power rankings from mid 2007

[Astros]

I looked through my word documents knowing I had this somewhere and I found it. This is from late July/early August 2007 before we moved to this board

Since, in the opening power rankings of the year, I compared everyone to singles wrestlers, I decided this time to compare teams to the great tag teams of all time. I figured this way, I can end the wrestling gimmick for the rankings and in the future, move on to other things(unless I decide to do a stables one).

1- Yankees 63-25---- The Road Warriors. Hawk and Animal came to the ring with face paint, punk haircuts and metal spikes on their shoulders. They took the name of the notorious biker game of the same name and destroyed every opponent put in their path. On more than one occasion, they had to fight their way out of rioting arenas after demolishing the top faces in the main event. Animal would sit a battered opponent on his shoulders when Hawk would ascended the top rope and he would launch himself half way across the ring and clothesline his victim to the mat. No one ever got up from this move and defeat was assured. They were violent, original and edgy and gave great promo in their own particular style. Animal would yell and scream full of rage and always end what he said with Tell ‘em Hawk... Well, Hawk would start off, It seems to me, that it seems to be… and he would make his point in a very pointed and cold way. They always meant business. They feuded with every major team of the 80's and 90's and had massive runs with the Four Horsemen, The Fabulous Freebirds, The Von Erichs, The Midnight Express, The Russians (whatever combination they had), Demolition, The Hart Foundation, Doom, The Skyscrapers, The Steiners, The New Age Outlaws, The Outsiders and many more. Their versatility and ability to create heat with almost any team was astonishing. You can read their achievements like an honor role of wrestling. The only team to win the three recognized major tag team championships in North America (WWE/F, WCW/NWA, AWA) when each of those promotions were at their prime and they were a legitimate draw for nearly 20 years. Pro Wrestling Illustrated stroked themselves over Warriors so much they gave them multiple Tag Team of the Year Awards coupled with Tag Team of the Decade and when they couldn't get more over-of-the top, Tag Team of the Century! JB has destroyed everyone this season and is stocked for the future with a chance to dominate the IBC for the next decade.


2- Astros 62-27-----The Steiner Brothers. Well, I guess we’ve all learned the hard way that last year wasn’t a fluke for Ken. We all know he’s a dirty cheater that just hasn’t been caught yet, but it’ll come in due time. Rick and Scott were both great amateur wrestlers at the University of Michigan. After graduating, both turned to the world of professional wrestling. They held titles in Japan as well as in the states and were ahead of their time as far as their moves were concerned. They had their biggest success in WCW in the early 90s and again during the boom period of the late 90s, up until Scott turned on Rick for a singles run, got roided up and couldn’t move at all. They never reached the same heights in the cartoonish WWF but, anyone that saw them in their prime knows it was something special. Ken is dominating the NL again like the Steiners dominated the tag ranks in the 1990s and is the favorite to capture the NL pennant this year.

3- Mariners 61-28----- The Hart Foundation. While there have been more decorated teams in wrestling there is little doubt that the Hart Foundation are what the essence of true tag team wrestling is all about. They were a classic combo, the cool technical wrestler and the crazy, nutjob brawler. One was big and the other was small. One was the heir apparent to a wrestling family dynasty and the other was a transplanted ex-footballer. They were different but the same all at once. Bret Hart was originally tapped to be gimmicked as a cowboy when he proposed to tag team with fellow Stampeder Jim Neidhart and promised the matches they could have with the British Bulldogs would blow the roof off the place. Vince McMahon listened and the wheels were set in motion and once you added a fresh pair of pink tights and a bullhorn touting Jimmy Hart you instantly had one hell of a heel tag team. They could wrestle anyone in any style of match. Several years later the Hart Foundation showed just how talented they were when they embarked on another run as champs but this time as white hot babyfaces. They also paved the way for teams like Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart, teams with one good technical wrestler and a big brawler. Ropers team, due to injury, has kind of been thrown together this year too and the results are similar. Most people pegged JP to run away with the West, but it’s the M’s that are in the driver’s seat. With guys like Sean Marshall and Josh Johnson able to step up big time next year, the M’s may be around the top of the standings for a while.


