Forgotten Favorites 06.29.10: SummerSlam 1999 – Tag Team Turmoil

Welcome back, wrestling fans. It’s been two long weeks since you’ve had your last dose of Forgotten Favorites, so I’m sure you’re fiending something terrible for some classic wrestling. Worry not, readers, because the wrestling goodness of yesterday has returned.

I’m testing out a new format for the column this week, so let me know what you guys think. Pictures are always good things, but so too is a more easy-flowing read. And just so you don’t get all the way to the end and have your heart broken, I’ll just crack that baby in half right now and tell you there’s no Bonus Match this week. But that’s just because this week’s featured match is just that damn entertaining all on its own.

We’re going all the way back to August of 1999 for this one. It’s a Tag Team Turmoil match, run with Gauntlet-like rules. Two teams start the match off, with a new team replacing whoever is eliminated; rinse and repeat until you’ve gone through six teams.

I was unable to find an upload of just this match, so this week we’ll have to get along with some dude’s upload of the entire SummerSlam event. The first video below features the end of D’Lo Brown vs. Jeff Jarrett, with an Edge & Christian promo following that at around the three minute mark. This leads right into the Tag Team Turmoil match.

And so I say, who wants great wrestling?

SummerSlam – August 22, 1999
Tag Team Turmoil
Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Acolytes vs. The Holly Cousins vs. Mideon & Viscera vs. Droz & Prince Albert

WHY IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED

With both men down, the crowd is on its feet. Fans are stomping, cheering, clapping, breaking out in dueling chants that bounce off of the arena walls, shaking the filled-to-the-rafters facility. In the center of it all, flat on their faces and just beginning to show signs of life, two men begin to crawl towards opposite corners of the canvased stage, their only hopes of survival being the outstretched hands that are just beyond their reach. As the downed warriors inch closer and closer to their own personal cavalry, the spectators on all sides are buzzing with anticipation. Much to the chagrin of those watching, one of the fallen competitors — the one whose name has been made on breaking the rules — is able to reach his salvation first, lunging towards his corner and touching the outstretched right hand that awaits him. But just when the body connected to that right hand moves to center stage and is poised to pounce on his downed opponent, there is a grazing of fingers in the far corner.

Suddenly, the crowd is electric. A new man takes to the stage, entering from the corner most favored by the surrounding audience, and with every blow he strikes, the screams and rallies of the spectators grow even louder. Both of his villainous opponents try to take him down at once, but their attempts are in vain, as adrenaline and fierce crowd support have made this hero unstoppable in his cause.

Tag team wrestling. When it works, it works.

One-on-one showdowns have always been pro wrestling’s bread and butter when it comes to raking in the dough, but time and time again it’s been proven that — while never really the primary draw — tag team wrestling can and will produce dollar signs for its promotion. From the Rock’n’Roll Express to the Freebirds to the Road Warriors, history is filled with case after case of fans latching onto a team and putting down their hard earned cash to watch them compete. And this isn’t any kind of old-school fan mentality either, as any current fan who was watching through the Attitude Era can attest to.

It was just ten years ago when North American wrestling enjoyed its last great boom in popularity for tag team wrestling, when brothers spelled their names with “z”‘s and Canadians were declaring the ruling power of soda. Fans may have been tuning in specifically to see how Stone Cold would one-up Mr. McMahon or whether The Rock could overcome the McMahon-Helmsley Faction/Regime/Fac-gime, but a lot of the audience was making sure to watch the entire broadcast in order to stay updated on the brotherly battles of the tag division. WWE didn’t really need much help in securing solid PPV buyrates at the time, but if any fans had been on the fence about ordering a show (assuming Rock or Austin was not enough), a no-disqualifications ladder/tables/cage/badass match with any combination of any of the E’s tremendously over tag teams would certainly have sealed the deal and guaranteed a purchase. The Hardys, the Dudleys, and Edge & Christian didn’t make all of the money for WWE between 1999 and 2001, but they damn sure made a lot of it.

