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Introduction
Welcome back Spotlighters! As many of you know we are currently looking back at how Wrestlemania effected the tag team division and vice-versa. Today we are going to discuss Wrestlemania’s XI-XVI. In the second part of the series we found out how low the low’s can be and yet we still hadn’t reached a higher bench mark than when a tag match headlined Wrestlemania, ala number one. Let’s see what happens, shall we?
Wrestlemania XI
This was one of the stranger Wrestlemania’s in my opinion, and that goes for tag team wrestling as well as the entire card. It was a Mania where instead of any kind of championship headlined, Bam Bam Bigelow main evented against Lawrence Taylor (from the NFL). As for the tag team events it was pretty middle of the road.
The first tag match of the evening was The Allied Powers vs. The Blu Brothers. The British Bulldog and Lex Luger had been teaming up as a pair in a patriotic angle. It was a quick beginning to Wrestlemania.
The second tag match pitted The Smoking Guns (Billy and Bart) against Owen Hart and a mystery partner. The WWE did a good job at keeping the secret under wraps and out came the monstrous Yokozuna as Owen’s better half. The match was fantastic, it had great fast paced action and the addition of Yoko just made it that much better. In the end Owen and Yokozuna won the tag straps.
Wrestlemania XII
The twelfth installment of Mainia’ was headlined in what I consider the second greatest match in Wrestlemania history, Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels in an iron man match (If you are wondering, I think Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin is the greatest match in Mania’ history). The tag team division was showcased well at this event and it started an upward trend.
The Bodydonnas and The Godwins got it on for the vacant tag title and in the end The Bodydonnas got the win. In a fantastic 6-man tag match Owen Hart, British Bulldog and Vader defeated Yokozuna, Jake Roberts and Ahmed Johnson. Sure, these weren’t the spot fests that we’d see later by the Hardy’s or Edge and Christian. But finally, between the last two Wrestlemania’s, tag wrestling was becoming solid and important.
Wrestlemania 13
Hands down I still say to this day Wrestlemania 13 was the greatest Wrestlemania in the history of the event. It was headlined by The Undertaker nabbing the Championship against Psycho Sid in a great contest. It also had Hart vs. Austin. The tag division really cemented their division here as well.
The Headbangers, The New Blackjacks, The Godwins, and Furnas/LaPhon all squared off in a hot 4-way tag match to decide who the number one contender would be for the tag titles. Many people don’t really remember this match and that is unfortunate because the work inside of the ring was very good. In the end, The Headbangers defeated the other three teams.
The Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson defeated The Nation of Domination in a multiple man tag match. It was a dirty Chicago Street Fight, a brawl to end them all, if you will. It showed that tag team wrestling could run in a hardcore setting, something that would be important later in Mania’s history.
Owen Hart and the British Bulldog went to a count out draw against Mankind and Vader. This match was about telling a story, selling the angle. All four participants did their jobs and did it well. One thing we see from this is that Owen Hart was a mainstay for the tag division for the past three years of this event and he really helped to cement the WWE’s tag team division.
Wrestlemania XIV
To me, this is where tag wrestling really turned the corner in popularity. People were into tag wrestling, and it was showing. Of course, this is also the year 1998, and in general, that was one of the biggest years for wrestling, period.
The show shot off with a bang with a 15 team battle royal that included some major talent like The Rock and Roll Express, The Nation of Domination, Too Cool, and the eventual winners of the match LOD 2000 (a revamped name for The Road Warriors Hawk and Animal).
In another fairly good match we saw a mixed tag with Marc Mero and Sable defeating Luna and Goldust. In the annals of history this isn’t going to go down as the greatest match in history but it wasn’t horrible either. Credit where credit is due; I think Luna Vashon is quite possibly the greatest female wrestler of all time and doesn’t get the credit she deserves.
Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (otherwise known as Terry Funk) won the titles against The New Age Outlaws in a dumpster match. It was a classless contest with fantastic performers, doing their best to make it work. It led to an angle the next night on RAW which shows you that tag wrestling mattered and that it could be used to grow stars and cement old ones.
Wrestlemania XV
Again Owen Hart was in the middle of the tag team picture and this time he was taking on Test and D’Lo Brown with his tag team partner Jeff Jarrett. Hart and Jarrett in the end retained their gold. One thing to note, I personally think the best tag team partnership Owen ever had was with Jarrett. They were just so fun to watch. They are/were two of the most gifted, technically sound wrestlers ever and should be applauded for their efforts.
Mania’ 15 wasn’t the greatest showing for tag wrestling. It sort of dropped the ball compared to the recent years before and what would be coming later. It did at least try to keep the ball rolling and a lot of tag talent worked the “Heat” show prior to the big event in a battle royal so that at least the personalities were still seen.
Wrestlemania 2000
Well, it was the one and only time that a year instead of numerals took the title of the event. Of the nine matches, five of them were some sort of tag team match. To me, this began the height of tag team wrestling, this was its hey day and it really blossomed into something special over the next few years (which you can read about soon in the fourth and final part of this series).
The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan defeated The Godfather and D’Lo Brown. It was a really well executed match. This was Boss Man’s way of elevating new talent to me, and he did it very well. In another tag match Test and Albert (T&A) defeated Al Snow and Steve Blackman (Headcheese). None of these four ever really shined as WWE superstars, though Snow is a heck of a worker and from what I understand an excellent teacher of the mat.
Too Cool and Chyna took on the Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn) in another well contested bout. There was some drama, some comedy and all 6 workers did their job to sell the match. In another match Rikishi and Kane defeated X-Pac and Road Dogg of DX. This match was good for what it was as all worked well together.
The fifth match of course was Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley’s in a triangle ladder match. This feud would continue for years in the TLC matches, but it started here. Edge and Christian won that night but god knows at what painful cost to their bodies. This match, this single twenty-two minutes of time, turned tag wrestling on its ear and said “Hey, look at us, were the show” as indeed, this match stole the show. And it was a show headlined by four of the biggest names ever to hit a wrestling ring… HHH, The Rock, Mick Foley and The Big Show. The triangle ladder match will go down unfortunately as a back seat driver to the later TLC matches, but for this night, it was one of the greatest matches in Mania’ history.
In Closing
All of these Wrestlemania’s were good but in regards to tag team wrestling nothing beat WM 2000 up to this date. The ladder match absolutely changed how tag team wrestling was performed and more importantly viewed. Those three teams were doing things that no other teams had ever done before. This was the beginning to something special for tag teams, something that would last a number of years. Tag team wrestling had been affected with the popularity virus it so richly deserved…until next time Spotlighters!