4- Giants 58-31-----The Brain Busters, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Whatever name you choose to call them, though, these two tough-as-nails heels are a perfect example of how a tag team is supposed to work. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard were both well established stars by the time they became a regular team in 1987. Arn had already established himself in tag teams and in singles, proving he could carry matches and the mic more than competently. Tully? All he did was tear up NWA rings in classic feuds with Magnum TA and Dusty Rhodes. These two were willing to put the egos aside and form a tag team because Luger needed a singles push in the Horsemen. So, Tully and Arn became the token Horsemen tag team, and the rest is history. They took the titles from the Rock N Roll Express in September of 1987 and held them for six months until ex-Horseman Luger and friend Barry Windham won the straps. Windham would turn on Luger less than a month later and hand deliver the belts right back to Tully and Arn. They wouldn't lose the titles again until September of 1988, spending essentially the entire calendar year as NWA tag champions. At their peaks in their singles careers, both could have been world champ but, both took a backseat to Ric Flair in the Horsemen. Two of the best technical wrestlers ever optimizes what Nils team is all about, pitching and defense. He’s been in the playoffs every year because of this and it don’t look like that is going to change. Look for the Giants to continue running through the NL West like the Horsemen, unless Shawn can step up and be the Sting of the NL West and take them down.

5- Red Sox 56-33---The Fabulous Freebirds. Badstreet USA! You have not seen just how far a team can drive a crowd into a frenzy until you see the Freebirds in action. Before there were The Dudley Boys, there were The Freebirds. With their "3 men as equals, so any 2 could defend their titles" rule, the way they would go to any length to win, blinding Junkyard Dog, piledriving Ted DiBiase and, of course, the massive brawls and fights that made up the Freebirds vs. The Von Erich family, one of the biggest and most brutal feuds in Texas history. Their WCW run, while marred with some bad memories the trio, whatever combination they were, are the benchmark for absolute despised heels everywhere. Whenever a group who are cooler than everyone else and know it cheat like hell, the Freebirds live on. Plus, Freebird by Skynyrd was their enterance music, so that also makes them awesome. Bren is the Freebirds because of their feud with the Road Warriors in AWA. This team had 2 successful runs, one in the territory days and one in WCW in the early 90s, Bren has had 2 successful runs, the first ending with his World Series title and the second starting this year.

6- Reds 50-35-----The British Bulldogs. Created in one of the toughest territories wrestling has ever seen, The British Bulldogs entered the WWF from Canada's Stampede Wrestling where Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid had become one of the hottest and most innovative teams of all time. Not overly big (they were one of the smallest teams of their era in the WWF) they were instantly over thanks to a vast array of impressive moves never seen in the Federations tag team ranks. The Bulldogs were incredibly popular and it wasn't long before they were given the tag team titles defeating The Dream Team at Wrestlemania II in the nights best match and holding the titles for much of the next year engaging The Hart Foundation in a series of memorable matches around the US before eventually dropping the titles to them in early 1987 when chronic back problems in Dynamite became to much to work through. Although they quickly returned to action they never again captured the WWF tag titles and after a string of lacklustre feuds the Bulldogs bowed out of the WWF in late 1988 after being eliminated in the Survivor Series and took to the independent scene with Davey Boy coming back a few years later and capturing singles gold. Nate has had to fight from day one in the toughest division in the league over its history, the NL Central. He has yet to make the playoffs, mostly do to terrible luck with injuries. This looks like it could be the year he finally breaks through and makes it though. If his team gets hit like it normally does by the injury bug down the stretch, his team could have a fate similar to the Dynamite Kid, wheelchair bound while his partner(whoever wins the Wild Card) achieves the success he was destined to.

7- Twins 50-36-----The New Age Outlaws. The hallmark of unexpected success. This is one the few successful ideas Vince Russo ever had and one idea many others have tried to copy almost always in vein. What he did was take two under-achieving undercarders in Billy Gunn and Brian James, who were on the verge of being fired, team them up and hope something happens…anything. Well it did and Billy Gunn and Jesse James should be grateful because it wrote them into the record books as a highly successful and highly entertaining tag team combo. They were polar opposites, Gunn was a chiselled big man, with decent athletic ability and a knack for getting heel heat, James was the mouth piece, the son of a southern wrestling legend, who looked more like a fan than a pro-wrestler but jeez he cold talk. They were instant heat getters and stamped their superiority on the game when they were brutally put over the aging Road Warriors in their first big feud. Their combination of funny interview, memorable catchphrases and a well timed inclusion to the revamped D-X made them two of the most over wrestlers in the entire federation. While their time in the sun lasted barely two years, they re-ignited the almost dead tag team scene in the WWF and provided one of the most famous ring entrances the sport has every seen. While Andrew’s team is far from thrown together, his success this year is far from expected. Most figured that he would be good in a couple more years and that this season would just be another stop along the rebuilding road he had been traveling down. This team is still holding on to the lead, when many figured it was a fluke hot start and the team would fade. Z is hot on his heels, so Andrew needs to pick it up a little to create some breathing room.

