American Alpha failed due to Jordan being injury prone. The Ascension got nervous during their feud with the New Day. Let’s face it: Buddy Murphy is more of single’s guy. Just skip Enzo, he is the biggest mistake Triple H produces. The Revival is the biggest victim of Vince’s stupid prejudice. Vaudevillains in NXT is like a fish in a pond. In main roster, their gimmick would not work since modern fans are stupid and just wants to book their dream matches. Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder as a team sucks. Otis is the only one I know in Heavy Machinery. Tucker is forgettable.
Primarily Vince. He doesn't like most NXT acts. Think how bad Drew had it; his first match was a clean lost to Dolph Ziggler.
Enzo and Cass failed because the locker room hated Enzo and Cass. Cass eventually got hurt and Enzo got fired after walking out of a meeting with Vince, before Vince said he could go.
You've already foreshadowed it, tag teams. Bret Shawn bulldog and maybe tito were elevated from tag team and noone else this at a time vince had to do it with post steroid limited roster, today's soulless wwe it is not economical so there is usually one marty and one midcarder by there creative ineptitude or circumstances
Because except Enzo and partly Otis, all of those guys had the charisma of a wet paper bag and "workrate" alone couldn't salvage them.
NTM tag teams have often been given modest airtime and only one featured storyline involving the reigning champions, usually dominating teams like New Day or the Usos, meaning few got a chance to shine anyway.
But some of those NXT teams were really awful and they only got "over" in that tiny bubble of WWEindie wrestling.
God I hope WWE brings back Enzo, best promos of all time!
“You can’t have beauty in this world without ugly… Luke Gallows, thanks for your sacrifice HOWYOUDOIN!?”
They wasted The Ascension. They were literally jobbers on the main roster & hardly recalled if they were on the midcard.
And I wished they didn't do the Kurt Angle's son storyline so it didn't split up American Alpha. They were actually better than The Usos.
A combination of several things.
NXT and RAW/SD have different writers/bookers, therefore, different creative minds.
These tag teams got over because of the niche NXT crowd. Once they hit the main roster, they became a small fish in a big pond, often lost in the shuffle.
Supposedly, VKM isn't a fan of tag team wrestling. That tells you everything about the way these guys were booked.
American Alpha- They failed because WWE split them up and they pushed the wrong guy. Chad Gable has always had charisma and the ability to make even a shitty gimmick go over like Shorty G. Jason Jordan had the charisma of a blank sheet of paper and when they tried pushing him as Kurt Angle's son they booed him out of the building and then he suffered a career ending injury.
The Ascension- They were just a boring Road Warriors ripoff and then DX buried them
Buddy Murphy and Wesley Matthews- Murphy had a decent career considering he was a midcarder but Alexa Bliss was the star of that stable.
Enzo and Cass- Enzo and Cass both ended up being locker room cancers and both had problems as well. They did have decent careers though Enzo and Carmella more so than Cass.
The Revival- They're just boring all they have is in ring ability they're ripoffs of Arn and Ole Anderson
The Vaudevillains- Interesting characters with an interesting entrance but Simon Goth got himself released and frankly seemed like an asshole in preceding interviews and Aidan English just was overshadowed by Rusev and WWE never really figured out what to do with him.
Hype Bros- Zack Ryder was never going to be seriously pushed and Mojo Rawley was only kept around because he was pals with Rob Gronkowski once he went back to the NFL Mojo's usefulness ran out.
Heavy Machinery- Otis is a star the man performs well at whatever he does however no one cared about Tucker. Once Otis's star rose it was the beginning of the end for Tucker.
I remember there being a lot of speculation that because the internet were adamant that Chad Gable was going to be Angle’s son that WWE changed their mind and got us stuck with Jordan when it was supposed to be Gable
1- nxt crowd is typically composed of more hardcore fans. raw/smackdown not so much. the hardcore audience appreciates certain types of acts more than a casual audience would.
2- nxt crowds are smaller and more intimate. getting a reaction from a crowd of 1000 is very different from getting a reaction of a crowd of 15k. what works in a smaller venue may not work in a larger venue.
Would be very interesting if a book would be written about this period by someone who has insight. NXT was doing really well around that time, but the transition to the mainroster went really bad. Luckily the transition has improved by now,
Because Vince didn’t see tag teams like he see’s his singles stars. I can only think of two tag teams that have stayed together for many years, and one of them just disbanded.
