Scott,
This doesn't come up in matches a whole lot but it's always bugged me.
I watched Starrcade '83 on The Network and saw the Sullivan/Lewin v. Weaver/McGhee tag match, and Sullivan's team was making quick tags throughout the match. I remember watching teams do that in AWA squash matches, but I didn't question it since the dominant team could do whatever it wanted. The announcers would sell it as quick team work, and Caudle sold this one as always keeping a fresh man in the ring. I can see a quick tag sequence, but it always seemed counter-intuitive to me when they did it throughout the match. And it didn't seem to generate heat, either.
Aren't they handicapping their momentum with all the tags or creating openings for the opponent to break that momentum? And aren't they expending some energy jumping in and out of the ring that much? I could see a point if they wanted to execute a chain of moves that the alternating members are good at. But not when they're just maintaining a headlock or an arm twist.
The match did give me one good idea for it, though: a clever deception tactic. They could sneak in some phantom tags or just confuse the opponent or ref.
Do you know the point behind that?
I always liked that aspect, because at least it kept the match moving and kinetic. And I would agree with Caudle -- that way you always have a fresh man in there and your opponent never has a chance to adjust to your hold and break free. I'm gonna let it stand for now.
I think the team that utilized quick tags the best was the Natural Disasters. .. Both of them were very quick for their size and the quick tags to stay fresh really benefited them. Typhoon and Earthquake were two of the strongest guys in the WWF and the quick tags keeping them fresh made every punch, slam, and splash all the more devestating for their opponents.
ReplyDeleteI liked the tactic because you could keep double teaming your opponent that way. Every time you tagged, you had a five count before the wrester who was tagged out had to leave the ring.
ReplyDeleteAnd remember, in the video game-like world of wrestling, you regain full stamina as soon as you exit the ring during a tag match.
That's another lost art of tag wrestling. The Rockers would do it and they came off as this highly energetic team... the Brainbusters did it and came off as just a couple of wild dicks.
ReplyDeleteI loved the constant quick tags. It seemed like a good strategy and I always thought of it as keeping the fresh guy in and keeping their opponent off balance. Just as your opponent starts to adjust, you tag out to the other guy, and basically you start over.
ReplyDeleteI think it was 60,000 people with 20,000 papered.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think there were major discounts too, especially for the upper seats.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm kind of surprised though, even if the WWF was ice cold, it was:
1- The home town guy going for his 2nd title
2- The Rumble match itself.
Those are 2 pretty big draws.
That's basic tag team wrestling. Heels making quick tags in and out preventing the face from making the hot tag makes it a pseudo double-team with the face valiantly fighting off two men.
ReplyDeleteOne thing they dropped the ball on with the Network is the vintage Raws. You would think they would have those in the Vault section, and for the life of me I can't understand why they haven't, as well as why they stopped posting the 1995 Raws.
ReplyDeleteThe splash part got a chuckle out of me. I like how they are fresher, so they can get extra height on their jumps, for the maximum impact splash!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a line out of PWI.
ReplyDeleteCornette's exact figures from his shoot interview:
ReplyDelete47,514 paid tickets with 12,511 comped tickets = total of 60,525. For wrestling, the Alamodome could hold 70,000 easy.
Tickets were $175, $18, $14, and $10
Think of it this way: the cheapest tickets were $10 and they still had to give away 12,511 tickets.
Which teams do you think would have the best "formula" tag match? I'd love to see the Blonds against the Rockers, you'd get all the elements.
ReplyDeleteJust proves how cold the business was at the time though that even the Royal Rumble and a hometown guy couldn't sell the place out.
ReplyDeleteWWE could easily sell the Alamodome out for a Royal Rumble these days.
I guess avenging Pete Lothario getting powerbombed just didn't revolutionize the rasslin' business.
ReplyDeleteRock and Roll Express - Andersons was always perfect. Nobody stopped the hot tag quite like Ole and Arn.
