WWE has had a knack for doing “Classics” lately. What immediately will come to fans’ minds will be the stellar Cruiserweight Classic, which ran for most of the summer and ended just a couple of weeks ago when TJ Perkins won the Cruiserweight Championship. Before that, however, WWE commemorated the late, great Dusty Rhodes by starting the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic just about a year ago. It was a single-elimination tag team tournament that ended with Finn Balor and Samoa Joe winning it all. After announcing the return of the Tag Team Classic, WWE has been confirming teams over the past several days. Let’s take a look at who is confirmed so far.
Andrade “Cien” Almas & Cedric Alexander
Cedric Alexander competed in the Cruiserweight Classic, then debuted on Monday Night Raw and NXT in the same week. In his NXT debut, he competed against, and defeated, Almas, with the two showing each other a great sign of respect after their match. With both of them apparently becoming new allies, they go into the tournament together.
The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder)
Arguably the favorite for the tournament, the current NXT Tag Team Champions are the definition of tag team wrestling. They are the first-ever two-time NXT Tag Team Champions, and they have laid waste to the Vaudevillains, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, American Alpha and Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. They have shown that they are not just two great competitors put together, but that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa)
Speaking of the former (and possibly still) #1 Contenders to the tag belts, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have 3 goals: win the Tag Team Classic, beat The Revival, and become the new NXT Tag Team Champions. With both of them finishing up their final indy dates, they are sure to be NXT and WWE mainstays, which could start with a huge tournament win.
Perfectly Glorious (Tye Dillinger & Bobby Roode)
This was a surprise pairing that teamed up on last week’s episode of NXT. Bobby Roode is undefeated since his debut, and he said that his primary goal in NXT is to win the Tag Team Classic (which is odd since he didn’t come with a partner). After Dillinger got back in his stride, Roode found a partner that is a Perfect 10.
Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli
Not much is known about Moss and Sabbatelli, other than that Sabbatelli was featured on the WWE Network special Breaking Ground. They will either get eliminated quickly, or make a surprising splash in this tournament.
Hideo Itami & Kota Ibushi
For someone who is not under WWE contract, Kota Ibushi loves coming back to Full Sail University. Ibushi and Itami are two of the biggest Japanese stars of their respective companies, and the two hardest-hitting people that Daniel Bryan has been in the ring with (that includes Sheamus). This is the epitome of a dream team, and hopefully they will make it far so that we can see more of Ibushi on WWE television.
The Bollywood Boyz (Harv and Gurv Sihra)
Both of the Sihra brothers competed in the Cruiserweight Classic, but were eliminated in the first round. Now they return to tournament action in a setting that is more of their scene: tag team action. This promising tag team could be the dark horse in this tournament.
Heavy Machinery (Niko Bogojevic & Tucker Knight)
Tucker Knight has been seen on NXT television occasionally, but has not been seen on the winning ends of his matches. Hopefully after teaming up with the relatively unknown Bogojevic, he can find success. Also, Heavy Machinery is a pretty cool team name which could help them catch on with the NXT audience.
TM-61 (Nick Miller & Shane Thorne)
Miller and Thorne were one of the hottest tag teams on the planet before signing with NXT, and have since squandered some of their momentum. Instead of being remembered (or forgotten) as a flop, this is the perfect time for the Australian tag team sensation to live up to the hype.
No Way Jose & Rich Swann
This is definitely the most entertaining and charismatic team in the tournament. Rich Swann loves to party all night long, and No Way Jose doesn’t ever stop dancing (unless he’s feuding with Austin Aries). While charisma doesn’t help win a match, these two are talented enough that they can still make it surprisingly far.
The Authors of Pain
This will be the first time outside of American Alpha that The Authors of Pain will face legitimate threats in the tag team division. While they have been dominant, they have only been facing local wrestlers whose main job is to lose. It will be interesting to see how dominant they are against teams like Hideo Itami and Kota Ibushi, or even The Revival.
Bin Wang & Hoho Lun
Hoho Lun, like many of the wrestlers listed here, competed in the Cruiserweight Classic, but was one of the two who hailed from China (the other being Jason Lee). Lun teams up with Bin Wang, who was announced as the first-ever Chinese WWE Superstar just a few months ago. If this teams comes into fruition, perhaps Hoho Lun could be the second.
Lince Dorado & Mustafa Ali
Dorado and Ali had a hell of a match in Round One of the Cruiserweight Classic, and showed that their aerial arsenals are almost unmatched. Instead of facing each other, they put their abilities together in hopes of winning the whole shebang.
Austin Aries & Mystery Partner
When teams were being announced, it was surprising that WWE would announce a team that only had one confirmed member. Austin Aries has a boatload of connections in the wrestling industry, so his partner could be anybody. Could it be a returning James Storm, or another cruiserweight like Zack Sabre Jr.? Whoever his partner is will mesh well with Aries and make a huge impact (no pun intended).
These only 14 teams in a 16-team tournament, so WWE should announce the final two teams tomorrow before the tournament gets underway on Wednesday. Matches will be held weekly on NXT, with the finals taking place at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, the night before Survivor Series.