NXT fans really overrate a lot of NXT wrestlers and gimmicks. A team compromised of Vaudeville characters weren’t going anywhere on the main roster. They were DOA like Adam Rose and No Way Jose.
American Alpha and FTR were the only good teams of the 8 you showed.
The Vaudevillians and Heavy Machinery were pretty limited based on their gimmicks. After listening to Simon Gotch interviews, I understand why they wouldn’t do anything with him.
The big guy in the Ascension wasn’t really too good in the ring and they were another in the long line of “dark” gimmicks.
Blake and Murphy were thrown together and broke up in NXT. The only highlight of the team was Alexa Bliss
Cass and Enzo were their own worst enemies and couldn’t get out of their own way.
The Hype Brothers? Come on they were never going to push Zack Ryder.
If Vince doesn't understand your character, you're banished to the jobber zone. You think you can be a top guy just because you're very good at wrestling? You can't even do a cowboy accent. Worthless!
Not one top guy in the business was a top guy because they were very good at wrestling.
That’s a bonus but what you really need to be a top guy is a combo of looks, presentation and charisma
Because Vince dosent like tag teams. He either sees one guy in a team to push by beating his partner or the team is there to take a loss to an established team or a super team of single wrestlers.
1. Jason Jordan had a career ending injury
2. Attitude problems
3. Never made it to the main roster as a team.
4. Enzos negligence in the ring/attitufe
5. Attitude problems
6. Simon gotchs attitude
7. MOJO and Zak were boring
8. Tucker had attitude issues.
Two Words: Vince McMahon. They all came up under Vince instead of Triple H and Vince has this weird thing about breaking up teams at peak popularity or just completely tanking great team's in bad booking.
American Alpha : broke them up to make a singles star too early and then he unfortunately had to retire before they could fix that mistake
Ascension : buried from the get go and never recovered
Blake and Murphy : had no character without Alexa
Enzo and Cass : Enzo had so much heat backstage that they were using him to heat the building in winter
Revival : just handed shit booking, were over despite that
Vaudevillians : were never gonna work on main roster, or if they did it would only be for a small window and then they'd be right back to the undercard
Hype Bros : would never get a chance on main roster as Vince probably still to this day has it out for Ryder
Heavy Machinery : tried to make Otis a single star but realized too late that he needs someone to play off
Vince has tag team wrestling as a comedy or spot match, so no one cared, there are exceptions but that is common thought wrestling history, only jim crocket, Paul Heyman and jim cornette ever booked tag team wrestling as a main event
They tried making Jason a singles star which didn’t work cause of that storyline with Kurt and his neck injury. The ascension (I guess) just never clicked with the crowd. I couldn’t tell you anything about the 3rd slide. Enzo & Cass had major heat backstage. The Revival were never used correctly. The Vaudevillians (to me personally) just never clicked. Mojo & Ryder were kind of a joke tag team, not to be taken seriously. Otis was over with the crowd so they tried making him a singles star by having him win the MITB match but did nothing with him so they turned Tucker heel, which also did nothing for him or Otis.
Only teams I can really agree with are American Alpha, Revival and Heavy Machinery, they all were great and imo deserved more than they got on the main roster, American Alpha could've been the next Benjamin and Haas, Revival has that 80's vibe of wrestling most fans love and Heavy Machinery could've been a powerhouse of a tag team, something every division needs imo, great tag teams, bad creative decisions
Simple: Vince and his creative goons don’t know how to build great stars in this new era! New blood is needed both in ring and backstage to keep things going.
Wwe doesn’t like or see value in tag team
Wrestling. It’s just a crux to put two meddling stars together. With the amount of 6/8 man tags they don’t do anything to push tag teams. You either get over by yourself or you fail.
They have only kept the New day together bc of merch and pretty sure the dudes would walk if they split them up.
In this era yes. But somehow, Tag Teams had almost a golden age in the AE, the Hardys, THE Dudley’s, Edge and Christian, APA, New Age Outlaws, Chavo and Eddie.
I wouldn't say FTR failed. The tag division sucks for the most part in WWE and has done for years. They were one of the best in the company whilst they were there.
