Hello again, back again with my birthday edition of the Edgeucation. Two days and I hit the big 3-0. Can you have a mid-life crisis at 30? Oh well, this year will mark my return to doing what I love to do, and I actually feel younger physically than I have in years. That's what eight months off will do for you. I'm sure within two weeks of coming back I'll feel beat up again, but that's the price to play.
With the unfortunate passing of Road Warrior Hawk, Mike Hegstrand, last week, it got me to thinking about tag teams, and some of my favorites over the years. Teams I grew up watching and teams I competed against. I was always fascinated by tag team wrestling and some of my favorite wrestlers growing up were, at that point, tag team wrestlers. Here are some of my all time favorites:
The Hart Foundation--The first "bad guys" I ever cheered. They brought the strength of Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, and the skills of Bret Hart, who was always one of my favorites, even back in the beginning before his singles success. The matches they had with the Rockers and British Bulldogs were classics.
The Rockers--Two guys who could wrestle, move and excite. I can watch a Rocker match against anyone, and that's a testament to their ability as a team. They did things that I had never seen tag teams do. Their matches against the Brain Busters, Orient Express, Demolition, Powers of Pain, Hart Foundation, and pretty much everyone were awesome. They could have had a match with two brooms and it would have been exciting. I'm also proud of the fact that, like Bret Hart, I pegged Shawn Michaels as a future singles superstar (obviously I wasn't the only one).
The Brain Busters--Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard were the team that Christian and I tried to pattern ourselves after. To me the Dudleys are the modern version of the Road Warriors, the Hardys were like the Rockers and we tried to be the antagonist 'Busters (with a few more high flying moves thrown in). I loved the 'Busters or Horsemen, whatever you want to call them. They made their opponents look like gold. They were the thinking man's tag team.
The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom--I was never a huge fan of the L.O.D, but they did, along with the Rock 'n' Roll Express, epitomize tag team wrestling in the 80's. I grew up a WWE fan. We didn't get NWA where I lived in Canada, so I guess I was a little biased toward WWE teams, but the L.O.D were definitely intimidating as hell, and Hawks' promos were some of the best in the business.
Rock 'n' Roll Express--once again, I didn't get much of the Rock 'n' Rolls growing up, but I have since, and I love watching their stuff. The perennial underdogs who would somehow pull it off. Ricky Morton is one of the best ever at garnering your sympathy.
The British Bulldogs--I watched Stampede Wrestling growing up, so I knew what to expect from Davey Boy and Dynamite. Once they hit WWE they exploded, because no one had seen the things they were doing. Flying headbutts off of shoulders and superplexes were pretty rare in those days. Simply put, the Bulldogs may have been my favorite tag team ever.
Demoltion--I always loved Demoltion. I don't really know why, because I usually gravitated to teams like the Harts and Rockers, but for some reason the Demo's were always a team I looked forward to seeing. I loved seeing them face off against all of the teams from that era, especially the Harts and 'Busters.
The Freebirds--the first team to have 3 interchangeable members. Those members, Michael "P.S." Hayes, Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, and Buddy "Jack" Roberts, were completely different style-wise, but somehow it just clicked.
A team I wish I had more tape of is Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens. Two masters of the game.
Now most of the teams I've mentioned are from the 80s, so I have to mention some fairly current teams that I believe belong alongside the aforementioned greats. I may be a little biased but you know I have to say the Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz. I'd like to think that along with E&C, all three teams were able to bring tag team wrestling back to the forefront and make it matter again. I grew up watching the Rockers, Bulldogs, Foundation and 'Busters, which was a golden era in tag wrestling. I think that our three teams were able to do it again with some help from teams like the New Age Outlaws, the APA, Too Cool, and Benoit/Jericho.
When I look at the tag team scene now I'd have to say that Haas and Benjamin impress me the most. La Resistance has really picked up their game, especially with the addition of Rob Conway. I think it's great that the Bashams are getting a chance to show what they can do. If the Guerreros are a full time team, they are also one of the best. Who knows, maybe we're looking at another resurgence of tag team wrestling.
Went to the funeral of Stu Hart last week. It actually felt more like a celebration of a full life well lived. It was a fitting send off to a great man.
Until next week, you have been Edgeucated.
