Greetings, loyal Shenanigans fans! Itâs truly an honor to be sitting here, typing out my tenth edition of this column. I hope youâve enjoyed it so far, because itâs been a blast writing it.
I thought last weekâs article about WWEâs âtag divisionâ turned out pretty well. Turns out, a few readers agreed with me. Hereâs one of the emails I received.
Hey Kevin,
I enjoy reading your columns and you put forth another good read; this time about tag teams! I agree with your opinion on its current state in the WWE. However, you did not mention your opinion on TNA’s tag team division. I feel that it still needs some improvement, but it’s still way better than WWE’s current situation. That said, TNA’s current tag champs are also a makeshift tag team like Miz and Morrison, but at least both AJ and Tomko are in a faction together which makes it slightly better.
Also a slight correction: It should be Ashton “Michael Kelso” Kutcher.
Keep up the good work.
Karthik
In my excitement, I referred to Ashton Kutcherâs That 70’s Show character as âCasey Kelso.â Casey Kelso (played by Luke Wilson), was, of course, the older brother of Michael Kelso. Nonetheless, both were fine characters.
Also, Karthik, you raise a great point about TNAâs tag team division! In fact, I think youâve just helped me come up with this weekâs topic. For this, you get a genuine âthank youâ and, of course, the enjoyment of reading my take on TNAâs top tandems. (Boy, my alliteration skills are wonderful.) Here we go…
âRating TNAâs Tag Divisionâ (SPOILERS! Read with caution)
Iâd say Karthikâs assertion – that TNAâs tag division is better than WWEâs, yet could still use some work – is pretty close. With that said, I feel that TNA has a real problem with handling its many tag teams. Weâre not seeing all we could from a division full of talent.
Iâm going to try something a little bit different here. Iâll be liberally borrowing from a feature run by my other wrestling home, Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Once a year, PWI gives âReport Cardâ ratings to the top wrestlers in the business. Iâm going to apply this concept to each of TNAâs tag teams, by rating them in two categories. 1) Their potential and overall value, and 2) How they are utilized by TNA. Each team is rated on a scale of 1-10. Weâll start with the champs.
A.J. Styles and Travis Tomko
Potential: 9
How Theyâre Used: 5
Styles & Tomko worked well together as a team for a while. As a unit, theyâve helped Christian Cage more than theyâve done anything for the TNA tag division. The company probably sees their possession of the titles as âspotlightingâ the belts, but, really, it just keeps other deserving teams out of contention, as Styles and Tomko face off with main-eventers. The team should stay aligned, because they do add to the show, but they need to lose the titles, for the sake of the division.
The Steiners
Potential: 7
How Theyâre Used: 7
Rick and Scott are, by far, the most seasoned tag team wrestlers in the company. Theyâve definitely brought some credibility to the tag division with their presence, but, at this point, they should focus more on putting other teams over – not necessarily by losing, though. Hereâs hoping.
Team 3D
Potential: 6
How Theyâre Used: 5
TNA Creative is trying something new by feuding Ray and D-Von with X-division competitors. Theyâve got to try something because, as it stands, the former Dudleys give off an increasingly stale presence among TNAâs younger tag teams. Theyâre one of the greatest tandems ever and, frankly, they deserve better.
The Motor City Machine Guns
Potential: 10
How Theyâre Used: 8
Sabin and Shelley are, perhaps, the most promising young team in TNA, right now. They are seen as more of an X-division pairing at the moment, and thatâs their one setback. Once they get past that, the sky is the limit. Theyâll be tag champs by mid-2008.
L.A.X.
Potential: 10
How Theyâre Used: 5
In TNA history, no team as capable has been downgraded faster than the Latin American X-change. Weâve seen what these guys can do. Hernandez has the brute force, as well as quickness. Homicide can strike, grapple, and fly. Theyâre way over with the fans. Theyâve been winning, for the past two weeks, but they are still nowhere near title contention. Whatâs the problem here, TNA?
Voodoo Kin Mafia
Potential: 3
How Theyâre Used: 1
Am I being harsh? Maybe. Two tag team legends, here, whose best days are behind them. BG and Kip would be better served working behind the scenes in TNA. As long as TNA keeps around Roxxi Laveaux – who Iâm strangely attracted to – then Iâm content. Holy crap, Iâve just discovered she and I share a birthday. Moving on…
Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt
Potential: 8
How Theyâre Used: 6
Dutt and Lethal have been paired together since the Kevin Nash Paparazzi dealy. Theyâre good as a team, but theyâre better in the X-division. Splitting them up and feuding them would be beneficial to both guys and the fans.
Triple X
Potential: 8
How Theyâre Used: 0
Triple X has been one of the biggest names in the history of TNAâs tag division. However, with the news of Senshiâs release earlier this week, their stock has just dropped significantly. Daniels and Skipper are certainly the âstarâ tag team of the group, so they could still be used. However, after the events which will transpire on next weekâs Impact – Danielsâ storyline firing – you can count on Triple X going to waste for a good while.
Lance Hoyt and Jimmy Rave
Potential: 4
How Theyâre Used: 3
Wow. Talk about throwing two guys together. What I really donât get here is, they re-signed Jimmy Rave just to be part of this team. Not only that, but there isnât any sign that TNA intends to push them. Both men are better off as singles wrestlers.
Truth & Consequences
Potential: TBD
How Theyâre Used: TBD
The team of Ron âThe Truthâ Killings and Rasheed Lucious âConsequencesâ Creed. Their name reeks of 1980’s WWF, which I, for one, donât mind. Theyâve only teamed once, so far, which means the juryâs still out on this one.
So, essentially, TNA has a great tag division at its disposal. But, Iâve gotta say, theyâre not taking advantage of it. TNAâs tag division was, along with the X division, one of the highlights of the companyâs first few years. Tag matches have main evented pay-per-views, with no one batting an eyelash.
In the divisionâs current incarnation, TNA chooses to ignore what it has and often overpushes veteran acts. (Tag team wrestling is a breeding ground for the main eventers of the future!) Some of the current problem stems from the simple fact that the belts are on the wrong guys. Once another team grabs the straps from Styles & Tomko, the competition might truly commence.
In the meantime, TNA, please end this ridiculous âfiredâ storyline with Daniels, and let us see him and Skipper have another run. Because youâre not really pushing Daniels at this point, right? Thank you in advance.
And, as for all my comments above, how do you, the readers, feel about them? Agree with me? Think Iâm an idiot? Donât hesitate to email me at kjmcelvaney@yahoo.com. You might very well get your comments included as part of next weekâs column!
Kevin McElvaney is also a contributing writer for Pro Wrestling Illustrated and The Wrestler.
