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What's In A Name?
By Tony D.




Tag team wrestling made its debut in 1901 in San Francisco. In the beginning, singles wrestlers were thrown together to be tag teams and that still goes on today (The Rock and The Undertaker as a team?). Wrestling more or less exclusively in tag team matches didn’t happen for a few decades. By the 1950’s, guys were wrestling together as tag teams and tag team wrestling was at its peak. Teams such as Dr. Jerry and Eddie Graham, who were one of the most dastardly teams in the sport, Mark Lewis and Don Curtis who were a very popular team, and Mark Lewis later became "The Purple Haze" in the 1980’s and he was part of Kevin Sullivan’s Satanic Cult, The Fabulous Kangaroos, The Bastien Brothers (known as "The Flying Redheads"), Tiny Mills and Killer Kowalski (Sr), The Fargo Brothers, Antonino Rocco and Miguel Perez (Sr.), and "The Canadian Wrecking Crew", John and Chris Tolos.

However in the 1970’s tag team wrestling hit something of a snag. There weren’t as many people wrestling more or less exclusively as teams and singles wrestlers were thrown together as tag teams, singles wrestlers that probably would rather have wrestled in singles competition. By the 1980’s Tag Team Wrestling was on the upswing with teams like The Road Warriors, The Midnight Express, The Fabulous Ones and The Rock and Roll Express. A few years ago, WCW de-emphasized its tag team division but they recently have seen the error of their ways with the recent cruiserweight tag team tournament. WWF, ECW and Indy promotions didn’t follow WCW’s path and de-emphasize their tag team divisions.

Tag Teams were given a team name since that would make it easier for identification purposes than having to identify each member of the team. It’s much easier to say The Midnight Express than to have to say ""Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and "Sweet" Stan Lane." Alot of good tag teams didn’t have a good name for their team, and alot of good teams didn’t have that good of a name or that original of a name. The following are some of my favorite tag teams names that rock.

1. The Black and Blue Express (Ken Patera and Bobby Duncum Sr.)- Bobby "The Brain" Heenan managed Patera and Duncum in The AWA in the early 1980’s (1982 or so). Patera was one of the strongest men ever in wrestling, and Duncum was one of the most dangerous (according to the June 1982 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated). This team sounded great on paper, and they had Bobby Heenan for a manager to boot. PWI called them "the tag team that has everything except the belts."
   
   
2. Demolition (Ax, Smash and Crush)- Ax and Smash were The WWF’s version of The Road Warriors, but being in The WWF, they got to be better known than Hawk and Animal. Ax and Smash painted their faces to look more menacing, and they wore leather chaps with spikes on them. Plus Rick Derringer sang their theme song. Before he was Ax, he was The Masked Superstar. The Masked Superstar and King Kong Bundy feuded with The Road Warriors and beat them for The National Tag Team Title on May 6, 1984. Before he was Smash, he was Krusher Khrushchev, who angered fans in Mid-South, Florida and World Championship Wrestling with his Russian Sympathizer gimmick.
   
   
3. Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons)- "Hacksaw" Butch Reed and "Faarooq" Ron Simmons. At first they wore black masks and were managed by Woman (Nancy Sullivan) but they dropped the masks and they dropped Nancy for Teddy Long. Butch and Ron were a tremendous team, and before they broke up, they were NWA/WCW World Tag Team Champions.
   
   
4. The Eliminators (Perry Saturn and John Kronus)- Before Saturn went on to solo fame in WCW and The WWF, he was part of The Eliminators with John Kronus. They were originally a masked tag team in The USWA. They gained their biggest fame as a team in ECW where they were three time ECW World Tag Team Champions. Their finisher was The Total Elimination. It’s like the Double Goozle of The Midnight Express on steroids, as the Editor said in the first issue of Claw Hold.
   
