Partners in Crime: Beer Money
The Road Warriors, The Midnight Express, The Hardys. Throughout wrestling history, tag teams have been known to be an epic starting point for the careers of many superstars.
It's one thing to see a solo performer giving his or her all for the audience, but to me there's always been something special about seeing two partners working together to deliver a double drop kick or having one partner holding the unwilling victim while the other executes a devastating elbow from the top rope.
In addition, whenever there's a championship involved the matches get even more intense. During the days of the National Wrestling Alliance, the classic feuds between the Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) against the Rock 'n Roll Express were always entertaining.
I could go on and on about how those feuds were so enjoyable because you could see a multitude of future stars working together to make something special happen in the ring.
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Remember the days of the Hardy Boyz vs. Edge/Christian vs. The Dudley Boys for the WWF Tag Team Titles? They took tag team wrestling to a whole different level with their TLC matches! I look at some of the old Youtube matches just to reminisce about those days.
For a number of years tag team wrestling took a back seat, especially in the WWE, as the booking team placed more of an emphasis on the World Championship scene. Fans were still claiming for tag team wrestling though, and thanks to Total Nonstop Action, as well was Ring of Honor, we've began to see a revival in the tag team ranks.
That said, welcome to Partners in Crime! The purpose of this column is to shine a spotlight on today's top tag teams, and in some cases, cliques that have more than two wrestlers, such as the Main Event Mafia. In addition, we'll take a look at what makes them so special. In the end we'll have a special take on whether or not each partner has future potential to become a superstar as a solo wrestler.
For those who have that special "it" factor, we'll put them in the HBK category, named after Shawn Michaels and how he became a superstar after leaving The Rockers. For those whom are destined to curtain-jerking or just reaching below main-event status, we'll place them in the Marty Jannetty category. Hope those guys aren't near any barbershop glass windows!
Our first group is the current TNA World Tag Team Champions, Beer Money Inc. The group consists of Robert Roode and "Cowboy" James Storm, along with their valet, "The Pride of Tennessee" Jacqueline. They have held the titles for the past few weeks after regaining them from Lethal Consequences.
Known for their combined entrance music as well as the infamous beer scooter, they have dominated the tag team scene for the past year. In a promotion in which the scene is full of special teams in LAX, the Motor City Machine Guns, and the aforementioned Lethal Consequences, Beer Money has continued to succeed in spite of great competition.
Why so special: Both Storm and Roode have experience working in groups, as Storm was a member of America's Most Wanted, winning multiple tag team championships in TNA. Roode was a member of Team Canada, but was clearly the breakout star of the four-member group. They began to team up infrequently around the beginning of 2008, both in respective feuds with Booker T and Eric Young.
Normally most people frown when wrestlers begin teaming up on a regular basis and compete for the tag titles, but if watching the combination of AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels is any indication, is that it can work if you have the right people in place. Since Storm and Roode are used to working in groups, it came off as successful right away. Now fans cheer along whenever they do their patented double suplex and yell out...
"BEER"..."MONEY"
As last night's match against Lethal Consequences proved, Beer Money can match up with anyone and adapt to their style. Whether it was the former power team of Matt Morgan and Abyss, or a smaller quicker unit like the Motor City Machineguns, Beer Money can go against anyone.
I like how they have kept their individual personalities and mixed them together in a way that it takes some tag teams years to perfect. They are heels who are both good on the mic and are entertaining in the ring. They draw the old school "Freebird heat" in which they are so cool in spite of their heel status.
Future prospects:
Robert Roode has come a long way from his Team Canada days. He became his own man during his evolution into a Wall-Street rich man gimmick. He does have the ability to bring in heat (go back to his emotional feud against Booker T) and has the talent and look that reminds many of the late "Mr. Perfect" Curt Henning, right down to the hair and his finisher.
I do see Roode as a future World Champion in TNA, not so sure that would happen if he went to the WWE though. Although a bit marginal, I am willing to put him in the "future HBK" category, even if he gets one reign as World Champion.
James Storm is extremely entertaining and can brawl with the best of them. He can bring it on the mic and I always look forward to seeing his matches, especially when he hits the "Last Call" superkick. Go back to when he was a part of AMW, and how everyone and their mother thought that Chris "Braden Walker" Harris was the future HBK of the group, now he's an overweight outcast.
That said, Storm may not get the same chance to be a World Champion in either TNA or WWE. Also, if he ever did go to the WWE, no way could he keep the drinking gimmick with the now kid-friendly policy in place. I could definitely see him becoming a TNA Legends champion though. So with that being said, I'll have to put him the "future Jannetty" group.
I love everything about Beer Money, from the entrance to their matches. Let's hope these guys are together for a long time!
If you have any tag teams/groups that you'd like for me to review, past or present, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
On the next Partners in Crime, we'll look at the WWE's top tag team of today: John Morrison and the Miz!
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