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Kelly Floyd @KELLYFLOYDBRAND

The Death of the WWE Tag Team

Tag teams seem to be a forgotten art form. With all of the drama of a match, you pack more power to your punch by doubling the amount of talent. The heel teams stand in their corner and wait for their illegal offense to pass behind a blind ref’s back, and the babyface teams get the crowd screaming when they finally get that hot tag. The patented finishers that take two men to complete seem to excite more than those in singles competition. That last moment in the match where everyone involved goes after each other, clearing the ring before the final three-count. Not to mention, who can resist the matching tights? When it pertains to tag teams, more is always more. Or so it used to be.

Today, tag teams are dying a more painful death than those forced to watch Cena’s movies. Sure, we still have the Hart Dynasty, the Usos, the Gatecrashers, and the Dudebusters. But the last three teams live on Thursday night’s WWE Superstars. The Hart Dynasty, when they are given the rare opportunity to put their belts on the line, usually face a taped-together tag team of two unused upper-midcarders that aren’t in any hot feuds at the moment. Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith are classically trained, serious competitors. They are descendents of Stu Hart’s Dungeon. Their music closely resembles Bret Hart’s, and they often use the Sharpshooter to end matches—a guaranteed way to get the audience to pop. So why has the WWE been keeping them off the air as much as possible?

Despite the fact that there are three possible contenders for The Hart Dynasty to defend their championships against this Sunday, none of them are rumored to do so. In fact, the team of Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes are the ones that will likely be facing the champions. Drew and Cody are both the top heels of the Smackdown mid-card, as they’ve been targeting Matt Hardy and Christian in the last few weeks. Not to mention, Cody Rhodes has already had success in the tag team department. The match up might be interesting and it would be entertaining to see heels with the belts again, but where does it end?

Watching Chris Jericho and Edge waltz out after Teddy Long announced the triple threat tag team match at The Bash was an interesting change of pace, and after Jericho’s failed attempt at grabbing the Intercontinental Title, it was a surprise. We know how the story went from there, how that team turned into Jerishow, who ruled the tag team scene. They even won a Slammy in 2009 for Tag Team of the Year. Undoubtedly, the formula works at times. But since then, we’ve watched as Big Show teamed up with The Miz, MVP with Mark Henry, and R-Truth with John Morrison, leaving the real tag teams behind. While they may be looking to draw fans in by throwing together a team of notable names, wouldn’t it be easier to take a minute to establish a real team? Or build up your current teams?

The WWE used to be stacked with decent tag teams—Legacy, Degeneration X, The Colons—that would draw in substantial attention. The tag team scene is one that is dying within the company, but still alive and well with the fans. I’d like to see two strong heels in a series of backstage segments, setting up a partnership before attacking The Hart Dynasty and starting a feud. Or better yet, instead of breaking up the Nexus, why not have the other four going after the titles while Wade works on the WWE championship? There are many ways to resuscitate the tag team scene. We just need to find enough breath to bring life back to it.