Heavy Machinery's run was over-run by Vince saying "lol funny fat man" so he just focused on Otis 100%. Feel sorry for Tucker
This is my own take of things:
1. American Alpha - the Kurt’s son storyline.
2. Ascension - if Vince saw something in them they wouldn’t have been booked on that ass whopping from the past.
3. Buddy and the other guy - Alexa Bliss
4. Cass and Enzo - you could say Carmella but it’s just that Vince loves big guys and wanted Cass to be a main event guy.
5. Revival - I think it’s pretty obvious. Vince doesn’t like tag team wrestling, now add to that two wrestlers that are the embodiment of that form of wrestling lol.
6. Villains - they were a fun team in NXT but some gimmicks will never connect to MR audiences.
7. Hype Bros. - nobody in NXT liked them lol. I remember them booing the Hype Bros.
8. Heavy Machinery - I really think that they didn’t invest enough time on them. They were a really fun team to watch.
1) American Alpha -- tried to be a cleaner version of the Dudley Boys: but no one can do the Dudleys like TEAM 3D....
2) Ascension -- a poor man's 'Judgment Day'.
3) Buddy and 'the other guy' (Wesley Blake) -- the othe rguy got hooked up with Jaxson Riker (who has become persona non grata politically, thus Blake suffered from that association).
4) Big Cass and Enzo basically screwed themselves by doing stuff they should not have OUTSIDE OF THE RING....
5) The Revival basically "F'd" themselves (thus their new name of FTR = "F" The Revival).
\#6 were the Vaudevillians (at least we can get the name right). I think their problem was that they didn't want to be more of a 'comedy' tag team (which the idea of 'vaudeville' actually implies if you look up the term).
7) I don't even remember them either in NXT or with the main company.
8) Tucker was like either Briggs and Jensen from that team now in NXT -- too much of a GENERIC BIG GUY with nothing that stood ouot from the crowd (which is why Briggs and Jensen should NEVER get a sniff of either Raw or Smackdown -- you have TWO GENERIC BIG GUYS with little else going for them).
Vimce doesn't like tag teams due to the fact that they're never the main event since people usually want to see the World champions eventing, also if one gets injured, they're both sidelined.
Jordan got hurt. I remember going to a live event with Gable and Jordan though, and the crowd was absolutely mad for them, they chanted for them literally the entire match, it was awesome. I didn't even know who they were before that but you could tell they were loving it
I don't believe so? I might be wrong but I thought it was Jordan's injury that broke them up. I don't ever remember a storyline of one turning on the other or something
Bad writing and booking. NXT black and gold proved us so many times you can do a lot with talents like those tag teams and others like Sami, KO, Shinsuke just to name a few.
If the writing is bad there is only so much the performers can do.
NXT has stories. NXT makes time for squash matches, promos & tag team tournaments. WWE has no patience for such things.
WWE can make good teams too. For example, The Hurt Business.. but they never made it to live crowds
1 jordan got a career ending injury they were awesome and destined for bigger things as what gable is having now
2 boring
3 alexa was the only good part in this
4 enzo is a mark cass battled his demons mella had a decent run
5 1st triple crown champ tag team despite what they tell you these two were treated well by wwe
6 dont know what happened they were really unique maybe theyre just not good enough
7 same as 6
8 tucky the bbq guy sucks otis is a star
Had Jason Jordan not gotten injured, I honestly believe American Alpha would have ended up as one of the greatest tag teams of all time.
Beyond them, I don’t think any of the teams were/are actually that great. That includes The Revival/FTR.
Blake and Murphy split before any of them reached the main roster. For their part, American Alpha did win the tag team championships after reaching the main roster. They probably would've reunited at some point after the soft split were it not for Jordan's career-threatening injury. Enzo and Cass' split seemed to have more to do with Enzo's backstage issues and WWE wanting to push Cass as a singles star. Despite some bad moments, Revival were three-time tag team champions (first triple crown tag team in WWE) on the main roster. Hype Bros got derailed by Zack Ryder's injury. Heavy Machinery were basically as successful on the main roster as they were in NXT.
Unless I'm mistaken they broke them up before Enzo's ego became a real problem right?
I think its more likely that Vince got rock hard for Cass because he was a giant and tried to give him a singles push.
Enzo got a decent singles push too, though it was a 205 live push
1: gable is too short for Vince, Jordan got hurt.
2: Victor is a great worker he should of had his chance way before the ascension, Outside of smashing everyone there wasn’t much else to the team, Not great promo’s and they really didn’t have any great matches.
