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PART IV
Introduction
Well, we finally have come to the end of this series. Over the past two months I have been doing a lot of work on finding out the heritage and legacy of the WWE’s tag division through Wrestlemania. For those new to the Spotlight series, feel free to go to the columns section of this site where you can find the first three installments of this series.
Wrestlemania X-7
Other than the stupid name of the event this one was a pretty good show over all. I’m just a person who thinks you either use the current numerical system of our world or the roman numerals, not a combination of both. As for tag team matches this really cemented the tag division once again and the pedestal was very high.
On the Heat show prior to the event X-Pac and Justin Credible took on Steve Blackman and Grand Master Sexy. As I recall both teams were kind of just put together because x-Pac didn’t really have a character/angle at the time and Sexy was without Scotty, his usual partner. I do remember x-Pac and Credible having a short run as a team and I also remember them working really well together in the ring but never quite getting the team over with the crowd. In the end x-Pac’s duo won the match and Heat rolled right into Wrestlemania.
Another tag match included Tazz and The APA teaming up against Right to Censor (A faction that I always thought was better than perceived by the fans and the industry). This was a strong bout although Tazz surprisingly never quite fit in with Farooq and Bradshaw. It was a short match but solid.
The highlight of the night came when the TLC match blew the roof of the place. The
Wrestlemania X8
Again Heat began the event with a tag match featuring Rikishi, Albert and Scotty taking on Mr. Perfect, Lance Storm and Test. Ms. Jacqueline special guest refereed the match and in the end Rikishi got the pin for his team. It was a very good bout that maybe should have been on the actual card but was buried instead on heat.
The only tag match that actually made WM18’s card was a four corners elimination match for the tag title between the Hardy Boyz, The APA, The Dudley Boyz and Billy and Chuck. The got a fair amount of time for the match but they could have gotten more and it could have been a lot better. Comparing it to that of the TLC matches from the years prior it just didn’t have the chemistry even though two of the teams from those matches were involved in this one. In a way for the tag division it was unfortunate that both Edge and Christian had singles matches on the card and their careers were starting to take a turn towards that end.
As far as tag team matches goes WM18 was a dud and when looking back was also sort of the beginning of the end of the longevity and class of the tag division in WWE.
Wrestlemania XIX
It began with a travesty really. A tag team championship between Lance Storm and Morley vs. Kane and RVD was on Heat instead of on the main event card. Val Venis never had a worse character than that of Chief Morley and was not over. Kane and RVD had a good team but they always were remembered for their valiant singles efforts. Storm and Morley did however nab the belts in a fair to good contest.
The match that did make it to the card was for Smackdown’s tag straps. Team Angle (Haas and Benjamin otherwise known as “The World’s Greatest Tag Team) beat two teams, Benoit and Rhyno and Los Guerreros. This was at a time as I recall that the tag division on Smackdown was really great and Raw just wasn’t. Los Guerreros is one of the finest tag teams ever in the history of Sports Entertainment. Rhyno and Benoit made a formidable team that had a lot of different uses of technique and power and to this day I would say there hasn’t been a team with much more in-ring ability than Haas and Benjamin. There were many versions of this feud/match during this time and all three teams plus a couple others really knew how to work a crowd and put on a show. This match delivered on a card that was filled with huge matches like Austin/Rock, Angle/Lesner and the ultimate dream match in some people’s opinion McMahon/Hogan.
Wrestlemania XX
The first tag match of the night had all the potential in the world with great players including The Dudley Boyz, Cade and Jindrak, La Resistance and RVD/Booker T. The problem was that the teams only got about eight minutes on an already packed card to do their thing and it wasn’t enough time for them to pull off the match they could have had. In the end the straps were held up high by Booker T and RVD.
Mick Foley in his books has talked about the next match at length…Evolution vs. The Rock and Sock Connection. I am not quoting “Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy” but I do recall him saying that he doesn’t look fondly on this match. I am not sure why as I always thought it was solid and a good effort by all involved.
I had to look back to make sure that my head was working right but I did some research and I am fairly certain that until this particular Wrestlemania there had never been an all
female tag match on a card. Miss Elizabeth, Chyna and Sable had all been involved in inter-gender tag matches but that was all. At WMXX Torrie Wilson teamed up with Sable to defeat Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie in a “Playboy Evening Gown match”. In a way it is unfortunate that this match had a gimmick as the WWE could have built up this match as “the first ever all-female match in Wrestlemania History” but alas it wasn’t to be.
Apparently for many years in a row WWE creative was hot on the idea of fatal-four way matches and three-way matches. On this night they decided to have two and in the end Scotty and Rikishi of Too Cool defeated The APA, The WGTT and The Basham Brothers, This one wasn’t anything to write home about and won’t be remembered in the annals of time. This to me was the icing on an already desperate cake. The tag divisions were going where no team had gone before and it wasn’t pretty.
Wrestlemania 21
“Ladies and Gentleman, the Tag Team match of the evening…”
None, notta, zip, zilch, zippola, nothing there, sorry you came to see teams wrestle there ain’t any. That’s right folks the Tag Division was lost.
Wrestlemania 22
Well, at least this Wrestlemania had a tag team match…it wasn’t much of one as Kane and The Big Show (One of my all time favorites by the way) creamed the tag team force of Carlito and Chris Masters. No wonder the only person with a job in wrestling today is Kane.
Wrestlemania 23
Have you noticed how the last few paragraphs have gotten much shorter? That would be because there were hardly any matches to talk about and at Wrestlemania 23 it was no different. In the pre-show Flair and Carlito defeated Gregory Helms and Chavo Guerrero in a Lumberjack Match. I saw this match after watching it on the DVD the WWE released and thought it was pretty solid. It’s too bad a 16 time world champion, a multiple time cruiser weight champion, a several time US and Cruiserweight champion and a multiple time Intercontinental champion couldn’t get on the “biggest card in the history of Sports Entertainment” but a seven foot plus giant with no talent had a place on the card. To me this was just atrocious.
The only tag match on the night was the ECW Originals vs. The New Breed. Yeah, it’s a year later and does anybody remember this feud that included an amped up Tommy Dreamer and an excellent Elijah Burke? The most devastating part of this match was that it wasn’t even a hardcore match and it had hardcore ECW legends in it.
Closing
So we have finally come to the end of the road. There were ups and many downs in the world of the tag teams where it concerned Wrestlemania. The truth is that in my opinion, WWE creative has forgotten the tag division at this event. There was a time in the 90’s where it flourished with teams like The Hardy’s and the Dudley’s but that time has past. I do hope for improvement for it would be great to see the tag teams of today such as Cade and Murdoch and Deuce and Domino involved in a high intensity match for a tag strap. I’d love to see a tag match headline the event as it did in Wrestlemania I. Especially with Cena out and everyone kind of jostled, it would be great to use a tag match to create heat for Wrestlemania 24. In the end I believe the teams themselves over the last 24 years have given their all and tried to do great things with what they had. It is sad how much tag team wrestling has dwindled in sports entertainment.
Until next time Spotlighters! See ya!
To contact Joel go to www.myspace.com/Joelcroyle