   
5. The Extreme Dream Team (Corporal Robinson and Hardcore Craig)- This is a really great name. Corporal Robinson and Hardcore Craig have been involved in some of the most hardcore matches in Mid-American Wrestling history, and if you followed Mid-American Wrestling, this would certainly be a dream team. They were managed by Manager Extraordinary Dave Prazak. www.daveprazak.com and www.midamericanwrestling.com
   
   
6. The Full Blooded Italians (The FBI)- (Little Guido and J.T. Smith (originally) Others in The FBI were: Big Guido (Primo Carnera III), Tracey Smothers, The One Man Gang, Tommy Rich (The Big Don), Sal E. Graziano and Tony Mamaluke)- The original FBI was Little Guido (who is 100% Italian) and JT Smith (who is of African American descent). JT called the fans in Philly his "Paisans" and they took exception to that really quickly. ECW fans would chant "Where’s My Pizza" when The FBI came to the ring. Little Guido later teamed with Tracey Smothers and they had "The Big Don" Tommy "Wildfire" Rich "The President of Italy" as their manager. The FBI carried an Italian flag with Tommy’s picture on it with them to the ring. This version of The FBI won the ECW World Tag Team belts by defeating John Kronus and New Jack on September 20, 1997 in Philadelphia and they lost the belts to Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon on December 5, 1997 in Waltham, Massachusetts. This version of The FBI became a comedy act after that. The current version of The FBI is Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke, along with Sal E. Graziano accompanying them to ringside. At nearly 600 pounds, Sal E. is not only bigger than Big Guido, he’s bigger than The One Man Gang as well.
   
   
7. The Glamour Order of Discipline (the gOd) (Gorgeous Michelle Starr and Loverboy Johnny Canuck)- No, this is not an intergender tag team, Gorgeous Michelle is a guy! Maybe he’s following in the grand tradition of Baron Michelle Leone. Michelle Starr wears pink, has a star over his eye a la Paul Stanley (only Michelle’s star (no pun intended) is pink), and Michelle wears lipstick. Yes, Michelle does a queer gimmick. Michelle and Johnny wrestle in Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, www.eccw.com. At the ECCW website, Michelle is quoted as saying "I am not a homosexual, I am also not a heterosexual, I am a trisexual and tonight I am going to try each and every god damn one of you!!" I want to interview both of these guys for my website.
   
   
8. The Guardians of The Gates of Hell (Lord Humongous and (Nord) The Barbarian)- The Guardians of The Gates of Hell were managed by General Skandor Akbar in the Mid-1980’s in Mid-South. They each stood about 6'8" and were each close to 300 pounds. Lord Humongous wrestled in a hockey mask, and this isn’t the Sid Vicious version. Sid wrestled as Lord Humongous in The CWA in the late 1980’s. This Barbarian went to The WWF and became The Warlord and The Berserker. The Barbarian that has been in WCW for the past few years (part of The Faces of Fear with Meng) was known in 1984 as King Konga before he became Konga The Barbarian and simply The Barbarian where he teamed with The Warlord as The Powers of Pain in both The NWA and The WWF, The Barbarian was also Sionne of The Headshrinkers in the WWF in the mid 1990’s.
   
   
9. The Hells Angels (Ronnie and Paul DuPree)- The Hell’s Angels were a tag team in the 1960’s and 1970’s, known for their finishing maneuver, The Angel Drop, put your opponent in a reverse bear hug and then lift your opponent off the mat and slam him down on your partner’s knee. In the July 1969 issue of Inside Wrestling, Paul DuPree said that he’s a member of The Hell’s Angels.
   
   
10. The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose, Norvell Austin, Koko B. Ware, Wayne Farris, Larry Latham, Bobby Eaton, Stan Lane, Bob Holly, Bart Gunn and others)- The Midnight Express Incorporated consisted of a loosely knit group of southern heels, including Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose (who would later be Paul E. Dangerously’s "Original" Midnight Express), Wayne Farris and Larry Latham (The Blond Bombers), and Norvell Austin and Koko B. Ware (The PYT Express). Eventually Condrey, Rose and Austin won a six man tag team title and they became The Midnight Express. In The Mid-South area, Jim Cornette put "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton together as The Midnight Express. In 1987, Dennis was replaced by "Sweet" Stan Lane. Condrey went to The AWA and he was reunited with Randy Rose and they were managed by Paul E. and then The Midnight Expresses feuded with each other in The NWA. Bobby and Stan held the NWA World and US Tag Team Titles at the same time at one point. Lane and Cornette left The NWA in 1990 and Lane went on to be a part of The Heavenly Bodies. In The WWF, Cornette managed "Bombastic" Bart and "Bodacious" Bob as The New Midnight Express.
    
    
11. The Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)- Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels first starting teaming in The Central States area of The NWA before they went on to The AWA. I don’t know if they were calling themselves The Midnight Rockers in the Central States area for sure, but I don’t think they were. The won the AWA World Tag Team Titles twice. They beat "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers and "Playboy" Buddy Rose on January 27, 1987 the first time, and they defeated Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose on December 27, 1987 to start their second reign.
    
