really like Scott Hall, I guess, so that makes me like Outsiders. Razor Ramon is probably one of my favorite wrestlers ever, so that effects my decision on that, too. And I liked Nash when he was Diesel, though I'm not too sure why.

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