Beer Money... Greatest? Woof.

I really liked Beer Money, great gimmick but like UT alluded to TNA had a limited audience so they would have had a very limited appeal. For shits and giggles I should have considered them but I feel they would have fell in that 60-80 range.

Beer Money was decent enough. It was here I really thought Storm had something. But eh.

I'm on board with this TNA smear campaign but in fairness to them they did have global exposure. It isn't like now where they're lucky to draw a 100,000 fans on Twitch to watch their shows - it was on the same network as late ECW and did actually get international exposure. It was never confirmed or denied so take it with a grain of salt but I remember reports that TNA actually drew better in the UK and Australia than WWE.

Beer Money- Tough late cut. I had them in the 50s.

Long considered one of the top two teams in TNA history. Among the leaders in company history when it comes to championships won and total time as champions. The team was successful enough that it briefly lead to both guys becoming main eventers when TNA was still in its 1.1 heyday.

I did have one TNA exclusive team on my list. On paper it's basically a push between this team and Beer Money. They really should have been back to back on my list, or both off it entirely, rather than the 20+ point gap I had. This is where bias comes into play. I had an emotional attachment to this other team while largely being done with TNA by the time Beer Money became a thing.

Thought I was still around for Beer Money's origin story, but apparently not according to Wikipedia. The way I "remembered" it one of them was feuding with Joe and the other was feuding with another babyface wrestler. They had a couple tags on tv against Joe & Other Guy, clicked, and became a full time team. But Wikipedia makes no mention of this. Oh well.

All this cruel and unusual TNA hate got me to watch my first TNA match in years. And Beer Money is involved! To the Match Review thread I go...

I look forward to was Shootist has to say about Doom.

I'm not expert but I have went back and watched WCW/NWA at this time period quite a bit ago and they were quite featured on the cards. Their kayfabe success isn't great nor was their longevity but there was something about this team and their presence that always made them feel like a big deal and wrestling members of the Horsemen or Steiners during this team and having feuds was probably as big as it got so they legit mattered. I didn't have them quite this high but I did throw them a vote in the 40's because they were definitely standouts of their era.

Big Doom fan. Had them at #39. Them and Skyscrapers are my favorite WCW tag team jam! Dream match is Doom vs. (New) Blackjacks.

Jul 31, 2021 22:53:15 GMT 🤯 said:

Big Doom fan. Had them at #39. Them and Skyscrapers are my favorite WCW tag team jam! Dream match is Doom vs. (New) Blackjacks.

That’s an incredibly random dream match. I dig it.

I had Doom at 71, while a personal favorite they really only had a year of good stuff. When they first came together in 1989 under masks they were kind of an afterthought which leaves you with 1990 and early '91. Once the hoods were removed though they became fleshed out badasses. It looked like they belonged together and they worked well with other hoss teams. I even gave them a bit extra on kayfabe success since they beat the Steiners for the belts and had a solid 6 month plus reign fending off the Steiners and the Horsemen alike. Their brief feud with LOD could have been better though as Hawk and Animal just vanished from sight and didn't give Butch and Ron the stamp of approval on their exit. Also nothing was drawing in 1990 WCW so that held them back further. Glad to see other members hold them in a high regard though. definitely no qualms to see them on the list.

37. Doom- Just found out they were only together for about 16 months. I thought it was more like two years. Oh well.

They crammed a lot of goodness into those 16 months as a powerhouse brawling heel team with badass vibes. I probably would have found a way to squeeze them on my list regardless, but what cemented their spot was discovering they had the longest tag title reign in WCW history at just a shade over 9 months. Was anybody else aware of this?

Doom also had excellent feuds with the Steiners and Horsemen. I always felt like Doom were the Steiners toughest opponents due to more or less going 50/50 with them. That's a huge feather in Doom's cap given given how dominant the Steiners were in kayfabe. That whole feud is actually hella underrated. Let's talk about it...

Robin Green was a nerdy female fan with a crush on Rick Steiner. Rick was a rather slow-witted fellow who was shy around women. After a slow burn they went on a date. It was all very wholesome and adorable. I think they then became an item. Until! That nice, shy, nerdy, young leader of the Rick Steiner Fan Club, Robin Green, underwent a startling transformation to become the jezebel known only as Woman! I forget the exact details, but she turned on Rick and introduced a new masked team (dumb idea btw) called Doom to take out the Steiners.