8- Royals 48-41-----The Midnight Express. Take your pick between Eaton and Condrey or Eaton and Lane. One was as good as the other, and both did incredible things for tag team wrestling in the second half of the 1980's. Whether it was World Class, the UWF, or NWA, the Midnight Express could be counted on for a certain number of things. First of all, they were going to take double-teaming to a whole new level. It started with the Rocket Launcher, and grew in to Divorce Court, the Double Goozle, the Veg-O-Matic, and the Double Flapjack. Make no mistake about it, the Midnight Express were the greatest double-team artists of all time. Secondly, they could be counted on to be upper card and main event heels. Whether feuding with Magnum TA and Bill Watts, the Fantastics, or the Rock N Roll Express, they were going to draw a ton of heat. Finally, you knew you were going to get tremendous matches out of them every single time out. Right up to the end of the team, they were putting on top notch matches with Pillman and Zenk on their way out of NWA/WCW. Somewhere between their debut in Mid South and their last match in WCW, you could see the Midnights feud with the Fantastics, Mr. Wrestling II, the Rock N roll Express, The "Original" Midnight Express, the Samoan Swat Team, the Dynamic Dudes, Pillman and Zenk, the Horsemen, the Road Warriors, Ronnie Garvin, and the Freebirds. In every feud, as important as what went on inside the ring was what was going on outside the ring. Jim Cornette became the prototypical heel manager by playing a loudmouthed, bragadocious, cowardly heel that got his men into some hot water. He was never afraid to bail them out with a well placed tennis racket shot, either. Whichever two men were in the team at any given time, along with Cornette, came together to work a magic that's never been duplicated since. Z has a team that is loaded with talent, well all thought he would make the leap last year but this may be the year. A plucky Twins team is holding on to first place and giving the Royals fits. The Midnights are sometimes overlooked because they never worked in the WWF, Z is overlooked because he’s in the AL Central. People don’t overlook talent, and that’s what Z’s team has.

9- Blue Jays 50-38----The Dudley Boys.In 1997, Bubba and D-Von had a feud against the Eliminators that would see them become two-time ECW Tag Team Champions. Those were the first of many titles for the Dudleys, and they would have eight reigns with the ECW straps before leaving the company in 1999. They left the company with more than just gold, though. The Dudleys had developed a unique style of tag team wrestling that combined traditional psychology with modern hardcore brawls . . . and, of course, they had become the masters of the table spot. On top of that, during their last several months with the company, the duo had become superb at working a live audience, bringing some crowds close to rioting, like the Heat Wave 99 PPV in Dayton.

With all of the momentum in the world, it was a bit disappointing when the Dudleys entered the WWF and returned to their comedic gimmick roots, with Bubba regaining his trademark stutter. It would eventually disappear (with no explanation), and the two men would eventually go back to their old ways, taking the Tag Team Championship away from the New Age Outlaws in 2000. It was not that title reign that would thrust them in to the spotlight, though. It was a match one month later, which saw the Dudleys, the Hardy Boys, and Edge & Christian sacrifice their bodies at Wresltemania 2000 in a ladder match. Though that bout was not officially labelled a "Tables, Ladders, and Chairs" match, it was definitely the match that invented the genre and spawned many successful sequels. The feuds stemming from that match against the Hardys and E&C resulted in many more championships for the Duds, a total of nine reigns with the company.
It was also under the WWF banner that the Dudleys would capture the WCW Tag Team Championship in 2001. Though the title was all but dead by this point, winning it put another important accomplishment on the Dudley family's mantle. It made them the only team in history to capture the WWF, WCW, and ECW Tag Team Titles during the course of their career and only the second team (after the Road Warriors) to hold three major tag team championships in the United States. In fact, the Dudleys may soon break that record, as they have reinvented themselves as Team 3-D and are now competing in both All Japan Pro Wrestling and TNA. The Dudleys are older now, and are not as good as they used to be. The same might be said for Pat’s team. While it is still very good, the great success may be a thing of the past. This team is a big pitching injury away from a potential free fall in the standings, so some moves may need to be made to stay in the race.