I chose this SummerSlam match to go back and take a look at because (and I realize this is arguable) I consider it the unofficial starting line for Attitude’s tag team boom. Up until SummerSlam, the tag ranks had been dominated either by the New Age Outlaws or power-pairings of two singles stars (Rock/Mankind, Show/Taker, Kane/X-Pac). But immediately after SummerSlam, when WWE realized it was maybe a good idea to have a kajillion teams even if they didn’t necessarily all have plans for them, there was a noticeable increase in the amount of tag team wrestling going down. It was just two months after SummerSlam that Edge, Christian, and the Hardys would compete in the first ever tag team Ladder match, effectively changing the entire landscape of tag team wrestling and ushering in a new generation. It was also just after SummerSlam that fans saw the WWE debut of the Dudley Boyz, who would go on to claim the Tag Titles just a few months into their WWE careers. Once WrestleMania and the Triangle Ladder match rolled around, there was a snowball effect taking place that no one could’ve stopped. Tag team wrestling was back and the fans were dying to put their money down to see the action.

So if it worked then, why wouldn’t it work now? Last week at Fatal 4 Way the Unified Tag Team Champions were involved in a throwaway, unannounced six-person mixed tag which will end up having zero effect on anything in the long run. Why book this meaningless match at the last minute when the PPV itself already gives you a built-in stipulation for your title matches? Like the WWE, World Heavyweight, and Diva’s Titles, the Unified Tag Titles should’ve received a Fatal Fourway of its own, allowing the Hart Dynasty a chance to showcase what they’re truly capable of while also giving some other underwatched teams the proper time to shine.

A Tag Title match may not have spiked the buys of the event, but I can’t see anyway in which a title match would’ve hindered purchases. I also can’t see anyway that it would be any worse than running a six-person tag that isn’t even announced until the night of the show. It’s pretty well accepted at this point that the Hart Dynasty are in no way draws for the company, but they’ll never get the chance to prove themselves if WWE doesn’t put them in environments where fans have to pay to see them. Fatal 4 Way provided an opportunity to test the waters of their current tag division, putting Kidd and Smith in there with three of the other struggling teams in order to see who garners the most attention. The Usos would have been a given for one of the spots, what with their recent encounters with the champions. Rounding out the two other spots could’ve been Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer, the Dudebusters, Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu, or basically any combination from the vast wasteland that is each brand’s midcard. The Hart/Uso feud could’ve been extended, and all of the teams, provided they delivered a solid match, could’ve come out looking better in the end.

Instead of that, and instead of working within the theme of the show they have created themselves, WWE ignored a Tag Title 4 Way and instead chose to run a mixed tag that, while having its moments here and there, will end up having meant nothing in the long run. It may have even done more harm than good, having the Hart Dynasty so soundly and effectively defeat the Usos so early into their rivalry, leaving little reason for the Usos to be kept in consideration for a shot at the Harts’ gold. I realize that I rag on WWE’s booking for its nonsensical twists and turns here and there, and I should be used to this by now, but I’ll be damned if they don’t continue to find new ways to disappoint me.

Something else that’s worth keeping in mind when remembering Tag Team Turmoil is that we’ve got a Money In The Bank PPV coming up in just a few weeks. Details are not completely clear at this moment, but it appears that two of the traditional MITB matches we’ve become familiar with will take place at the event, naming a number one contender for both WWE and World Heavyweight Titles. So if the big belts get the MITB treatment, what about the Tag Titles?

Your first reaction might be, “Well, WWE doesn’t even usually bother booking the Tag Champs on PPV; why would they consider booking a bunch of title-less teams?” And my response to that would be, “SUMMERSLAM ’99, SON!” My second response to that would be, “NO MERCY ’99, SON SON!”

WHY IT ISN’T REMEMBERED

There was once a giant robotic monster that terrorized a small Colorado town and had to be defeated by the Cure’s Robert Smith. Before all that, she once sang of our memories … misty, water-colored memories. A little known fact is that this song was inspired by the monster falling off her toilet while hanging a clock, unlocking the mysteries of time travel, and peering into the future of the tag team division of World Wrestling Entertainment.

SummerSlam 1999 in particular supports this time travel theory, considering — when we take a look at the teams that took part in Tag Team Turmoil — we see teams for which wrestling fans have sweet memories … memories of the way they were. And yet … the collective wrestling audience’s memory of the way they were … well, it doesn’t quite match up with the way they were on this particular August night in Minneapolis. For some of the teams involved, the way they were (their overall legacy and lasting image as of today) wasn’t quite the way they, uh, were … at least not in the summer of ’99.

To simplify this whole thing, let’s take a look at each of the teams involved in SummerSlam’s Tag Team Turmoil, including a comparison of where the teams stood at the time of this particular match and how they would evolve (or degenerate) over the course of what was then an imminent tag team boom coming around the corner.

