So today I would like to talk a little bit about the following: the retirement of Shawn Michaels, tag teams, and some miscellaneous news and bits. No reviews today, however, as I didn’t take notes on last night’s Raw.
As all of you are undoubtedly aware this past March at WrestleMania 26 the Heart Break Kid, the Icon, The Showstopper, the Main Event, Mr. WrestleMania himself, retired after placing his career against the undefeated streak of The Undertaker. Now, anyone that knows me is fully aware that I am a HUGE fan of Shawn Michaels. It was a little difficult for me to watch the man I’ve idolized since I was child drop away from the lime light and retire, but I’m proud of him for walking away when he thought he should. It seems that very few men in the industry get to walk away on their own terms. More often than not an injury or some backstage politics are what force them from the business. This was the case with HBK back in 1998 when a back injury forced him to leave. He was absent from in-ring action until 2002. Upon returning, he had many great matches and feuds with such workers as HHH, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and many others. It was a treat to get to see The Heart Break Kid in action for another 8 years. In that 8 year span he has won Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Match Of The Year award 6 times, bringing his career total to an even 10. He has circled the globe and entertained millions of fans with charisma and in-ring skills. For that I say thank you. Thank you Shawn for all of the years of great work. I’m very happy that you were able to leave on your own terms. I hope that you enjoy retirement and the time with your family. As an added note, if you would like to know what HBK is up to, you can check out his brand new website www.theshawnmichaels.com. You can see his youtube videos, check out his facebook, and even follow him on twitter.
Tag teams. I’ve mentioned this before but I felt that it needed to be restated. Tag teams were once regarded very highly in professional wrestling. They were important, and often the focus of match cards. Back in the day of the NWA, the tag team champions were at many times billed above the world heavyweight champion. So what happened? Why have tag teams seemingly fallen to the wayside? Do the fans not care? Does management think they aren’t marketable? It’s hard to say. I believe it to be a combination of things. The focus has been slowly moved away from teams over the past few years. The tag team titles (until very recently in WWE) have been devalued by having teams job out to singles competitors and by not having long runs on actual teams. It has seemed to me that over the past couple of years teams have been created simply by slamming two singles guys together. Sometimes it works, but more often than not it simply feels like creative had nothing else to do with the two.
This is starting to change as there are several teams now entering the WWE that are in fact true tag teams. You have The Hart Dynasty, The Usos, and The Dude Busters, just to name a few. I can only hope that this trend continues as their tag team division is rebuilt. Having big names hold the titles over the past year has certainly helped this cause. Those teams didn’t make sense at times, such as the pairing of Chris Jericho and The Big Show, but I think it’s helped bring a little prestige back to the belts. Before retiring, Shawn Michaels and HHH had one more run as DX and captured the titles for a time.
Some people work better as tag team wrestlers. That is a simple fact. And there should be no shame in that. Bob “Hardcore” Holly was much stronger when part of a team. The Dudley Boys while in WWE were terrible when split apart. Billy Gunn and The Road Dogg Jesse James were never as popular or as successful when not teaming up. Does anyone know what even happened to The Killer Bees? (Seriously, what happened to those guys?)
So why do they get split up? I’ve wondered this for a very long time. I figure they get bored, or maybe they think that they can achieve more solo. I’d be crazy to say that there haven’t been men that started as a tag wrestler and blew up working in singles matches. Shawn Michaels was part of the Rockers, Steve Austin was one half of The Hollywood Blondes, Jeff Hardy spent years tagging with his brother Matt, and I of course must mention Edge in this. Some people can make it on their own. And then when the teams reunite for something, it makes it seem very special. But that doesn’t fix the problem; it adds to it.
They can’t just cram people together at random for the short term. Tag teams are not short term investments. You need some career teams to build divisions around. That’s how it was for the Road Warriors. You can’t hear Hawk’s name without hearing Animal’s or vice versa. When you think of Bubba Ray Dudley (Brother Ray in TNA) you immediately think of D-Von Dudley (Brother Devon in TNA). I think that it’s getting that way for men like Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin who together are the Motor City Machineguns.
Now that I’ve brought up The MCMG I can say this. TNA is doing tag team wrestling right. Their tag division is the best thing about their show. Currently the Machineguns are locked in a best of five series with Beer Money Incorporated. The first four matches have gone by, all of them great. The series is tied at 2 and 2. This coming Thursday on TNA Impact, match 5 will take place. The winners will not only win the series but the tag team titles as well. In addition to such fantastic pairings as The Motor City Machineguns and Beer Money, TNA has many other great teams: Team 3-D (formerly The Dudley Boyz, and without question the most decorated team in history), Ink Inc. (a teaming of Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal, a personal favorite of my girlfriend), and the high flying Generation Me. Hell, if they play their cards right, I’m pretty certain they could land “The Worlds Greatest Tag Team” Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, seeing as they’re both free agents right now and teaming once again in the indies.
Tag team wrestling can sometimes offer much more than a singles match can. It can be more dynamic. Hot tags, the two men always having one another’s backs, and seeming to know what the other is thinking without so much as a head nod. You have four guys in the ring doing what they love to do. Two sets of people working in tandem to entertain and wow a crowd. Tag teams will always be apart of wrestling, I just hope that they aren’t thrown on the back burner. It looks like the two big promotions are heading a direction where tagging is viewed as important to the show, and I hope this trend continues.
Just a couple of news stories I thought I’d bring up quickly. Samoa Joe of TNA has been suspended for 30 days after bursting into the production truck during a taping. It appears that he was upset about how he’s been booked as well as the ending of his match with Jeff Hardy.
Also it looks like Ring Of Honor word champion Tyler Black has signed a developmental deal with WWE.
Until next time this is Switchblade saying- Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.
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