10- Marlins 46-41----The Rockers(I wanted to make him one of the many “evil foreigner” teams from the 80s but I couldn’t do it). They're The Rockers, Shawn & Marty, they love to wrestle, and they love to party. Today, The Rocker's impact is hard to grasp, given a "wood for the trees" effect. What's so special about a couple of smaller fast paced guys playing huge faces who get beat up? They never won many tag titles, what's the deal? After all, those sorts of teams are a dime a dozen, right? Of course, the reason there are so many teams like that is because of The Rockers. The Rockers were a new style, a new attitude, one of the first ‘big' teams to be like that. They were young, cute, girls loved them, men cheered for them, you felt sorry when they got beat up, and you cheered like hell when they made the bigger guys go down. They flew, they bleed, they got the girls, they partied, and they set a style that is still wrestled to this day. If they are pretty boy faces, then they're influenced by the Rockers. Oh yeah, and they also made the Barber Shop go into wrestling folklore. Can't forget that. Many forget that they never held the WWF tag titles before breaking up though. Gabe is like the Rockers. He’s never quite broken through to great success yet. He’s always been competitive, he’s always been on the cusp of the playoffs and last year finally got in. He has yet to go anywhere though and until he can do that, he’ll be like the Rockers. If he can’t break through this year, might it be time to retool and kick half the team through the window of the Barber Shop?

11- A's 50-39-----The Enforcers. Many people who were fans of WCW in the early 90's have fond memories of Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko, collectively known as the Enforcers. Perhaps what makes the team stand out the most is that they created these fond memories in an incredibly short period of time. Zbyszko and Anderson were a full-time team for a little less than a year, only holding the WCW Tag Team Championship on one occasion. However, given their incredible work together as a team (and their involvement in the equally incredible yet short-lived Dangerous Alliance), some fans are still raving about the team until this day. It all began when the two went in to a match against the Steiner Brothers as supreme underdogs and emerged as the World Tag Team Champions. After that, the two men were involved in a great angle in which they slammed the arm of Dustin Rhodes in a car door, earning Zbyszko the nickname Cruncher. Many "smarter" fans loved the angle, because, even though Dustin was a fairly good young wrestler at the time, it was common knowledge that he was getting a huge push because of his family ties. Unfortunately, the angle reached its logical conclusion: Babyface Dustin getting the final win and thus the titles. With that, the Enforcers sang their swan song. Though it was a short run, it was great while it lasted. The Rev’s time in the sun has been short as well. Since coming into the league, his team has never contended. This year, his team has surprised many and sits in 2nd place in the AL West. Looking at his roster, like the Enforcers, his run may be short lived as it has many older players that are past their primes.

12- Angels 49-40----The Hollywood Blondes. In 1993, the internet was not nearly as popular as it is today. However, "smart" wrestling fans still existed, and there were two names coming out of all their mouths that year: Steve Austin and Brian Pillman. The two wrestlers were put together as a heel unit by WCW and won the World Tag Team Titles not long after. Though their gimmick began as that of two cocky, prissy movie stars, the two men began ignoring that storyline and adopted personas that were more in sync with their own personalities. The two gained so much credibility as a result of their excellent performances that, when WCW needed a rival for Ric Flair to make his in-ring return against, Austin and Pillman were put in to an excellent feud against the Nature Boy and his long-time friend Arn Anderson. Though the promos and the matches between the two teams were phenomenal, the blowoff to the feud drew a disappointing rating for a Clash of the Champions special. Because of that, the team's stock within WCW quickly began to plummet. This was the beginning of the end for the team, as they would no longer exist by the end of 1994, despite the fact that both men were still with World Championship Wrestling. Though one of the biggest stars in wrestling history would eventually emerge from the team, the story of the Hollywood Blonds as a duo will always be one of a talented pair that was never allowed to achieve that which it had the talent to obtain. JP’s team, like the Hollywood Blondes, is full of talent. It just hasn’t been able to live up to expectations this year so far. We all know JP has a history of being impatient, so if there is not a quick turn around soon, the Angels fate may be that of the Blondes, and they may be broken up as well.

13- Cardinals 43-44----Edge and Christian. It was never meant to be them. The long struggling WWF tag team scene was thought to be on its last legs and the best The E could give us was a couple of mid-card jobbers more known for spitting blood than putting on good matches. A then record 7 WWE Tag Team Titles later E&C are regarded by many as one of the best tag teams ever but what was so special about them. For starters they had a great look that would impress the female fans and gave them something to wisely send up in their promos and what promos they were. Funny, irrelevant and always entertaining they took posing for the cameras to new levels of absurdity but what really counted was their ability in the ring. They could wrestler, brawl and pull out ultra violent gimmick matches almost at will and have them turn into instant classics. While they both have forged impressive singles careers since they went their separate ways they will always be remembered as the tandem that carried the WWE tag team scene into a new era. Edge and Christian both have had successful singles careers since the split of their team, with Christian holding the NWA title in TNA and Edge holding the WWF title on Raw currently(although he got his push because he started banging Matt Hardy’s girlfriend). Right now, the Cardinals may have to go the direction of Edge and Christian, with a breakup and overhaul of the team being what is needed to make it back to the top if they don’t start winning soon.

