Successful emerging tag teams have been few and far between in the WWE in recent years. Although having a stronger tag division than any of the three WWE brands, TNA could likewise stand to make some improvements.
However rather than focusing on new tag teams, one formula that both companies have used as of late has been to reunite successful tag teams of the past. More often than not these reformations have been successful in stirring at least some interest amongst fans.
This may come as a surprise as history has often shown otherwise. From later incarnations of the New World Order to reformed teams on the independent scene ranging from the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express to the Powers of Pain, wrestlers have often tarnished their legacies through reuniting.
In the WWE Matt and Jeff Hardy have been perhaps the most successful of these reformed teams. After several years apart, their individual in-ring skills still work to complement one another as well as they ever have. While this may not produce a five star technical classic, fans can at least expect to see some good spot wrestling.
The team of Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury in many ways acts as the antithesis to the Hardy brothers as the team plays heels as successfully as the Hardy Boyz play faces. Though just as dominant in the tag team division, if not more so than the Hardy Boyz, this team initially had less to work with. The reason for this is that the number of talented tag teams was a great deal scarcer when MNM formed in comparison to when the Hardy Boyz dominated the then WWF.
It should then only be logical that the two reformed teams should meet at a WWE pay-per-view. Unfortunately said pay-per-view was the disappointing ECW December to Dismember. However regardless of setting, the teams did not disappoint and brought their all to the table.
Though their match was said to be a one night only occurrence, this was not to be the case. The teams clashed again alongside other superstars in an eight man tag team match the following night, which showed a lack of continuity not seen since the night following the 2001 Survivor Series.
Keeping with continuity or not a Hardy Boyz and MNM feud can only help to rebuild the crumbling tag team division. The teams being split between rosters may be a dilemma for their feud as Johnny Nitro and Jeff Hardy belong to one brand while Matt Hardy and Joey Mercury are still technically on another.
If the illusion of three separate brands existing is to be kept, the rivalry must be moved either to Raw or Smackdown! While the feud could also build interest for ECW, with television time limitations and a large enough body of wrestlers as it is, this option is out of the question.
Raw may be the better choice for Matt and Jeff to battle MNM if the feud goes only for a brief duration. As the most watched brand, Raw could act as an excellent showcase for the teams to battle while the feud is still fresh.
On the flip side of this possibility, for the feud to be taken seriously and gradually develop both the Hardy brothers and MNM must venture to Smackdown!. The reason for this is that unlike Raw, Smackdown! places more focus on in-ring participation than solely entertainment, which Raw has been guilty of in past months.
Additionally the most emphasized tag teams on the Raw brand are nothing more than singles wrestlers paired together. While Cryme Tyme and to a much lesser extent the Highlanders as well as Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch may have promising futures they have long been overshadowed by Degeneration-X. With Edge and Randy Orton holding the World Tag Team titles and the Spirit Squad leaving the brand this trend does not look to change anytime soon.
Though the Raw brand has one bright spot in the possible reformation of the World’s Greatest Tag Team, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, Smackdown! already has a team that at least matches up to them. Since May, Paul London and Brian Kendrick have held the WWE Tag Team titles with virtually no one to square off against. By bringing the Hardy Boyz and MNM to Smackdown!, the competition for tag team gold on this brand will be increased more so than it has been at any point this year.
Furthermore as Matt and Jeff Hardy have proven, the team works best in threes. For proof of this one need look no further than their performances in the Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches alongside the Dudley Boyz as well as Edge and Christian in 2000 and 2001. Just the thought of a TLC match between the Hardy Boyz, MNM and London and Kendrick may be enough to make any TLC match fan drool.
TNA is not without its reformed teams as well. While the New Age Outlaws being repackaged yet again as the Voodoo Kin Mafia may not be every fan’s dream come true, this is far from the only reformation taking place in TNA.
Just over a year ago, the Dudley Boyz now under the name Team 3D made their debut in TNA. This is one instance in which TNA is letting a license to print money slip through their fingers. Though receiving a decent reaction every time they wrestle, Team 3D for the past several months have been largely buried.
A successful reunited team in TNA has been Christian Cage and Tyson Tomko. When he originally came to TNA, Cage was being put in the position of a main event face, a role he had never assumed before. Subsequently Cage did not have the level of success that he could have had if given the opportunity to play a heel, a role he had proven to play well in the WWE.
By bringing in Tomko, Cage is given the stature of being a leader that people will follow and therefore creates the image of a more credible main event player than he would be without Tomko. If there is an effective way to use Tomko, TNA is doing it.
Often looked down upon, revisiting storylines of the past can often taint legacies and be financial disasters for companies. However as teams such as the Hardy Boyz, MNM and Cage and Tomko have shown this is not always the case.
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