EDGE & CHRISTIAN

Far and away the most successful tag team of the boom period, racking up seven Tag Team Championships to their name before they ended up going their separate ways in 2001. However, when you compare the “E&C Dynasty” that dominated Attitude’s tag ranks to the recently-Brood-departed Edge & Christian that competed at SummerSlam ’99, there really is little comparison to be made at all. When these two future singles stars stepped into SummerSlam, they had yet to achieve … well … anything, really. Edge had been lucky enough to enjoy a fluke one-day reign as Intercontinental Champion a month earlier, having gone over Jeff Jarrett at a house show in Toronto before dropping the belt back to Double J the next night. To his credit, Christian had also enjoyed a brief (albeit slightly embarrassing, due to its termination at Gillberg’s hands) reign as Light Heavyweight Champion, having picked up the belt in his debut WWE match. As a team, however, Edge & Christian had yet to prove anything to the WWE audience; at least, nothing more than an affinity for dumping blood all over their opponents when the lights went out.

Even more than that, regardless of their golden tag cherries still being intact, Edge & Christian at SummerSlam ’99 were not the E&C that would cement their spot as tag team legends over the course of the next couple of years. While they had been mysterious, mischievous, and straight-up spooky as Gangrel-led Brood members, the blonde haired Canadians moved further from the dark side when they embarked on their own tag team journey. From the time of the Brood split and nearly all the way up until the WrestleMania 2000 Ladder Match that would change everything, Edge & Christian were hardly more than your standard long-haired, high-flying babyface grapplers, getting over with fans more on their looks and high risk offense than anything else. It wasn’t until WWE realized what it had on its hands and went into hype mode for WrestleMania that E&C began to exhibit slightly more dick-ish behavior, transforming into the glorious heels that would rule the tag division. Edge & Christian’s career as a tag team is best remembered for two totally awesome dudes one-upping other reekazoid tag teams, and this SummerSlam match features none of the above.

THE HARDY BOYZ

Out of the six teams to compete in SummerSlam’s Tag Team Turmoil, Matt and Jeff Hardy are on a completely different level in terms of longevity as a unit. Over the last ten-plus-years the Hardys have proven to be right up there among the most profitable tag teams in the history of wrestling. While they were far from achieving the success of their rivals Edge & Christian in the win/loss department, the Hardys have, since 1999, risen head and shoulders above all other WWE tag teams when it comes to drawing the almighty dollar. They’ve made their name as risk-taking daredevils that the crowd loves to cheer on, and in the process they’ve made serious bank for WWE, both in terms of bringing people out to the shows and in the all-important area of merchandise. It’s also an arguable point that they are the team most responsible for the rebirth/revival of the Ladder match in the Attitude Era, with many of the most memorable Ladder spots in WWE history involving one of the two Hardys.

The reason none of this stands out when going back to SummerSlam ’99 is because, simply, none of it had happened yet. It wasn’t until a couple of months into 1999 that the Hardys became regulars on primetime WWE programming, having spent the majority of their E-related careers to that point serving as mainstays on Shotgun Saturday Night. ’99 saw the brothers trade in their plaid and flower-print tights for casual attire that more closely resembled the Hardys that we’d all come to know and love, and it was also around this time that they took on Michael Hayes as their personal mentor. Hayes managed to lead Matt and Jeff to their first (albeit short-lived) reign as Tag Team Champions, but once the gold disappeared so too did their affiliation with Hayes. Once again the Hardys traded up, exchanging an aging Freebird for an ageless vampire, situating themselves comfortably under the wing of Gangrel and forming the New Brood. And that brings us up to SummerSlam ’99, where the Hardys performed in one of their only major PPV matches as out-and-out heels. It stands to reason that heelish Hardys are something that might easily slip the mind of wrestling fans.

VISCERA & MIDEON

Less a tag team and more two dudes from the Ministry of Darkness that WWE wasn’t really sure what else to do with. That’s not to say that these two guys aren’t well known for their tag team efforts, because that’s almost all that each guy is remembered for, although their highest point within the tag ranks had come years earlier and each with a different partner. The Godwinns and Men On A Mission were distant memories by the time of SummerSlam ’99, and each grappler had been repackaged to such an extreme extent that to even reference their earlier tag successes at the time would’ve been slightly out of the question.

