8 Attitude Era Tag Teams That Should Return To WWE
7. The Un-Americans
WWE.com
I guess WWE tried the whole 'we aren't American so we're a group' thing recently with the League of Nations, but they did it with all the enthusiasm of a husband at a baby shower in the early hours of a Bank Holiday Monday. The Un-Americans were a successful anti-American group, although a lot of that was down to the quality of the men that made up the group.
Lance Storm is the perfect fit for any anti-something group, his total lack of enthusiasm and excitement exacerbated by his second-to-none technical ability. Christian was always fun in irritating heel roles too, and this was the most fun Test was in the company after Triple H drugged and married his fiancee.
William Regal and Chris Jericho were also associated with the group, making it the most technically sound collection of wrestlers this writer can think of. Christian has been retired, Storm too and Test is no longer with us, but Jericho and maybe even Kevin Owens could take on the Un-Americans legacy with no issues.
6. Right To Censor
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A parody of the Parents Television Council, the group known as Right To Censor were another borderline-terrible idea that worked surprisingly well. Little things like renaming the members of the group certainly helped. Stevie Richards became Steven Richards and The Godfather transitioned into The Goodfather, and whilst Val Venis, Bull Buchanan and Ivory didn't change their name they all seemed like perfect fits for the group.
They had a distinctive look too, and their 'no fun' style was perfect for the Attitude Era and work equally well in the modern age. As for which members of the group would return, that is a tougher question. Stevie Richards is still in ring-shape, and it could be argued that his RTC run was his most successful in WWE.
Nobody wants to see The Goodfather full time, and Val Venis has been openly critical of WWE on social media on a number of occasions. This leaves Bull Buchanan, and B-Squared is unfortunately retired.
Pair Stevie up with Sin Cara I say!
5. The J.O.B. Squad
WWE.com
The Attitude Era was full of all sorts of wink-wink nudge-nudge jokes, and the formation of the J.O.B Squad was one of them. The group saw perennial losers Al Snow, Bob Holly and Too Cold Scorpio come together, at which point they began to experience more success than they had ever dreamt of.
Their numbers swelled with the addition of The Blue Meanie and Gillberg, but by the middle of 2000 the joke was over. The split came when Holly came down to stop Al Snow beating himself up, before defeating Snow for the Hardcore Championship. Yeah, a lot of the Attitude Era was kinda terrible.
There have been a number of similar groups over the past few years, of jobbers coming together to form a stronger whole only to generally continue losing. These groups are usually led by Heath Slater. Either way, Holly and Scorpio could surely provide some value to WWE in 2016 as an enhancement tag team
4. The Mean Street Posse
WWE.com
Hah, these guys. How did they not return before WrestleMania to help their buddy Shane McMahon out? That is the only thing that would have made the Hell in a Cell Mania match palatable for me, the appearance of Pete Gas, Rodney and Joey Abs to take chokeslams and Last Rides.
The Mean Street Posse were fairly useless in their original run, but as far as irritating comedy asides go they weren't too shabby. With Shane now running SmackDown a return to the company would even make story sense. All three have retired, but surely they'd jump at the chance for a short return?
Pete Gas has actually appeared on the Edge & Christian WWE Network show a couple of times this year, so maybe this return is actually in the works.
3. Too Cool
WWE.com
Whilst Grandmaster Sexay's initial return to WWE in 2011 has gone down in infamy for the silence the crowd produced, his second return with Scotty 2 Hotty in tow went a little better. The duo were unsuccessful in challenging The Ascension for the NXT Tag Team Championships, but NXT Ascension was a completely different kettle of fish than main roster Ascension.
These two dancing fools are generally always quite fun to see, and whilst nobody would be clamouring for a nostalgia title run for Scotty and Grandmaster they could certainly still do a job. Well, they could job.
In truth, ti is far more likely that Scotty 2 Hotty will return in singles competition than with the son of Jerry Lawler in tow. Fans of The Worm rejoice!
2. Kaientai
WWE.com
I'm certainly not alone in believing that Kai En Tai were one of the most poorly used factions in World Wrestling Entertainment history. The Japanese group were reduced to nothing more than punchlines thanks in part to the increased acceptance of 'hilarious' offensive humour during the Attitude Era.
Before coming to WWE, the faction known as Kai En Tai (named after a Japanese corporation) was a staple in the Michinoku Pro wrestling promotion, and were a darn sigh more serious than their American incarnation. Their only notable feud in the WWE saw them threaten to chop off Val Venis' penis. I have nothing more to say about that.
Times have changed however, and whilst there would be some history to deal with Funaki and Taka Michinoku are still more than capable of producing the goods inside the ring. Not only that, but the two would make valuable enhancement members of the fledgling Cruiserweight division on RAW.
1. The Hardy Boyz
WWE.com
I mean, obviously right? They may now be broken in TNA, but the overriding feeling seems to be that there is merely a clock kept somewhere in WWE HQ that will eventually wind down to zero, and at that time Matt & Jeff Hardy will be brought back home.
In many ways the Hardyz encapsulated all that was great about the Attitude Era. They were wrestling fans who grew up in the cartoon era and followed their own dream despite not being the biggest, a new generation of stars who conceivably could have been in the crowd. Their style was a modern evolution too, taking what The Rockers had done and injecting some new life into it.
The Hardyz are one of the few teams that could walk back into WWE and find themselves immediately in a position of prominence. Nobody expects Thrasher and Mosh to get to the final of the SmackDown tag tournament, but would Slater & Rhyno be going over Matt & Jeff. The answer is clearly no.
The only thing that will stop The Hardy Boyz running riot in WWE's tag team division once again is their value as singles competitors. Until then, that clock continues to tick.
