Ask Wrestling Rumors Week 2 – June 16, 2018

We’re back again with more questions being answered. In case you weren’t around last week, you might want to check out the original version, which can be seen right here:

https://www.facebook.com/wrestlingrumors/posts/1762027177207264

In short, my name is Thomas Hall and I’ve been watching wrestling for over thirty years. I thought some of you might find my knowledge of wrestling to be a bit of a resource and therefore opened the floor for whatever wrestling questions you might want to ask. It can be historical, trivia, modern, fantasy booking or pretty much anything you would like. As always, you can use the Facebook comments section by clicking here to ask whatever you would like to see answered next week. Let’s get to it.

From Yer Maw.

1. Who’s the best promo guy in WWE?

We’ll start with an interesting one this week. This one depends on what you’re looking for in a promo and therefore could go multiple ways. A promo can do a lot of different things and often has different motivations. They might be trying to make you want to buy a ticket to a show (or a WWE Network subscription in this case) or to make you laugh or to make you understand why someone did something that they’ve done or are about to do.

This is considered the best promo ever, and with good reason.

Dusty Rhodes talks about "hard times": Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, Oct. 29, 1985

If you’re talking about comedy, there’s such a wide range of names that it’s almost impossible to pick a single one. Since everyone’s taste in comedy is different, something like a John Cena promo might not be as funny as one from say, Elias (who is getting better and better in this area every week). Wrestling comedy works well when it sounds natural, but that’s rarely the case anymore in WWE thanks to their obsession with scripting everything out.

Unfortunately the same things goes for setting up future matches. With WWE beating things into your head every chance they get (hence why Michael Cole isn’t a candidate here), most wrestlers rarely have a chance to put something like this together. Paul Heyman is of course excellent at it, but some of his lines and statements have become so repetitive that the fans are actively chanting along with him. They’re still great, but it feels like you can put together a Bingo game of his more popular lines at times.

However, there’s something to Heyman that makes him stand out: he comes off as a real character. When Heyman talks, it doesn’t feel like he’s scripted and what he says comes off as something that you can believe. I mean, to be fair it helps when you have a sneering (and eternally bouncing) Brock Lesnar right behind him. That aspect is incredibly important, but I don’t think he pulls it off quite as well as someone else in WWE today, and that person tops my list.

Or if you prefer taking a crowd into the palm of your hand and leading them wherever you want to go. This should be the blueprint for a modern heel promo.

WWE The Rock Disses Toronto (Full Segment)

That would be Samoa Joe, who gives you the impression that he could, and very well may, actually kill someone one day. Joe has an intensity that makes you look him in the eye and feel everything he’s trying to get across, which makes you pay attention to him. That stands out and puts Joe in a position where he is several steps ahead of everyone else. Joe comes off as someone who is being himself instead of playing a character and that’s one of the most important keys to all of wrestling. When you have someone who is so much different than the rest of the roster it’s going to work, and Joe does it better than anyone today.

From #MrScissorsKick

2. Why did Wendi Richter get screwed over at Madison Square Garden in 1985?

Well we talked about the Montreal Screwjob last week so we might as well talk about the Original Screwjob this week. This one might require some backstory though as a lot of fans might not have heard of Richter. Women’s wrestling wasn’t exactly a thriving business in the early 1980s but there were a few bright spots here and there. One of them was Richter, who signed with the WWF in 1983 and instantly became a major star.

In July 1984, Richter hit the big time as she was chosen by Cyndi Lauper to face off against the Fabulous Moolah (Richter’s trainer) at the Brawl To End It All. The match, while terrible from a technical standpoint, was a pop culture smash and Richter was turned into a major star. She would go on to become a featured attraction on the house show circuit and after losing the title, eventually regained it from Lelani Kai at the first Wrestlemania on March 31, 1985.

Richter was on fire and a big star…and that means it’s all downhill from there. Her contract was coming up near the end of 1985 and while both sides wanted her to continue with the company, the new deal hadn’t been signed yet. Richter claimed that she was still under her original contract but others have said that she was refusing to sign a new deal and Vince McMahon needed to get the title off of her before she was a free agent, which would have been a major issue for the company.