Hmm...just realized NWA threw Doom right INTO THE FIRE~! by having them wrestle the Steiners at Halloween Havoc '89 just a few days after the team's formation. Perhaps that's why I thought they were around longer than they actually were? Doom passed the test with flying colors btw. Oh, and the earliest Stunner I ever saw came in one of those Doom/Steiners matches, though I once again forget the exact details.

The Horsemen feud was a rare heel vs. heel deal which peaked in a great 80s style Street Fight against Arn & Windham at Starrcade '90. Short and sweet, all action and violence. Check it out.

Doom also gelled well with their two managers- the aforementioned Woman, and Teddy Long, who is also underrated. "Peanuthead" was a heat magnet for a minute there as NWA's version of Danny Davis turned manager. Love the shirt he's wearing in the pic UT posted in the reveal thread.

You also have to credit Doom with being a launching pad for Ron Simmons who would ultimately rise all the way to the WCW Championship. I also think it's neat how Doom consisted of two guys undergoing opposite career trajectories. Butch Reed was an 80s territorial star for whom this would be his last big run, while Ron Simmons was a young up and comer whose best days were still to come.

Took me a minute to figure out why 🤯 would want to see Doom (or anybody) vs. New Blackjacks. Then I realized it's because we'd get to see young Bradshaw vs. young Farooq before the Acolytes were a thing. Duh. 
===============
I was curious to see what my list looked like so far...

21. Fabulous Ones (#37)
28. Fantastics (#44)
29. Briscoes (#40)
35. Eliminators (#49)
36. Nasty Boys (#38)
37. Doom (#32)
39. Money Inc. (#35)
43. Guerreros (#50)
45. World's Greatest Tag Team (#43)
46. MNM (#46)
47. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (#41)

I knew Doom's tag team title run was long but never knew it was a record setter. Didn't The Outsiders have the longest reign?

Aug 1, 2021 3:43:57 GMT Shootist said:

Didn't The Outsiders have the longest reign?

Nope. Technically they lost the titles for 2 days to the Steiners and another day to Luger & Giant. Otherwise they'd have been tag champs for nearly a full year. 

Before this countdown I had no idea Doom held the record. Would have guessed Outsiders or Steiners and probably half a dozen other teams before I got to Doom.

Aug 1, 2021 4:10:32 GMT Baker said:

Aug 1, 2021 3:43:57 GMT Shootist said:

Didn't The Outsiders have the longest reign?

Nope. Technically they lost the titles for 2 days to the Steiners and another day to Luger & Giant. Otherwise they'd have been tag champs for nearly a full year. 

Before this countdown I had no idea Doom held the record. Would have guessed Outsiders or Steiners and probably half a dozen other teams before I got to Doom.

I liked it better when PWI didn't count those 1 or 2 day reigns that ended on a technicality. Damn wikipedia revisionist history. 

This is going to be all Baker and Shootist again I presume and I look forward to it.

Stoked I could find some matches to list.

Also they had a ton more title reigns in every territory around but I didn't want to find time to list them.

Stoked that Fab Kangaroos are a legit team. Thought that was 100% fantasy.

The Fabulous Kangawhos?

In every PW countdown there is an act I root for above all others. It's usually an offbeat entry rather than my #1. For this countdown it was the Fabulous Kangaroos. So proud of PW right now. Won't you come a-Waltzing Matilda with me after I tie me kangaroo down, sport? Well, all except for this jabroni pony riding drongo...

Aug 1, 2021 16:09:27 GMT 🤯 said:

The Fabulous Kangawhos?

On behalf of the good people of Australia, I sentence you, sir, to a booting. So bend over, de-pants, and take your booting like a fair dinkum bloke.

*Got carried away and now I must eat real quick. Be back in a bit to properly put over the Kangaroos.

15. The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello, Roy Heffernan, Ray St. Clair, Don Kent, Bruno Bekkar, Johnny Heffernan)- 131.25 points

The Fabulous Kangaroos were real trailblazers being one of the first teams with a non brother gimmick and to use entrance music. They pretty much established modern tag team wrestling using frequent tags to get the advantage on opponents and manipulate the ref to get double teams. They were also an early big attraction for Vince McMahon Sr., causing riots at MSG against the top babyface teams of the time. Personally I first heard about them through my dad who used to watch them in Stampede which is where they got their start and would return up until the 1970's. They had longevity in various forms until the early 1980's and even spawned a new version later with a guy named Al Snow. Beyond being one of the first big time heel teams in New York they were a travelling attraction going to many different territories and drawing good money wherever they went. Needless to say they scored high across the board for my list and they should be one of the first teams to come up when talking about greatest teams. Glad to see them get the exposure they deserve on this list.