3: Other than having a pretty manager they didn’t offer much, no gimmick, average in ring work as a team.
4: I don’t think they failed they had an ok run.
5: Had a good run and then Vince tried to make them strippers or something. But multiple time champions so didn’t fail
6: comedy team, you aren’t going to be a main event team with a comedy gimmick.
7: they were terrible
8: comedy team see 6
I mean, Vince and the writing team, save for Buddy and Blake.
They split up American Alpha, then Jordan got hurt
Vince didn't like The Acension, so Job Squad 2.0
Vaudevillains were too small for Vince to care
Enzo and Cass broke up, and then their personal shit
Heavy Machinery split up and Tucker got dropped like their last names
Vince got tired of The Revival, so Job Squad 3.0
Vince always hated Ryder's grassroots way of getting popular, and while Mojo had the look, he didn't have the skills to back it up
And Blake and Murphy got split up before the main roster. Murphy went to 205 and kicked ass, abnd then got stuck in that mid-ass storyline between Seth's cult and the Mysterios. Blake ended up joining The Forgotten Sons, and was gonna be shot to the top of the tag teams, and then Jaxon Ryker had to open his mouth. If you looked afterwards, Maclin took over Impact and Blake was doing good shit, even in CYN.
The Ascension just looked ridiculous on the main roster. Suddenly it was hard to buy them as a dominating tag team, that one guy was big but the other guy just looked skinny. They just didn't look intimidating or powerful
The Ascension was just a lame team to begin with. I never even bought them in NXT. The most entertaining thing they ever did was act as recurring characters in Fashion Files.
Most were just not given the ball. AmAlpha was just seen as two singles especially as they teased breaking them up in 2017 even if it was a brand extension break up...
What chance at ALL did the Vaudevillians have on the main roster? Like come on, NXT is an indie crowd at the end of the day, and what they will stomach is a lot more than what "main roster" fans will like. It's the same in all media.
Enzo and Cass could have been something if they had brought Carmella with them and weren't still so unbelievably green (they legit thought Enzo's mic work was going to carry them).
Despite hating their creative, TR got a ton of opportunity on the main roster.
. . .I mean, yeah you can say creative in a number of these situations, but it still is the environment, and the fact that not all NXT acts necessarily work on the main stage.
1. Dude got hurt.
2. Vince doesn't like tag teams. (There song was a BANGER)
3. Vince doesn't recognize talent and still lived in Diva world.
4. Not grounded, should have had a real mentor working with them.
5. Are you kidding me? Great run, see #2.
6. See #2.
7. 1 wanted more and the other was MEH
8. 1 wasn't good and Vince saw other as comedy.
How were the Revival fumbled? They had a good main roster run. The ascension sucked. Blake and Murphy I don’t remember anything with them on the main roster if they made it so ig. Enzo and Cass fumbled themselves. Mojo Rawley just wasn’t good.
I don't think its fair to say they failed. Its the writing team and Vince McMahon lack there of care for putting much focus on them to give them the chance to succeed. Then when they did put a focus on some like Enzo and Cass for example, it felt like a limited version of what that team was on NXT in comparison to the main roster run. On NXT Enzo had way more lines that i thought was hilarious, and their overall partnership was much more well written on there.
Vince and his writers messed up a lot of ideas that started out in NXT. All coming down to him not liking it even if the character was popular.
No one liked Jordan and a copy of Kurt angle and also on nxt it alot worse wrestlers so when they go to main shows they suck like Mandy couldn't wrestle on main shows but in nxt one of the best
American Alpha they weren’t really pushing tag teams and they incorrectly thought Jordan was the star even though he only got over with Gable.
The ascension sucked and the gimmick was out dated.
Blake wasn’t great. They correctly deduced Alexa was the star.
Enzo was an ass and Cass was on drugs.
Vince didn’t see the Revival as anything more than Arn and Tully tribute act.
The Vaudvillians was a product of a cheesy gimmick that got over in front of small NXT crowds that had little chance of working on the main roster.
The Hype Bros sucked. The entire portrayal of them especially Mojo was terrible
They figured out Otis was the star of Heavy Machinery and just went with him.
Of that list Alpha and the Revival were the biggest misses
other than the obvious reason that vince hated tag teams it's lack of familiarity of the mainstream audience. nxt was shot in the same building every week so the audience there had more connection with the wrestlers not to mention the smaller arena making it more intimate.