Therefore, on November 25, 1985, the WWF did something about it. Richter was defending her title against the masked Spider Lady (a generic masked woman played by various wrestlers over the course of several months). About six minutes into the match, the Spider Lady grabbed a quick small package and got a very fast three count, despite Richter’s shoulders being up at two. The bell rang but Richter got the mask off of Spider Lady, revealing the Fabulous Moolah, who was named the new champion. Here’s how the match ended:

Original Screwjob - Wendi Richter

In other words, we had a screwjob and just like the more famous version, it didn’t end well. Richter was gone from the company immediately and moved on to various independent companies, plus the AWA. She was basically not mentioned again until 2010, when she was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, because wrestling is funny like that. Given the state of the women’s division it’s not like Richter was going to get much bigger or ignite a revolution or anything, but it was a very nasty way to get rid of someone who was a legitimate big time star.

Welcome home Wendi.

Wendi Richter speaks at the WWE Hall of Fame 2010 induction

So short version: she was screwed over because of money. You know, like so many other people have been before in wrestling and almost everything else.

From Isaiah Morrow

3. Do you think Lashley should have stayed in Impact Wrestling?

This is a rather topical one as it comes just after the disaster that has been Lashley vs. Sami Zayn, which will be seeing its first match later this weekend. While Lashley seems like the definition of a can’t miss signing, his time in WWE hasn’t exactly shined so far. A lot of that is based on the writing and story he’s been placed in, but saying he should be back in Impact Wrestling is kind of a stretch.

As usual, this one is going to require some backstory. Lashley was brought up to WWE back in 2006 and instantly became someone who looked like he could take the company by storm. He looked like a monster, he was built better than almost anyone in WWE history, he was an amateur wrestling champion, and he was having good matches without almost anyone he faced.

This is what people saw in Lashley in WWE.

Bobby Lashley's dominant moments: WWE Top 10, April 14, 2018

The problem was at some point he had to talk. Lashley looked like a star but just didn’t have the talking abilities to back it up whatsoever. His voice wasn’t the deepest in the world and while he was involved in some major stories, they never really got him to the next level. Lashley had a short feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship but came up short in their blowoff match. A few months later, he was gone from the company and wouldn’t be back for nearly ten years.

While he was gone, Lashley turned into a pretty decent mixed martial artist, going 15-2 in his career to date. Lashley wrestled elsewhere around the world, but by far his biggest success came in Impact Wrestling, where he won the X-Division Title, the King of the Mountain Championship and four World Titles. He was the top heel in the company for a good while and held the title for a good chunk of his last few years with the promotion, dominating almost everyone he faced.

So what was so much better in Impact Wrestling? Well it was a few different reasons, but one stood out above all others: Lashley was treated like a monster, who could run through anyone in front of him because he was some combination of bigger, stronger and just flat out better than so many of the other people around him. Throw in allowing him to be a heel, which is exactly what someone with his kind of size, power and ability should be, and there was almost no way that Lashley could have failed.

Lashley just learned how to wreck people.

Lashley vs. KM | IMPACT! Highlights Feb. 1st, 2018

It was a rare instance of Impact Wrestling nailing something that WWE got wrong (which do exist, but very few are on Lashley’s level). This brought up the idea of Lashley having figured wrestling out and being ready to go back to WWE and make up for his previous lackluster run (which I can’t say I’d call a failure). That’s exactly what he did earlier this year, returning on the night after WrestleMania 34.

However, it was all downhill from there with Lashley being stuck in a bunch of stupid segments with Zayn, involving his “sisters” (men in drag), a discussion of Lashley’s Instagram page, and an obstacle course. In other words, it was yet more evidence that WWE doesn’t always see what’s right in front of them because they feel the need to spruce people up. That’s what’s happening with Lashley and it’s another great example of the results not being there.

So do I think he regrets not sticking with Impact Wrestling? While I can never know what’s in Lashley’s head, there’s a fair reason to argue that he might not be the happiest with all of these things. At the same time though, you have to imagine the money is better in WWE and the exposure certainly is greater.

The other major upside though: there’s the chance that WWE could get it right. If WWE can suddenly figure out what is right in front of them and let Lashley be the kind of serious/cocky monster that he was in Impact Wrestling, he could be a big deal for a long time to come. All it takes is flicking the switch and changing Lashley to what has worked before and it should be one heck of a ride. I’m not sure if WWE can pull that off, but anything is better than Lashley talking about his family over and over.