14- Phillies 45-46----The Miracle Violence Connection. Doc and Gordy. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy teamed up in Japan following an absolutely brutal feud in Bill Watts' UWF. They were intended to be heels, but their brutal style, charisma, and ability gained them massive respect. Regarded as two of the greatest American wrestlers of all time in Japan, Doc and Gordy racked up five reigns as All Japan World Tag Team champions. Their shining moments, though, came in the United States in 1992. They came from All Japan to WCW to "debunk the myth of the Steiners." They proclaimed themselves tougher and better than Rick and Scott, then proceeded to prove it by not only taking the WCW World Tag Titles from the Steiner's, but unifying the NWA and WCW belts. The MVC never gained the same success in the US as they did in Japan and injuries and age curtailed their run. Nick has had a nice run since the inception of the IBC, winning our first title and always being in contention but never quite reaching those levels again. Age and injury have also caught up with his team and there doesn’t appear to be much help in the minors for the future. Still, nothing is stopping this team from taking a run at the East division title this season but a little luck.

15- O's 46-45----Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. In 1996, the World Wrestling Federation's tag team division was all but dead. The Smoking Gunns were multi-time Tag Team Champions, but it seemed as though those reigns were earned through lack of competition as opposed to any real talent. With no competition and lame duck champions, the division needed a change. That change came when brothers-in-law Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith won the championship from the Gunns thanks to dissension between the cowboys. It seemed to be a perfect match, as Hart and the Bulldog were high enough up the card to restore prestige to the belts without being so heavily pushed that it looked like they couldn't be beaten by the average tag team. The duo put on some surprisingly good title matches against less talented teams like Fake Diesel and Fake Razor Raom, as well as Mexican imports Cibernetico and Pierroth. Perhaps their best work came as part of a lengthy feud with Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon. Though not the most memorable feud in WWF history, it did create a series of excellent tag team matches if they're considered from a pure wrestling standpoint. After a lengthy title reign, Hart and Smith would drop the titles to the super-team of Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin in May of 1997. After the loss, the duo would still unite from time to time to take on rivals of the Hart Foundation. For Dan, he has been mired with the same kind of luck that Owen and Davey Boy had in their singles careers. Davey was hugely popular overseas and Owen was awesome as a cowardly heel and was as good a wrestler as brother Bret. They never received the proper push they deserved and neither ever held the world title, which is really a crime in Owen’s case. Dan has not been able to reach the playoffs despite a load of talent due to the other talented teams in his division and that trend looks to continue this year. If his pitching ever stays healthy, there is no reason why he won’t be able to one day soon break through and rise to the top.

16- Cubs 41-47----Harlem Heat. Any team who has had 13 title reigns scores automatic points for impact. You can't win that many titles and not have some sort of impact. And Booker T and Stevie Ray did have an impact. While they didn't set the world on fire, they were a solid team for WCW. Whenever they needed a set of tag champs, Harlem Heat was there. They could work as heels or faces equally well, and were able to get decent matches out of most people (regardless of who ‘carried' the team, they still worked very well together). Perhaps the most important thing, apart from Booker T's continuing career, is that Harlem Heat were a couple of big black men who, while sometimes working as heels, could work as faces just as well, and race wasn't an issue. It was part of who they were, and they did have their moments (their starts as Kane & Kole, the calling Hogan a, well, black racial slur), most of the time, they were a tag team first, black men second. Harlem Heat have made this list because they were consistent, they were prolific, they gave us a great wrestler and a decent commentator, and because they were mainstays of WCW's tag division in the 90's. And that itself, deserves credit. Rich, like Harlem Heat, hasn’t been setting the world on fire but he’s been consistant. Let’s not forget that he’s finished 20 games ahead of Bren on more than one occasion. His team is a blend of youth and vets but, being in a tough division hasn’t helped him. Maybe one day, like Booker T, Rich will be a 5 TIME, 5 TIME, 5 TIME, champion, but it doesn’t look to be this year.