Unlike E&C and the Hardys, SummerSlam’s Mideon & Viscera combination is not forgotten so much for the drastic changes that their team would undergo in the following months/years, but more for the fact that their team accomplished absolutely nothing. Mideon would prove himself increasingly worthless over time, going from the guy with the eye in the jar to the guy who only wears a fannypack to the guy who doesn’t have a job. Viscera was a little more lucky in that he was able to hold onto his job for many more years, albeit being repackaged over and over repeatedly. But still, no one remembers Mideon & Viscera at SummerSlam because no one remembers Mideon & Viscera.

DROZ & PRINCE ALBERT

Like Mideon & Viscera, Droz & Albert aren’t much remembered simply because they weren’t given a whole lot of time together. They put in a steady amount of time on their backs throughout 1999, putting over the more “important” teams, but even then they weren’t given much of a spotlight. They accomplished nothing of significance as a team, and that applies to promos, matches, storylines, the whole shebangabang.

Sadly, shortly after SummerSlam, when it seemed time that WWE was actually thinking of pulling the trigger on a slight push for Droz, that’s when the unfortunate accident occurred that cost Drozdov his mobility. Had things not turned out this way, we may very well be talking about Droz & Albert in a different manner today, but it’s just another on the long list of “What Ifs” that consume most of my fellow IWCers.

THE ACOLYTES

Like their North Carolinian opponents that night, the Faarooq and Bradshaw competed at SummerSlam under a name a bit different from the one that would become most associated with their team. Just like the Hardys would break free of the New Brood branding and re-establish themselves on their own, the Acolyte Protection Agency would rise from the ashes of the much more briefly named moniker of the “Acolytes.” Faarooq and Bradshaw were two guys who had been around the business for many years before they were paired up in the late 90’s; yet, the image most frequently associated with both guys wouldn’t be set in place until after this particular SummerSlam match.

In Attitude’s boom of tag team popularity, the Hardys, E&C, and the Dudleys were the three main teams that traded the tag team gold. But in the midst of all this, there was one team that remained just as over as their fellow competitors, despite the fact that they hardly matched the three primary teams in terms of bell-time. While those particular six guys were tearing the house down in no holds barred contests, Faarooq and Bradshaw were sitting backstage, drinking beers, and waiting to film their couple of poker-playing segments for the evening. They weren’t completely absent from in-ring competition, but they were nowhere near as active as some of the other teams on the roster; and yet, it didn’t matter. They had transformed themselves from the mute ass-kicking beasts with weird tattoos that you saw at SummerSlam and changed into the beer-drinking, card-playing mercenaries that everybody loved to watch break a bottle over someone’s head.

Thus, just like the Hardys and E&C, the Acolytes of SummerSlam ’99 are not so easily remembered simply because of the accomplishments of the APA as the Attitude Era unfolded.

THE HOLLY COUSINS

Of all the teams that competed at SummerSlam ’99, the Holly Cousins were the one with the least amount of history to their name. Bob Holly had enjoyed a measure of success throughout ’99 within the Hardcore Championship division, even going so far as to rebrand himself “Hardcore” Holly in his quest to make his core hardest. As he shifted out of the hardcore division in the mid-months of ’99, Holly began to experience what may be considered delusions of grandeur, referring to himself as a Super Heavyweight and comparing his size and potential for destrucity to the likes of the Big Show and Kane. It wasn’t until one week before SummerSlam that Bob’s “cousin” Crash Holly made his WWE debut, and the younger Holly wasted no time in letting the WWE audience know that he too was just as big and bad a Super Heavyweight as his cousin Hardcore.

Strangely enough, while they were the team with the least amount of history going into SummerSlam, they were the first team (of the Turmoil combatants) after SummerSlam to get their hands on the Tag Team Titles. And on top of that, their Tag Team Title victory came at the expense of a team that not many can say they’ve got a win over, that being the Rock’n’Sock Connection. Less than two months after SummerSlam (despite losing the Turmoil contest), the Hollys were the Tag Team Champions. The next Turmoil-involved team to win the belts would be E&C, but it would take them several more months until they picked up their first set of gold at WrestleMania.

Yet, despite having won the Tag Titles from two of the biggest names of the Attitude Era, the Hollys never really made an historical impact within the tag ranks. Both Bob and Crash are more well-known for their efforts within the Hardcore division, and thus, their time as a tag team together is often glossed over, if not completely forgotten altogether.

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Feedback from two weeks ago would be the lame, so I’m not even going to bother. However, whatever hate/praise you feel I deserve this week will most certainly be addressed next week.

Until then, stay safe and out of Dundalk.