From LibSuperstar

4. What do you want to see as the main event of WrestleMania 35?

Oh dear this is another hard one because of how many ways it could really go. With about ten months to go before WrestleMania 35, it’s way too early to know where things are actually going to go. However, you can probably guess the kind of things that WWE would want to do given a major show in their biggest market like this. Therefore, for the sake of sanity, I’ll go with five possible options that I could see happening, as it would be nearly impossible to guess what we’re getting.

These are in no particular order.

Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey

Ever since the start of the Women’s Revolution, nearly every woman on the roster has talked about wanting to main event WrestleMania one day. The smarkier fans have laughed off the idea over and over again, just like they laughed off the idea of the women’s division meaning anything or the women main eventing a pay per view or the women main eventing a major pay per view like the Royal Rumble. I think you get where I’m going with this.

If this doesn’t actually close the show, I can’t imagine the division getting another chance. Rousey is a star still but the longer she’s in WWE, the more people forget about what she’s done in the UFC and how big of a star she was there. If they’re going to do this, it needs to be at this show and against Charlotte, who has been presented as one of the best (if not the best) female wrestler of all time. Having a women’s match headlining the show would get them some mainstream attention and Rousey is the one who could pull it off. I know people are going to laugh this off, but it’s a very, very real possibility.

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns

This match has taken place before but it was at Battleground of all places. The Shield is one of the few ideas that WWE has managed to turn into a smashing success and putting the three of them together on the biggest stage of them all, with the proper build and the proper setting, could be one heck of a spectacle. Tell me this isn’t the kind of thing that Vince McMahon would absolutely love to push to the moon.

If nothing else, you know they’re going to give Reigns yet another shot in the main event of WrestleMania because they’re WWE, he’s Reigns and it’s WrestleMania so that’s just kind of what they do. Their previous attempts have been nothing short of a disaster so maybe the best solution is to throw him out there with the only people who have been able to keep him over as a top face. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but it’s probably the only idea that WWE can use to try and make Reigns into this superstar that they want him to be, even if the New York crowd would massacre him.

Something this cool deserves a bigger stage.

Dean Ambrose vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - WWE Title Triple Threat Match: WWE Battleground 2016

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan

Now normally I would say only if Reigns is the top heel and Bryan is challenging him for the World Title, but I can’t imagine WWE actually trying to pull that off. The thing is though, imagine seeing these two come out in front of 80,000 people near New York City. Just imagine what kind of a reaction we would be in for under those circumstances. The fans are going to boo Reigns somewhere out of Long Island Sound and Bryan could sacrifice bunnies and still be cheered.

This is the kind of match that WWE should have run at a much higher level if they wanted Reigns to become seen as the guy. Bryan is the people the fans want to cheer and Reigns is the guy they want him to boo. They tried this face vs. face at Fastlane 2015 and, like almost everything else involving Reigns, it blew up in their faces. Try it with the dynamic that it should be in with Bryan pinning Reigns to win back the title that he never lost and you have a hot match in front of a molten crowd. What more could you possibly ask to see?

AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar

It worked once and it could work again. I know one of the popular options seems to be Bryan vs. Lesnar but I’d rather not have Bryan’s head bouncing around the streets of New Jersey after Lesnar suplexes him 184 times in a row. Styles and Lesnar already had a great match at Survivor Series last year and if Lesnar was willing to sell for Styles on that stage, there’s a good chance that he’d be willing to do it again on the biggest stage of them all.

Above all else though, someone has to slay Lesnar, hopefully as he’s on the way out the door and EGADS the thoughts of that being Reigns again makes my head hurt very badly. Styles has been one of the best performers since the day he debuted in WWE and he deserves to be in the biggest match of the year at least once. If nothing else maybe he can break Lesnar’s streak of bad WrestleMania matches (that last more than five minutes) because if he can’t, there’s no one on the planet who can.

AJ Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada

It said what I wanted to see, not what I think will happen. To make this clear, I have no reason to believe that this is going to happen and I’d put Hulk Hogan vs. Steve Austin higher up on the list of realistic possibilities. New Japan isn’t going to let the best wrestler in the world go (and they’re not likely to get rid of Kenny Omega go either) and the idea of having him in the WWE or at WrestleMania in general is simply insane.