7. The Un-Americans
WWE.com
I guess WWE tried the whole 'we aren't American so we're a group' thing recently with the League of Nations, but they did it with all the enthusiasm of a husband at a baby shower in the early hours of a Bank Holiday Monday. The Un-Americans were a successful anti-American group, although a lot of that was down to the quality of the men that made up the group.
Lance Storm is the perfect fit for any anti-something group, his total lack of enthusiasm and excitement exacerbated by his second-to-none technical ability. Christian was always fun in irritating heel roles too, and this was the most fun Test was in the company after Triple H drugged and married his fiancee.
William Regal and Chris Jericho were also associated with the group, making it the most technically sound collection of wrestlers this writer can think of. Christian has been retired, Storm too and Test is no longer with us, but Jericho and maybe even Kevin Owens could take on the Un-Americans legacy with no issues.
6. Right To Censor
1258169
A parody of the Parents Television Council, the group known as Right To Censor were another borderline-terrible idea that worked surprisingly well. Little things like renaming the members of the group certainly helped. Stevie Richards became Steven Richards and The Godfather transitioned into The Goodfather, and whilst Val Venis, Bull Buchanan and Ivory didn't change their name they all seemed like perfect fits for the group.
They had a distinctive look too, and their 'no fun' style was perfect for the Attitude Era and work equally well in the modern age. As for which members of the group would return, that is a tougher question. Stevie Richards is still in ring-shape, and it could be argued that his RTC run was his most successful in WWE.
Nobody wants to see The Goodfather full time, and Val Venis has been openly critical of WWE on social media on a number of occasions. This leaves Bull Buchanan, and B-Squared is unfortunately retired.
Pair Stevie up with Sin Cara I say!
5. The J.O.B. Squad
WWE.com
The Attitude Era was full of all sorts of wink-wink nudge-nudge jokes, and the formation of the J.O.B Squad was one of them. The group saw perennial losers Al Snow, Bob Holly and Too Cold Scorpio come together, at which point they began to experience more success than they had ever dreamt of.
Their numbers swelled with the addition of The Blue Meanie and Gillberg, but by the middle of 2000 the joke was over. The split came when Holly came down to stop Al Snow beating himself up, before defeating Snow for the Hardcore Championship. Yeah, a lot of the Attitude Era was kinda terrible.
There have been a number of similar groups over the past few years, of jobbers coming together to form a stronger whole only to generally continue losing. These groups are usually led by Heath Slater. Either way, Holly and Scorpio could surely provide some value to WWE in 2016 as an enhancement tag team
4. The Mean Street Posse
WWE.com
Hah, these guys. How did they not return before WrestleMania to help their buddy Shane McMahon out? That is the only thing that would have made the Hell in a Cell Mania match palatable for me, the appearance of Pete Gas, Rodney and Joey Abs to take chokeslams and Last Rides.
The Mean Street Posse were fairly useless in their original run, but as far as irritating comedy asides go they weren't too shabby. With Shane now running SmackDown a return to the company would even make story sense. All three have retired, but surely they'd jump at the chance for a short return?
Pete Gas has actually appeared on the Edge & Christian WWE Network show a couple of times this year, so maybe this return is actually in the works.
3. Too Cool
WWE.com
Whilst Grandmaster Sexay's initial return to WWE in 2011 has gone down in infamy for the silence the crowd produced, his second return with Scotty 2 Hotty in tow went a little better. The duo were unsuccessful in challenging The Ascension for the NXT Tag Team Championships, but NXT Ascension was a completely different kettle of fish than main roster Ascension.
These two dancing fools are generally always quite fun to see, and whilst nobody would be clamouring for a nostalgia title run for Scotty and Grandmaster they could certainly still do a job. Well, they could job.
In truth, ti is far more likely that Scotty 2 Hotty will return in singles competition than with the son of Jerry Lawler in tow. Fans of The Worm rejoice!
2. Kaientai
WWE.com
I'm certainly not alone in believing that Kai En Tai were one of the most poorly used factions in World Wrestling Entertainment history. The Japanese group were reduced to nothing more than punchlines thanks in part to the increased acceptance of 'hilarious' offensive humour during the Attitude Era.
Before coming to WWE, the faction known as Kai En Tai (named after a Japanese corporation) was a staple in the Michinoku Pro wrestling promotion, and were a darn sigh more serious than their American incarnation. Their only notable feud in the WWE saw them threaten to chop off Val Venis' penis. I have nothing more to say about that.
Times have changed however, and whilst there would be some history to deal with Funaki and Taka Michinoku are still more than capable of producing the goods inside the ring. Not only that, but the two would make valuable enhancement members of the fledgling Cruiserweight division on RAW.
1. The Hardy Boyz
WWE.com
I mean, obviously right? They may now be broken in TNA, but the overriding feeling seems to be that there is merely a clock kept somewhere in WWE HQ that will eventually wind down to zero, and at that time Matt & Jeff Hardy will be brought back home.
In many ways the Hardyz encapsulated all that was great about the Attitude Era. They were wrestling fans who grew up in the cartoon era and followed their own dream despite not being the biggest, a new generation of stars who conceivably could have been in the crowd. Their style was a modern evolution too, taking what The Rockers had done and injecting some new life into it.
The Hardyz are one of the few teams that could walk back into WWE and find themselves immediately in a position of prominence. Nobody expects Thrasher and Mosh to get to the final of the SmackDown tag tournament, but would Slater & Rhyno be going over Matt & Jeff. The answer is clearly no.
The only thing that will stop The Hardy Boyz running riot in WWE's tag team division once again is their value as singles competitors. Until then, that clock continues to tick.
besides the Hardyz and Stevie Richards
it looked like they were plucked straight from 99 and placed in 2016. I fully expected them to look like out of shape and sloppy like Brian Christopher