34. Fabulous Kangaroos- I wanted to include at least one really old school team on my list. The 'Roos were the obvious choice since I've long heard they were THE team back in the day. Now I actually regret placing the 'Roos at #34. Should have been Top 20.

@ness will be happy to learn the first time I ever heard of the 'Roos, probably in the old AOL wrestling chat room, I too thought they were a made up team. "Fabulous Kangaroos. LOL. What a silly name. No way that's a real team." 

For the longest time the story I heard was the Fabulous Kangaroos either invented, or popularized tag team wrestling to such an extent that they were the reason why tag team matches back in the day were billed as "Australian Rules Tag Team Matches."

Wrong! Turns out I actually had it backwards. "Australian Rules Tag Matches" was just a gimmick name promoters came up with to make tag team wrestling seem more exotic. However, depending on which story you wish to believe, either head 'Roo Al Costello, or some genius promoter somewhere (possibly Joe Blanchard, Tully's dad), devised the brilliant idea that since tag matches are billed as "Australian Rules" it would make sense to have a dominant Aussie tag team.

And thus the Fabulous Kangaroos were born. There were multiple incarnations of the 'Roos over the years, but the most famous is the first- Al Costello & Roy Heffernan. They did an "ultra Australian" gimmick which got HUGE heat back in the day. A good chunk of their Wikipedia entry is devoted to the various riots they caused. If you listen very carefully you can hear the sounds of an apoplectic Dave Meltzer furiously typing out a strong-worded condemnation of those rubes giving the 'Roos too much heat back in the day. Anyway, not sure why North Americans had such a beef with Australia from the 50s-70s, but I guess that's just how it was until Paul Hogan came along in the 80s to babyface the land down under.

By all accounts Costello was the brains behind the team, and an early marketing genius. The 'Roos incorporated every Aussie stereotype you can think of into their act. They even threw plastic boomerangs into the crowd! I can only assume the fans usually threw them back in the style of ECW fans reacting to John Cena at One Night Stand II. They even had entrance music! In the 50s & 60s! Coming out to Australia's unofficial national anthem- Waltzing Matilda.

Remember that time Eric Bischoff simply declared HHH the World Champion in 2002? Well, that was a big part of the 'Roos gimmick. They were so over nationally (perhaps through the magazines?) that territories would bring them in as the (fictional) ___ Tag Team Champions and have them eventually put over their own hot babyface act after a long feud. Then the 'Roos would move on to the next territory, always drawing huge, hostile crowds in the process. I guess you can also describe it as a kind of reverse NWA touring champion deal.

The original version of Costello & Heffernan teamed from 57-65. Oh, and another thing. You know how Demolition held the record for longest tag title reign in WWF history for many years? Well, the record they broke was actually set by the Fabulous Kangaroos, who held the tag titles in the old CWC (WWF's predecessor) for over a year from 60-62.

Costello and Others continued the gimmick all the way up to 1983. They were big not just in North America, but all around the world. They hit up most of the territories. They won tag titles in most of the territories. They were in inducted into Meltzer’s Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1996, and in 2003 they were the first tag team ever inducted into something called The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. 

I watched my first 'Roos match after hyping them up a few weeks ago. It was nothing special. They reminded me of classic British style wrestlers with some fancy matwork and lots of European Uppercuts. Fwiw before becoming a 'Roo, Al Costello's nickname was "The Man of a Thousand Holds." 

#3 The Fabulous Kangaroos

I went really high on the Kangaroos. From what I read, they came in just as tag team wrestling was taking off and took the 'Fabulous' part of their name from the Fargos and made it apart of their brand. They were coming through Stampede who really celebrated the international talents and quickly formed a rivalry with the Baillargeon family before having rivalries with touring teams like the Kalmikoffs. They made a stir and they became one of the hottest acts in the industry making it to New York which was no mean feat.

From all reports they were the complete package and of all those pioneer tag teams, they seem to stand out as the premiere tag team. That was one of the hottest eras for that genre, so I had to go high.

This @roo talk is making we wonder...

When did tag team wrestling actually first start?