But sweet goodness it could be a lot of fun. Okada really is as good as they say he is (though he’s not having a seven star match, because such a thing doesn’t exist) and I’d love to see him having the match that he’s capable of having in front of the American audience that would be just as amazed by him as the Japanese fans. This is the definition of a pipe dream match and while it’s happened before, I’d love to see it happen outside of Japan, just for the sake of seeing the fans lose their minds all at once.

Sometimes you just need a dream match.

AJ Styles vs Kazuchika Okada NJPW Dominion 7.5 Highlights

I’m as clueless as almost anyone else about what to expect at WrestleMania 35 and there’s a good chance that it’s going to be a full time wrestler against a part timer because that’s how WWE rolls these days. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wound up being Undertaker and/or John Cena in the main event instead, but these are the more entertaining concepts and something that you might be interested in if you watch the shows every week and think that the people actually there every week deserve a chance on top instead of the people who are there maybe once every few months if we’re lucky enough to be graced by their presence.

From Mattie Lee

5. I’m still of the opinion that we need less PPVs.

Ok so it’s not a question but this is the second week of this thing and I need something to talk about. I completely agree, as the schedule we have now presents more than a few problems. First and foremost, there’s the problem of trying to find main events for all of these shows. This weekend we’ll be seeing Money in the Bank 2018 with AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Part Five. How many times can you have these two fight? A five match series should take the better part of a year and these guys have done it in two and a half months.

Look at Austin vs. the Rock. It took then FIVE YEARS to have their three big matches. Now why did those matches feel special? I mean, besides the fact that they were mostly the main event of WrestleMania and it was Austin vs. the Rock. They were big because they felt special. We had waited two years per match to have these two fight again and it made for something that felt like a major deal. The same was true for Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, who took a year to have three matches. Slow down the calendar and see how much better your big matches can get.

Does this even need an introduction?

Wrestlemania 17 My Way video

Second, we could get rid of some of these ridiculous gimmick pay per views. Do we really need a pay per view set aside for the Elimination Chamber, going EXTREME, champions clashing, Money in the Bank, the Cell and Tables, Ladders and Chairs? How about you actually build up to those matches instead of just having a show for the sake of showcasing all of those things?

It’s the problem of the calendar determining what we get to see rather than what we’re seeing determining the calendar. As usual, look down at NXT. They don’t go by some schedule of what kind of shows to present and the matches just feel bigger. We don’t have a ladder match because it’s June or a cage match because it’s October. Let things get there naturally and, again, things will get better because there is actual storytelling instead of planting your characters into one plot device after another.

Finally, it would just give the fans a break. Look back at the spring of this year. You had WrestleMania 34, the Greatest Royal Rumble, two international tours and Backlash all in the span of about six weeks. I get the idea of most of those, but was anyone asking for Backlash? Keep in mind that it was the show around the time of the Superstar Shakeup, meaning a lot of the matches had little to no impact because the wrestlers were changing rosters. Why would I want to see a show that means nothing when I’m already sick of having WWE tell me how important every single thing I’m watching is?

There’s just so much to pick from.

Coming soon to WWE Network

I know WWE seems to believe that quantity equals quality, but sometimes it’s ok to just slow things down and take a little break. It’s never going to just be the Big Four again but having more than a pay per view a month is nonsense. Moving back to all co-branded pay per views is a good idea but it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to have a month or two go by without a pay per view. Make it a big Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live or something, but don’t hammer in so many things that don’t need to be there for the most part.

From Elky.

6. Do you know any free falls as bad as Scott Steiner in 2003?

Egads the Scott Steiner vs. Triple H matches. I had tried to block these things out but we’re back to them again. So back in the dying days of WCW, Steiner became the biggest heel the company had seen in a long time and he got very close to becoming the star the company could have been built around, assuming the whole financial disaster and horrible decisions hadn’t taken place (you know, because other than that, WCW was in fine shape). The WWE signed him in 2002, with Steiner debuting at Survivor Series of that year. He went on to face Triple H in back to back pay per view title matches and….they didn’t go so well.

While not the singles version, this is what Steiner was capable of doing on the big stage.

The Steiner Brothers vs. Sting & Lex Luger: WCW SuperBrawl on WWE Network

Steiner, who came into the first match with a foot injury, appeared to be out of shape and incapable of having a match at this level. He used ten belly to belly suplexes, fell down attempting a tiger bomb, and had the fans booing him so hard that they were actually cheering Triple H, the top villain in the company. I hesitate to say that the rematch at No Way Out 2003 was better, but it was at least less bad. By that point though, Steiner was done and everyone knew it. He wasn’t on WrestleMania 19 and was a midcarder for the rest of his run before having his final match with the company at the 2004 Royal Rumble.

