Remember when the Dudleys were tag team champions in the WWE and were putting their opponents through tables each week?
Remember when the Hardys were jumping off of turnbuckles, ladders, stages, cages and probably other things to keep their tag titles? Remember when Edge and Christian were mocking their opponents and somehow found a way to keep the tag belts around their waists? Remember the Hart Foundation? The Outlaws? DX? Rock ‘N’ Sock Connection? (Many other great tag teams?) Don’t you miss when tag team matches/feuds used to be meaningful and entertaining? The tag team division has been in shambles for a while. There have been some decent teams lately but it seems like they don’t last.
I bring this up because it seems like they are setting up for a fatal four way tag match for the titles at Summerslam. They always seem to do this at Summerslam and Wrestlemania now. They do this so everyone can be on the show. Some of those teams definitely shouldn’t be on the show though. Los Matadores haven’t been relevant in a while. The Lucha Dragons are promising but they haven’t been used that much in stories or on PPV’s. The Prime Time Players are champs and are decent. I like Titus. They haven’t been overly impressive since taking the belts, but they haven’t been bad either. The New Day is hot. They have made a major turnaround since their debut as a team. Really though, the match at Summerslam should be the Prime Time Players vs. New Day. Less is more sometimes. Let those two teams finish this feud. Adding more teams doesn’t make it more exciting at all, especially since two of the teams haven’t been pushed in a while. If the Usos were in the match instead of the Matadores, then that would be better…but who knows when they will be back…
Wrestlemania 29 was the last time the tag belts weren’t defended in a fatal four way tag match at either Summerslam or Wrestlemania. (Or not defended at all) Now really, that’s only four PPV’s, but still that’s four PPV’s where WWE is just adding teams to try and make it more meaningful or to let people be on the show. If the crowd doesn’t react to them on a Monday Night Raw then why would they react to them at Summerslam or Wrestlemania? I didn’t really care about any of those matches. The teams in them are not teams that anyone cares about.
There have been decent teams since WM 29, but it seems like they never quite get a chance. Plus, once a team loses the titles it seems like they just get tossed aside. Team Hell No successfully defended their titles at Wrestlemania 29. They held the belts for 245 days. The Usos first reign was 202 days. Since the Usos had the belts, Goldust & Stardust had the titles for 63 days, Miz and Mizdow for 36 days, the Usos again, Kidd and Cesaro for 63 days, New Day for 49 days, and now the PTP. There’s no stability or dominant team at the moment. The Usos when healthy are the top team they have in the company. New Day is #2. PTP are currently third. As much as I like those three teams, it’s kind of sad that these are the top teams. They don’t stack up to top teams of the past and the depth of tag teams definitely doesn’t stack up to teams from previous years.
When I watch old segments on the network, sometimes a tag team faces top guys in the company. The Hardys had segments with Triple H and Stone Cold (Who were also a team for a while). Sure, New Day beat Orton and Reigns a few months ago but that was a one night thing. The Hardys/ HHH & Stone Cold thing lasted more than a week. Sure, the tag titles used to change hands frequently in the past. (Specifically the Attitude Era) But look at the teams from that era who won them. The Outlaws, Hardys, APA, Under taker had the titles with different partners, so did Kane, The Rock and Mankind, Edge & Christian, The Dudleys…that’s only part of them. Some of these teams won multiple times too, the teams now seem to be one and done.
So I guess it’s not official that there will be a fatal four way tag match at Summerslam, and hopefully there won’t be one. There’s not enough depth in the division to have one….plus…it has been done a lot lately. Don’t put teams on the show just because. If someone doesn’t get a reaction, then they probably shouldn’t be on the 2nd biggest show of the year. Tag team wrestling used to be a big deal but now it’s an afterthought. I almost wish WWE would bring back the Dudleys. It would be cool to see them again. It’s an upgrade from many teams that we’ve seen lately. New Day is the best on the show at the moment. The PTP are the champs so they should be at Summerslam, but those are the only two teams that should be on the card at Summerslam.
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