    
12. The Nation of Penetration (Charming Chad (C.C.) Love and "Red Hot" Billy Wilde)- The Nation of Penetration wrestled in Mid-American Wrestling in 1998 and 1999 and were managed by "Manly" Matt Millions. Manly Matt wasn’t the most manliest of people and he had his eyes on Charming Chad and Red Hot Billy. The Nation were also known as "The True Love Brothers." I don’t know if The Nation of Penetration were direct inspiration for Lenny Lane and Lodi, but WCW has been known to borrow a few things from other promotions.
    
    
13. The Pitbulls (Pitbull I and Pitbull II or Anthony Durante and Gary Wolfe)- The Pitbulls are former ECW World Tag Team Champions. They defeated Raven and Dancin’ Stevie Richards on September 16, 1995 in Philadelphia and Raven and Richards regained the belts on October 7, 1995 in Philadelphia.
    
    
14. The PYT Express (Norvell Austin and Koko B. Ware)- Norvell Austin and Koko B. Ware are one of my favorite tag-teams of all time. When they first teamed as The PYT’s, Koko was wearing a mask and calling himself "Stagger Lee". They looked like Michael Jackson straight out of the "Beat It" video, complete with red leather jackets and the one glove. There were tag-teams in the 1990’s called The PYT’s that didn’t dress like Michael. Randy Rhodes (a Dusty lookalike) and Eric Fointaine had the nerve to call themselves the PYT’s in Global, they were not Pretty, but they were a couple of things. In the early 1990’s WCW Jobber Fred Avery was one half of The PYT’s in Georgia Indies with "PYT James." In the late 1998, Fred Avery was one half of the PYT’s with Jimmy Bryant in Peach State Wrestling.
    
    
15. The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)- Hawk and Animal are the only team to have held The AWA World Tag Team Titles, The NWA World Tag Team Titles and The WWF Tag Team Titles. I preferred the name "The Road Warriors" as opposed to "The Legion of Doom." In Georgia in 1984, "Precious" Paul Ellering’s stable was called The Legion of Doom, it included The Road Warriors, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and The Spoiler. When Ellering and The Warriors left for The AWA, The Legion of Doom became an alternate name for The Road Warriors.
    
    
16. The Rock ‘N Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson)- Their feud with Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express was legendary. It spanned The Mid-South area, The NWA, WCW, Smoky Mountain and two different decades. The Rock ‘n Roll Express were small but they were quick. Their double dropkick was awesome. They held gold in The Mid-South, Mid-Southern, various NWA Promotions, and Smoky Mountain as well.
    
    
17. The Rock ‘N Roll RPM’s (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane)- Mike Davis and Tommy Lane were the 1980’s version of The Rock ‘N Roll RPM’s. They wrestled in The AWA (they teamed with Cactus Jack on Superclash III) and in other federations. In the early 1990’s, Mike Davis teamed with "Silent But Deadly" Kevin Dillenger as The New Rock ‘N Roll RPM’s and they were managed by J.C. The Ice Baby (AKA J.C. Ice and Jamie Dundee) in The USWA.
    
    
18. Saint ‘N Sinner (Reverend Axl Future and Archangel Vincent)- Thee Blessed Reverend and the former Farmer Vic as a team? Yep, that’s one less hillbilly too, right Editor? Saint and Sinner held the Mid-American tag team belts from February 6, 1999 until Halloween 1999. That was the longest championship reign in the history of MAW. They regained them on November 13, 1999 and they held them until February 18, 2000 when they were defeated by Blaze and The Skull Krusher. Saint ‘N Sinner regained the MAW tag team belts on September 5, 2000. Saint ‘N Sinner lost the belts on January 13, 2001 to Frankie "The Thumper" DeFalco and Jason Dukes.
    
    
19. The Samoan Swat Team (Samu and Fatu)- The SST started in World Class Championship Wrestling in the mid-1980’s and they were managed by Buddy "Jack" Roberts after he had turned on Michael Hayes. The SST feuded with Hayes and Steve "Do It To It" Cox. Terry Gordy was kind of caught in the middle, he teamed with The Simpson Brothers in tag matches as a face, but he and Michael didn’t get along at the time either. Anyway, The SST held the WCCW Tag Team Titles a few times, and they went to The NWA in the late-1980’s. They were managed by Paul E. Dangerously after he lost The Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose). In the 1990’s, Samu and Fatu went to The WWF and became The Headshrinkers. They were managed by Afa and Captain Lou Albano and Sionne (The Barbarian in WCW) became a third member of The Headshrinkers. I always preferred the name The Samoan Swat Team over The Headshrinkers though. Afa and Sika were just known as "The Samoans" and that name lacked spark. Fatu is now Rikishi in The WWF.
    