But is he the worst? Well….yeah probably. Steiner was someone who was brought into the company with what should have been a lot of potential and didn’t even make it four months without being dropped like a stone. To put on that kind of a performance in the biggest match and opportunity of your career is pathetic and while the injury had something to do with it, I can’t accept the idea that it was the best he could do.

While not at the same level, I would also include Rikishi’s main event run. Rikishi turned into a red hot star in 2000, with the great moment of the dive off the cage to crush Val Venis at Fully Loaded (though Venis won the match for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom) and seemed ready for something even bigger in his career.

Just….wow.

Rikishi body splash from top of the cage

That’s exactly what he got later in the year, when it was revealed that Rikishi was driving the car that ran over Austin at Survivor Series 1999. This turned Rikishi into the biggest heel in the company and launched him from the midcard to the main event. The first big match was of course against Austin at No Mercy 1999 and the problem became apparent very quickly: Rikishi didn’t work as a main event guy. This was the case for two reasons.

First of all, Rikishi just wasn’t that good at the main event style. When you weigh 400lbs, there isn’t much that people are going to be able to do with you. Austin couldn’t do much against a guy his size other than throw punches. It’s not like you can slam him regularly or really do much else with him, which was the case for all but the strongest power guys. Rikishi was fine in the role of superkicking midcarders and doing his “funny” offense, but that’s not going to cut it in the main event. It also leads into the second problem.

Rikishi didn’t change his look. While the 400lb dancing guy in a thong may be funny for someone at the Intercontinental Title level, there’s a big step to being inside the Cell with Austin, Rock, Kurt Angle, Triple H and Undertaker. Rikishi looked like a joke in those matches a lot of the time and being so heavy didn’t do him any more favors. You can’t do much with him in that spot and after he was thrown from the Cell, his time in the main event scene was completely done.

Because someone thought THIS was a good idea.

Rikishi confesses to running over "Stone Cold" Steve Austin: This Week in WWE History, Oct. 8, 2015

After about five minutes, it was clear that Rikishi wasn’t going to make it in the main event scene so the whole story was switched to Rikishi working for Triple H, who should have been the big bad all along. Rikishi’s heel run was quickly forgotten about and he was moved into a tag team with Haku, which fell apart when Rikishi was injured and put on the shelf for several months. Eventually he returned to the role he should have been playing all along: a midcard guy who the fans would cheer when he did his silly offense that still looked effective.

Steiner is still the worst ever because it was just so bad, but Rikishi was a disaster as well and an experiment that was pulled almost immediately, as it should have been.

And finally, from Someone.

7. From when you started watching to today, your thoughts of the good and bad changes of the product.

WOW that could be a long one. My first memory of watching wrestling is the Black Scorpion in 1990 and I haven’t stopped watching since. I’ve seen every episode of Monday Night Raw since its debut so I’ve been around for a pretty long time. Therefore, for the sake of sanity and length, I’ll cut this down to three good and three bad things about WWE.

We’ll start with the good.

1. Better Wrestling Up And Down The Card.

This one kind of speaks for itself, but the quality of wrestling has gone through the roof in the last ten years or so. Back in the old days there were better names on top, but how many of them were there? Today, you can regularly see a good twenty minute match on every pay per view and some of the matches on TV are excellent as well. Even the worst wrestlers on the card are at least competent because WWE can bring in the best of the best. They have the money, the resources and the dominance to keep the top talent around, which you just wouldn’t see back in the 90s.

I know the content might not be the most thrilling, but when is the last time you remember seeing a truly terrible match? You might see a boring one (and you often do) but how many times do you see something that is really and truly bad? A lot of the horrible wrestlers have been cut away and that almost guarantees that the quality is going to improve. Look back at some of the older shows and see how many flat out bad matches you would get. Then compare that to today and see which is better.

2. The Women’s Revolution.

I know that’s a cliched answer but it really is remarkable to look back and see how far things have come in this area. When I was growing up, women’s wrestling barely existed. You had Alundra Blayze, some women from the 80s, and the occasional Japanese challenger. There was no division to speak of and for years, there was no Women’s Champion. Then came the era of “wrestling” which involved people like Sable, Debra and Stephanie McMahon as champion, which went as badly as you could imagine. The models weren’t much better, but they were at least a step in the right direction…sometimes.

