Tag Team Division
Right now we’re in the middle of the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. It has quickly become one of my favourite times of year not only for proving that it can work seamlessly into storylines in the brand as a whole, but for doing a great job of showing fans that there is a surplus of talent in the ranks.
NXT has the proud distinction of housing THE best tag team in the world, The Revival. The Revival’s motto is “No Flips, Just Fists” and it’s perfect. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder came in heads down, and let their wrestling do the talking.
They don’t have a lot of high spots or flashy tandem moves, save the admittedly well named and cool looking Shatter Machine. Nope, they’ve locked into the tag team wrestling psychology instead. They display a side of tag team competition that hasn’t been seen in years and hasn’t been perfected in decades.
The Revival alone would get me to pay 9.99/month.
They’re not the only ones down there, though. The Authors Of Pain are unstoppable masses of muscle, who when you combine their names sound like an old-timey scooter or possibly a futuristic shaving kit. Oh yeah, they don’t ever need to say a thing, either, since legendary manager Paul Ellering is their main bro.
They also tend to never lose a match, ever.
Webster’s defines the word “insanity” as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” That’s not true in the slightest but it is a popular phrase I’ve heard in movies. If it were true, though, Sanity picked a perfect name.
While their name is in direct competition with their look, it makes absolute sense that to get ahead in NXT, they have to try something different. BE something different. With Eric Young as the Napoleon-esque leader and Nikki Cross as the ravenous spitfire, you’ve also got the muscle, Alexander Wolf and Sawyer Fulton.
One of them looks like he’d sell me stale Christmas cookies and the other looks like he’d sell me drugs. Then they’d all beat me up and Nikki Cross would give me lice. All to the soundtrack of a throwaway Primus song, played through a busted transmission. All in.
There are a few teams in the Classic that have been hastily thrown together or matched specifically to lead into internal feuds, but there are some solid teams still kicking around. TM61 is one great match away from being a crowd favourite.
What little I’ve seen from Otis Dozivic and Tucker Knight is promising, and even if #DIY has been on the verge of a break up all summer, they are one of the best teams in the division. Tian Bing looks good and can probably help Hoho Lin adjust overall, but I’m not sure if they’ll stay a team or if they were just paired for the DRTTC.
All in all the Tag division is looking the opposite of sawft.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
