Follow cuzo Drew on twitter:
Previously on the Gospel According To The Ice Jesus we went over #10-6 on my top ten “Short Lived Tag Teams Of All Time”. Now before I get into my top 5, I want to take the time out to do some shameless shilling.
Now for those who only know of my work here, I’m also ¼ of the rag tag crew known as the Anti-Semantic Show. It’s a pod cast that we put out each and every week, so GO CHECK IT OUT
Now let’s get down to brass tax, as we continue our fantastic little list.
#5 Vicious & Delicious (Scott Norton & Buff Bagwell) WCW 1996-1998 – I know what you’re thinking “two years in wrestling is a long, long time” fact remains that in spite of the fact they were together for so long, they teamed so infrequently due to Norton’s involvement in Japan that this counts. Also I’m sure you’re a little shocked to see Buff Bagwell make the cut. Yeah Buff’s a primadonna, yeah Buff for the most part dogged it, but he was just SOO good in his role here.
Buff was the guy you wanted to see get his ass handed to him, and the rough, tough rugged Scott “Flash” Norton was the monster to back him up. And their finisher, DAMN ! The Doomsday Style Blockbuster was just so innovative for it’s time. Seriously check it out, it freaking ruled. It’s a pity they were part of the N.W.O really as they were forced to play second fiddle to the Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash).
# 4 Chris Jericho & Eddie Guerrero WCW 1998 – Blinked and you would’ve missed this pairing of two future world champions. For a few short weeks WCW paired them up simply because each had nothing to do. Guerrero & Jericho were committed to make it work to; it’s just a pity that WCW didn’t care for its tag team division.
They even tossed around a few teams names, as covered by Jericho in “A Lion’s Tale”, the best coming from Guerrero: The “Eh and the Weh” a play on a common Canadian term (eh) and a common Mexican term “weh”. There chemistry was off the charts, and on top of bringing the world class work ethic to the table they also brought the good old fashioned “Memphis Style” Heat.
I’m talking of course about begging off, and greeting each other with hugs after taking the big bumps from the baby faces. An awesome short lived team that could have easily been the Hollywood Blondes of ’97.
# 3 Steve Austin & Dude Love (Mick Foley) WWF 1997 – Two of the best talkers in the business, how can they not make this list? This team was entertaining as all hell. It was all about the story. Austin’s WWF tag team championship partner Shawn Michaels was forced to vacate his half of the belts, leaving Steve with no partner.
For weeks and weeks Mick Foley as Mankind petition Steve to be his partner, to which Austin replied “I want nothing to do with that freak”. This all lead to Austin taking on The British Bulldog & Owen Hart for the vacant titles with a “mystery partner”. Austin was getting his arse handed to him two on one, but who should appear on the Titan Tron but Foley dressed like a hippie letting out a cry of “It’s ME DUDE LOVE!”. Love was perhaps the most “interesting” and “different” character Foley ever played, it was a child hood dream come true as “The Dude” was the character Foley himself created as a child.
Awesome and memorable moment that saw Austin & Foley capture the gold! As far as being short lived is concerned, aside from a 6 man I’m pretty sure their team was just that one match as Austin would suffer a serious neck injury and the team would be forced to vacant the tag straps without ever truly defending them.
#2 Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho WWF 2001 – We talked about the short lived glory that was the team of Austin and Triple H last week, well it was due to there involvement with Jericho and Beniot that it was truly a success. Benoit & Jericho were perfect adversaries for the Power Trip to play on.
For years they were touted as “internet gods” who were “never given the chance to hang out on the top of the cards’ that being said it really added an “Old Guard (Hunter & Austin) Vs. New Guard” feel to their program. Last week I posted the epic match that saw the Chris’ capture the gold, but it was their first defense of said titles that really sealed the deal for me, the first TLC on free TV against the Dudleys, Hardys, & Edge & Christian JUST THREE DAYS after winning the gold! TLC on FREE TV is a simply Awesome match that needs to be seen. The team was sadly cut short in very much the same way the Power Trip was, as Benoit was sidelined with a major injury just a month or so into their run.
And last but not least…
#1 The Hart Brothers (Bret & Owen Hart) WWF 1994 – It’s really something that two real life brothers only teamed a handful of times, eh? It’s all bout timing, and Owen being the younger brother of Bret came up in Canada and Japan WHILE Bret was teaming in the WWF with Jim Neidhart as the Hart Foundation. They didn’t team till ’94 and it was all part of a huge sibling rivalry angle.
Near the end of ’93 Owen began to voice that he was “sick and tired of being in Bret’s shadow” , to which Bret responded by getting the brothers a shot at the tag team title at the Royal Rumble. Headed into the match the two brothers had a freaking EPIC tag team battle against the Steiner Brothers that was taped for Coliseum Home Video of all things. At the Rumble itself they took on the Quebeckers for the gold, in a match that saw Bret injure his knee and lose the bout.
Owen responded by attacking him post match, and cut an awesome promo calling Bret “selfish” for taking the bout and hilarious exclaiming “I KICKED HIS LEG OUT OF HIS LEG!” It was a huge part of history as it lead to one of Bret’s greatest feuds. It’s a pity that Bret was far above the tag division by the time Owen (not the Blue Blazer) hit the WWF as they would’ve made a great full time team.
So there you have it, my top ten short lived teams. Join us next week as we talk a little bit about one of my all time favorites… the first wrestler I ever spoke to on AOL Instant Messenger back in 1998/99 (and still to this day the only): “The King Of Old School” Steve Corino
Feed the Trolls