There’s a reason it’s referred to as “that Jackie Gayda match”.

That Jackie Gayda Match - 7-8-2002 Raw

Now we have an actual division with good wrestlers who happen to be women. Looks and sex appeal (while still there) are never emphasized and the division is something that can be looked on with respect rather than a bunch of women tearing each others’ clothes off. That kind of stuff appealed to me when I was twelve, but looking back on it is embarrassing. Today’s product is something that fans can be proud to watch and that’s a lot better than the nonsense that we used to watch.

3. Going PG Permanently.

The Attitude Era was bad, both from a product perspective and for wrestling in general. Sure it was fun and entertaining at the time (like I said, I never missed a show), but for a long, long time, that kind of stuff was what people associated with wrestling. The matches were mostly short with a ton of interference and the pay per view versions weren’t much better. On top of that though, the stuff they were doing between matches was horrible. I really, really don’t need to see all the sex, excessive violence and vulgarity on a wrestling show. That kind of stuff works in moderation and that’s all it needs to be.

In short, things are just better now. The focus is on wrestling and you can almost guarantee that you’re going to see something that doesn’t make you reach for the remote as soon as someone else comes into the room. Couple that with the health aspects (no more bleeding all over the place for no apparent reason or unprotected chair shots to the head) and wrestling feels much cleaner. It might not be as exciting, but it’s something that I don’t mind showing others and that’s why it’s making so much more money now.

And then, the bad.

1. Everyone Sounds The Same.

I know it’s called wrestling, but the talking part of the shows are often far more important and that’s not a good area these days. Back in my younger years, it seemed that everyone sounded different and you could tell how versatile the roster was. Now it’s all trying to sound “real” while having conversations that no one in their right mind would ever have. It’s all about the right words or phrases and getting in the buzzwords to make Twitter happy, which makes it seem like I’m watching a very scripted show.

I really don’t understand why so many people have to sound the exact same way. Wrestlers have unique personalities but those have been stifled in exchange for having them all be the corporate drones that WWE wants them to be. There’s nothing controversial said and there’s less room for trouble, but at the same time there’s virtually no one breaking out of the WWE bubble. I’m not sure why WWE wouldn’t want someone to shatter the glass ceiling, but that ceiling is as uniform as it can get anymore.

2. Commentary Is Horrendous.

That’s really the only way to put it, aside from some stronger words that I try to avoid using. I was less than a year old for it but we’ll count this anyway. Back at Survivor Series 1988, Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura had the following exchange during a match featuring the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. One brother was tagged into the match, and this was said:

Ventura: “Now which Rougeau is that?”

Monsoon: “That is Jacques. He’s a little bit taller than his brother.”

Ventura: “Jacques, ok. I get those two confused.”

That’s it. No insults, no followup, no laughing at each other for forty five seconds while ignoring the match and then talking about whatever else was going on that night. That’s a conversation that two people watching something might have and it sounds perfectly normal. On top of that, it was about the match itself, because that’s all that mattered at the moment. Not the WWE Network, not matches coming up later, and not having personalities. Ventura and Monsoon her personalities because they developed them over time, not because of whatever they were told to say. Now when does any of that apply today?

Tell me you could script something like this:

Dusty and Brain making fun of Tony Schiavone

3. The Death Of Tag Team Wrestling.

When I was growing up, tag team wrestling was great. You had Demolition, the Hart Foundation, the Rockers, the Nasty Boys, the Legion of Doom, Money Inc. and more. Those were tag teams and a division was built with them. I know you still have some traditional tag teams today, but how many of them feel like their job is to be on the show as a tag team wrestler?

Think about it. How many teams are around today who aren’t comprised of two singles guys with nothing else to do? Look at today’s tag roster and see how many teams that applies to. The Bar, New Day, Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt, the B Team, Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre and I could go on. There are teams who do fit the older mold (Revival, Bludgeon Brothers, Usos and some others), but how many times over the years have you seen a team that was there for the sake of giving the people something to do with the team just being what they were doing at the time? I miss the old tag division where it felt like its own thing.

That’s all for this week. Make sure you hit us up on the Facebook page with more questions and I’ll be back next week.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 27 wrestling books. His latest book is the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume III: From Dallas To New Orleans.

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