17- Dodgers 41-47----America’s Most Wanted. On a Nashville indy show on June 1, 2002, Chris Harris and James Storm stepped in the ring for one of the first times. However, the two were not partners as wrestling fans are accustomed to seeing. Instead, they were opponents. Yes, Harris and Storm originally got to know each other during a tremendous feud in the early twenty-first century that got fans throughout Tennessee talking about the future of the exciting young stars. The hype was so big that it was almost a no-brainer for NWA-TNA to contact both men when it was looking to build its first roster in 2002. On the second ever TNA broadcast, the two teamed up for the first time, doing a "wacky mismatched partners" gimmick of the sort favored by then-TNA booker Vince Russo. Though they started off as comedy characters, the team quickly evolved beyond that level, winning their first NWA Tag Team Championship on TNA PPV #12. With those first titles in hand, the two men began a run the likes of which has not been seen since the glory days of tag team wrestling in the 1980's. With great feuds and stellar matches having already been logged against The Naturals, The Dudley Boys, and Team Canada, AMW has already established itself as the best tag team of the new millennium. That’s not even mentioning their spectacular 2 year feud with Triple X with the blowoff resulting in what many feel is the greatest cage match of all time. With youth on their side, Harris and Storm could easily use the next ten years to establish a legacy that will lead to their names being spoken in the same breath as the Road Warriors and the Midnights. Shawn’s team also has youth on their side. Many studs like Liriano are scattered throughout his roster. His team tasted success earlier this season and that success will drive Shawn to someday soon challenge Nils for the NL West flag.

18- Braves 37-53----The Outsiders. Hey Yo. Some teams make the list because of the sheer number of reigns. Some due to historical impact, what they did changed the future. Some due to them being just a damn good pair of wrestlers. And others due to what they did, some match, some moment that lives on. The Outsiders were all that (well, maybe not wrestlers all the time) and so much more. Sure, they rarely defended the WCW Tag Titles when they held them, but so what? The Outsiders, Nash and Hall, were the center of the nWo, the group that made wrestling cool again, and thus letting Austin and Rock be born. They were funny, and yet serious. They joked around, and kicked ass. They were bad, and cool. They didn't set the world of Tag Team Wrestling on fire, but they were a tag team that made the world of Professional Wrestling an inferno. Not every great tag team wrestles their way to a spot on this list. They earn it by being that damn good out of the ring while possibly being high or drunk a lot of the time in the ring. The Braves have a lot of good young talent, but, being in a weak division will help them more than anything to a decent record. If some more talent comes on board, this team could run through the East in a year or two like the N.W.O ran through WCW.

19- D-Rays 35-54----The Bluebloods, Earl Robert Eaton and Squire Dave Taylor. Well, I guess you can already tell why I picked this team for Dave but there’s more! This was a heavily gimmicked tag team portraying English nobility in the mid 1990s WCW, a time when the company was doing away with gimmicks like that and going to a more real feel with the New World Order and such. Bobby Eaton has been great in every tag team he’s ever been in and Taylor was a fine technical wrestler that worked a European mat based style. This team was overlooked due to the crappy gimmick, but they put on good matches. If they had came along 6 or 7 years earlier they would have been tag champs. Dave is like this underrated tag team, he suffers from playing in the AL East and is in the basement despite a good team. While he may not be at the top of other divisions if he played in them, he would be more competitive, just like the Bluebloods would have been if given the chance.

20- Rockies 42-45-----The Heavenly Bodies. If you've only seen the WWF version of the Heavenly Bodies, you're missing out. Though they did have a great match with the Steiners at Summerslam '93, the real story of the Bodies took place in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. Despite some excellent singles wrestling in the company, the Bodies (whether represented by Stan Lane & Tom Prichard or Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) were arguably the top draw of the company. And, though SMW may not have been a large promotion, how many tag teams can legitimately say that they carried a company? The Rockies, like the Bodies, are a good team that is past their prime. By the time the Bodies made it to the WWF, Jimmy Del Ray was worn down from years of working in Florida and Pritchard had a lot of miles on him too. This team has a lot of good players but most all of them are in their mid 30s. This is a team built for a run this year. If they can make a move or two, there’s an outside chance at the Wild Card. If not, then deal off the vets for young guys quick and retool for the future.

21- Indians 39-49----Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit. 2 Companies, 2 Runs, 2 Titles, 2 Attitudes, 2 Styles, 2 Friends, 1 Team. In ECW, as part of the Original Triple Threat, they held the ECW tag titles, fighting in ECW hybrid pure wrestling/hardcore mayhem matches. In WCW, as part of the final 4 Horsemen reiteration, they were a sole high spot in a dark time for the company, their feuds with the Flock (Raven & Saturn) and Filthy Animals (Kidman & Mysterio) a highlight. ECW gave them Shane Douglas. WCW gave them Arn Anderson. ECW fans ate it up. WCW fans ate it up. They kicked ass in 95 in ECW. They kicked ass in 99 in WCW. They were a great team in ECW. They were a great team in WCW. They were great. But then, you knew that already. This team has some potential. There are good players in place, but like many teams finding themselves at the bottom of this list, there is work to be done. Malenko and Benoit are two of the greatest technical wrestlers of this generation, some would say the two best, but were overlooked in WCW due to politics and their size. This team, like Malenko and Benoit, has plenty of talent, they just need to harness it. A little bit of work from Craig and this team has a bright future.