    
20. The Super Destroyers (Super Destroyer I and Super Destroyer II AKA Bill and Scott Irwin)- The Super D.’s were also managed by General Skandor Akbar and they wore masks and their outfits were the same, so they could pull the switcheroo gimmick while the Referee was getting the face out of the way so The Super D.’s could go some good old-fashioned double teaming. When the masks came off, Bill and Scott Irwin became The Long Riders in The Georgia area of The NWA. At that same time in Florida, Black Bart and "Cowboy" Ron Bass were The Long Riders. I always wanted to see The Long Riders fight each other for rights to the name.
    
    
21. The Tennessee Violence Authority- (Don Carson, Sebastian Kane, Robert Roma, Chainz (not Brian Lee), "Smilin’" Diamond Dave, others)- The Tennessee Violence Authority wrestle in The Allied Independent Wrestling Federation, www.aiwfwrestling.com. The TVA has had quite a few members and I can’t come up with a complete list, but "Dangerous" Don Carson is the leader of The TVA. They have held the tag team belts in the AIWF many times in various combinations.
    
    
22. The Thrillbillies (Thrillbilly Ox and Thrillbilly Jed)- Okay, I know that The Editor HATES hillbillies in wrestling, but The Thrillbillies is just a great name. They would’ve made a great addition to The Network in ECW because The Nashville Network deserved to be represented by two hillbillies for the way they treated ECW. The Thrillbillies are in Mason-Dixon Wrestling in West Virginia. Here’s two more guys that I want to interview for my website. Their website is www.thrillbillies.com
    
    

There are alot of other great teams that had great names, but those were some of my favorites. Some tag teams didn’t have a name for whatever reason. I always thought that the team of Simon Diamond and Swinger should’ve been called "Dawn Marie’s Disciples" in honor of her fan club. Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy didn’t need a name for their tag team. Why? Because their names were Brute and Skull, for crying out loud. That was a tag team, and simply calling them "Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy" was the best name they could’ve had.

Other teams had names that I just didn’t like for some reason or another. It just didn’t fit the team or it didn’t sound very inspired. The Sheepherders was a dumb name, but The Bushwackers wasn’t much better. The Sheepherders vs. The Fantastics feud was one of the best (and bloodiest) feuds in The UWF, but you’d never know it by watching the comedy matches of The Bushwackers in The WWF.

The Grapplers were probably my all-time favorite tag team, but The Grapplers is kind of an unoriginal name, but when your names are "Grappler #1" and "Grappler #2" you don’t have much choice in the name for your tag team. Grappler #1 used a "loaded" orthopedic boot on the head of his hapless opponents. The Thunderfoots were just wannabe Grapplers.

The (insert last name here) Brothers/Boys/Boyz/Twins is unoriginal, although it was a stroke of genius when Ron and Don Harris looked like Bruiser Brody and they called themselves "The Bruise Brothers." The original Bruise Brothers were "The Dream Machine" Troy Graham and Pork Chop Cash. Graham and Cash wrestled in the Mid-Southern area in the mid-1980’s and they were managed by Jimmy Hart.

I could keep going on names that I didn’t like very well. Men on a Mission? The High-Flyers? Why did Ted and Jerry Oates call themselves "Mr. High and Mr. Low" anyway? Strike Force would’ve been a better name for two heels, but Tito Santana and Rick Martel don’t seem much like a Strike Force. Eagle (Dan Spivey) and Coyote (Scott Hall) as The American Starship, what kind of name is that? The New Breed was a cool name for Todd Champion and Sean Royal, but the premise of a time-travelling tag team from the future (the year 2002) was silly.



Tony D. has his own website at www.cpol.net/tonyd/ and he interviews Pro Wrestlers for his website and for The Ring Post, www.theringpost.com. At The Ring Post, he also gathers Indy News in a feature called "Indyvelopments" and Tony also writes a monthly article about The NWA Central States area at Kayfabe Memories, www.kayfabememories.com. Tony D. also has a Dawn Marie tribute site called Extreme Beauty, http://go.to/dawnmarie/