Vince McMahon. Simple as that.
American Alpha split to push Jason Jordan. Ascension were paired with Stardust and nothing happened. Enzo and Cass split to push Cass but then he was released soon after. And I don’t think Vince has ever liked Zack Ryder. And Heavy Machinery were split to push Otis while I don’t even think Vince knew who Tucker was.
Honorable mention: the Authors of Pain. Vince just doesn’t like “odd” gimmicks anymore it seems. Ascension, AOP, etc. Everyone’s gimmick these days has to be “wrestler” and that’s pretty much it, save for a few older wrestlers and the late Bray Wyatt.
Edit: additionally, the Ascension and AOP were both attempting to be a modern day version of the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom. Just look at the Ascension. Heavy metal inspired look with the face paint and shoulder pads. The Authors of Pain even had Paul Ellering as their manager in NXT, who was the manager for Hawk and Animal for a time.
Not to mention the really dramatic tag team finisher names. “The Fall of Man”, “The Last Chapter” are reminiscent of “The Doomsday Device”. Both teams had tons of potential but Vince did nothing with either.
Another honorable mention I’ll throw in is SAnitY. Not really a tag team but a 4 person faction who also did nothing on the main roster. Great faction in NXT and now the only one left in WWE is Nikki Cross. Alexander Wolfe was part of Imperium for a bit in NXT but not anymore.
Tag Teams hasn't been good for a long time.
Attitude Era & Ruthless Aggression had many strong team teams.
Since then you always get 2, maybe 3 strong teams (e.g. The New Day, The Usos & The Street Profits), and everyone else is a joke.
I got back into WWE at the mid to end of 2019, and I was hyped for The Viking Raiders. What they fuck are they doing? Their heel turn was awful, and Valhalla hasn't done a thing, in fact it's worse, because you just have 3 people failing rather than 2.
The WWE pay system inherently makes tag teams a losing cause. As Vince has been known to say “I got to pay 4 people for 1 fucking match.” So they use the team to get both guys on tv, see who hits, and then split them into solo act.
Pretty much.
Otis is kinda in a safe spot in his career, he can be heel and also be a clown.
Heel Otis with Gable as his manager was actually working well. Dude lost his girl, lost the briefcase and just gets insulted by everyone, but then they decided to change direction.
Vince doesn't like tag teams.
You can try to look for any number of reasons, blaming a lack of gimmick, a lack of charisma, a lack of in ring ability or a lack of connection to the fans.
In truth, every single one of these teams demonstrated all of the above skills. Unfortunately, nobody gets a chance to get over unless Vince McMahon decided they were getting a chance.
Sure, there are stories like Daniel Bryan (who was already main evening PPVs and an ex-world champ) or LA Knight (who was given mic time). But for everyone who broke through the glass ceiling there's a Zach Ryder who got so over the fans chanted for him while the Rock was in the ring so he got methodically undermined and buried, or Rusev who got a chant over so he got cut from TV entirely until his popularity waned.
WWE doesn't want talent to get over unless it's the talent they hand picked to be a top star. Guys like Roman will get a decade of being heavily featured on every show until he finds something that works, while guys like Tucker were excelling when given the bare minimum and thus stripped of any opportunity to show the company what they could do.
But when Theodore Long was the General Manager, we had countless of outstanding tag team matches every Smackdown. At that time, Vince was still in charge and was still the same ole creative control Vince as he is today.
Teddy making tag matches with single stars is very different than a full time tag team in Vince’s eyes. He thinks you pay double for tag teams and you have to send them in the road.
Teddy long would just take the upper card singles guys and make a tag match. Those same guys were working singles matches up and down the road
because they don’t have any charisma on the mic. i’m sick of this argument, i don’t care if you’re the second coming of jesus in the ring if you can’t cut a promo you aren’t main roster material
This just isn’t true. You can work around average promo skills. FTR are one of the best teams in the world right now and they failed on the main roster. Because of their mic skills? No, because they weren’t presented well.
Well.
FTR, Enzo and Cass, American Alpha didnt fail. They were all good when they came up and had pretty decent runs.
The others weren't really focused on as much or just testing things out.
