Great Tag Teams Of The Past Part 1

Ask new fans of wrestling about the tag team division and they'll either tell you how much the Hardy's rule or that the tag division is just a card filler for newcomers to learn the trade or the oldies to end their careers with a little success. But the tag team divisions haven't always been like this.

For every decent tag team now there seems to be at least five useless tandems. Kendrick and London are the perfect example, look at the teams WWE have created over the last year or so and you'd think they where deliberately trying to make London and Kendrick pull their hairs out at the lack of talent they where up against. Want me to prove my point then I'll give you one word, Gemini.

Wrestling however used to be packed with great tag teams from the 80's through to recent times with The Hardy's, Dudleys, and Edge and Christian. There where always three or four great tandems. Here in part 1 are the first three great tag teams of the past.

The Brain Busters
Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard may be better remembered as members of The Four Horsemen but they also performed as a tag team under the name of The Brain Busters.

They took there first of two NWA World Tag Team Title Reigns beating the Rock n Roll Express. After losing and regaining the titles The Brain Busters fell out with promoter Jim Crockett in a dispute over pay, they signed for WWE . Before leaving they lost their titles to the Midnight Express.In WWE they where the team that ended the Demolitions record breaking title run and had several great matches with the Rockers but just before the 1989 Survivor Series Tully Blanchard failed a drugs test and was fired, Anderson left immediately after the PPV. Anderson returned to NWA but they refused to employ Blanchard so the Brain Busters where no more.

Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard had some of the biggest feuds and most intense matches against The Rock 'N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), the Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) and The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane). Whilst in the WWE they feuded mainly with The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) and The Bushwackers (Luke Williams & Butch Miller) and Demolition (Smash & Ax).

The Rock n Roll Express

The Rock 'n' Roll Express was formed by Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson in 1983 in Memphis. The gimmick of the Rock 'N Roll Express was a couple of high flying wrestlers who loved hair metal music, as it was a popular genre of music at the time. They soon made their way to Mid-South Wrestling where they first started on of the greatest tag team feuds of all time with The Midnight Express that would last throughout their careers.

They went to the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 and won 4 NWA World Tag Team Championships over the next couple of years there. Their first championship came on July 9, 1985 and lasted until October 13 that same year. At Starrcade 85, they recaptured the titles only to lose them on a prime time WTBS special, "Superstars on the Superstation," on February 7, 1986. This is significant because televised matches between major contenders were rarely shown in those days. Their loss to the Midnight Express only served to make them even more popular during the 80s professional wrestling boom. They won the titles back in Philadelphia on August 16, 1986, and held them until a Saturday night prime time broadway match on WTBS' World Championship Wrestling against Rick Rude and the Raging Bull Manny Fernandez.

The Rock 'n' Roll Express final NWA tag team title reign came when they won the belts back when Rude, still a champion, simply left the NWA to go work for the WWE. Needing to save face, promoter Jim Crockett had Ivan Koloff substitute for an 'injured' Rude, and the Express won the belts for what proved to be the final time.In the fall of 87 to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, with a large assist thanks to a pre-match attack by their longtime rivals The Midnight Express, they lost the belts for the final time. They went on to have some great battles during their feud with the Four Horsemen members.

With the arrival of more power based teams the Rock n Roll Express split but after an unsuccessful singles feud with one another they returned as a tandem in Smoky Mountain Wrestling where they won 9 tag team titles. The Rock n Roll Express then had stints in both WCW and WWE but where mainly used as jobbers.

The Rock n Roll Express had great bouts with the Brain Busters and The Heavenly Bodies but the bouts people will always remember will be their contests against the Midnight Express.

The British Bulldogs
After initially feuding with one another Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid formed a team known as the British Bulldogs, they would go on to be one of the greatest tag teams ever.

After wrestling for Stampede, AJPW and NJPW the Bulldogs went to the WWE where they started a classic feud with the Hart Foundation, although both teams where new to the company the quality of their battles immediately elevated their statuses in WWE and at Wrestlemania 2 the British Bulldogs claimed the tag team titles from the Dream Team.

The Bulldogs feuded with the Dream Team and Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik but Dynamite Kid suffered a back injury and they lost their titles to the Hart Foundation in a match where the Dynamite Kid had to be carried to the ring.

When they returned they continued to feud with the Hart Foundation and also had a short feud with the Islanders. They left WWE in late 88 after backstage incidents with Jaques Rougeau. The pair returned to previous stomping grounds but steroid abuse and the Dynamite Kids back injury meant they weren't the performers they once where.

In 1990, Davey Boy Smith decided to take up an opportunity to return to WWE and ditch his partner. Having trademarked the name The British Bulldog, Smith informed promoters he would take legal action if they billed the Dynamite Kid as a British Bulldog. Billington(Kid) was irrate and despised Davey Boy for years after. Soon after Billington announced his retirement as years of steroid and cocaine abuse, along with his high impact style, caught up with him.

Davey Boy Smith died on May 18, 2002, and Dynamite Kid had a leg amputated due to the back injury that haunted him for years and is now confined to a wheelchair. Their feud with the Hart Foundation still stands as one of the best tag team feuds in wrestling history.

Thats it for part 1 but I'd advise anyone who has never seen any of these teams in action to try and find some footage and see for yourself how great these tag teams from the past where.