Big Pete coming through in a big way by having the Kangaroos all the way up at #3.

Aug 2, 2021 13:08:28 GMT 🤯 said:

This @roo talk is making we wonder...

When did tag team wrestling actually first start?

Good question. Let's find out...

The first recorded tag match took place way back in 1901 San Francisco.

It remained a regional gimmick until finally spreading nationally in the 1930s.

The first "World Tag Team Champions" were not crowned until the 1950s. This once again took place in San Francisco, which seems to have been the hotbed of tag team wrestling in the first half of the 20th Century. Not sure whether local promotions had their own regional tag champs before then.

I've long heard the Mid Atlantic & Memphis territories largely revolved around tag team wrestling until the mid 70s. Not sure who the big dogs were in Crockett country, but old timers would always be going on about how the masked Interns were a huge deal as heels in Memphis. I assume they had a big money feud with the Fabulous Fargos at some point.

The Usos are lame and they've always been lame.

They probably belong on the list simply because of longevity and the success they've had and the fact the WWE obviously cherishes their bloodline and overpush them to an insane amount but it all does qualify.

They aren't even bad , they are good enough in the ring to get by and have some decent matches but they are as guilty of any team out there IMO of wrestling the same exact match over and over again and that's when and why I just punted on them and never could go back.

Fuck the Usos. And that's without factoring in the DUI nonsense.

They've been around forever and I'm sure it isn't just nepotism (I'm sure it helps) and surely they're a good solid team to have but meh.

The Usos were 69 on my list, at least it was an attempt from WWE to keep the Samoan tag team lineage going. They became stale real fast though, they're ok in ring but nothing special and having to fill big shoes in an era that's tanking did no favors for their impact and legacy plus drawing power. I still had them ahead of Doom though as much as it pains me to say it. If the Headshrinkers don't make the list it will be a bad look. I'm fairy confident the Wild Samoans will make it so hopefully we'll avoid that snafu.

Usos finisher should be a spike piledriver called the Drunk Driver.

Aug 2, 2021 19:35:28 GMT Shootist said:

The Usos were 69 on my list, at least it was an attempt from WWE to keep the Samoan tag team lineage going. They became stale real fast though, they're ok in ring but nothing special and having to fill big shoes in an era that's tanking did no favors for their impact and legacy plus drawing power. I still had them ahead of Doom though as much as it pains me to say it. If the Headshrinkers don't make the list it will be a bad look. I'm fairy confident the Wild Samoans will make it so hopefully we'll avoid that snafu.

As much as I dislike sticking up for the Usos , I’m not sure there is much wrong with them making this list and not the Headshrinkers.

19. Usos- Yikes on that rating. Look, I'm not a closet Uso fan or anything. I just wanted to be fair to all eras. Did I overcompensate in my desire to do so? Probably.

I'm not getting all the Uso hate though. #19 may be a bit much, but #30 seems alright. Usos look good on paper, scoring well in both longevity and kayfabe success. They've been a regular tag team in the biggest promotion on the planet for nearly a decade. They've held the Raw & Smackdown tag titles a combined 7 times for over 650 days. Even if you half those numbers based on the promotion having two tag titles it comes out roughly equivalent to the Smoking Gunns, who I assume will be making our list. It's hard to argue against the Usos being a Top 2 or 3 WWE tag team of their era, and a Top 5 team overall for the 2010s and beyond. I personally had them at #2 for WWE and #3 overall. 

I'm far from an Uso expert, mind you, but they seem like a perfectly cromulent team in the ring going off a small sample size. I especially loved that Shield bout UT had in their recommended matches. Check it out.

I guess they're stale to modern fans after doing the same thing for nearly a decade? I can understand if that's the case. I mean, even I got tired of both the Hardys & Dudleys in 2001 after being a huge fan of both in the preceding years. 

Shootist I agree with UT when it comes to the Headshrinkers. That's a weird hill to die on. I dismissed them with no regrets after only a few seconds of consideration when coming up with my list. Just off the top of my head I imagine I'd have them in the 70s or 80s. Wild Samoans made my list with ease though.

Never heard of Doom or The Kangaroos. Thanks for the history lesson. I highly enjoy learning new things.

I looked at my list and the Usos aren't on it. Maybe it was an oversight, maybe it wasn't. I'd probably have them in the 60's.

Dream match is Usos vs. Too Cool with Rikishi as special guest referee.