In the last blog we looked at tag team wrestling of the 80's. In this edition of Is Tag Team Wrestling Dead we will look at the 90's. I've always felt the 90's were more of a stupid gimmick type. You had the BodyDonna's,The Headshrinkers,The Headbangers,the cowboy gimmick with The Smoking Gunns!! And we also saw the begining of pairing up of whoever they could think of!!! Such as Owen Hart and Yokozuna,HBK and diesel,123 kid and Bob Holly ect.. I think you get the idea.
The 90's
The New Age Outlaws- This team consisted of the Road Dogg Jesse James and Bad Ass Billy Gunn. Now this team really had no legs until the night after Wrestlemania 14 when they joined D-X. And that automatically put this team on the map over night. They had several Reigns as Tag Team Champions and to me their greatest match came at Wrestlemania 14 against Catus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie in a Tag Team title dumpster match which the Outlaws lost. The WWE attempted to make these 2 singles stars once the D-X angle faded but they never had the spotlight as bright as it was when they were in D-X.
Rock N Sock Connection- This team seemed to be a mis match from the begining. The Rock And Mankind earlier in 1999 had a historic feud over the WWE Title in several grueling matches. They won thier 1st of 2 I believe Tag Team Titles from The UnderTaker and The Big Show on Raw. On September 27,1999 Mankind had a this is your life segment for The Rock. IT still is today the highest rated segment on Raw. And showed that everyonce in a while putting a team like this together out of the blue can work. Their Mic skills and chemistry together makes this team great.
The Hardy Boys- Matt and Jeff started in the WWE in the mid 90's as jobbers. Late in 98 earlier 99 this team got a chance to Shine and did they ever. Now you have to keep in mind the HARDY'S went through a lot of retooling. They won their 1st Tag Team Titles while under the guideness of Michael P.S. Hayes. Soon after they would part ways with Hayes and join Gangrel in The New Brood Gimmick. That as well did not last. Finally it was their paring with Lita that Team Extreme were born and became one of the Greatest Tag Teams in WWE history winning an impressive 7 Tag Team Championships.
Edge and Christian- This team was also born out of the Gangrel Brood!! There 5 second poses were loved rather you like them or hated them. The Teri Invational Tournament Ladder match at No Mercy 1999 put this team and the Hardy Boys on the Tag Team Map.Their allaiances with Kurt Angle were priceless moments in the WWE. The Mick Foley Commisoner bit and trying to get Christain under weight to make a run at the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship with the chicken suit were outrageous laughable moments I will never forget. This team would go on to win 6 or 7 Tag team Titles as well. But Edge and Christian would be on to bigger and better things in their careers and TLC was right around the corner to elevate Edge and Christian,The Hardy Boys,and our next team.
The Dudley Boys- This team really made thier impact in a little promotion called ECW! This was to me the 1st team to be Extreme. The Table matches they have had our legendary!!! They have a Historic 20 time run as Tag Team Champions a feat that I think will never be beaten. They were the 1st team in history to Hold the ECW,WWE,WCW and TNA World Tag Team Titles. Bubba Ray Power Bombing Mae Young off the Raw stage was a shocking moment to say the least. Then at Wrestlemania 16 The 1st ever Triple Threat Ladder match took place which edge and Christian would go on to win and did this one ever steal the show. Then at SummerSlam That year the Dudley Boys Created TLC-Tables,Ladders,and Chairs with all 3 teams from Wrestlemania 16 and once agian history was made body were broken Bubba took a huge dive into about 5 to 7 tables I thought he was done . These 3 teams would go onto Wrestlemania 17 for TLC 2. This time interference was all over with Rhyno,Spike,And Lita all getting involved. but once again Edge and Christian went 2-0 in TLC matches that the Dudley Boys Created. I don't think that Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boys, and the Dudley's were never the same after these encounters.
Now I understand that I stayed with Tag Teams from the late 90's.But like I said at the begining that from 1990-1997 were just too much of the stupid gimmick Tag Teams. And that 1998-2000 and a little bit past that brought back the late 70's into the complete 80's Tag Team Division that wrestling fans have grown to love.
So, In part 3 we will look at the year 2000 till now to really decide if Tag Team Wrestling is Dead Or Alive!!!


Great blog, I agree with it being a time of gimmick tag teams but, I did enjoy short lived teams like Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith, they had a nice tag team title reign.
Dean02:27 PM EST