ReplyDeleteSo what's the deal? They just aren't going to put up any more raws? They're still 16 months away from the 5 years of programming (97-01) that everyone wants. Sad to see the network become such a clusterfuck
ReplyDeleteBasic wrestling psychology: if the face can just make it to that corner and tag, his partner will legally murder the heels...oops cut him off again.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that there were big cheers when Sid beat Michaels at Survivor Series 1996 at MSG. Fans really weren't into his act, which is why Vince was already planning to take the title off him at Mania 13.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Shawn being Shawn he took the title off himself first.
That's what happens when you put people who aren't wrestling fans in charge of a wrestling network.
ReplyDeleteThe best one of those was always Rock and Roll Express vs The Andersons- Ricky's gonna get to the corner...SPINEBUSTER! They'd really rub it in the crowd's face when they cut him off, too.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching that match and wondering the same thing. Sullivan and Lewin weren't making quick tags, they were tagging a guy back in before he had made it through the ropes after having just tagged the other guy in. I thought maybe they were ribbing each other.
ReplyDeleteI loved when Ricky would be crawling to get to Robert and Ole would casually walk over and drag him away by the ankle.
ReplyDeleteIt was a joke referencing Bellow's statementS
ReplyDeleteI know, this guy's edgy!
ReplyDeleteWhat Vintage Raws arent on the Network that have aired? All the 93,1994s and what they showed of 95 plus other random episodes are up under the RAW replays in the in-ring section
ReplyDeleteI really felt the guy was going to be something special and big. Such a pity the way it turned out for him, and now this makes it even worse.
ReplyDelete"Quick Tags" would be a nice little title of a rapid-fire, lightning round, question-answering series of posts.
ReplyDeleteMy bad Brian. 2003 overall was really terrible for the WWE though, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite memory of Sean will be from shortly after the WCW Invasion started. Right after the abortion that was Bagwell/Booker T he teamed with Chuck Palumbo against Kanyon and Shawn Stasak on Heat, which I think may have been the last 'WCW guys only' match on WWF TV. All four guys worked really hard, they seemed to me to be saying 'Another chance please?' Course it didn't end up helping much.
ReplyDeletewell said fg76.....couldn't agree more
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot RedSox....now I'm having flashbacks to that Pie in the Kitchen scene from American Pie
ReplyDeleteSounds like a man who has Never watched "Heroes of Wrestling" PPV....Or 2000-01 episodes of WCW Thunder
ReplyDeleteI bet ECW Valet Chastity would dispute that as well
ReplyDeleteHis legendary feud with Ryan O'Tortoise will never be forgotten. RIP Sean.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a silly question but does someone (or multiple someones) have to literally sit there and watch the whole show to put in the match markers and edit out copyrighted music? If so, perhaps that's why it takes so long for them to upload stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to rewatch the match to see this. I was basically commenting on quick tags in general...which I have no issue with.
ReplyDeleteYeah same, I either expected AP to win the straps here and drop it back at Summerslam or the match to end in a DQ or something and then AP would win the belts at Summerslam.
ReplyDeleteMiguel Perez was one of the best workers of the business, but I do agree that his look was awful.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who came in from WCW from 2001-2004 was doomed from the start, really, as this was the height of WWE's prejudice against "outsiders." That always existed, but in those years anyone WCW would be utterly destroyed on and off camera. (that's why the "big names would have saved the invasion" thing doesn't hold water to me...look at how most of said big names were treated. SPOILER: usually as JTHHHs)
ReplyDeleteHe was the WCW version of what Dean Ambrose is trying to be.
ReplyDeleteSamu and the "fake" Fatu was Tama/Tonga Kid.
ReplyDeleteHe was obviously BERRYING that pesky WCW invader (see what I did there with the cake thing below?)
ReplyDeleteNope, it was Droz actually, IIRC.
ReplyDeleteAsk Droz...
ReplyDeleteGo to Youtube and look up "Broken Out in Waylon Mercy's Hands." Then enjoy the awesome.
ReplyDelete