22- Diamondbacks 42-46----The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkof. A tandem that has its reputation for the sum of its parts rather than actual achievements, they were thrown together just prior to the first WrestleMania and were given the titles for a few reasons a) to have a title change on the card b) a consolation prize to The Iron Sheik for putting over Hulk Hogan the year before. However this doesn't take away the sheer entertainment value this team gave. An Iranian and Russian being very nationalistic while being down on the USA was an easy and natural heat getter in the early 80's and it takes real balls the sing the Russian National Anthem during the days of the Cold War! While they ended up losing the titles a short time later they remained a handy team to have around and their entertainment value alone makes them a highly regarded team from any era. When Jagger first came into the league, firing off bad trade offers to everyone and getting the same kind of heat this team got at their peak. He has gained a lot more respect since then and his team is better. Jagger has modeled his team after Brett’s Tigers and has made vast improvements to the team he was originally given. Another team that may be able to challenge Nils in a couple years.

23- Nationals 35-50-----Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr. Mistakenly labeled the "Los Gringos Locos" by fans these days, Eddy and Art were actually a part of the Los Gringos Locos stable along with Louie Spicolli and Konnan. Eddy and Art were actually "La Pareja del Terror". They revolutionized the potential for heel tag teams south of the border and north of it, inciting riots and proving that two charismatic heels could main event for a very long time as tag champs. Many believe that Guerrero and Barr paved the way for Degeneration X, and almost had to be the inspiration for much of what ECW did in terms of pushing the envelope with crowd interaction and angles. It's a shame that both of these guys passed away at early ages, because they would have had a tremendous opportunity to thrive in the Attitude Era of the WWF, or in ECW. This team, like Eddie and Barr, has unlimited potential. I have never been able to see this tag team in action but have heard only high praise and high praise is what Paul gets for putting together a team loaded with top prospects that still has enough players that are good currently at the big league level to challenge any team any night. Give this team a couple years and the results may be scary.

24- Pirates 43-47----Money Inc. Outside of Matt Borne and Doink The Clown, has anyone ever done so much with such a cartoonish character as Mike Rotundo did with Irwin R. Sheister? An evil tax man? How could that possibly work? But he did it. And some of his best work cam when he teamed with Ted DiBiase as Money Inc. With Jimmy Hart on the outside, the two money themed bad guy personas took second place to two wrestlers who knew how to wrestle a damn fine match. Formed in early 1992, the duo quickly gained the WWF Tag Titles from The Legion Of Doom, and held them for most of the year, give or take a Natural Disasters reign. Ted and Mike, sorry, Irwin then had their biggest feud, when they attacked Brutus Beefcake, busting him open with their briefcase in one of the first major angles played out on Raw, which led to Jimmy Hart turning face and their loss, by count out, to Hogan and Beefcake at Wrestlemania IX. The duo held the belts for the first held of 1993 before swaping the belts with the Steiner's a couple of times in June. In the transitional period between cartoonish wrestling and the mid 90's wrestling scene, Money Inc straddled it nicely. Matt’s team is in a transitional period. A dang good lineup but a shaky pitching staff have Matt at a crossroads. There is no immediate help in the minors, so Matt must decide if he wants to deal away hitting for pitching and weaken his lineup or go the old Degan route and outslug everyone. Either way, this team should finish around .500, not bad for a first full year in the league.

25- Padres 35-53----Strike Force. Going through these teams it's astounding how many could have been described as "transitional" have managed to stick in ones imagination. Strike Force was born when Tom Zenk left the WWF over a contract dispute and Rick Martel needed a partner, snowballing into a popular team that was used to transfer the WWF Tag Team Titles from The Hart Foundation to Demolition. Their time as a team was barely 18 months but they engaged in two classic feuds with both afore mentioned teams and had a huge hand in getting Demolition set for the big time. While they split at WrestleMania 5 never to re-team we will always have a series of classic matches to remember them by. Martin’s team is like Strike Force, young and talented. This team could be crap your pants scary in a couple of years. It looks like after years of being the weakest link, the NL West could soon be one of the toughest divisions in the league. Hopefully for Martin, his future is brighter than Tito and Martel’s were after they split, as both never made it above the midcard despite being talented.

26- Brewers 43-47---Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Kid. This was the ultimate underdog team. After an injury forced the Smoking Gunns to vacate the tag team titles, a tournament was held in 1995 to determine the new champs. It came down to Holly and the Kid(X-Pac/Sean Waltman) against the bigger, stronger and better Bam Bam Bigalow and Tatanka. Holly and Waltman pulled a huge upset, which resulted in Lawrence Taylor laughing at Bam Bam and gave us the Wrestlemania XI main event of Bam Bam and Lawrence Taylor. The team only held the tag titles for one day, dropping them on Raw the next night to a returning Smoking Gunns, but they had the crowd behind them all the way. Back before Holly got all roided up and Waltman was really into drugs and making sex tapes with Chyna, the good old days. The Brewers may be able to pull off a few upsets here and there, but for the most part this team lacks talent. Sure, Cabrera, Youklis, ect are good players, but talent is lacking all around. This team should fade and end up in the NL Central basement by the end of the year.

27- Tigers 30-59---Team Angle/World’s Greatest Tag Team. Given their roles in WWE's developmental system, it seemed like Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin were destined for tag team greatness. Shelton was one half of the "Minnesota Stretching Crew" with fellow University of Minnesota alum Brock Lesnar, while Charlie teamed up with his former Seton Hall wrestling team mate (and his brother) Russ Haas. However, before the expected pairings could debut in WWE, fate intervened. Brock was lined up for a gigantic singles push, while Russ Haas unexpectedly passed away. Undaunted, the two men continued with their professional wrestling careers, eventually debuting in WWE as Team Angle. Though they were still rough around the edges, the two were very impressive early on, more than holding their own in a feud that saw them repeatedly compete in high profile matches against more experienced wrestlers like Chris Benoit and Edge. After that, the two men moved on, setting their sites on the WWE Tag Team Championship. At that particular point in time wrestling fans were used to seeing **** tag team bouts on Smackdown. Though they didn't quite live up to the Six's reputation, Haas and Benjamin almost single-handedly prevented the tag team division from disintegrating in to something completely un-watchable. Great matches were put on with the likes of Los Guerreros, Eddy Guerrero & Tajiri, and Billy Kidman & Rey Misterio, and the tag division was kept strong for several more months. Unfortunately, after their initial run, WWE's interest in pushing Haas and Benjamin waned. Though they managed to create some surprisingly good matches with an over-the-hill APA, the two young stars were ultimately forgotten about, de-pushed, and separated in 2004's draft lottery. Thus, the story of Haas and Benjamin is not one of true greatness it is one of wasted potential. The Tigers are another team with a load of potential. While all of the prospects will probably not pan out, if most of them do then this team will be destined to be at the top of the standings for a long time. The key will be continued patience by Brett and a little luck and hopefully they’ll fair better in the long run than Charlie and Shelton did.

28- Mets 32-56----The American Males. Scotty Riggs and Buff Bagwell doing a Chipendales dancer gimmick. And they were over too! They debuted in 1995 and had a brief run as the tag team champions, swapping the belts with Harlem Heat. Bagwell had been around WCW since around 1992 but never impressed anyone. Riggs was young and wasn’t anything special. After crappy feuds with jobber teams like Men at Work on WCW Worldwide they got a little bit of a push. Bagwell and Riggs were attacked by Hall and Nash in the famous backstage segment where Nash threw Rey Mysterio into a trailer like a lawn dart. The team ended when Bagwell turned on Riggs and joined the N.W.O and went on to some success while being hated by everyone in the locker room. Riggs ended up being a part of Raven’s Flock and then faded away. The Mets aren’t much of a threat, much like the American Males. Perhaps in the future they could be but it won’t be anytime soon. Look for them to be the IBC’s version of a team on WCW Worldwide, a team that isn’t good enough to make it on the big show.

29- White Sox 26-63----Cade & Murdoch. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch debuted in the WWF in 2005 and quickly took the tag team titles from The Hurricane and Rosey. They had a redneck gimmick, with Murdoch spitting constantly into a dip cup while Cade did all the talking. Since the WWF tag titles meant nothing by this point, there wasn’t much for them to do until Kane and Big Show came along and obliterated them two nights in a row. Since then, the two were split up, for the most part weren’t on TV and were jobbed out(lost) to just about anyone. Recently the team has reunited, but the tag team titles haven’t even been defended in like 2 months so it remains to be seen whether or not they’ll even be employed at the end of the year. Degan won the ALC the first year, but has jobbed out since then. Its time for him to step back up, make some moves and become a player again or he’ll suffer the fate of Cade and Murdoch, jobber hell.

30- Rangers 28-61-----Men at Work. A fixture on WCW Saturday Night and WCW Worldwide in the 1990s. When you saw those guys in the ring dressed like construction workers, you knew a squash match was coming. They would get in very little offense, take a beating and get pinned. That was their job and as the jobber tag team de jour, they were perfect for their roles. Brad gets in a little offense with Damon and Kennedy but is usually finished off quickly and will continue to be a jobber until he starts making moves.