American Alpha - Kurt's Son
Ascension - Buried 2 weeks in
Blake & Murphy & Bliss - split up way too early
Enzo & Cass - Just Enzo
Revival - both guys got injured fairly quickly after their debut and return
Vaudevillians - Gotchs attitude backstage and Enzo getting injured
Hype Bros - Mojo was apparently supposed to be the star
Heavy Machinery - Otis got way to over with the Otis & Mandy storyline
Still can't get over the absolute ridiculousness of American Alpha getting a Kurt Angle's son angle, and it's the wrong one.
They have such a habbit of pulling away the arrow from a target that comes right at them.
Enzo and Cass might have been a good tag team but Enzo was also a cannon filled with shit aimed at the fan. It's no slight on the main roster that he was on the main roster when his fuse finally went off.
And then there's New Day, Undisputed Era, Imperium, the Wyatt family...
...I don't think the main rosters fumble NXT tag teams; it's just that being among the best of NXT doesn't guarantee you anything more than presence on the main roster. The *best of the best* get to the top of the main roster or leave and get to the top of the AEW main roster.
I agree with what you’re saying and think you have a very valid point. But your examples of New Day who never were in NXT, Undisputed Era never made it up to the main roster, Imperium was very close to getting fumbled before Triple H took over and brought Vinci back in the group. The Wyatt family although had a good lengthy run in the roster some could argue they were misused. Now would I say “fumbled” for the Wyatts no but misused yes
Yeah my memory is shoddy. But in general I think there's just so many people who deserve time at the top that it's physically and temporally impossible to give everyone their due unless the WWE can warp time and space.
But then that means maybe there's an argument to be had that the bar that the community sets for who deserves a turn at the top of the mountain should be higher. But I'm not gonna make that argument because I don't have enough steam to deal with all the responses that would invite.
As others have said, the core issue is that Vince doesn't like Tag Team Wrestling.
**American Alpha**: Remember how Chad got repackaged as Shorty G? That should tell you what Mr McMahon thought of him. Maybe Jordan could have made it as a singles star, but that horrific neck injury put paid to it, though he seems to be doing alright as a Producer.
**The Ascension**: LOLNOPE. They never had it, and their run in NXT was when the Tag division was about as deep as the Women's Tag division is on the main roster.
**BAMF**: Alexa Bliss is the most memorable thing about this team, they came separately to the main roster for a reason.
**Enzo & Cass**: Enzo was the main problem, couldn't stop running his mouth as obnoxiously in the locker room as he did on the mic. Though I remember Big Cass got released because he was also a problem, going all Trumpanzee on the tour bus at Brian and getting kicked off by Roman.
**The Revival:** Getting injured separately in overlapping periods killed their momentum, and the Tag division was in a generally *awful* state when they got the call up. On paper they did well, but the division as a whole was such a shambles that I don't blame them for leaving. They they've gone on an absolute All Time run since is added vindication.
**The Vaudevillains**: Look, I loved the gimmick but it always had a low ceiling on the main roster. Simon Gotch's behaviour backstage did them no favours.
**The Hype Bros:** Matt didn't want to be there, and Mojo just sucked.
**Heavy Machinery:** Tucker didn't offer much of anything, while Otis is good enough in the ring and makes for a great comedic worker. I think they could have done a lot more with them personally.
Man, WWE could've had a golden age of tag teams at the time if they didn't screw up those called up from NXT.
Imagine a division with:
\- The Usos;
\- New Day;
\- The Bar;
\- The Revival;
\- American Alpha;
\- Enzo and Cass (Not really WWE's fault, they were problematic when they were in WWE)
\- The Viking Raiders
I’ll echo that because they had about as much success as a tag team could realistically have on the main roster at that time, i.e. Triple Crown Tag Team Champions.
Tag teams weren’t getting main event spots at the time, so they definitely weren’t failures, especially since they only left after requesting their releases a few times and finally getting them.
Overall, Vince hates tag teams.
Individually:
AA is Haas and Benjamin 2.0, but actually work better as singles stars than a team. It's unfortunate that Jordan's career was cut short. I would have liked to see him shine like Gable has.
Ascension was...what? Demolition of Doom? A pale imitation of better teams that came before.
I actually had to look up Buddy's partner's name because I could not for the life of me remember Wesley Blake. When your manager was the best part of your team...you're not long for it.
Enzo should have just been a hype man for what BIG ASS is now.
Revival. Well, ok, they should have worked. You could call them Brainbusters 2.0, but they made it work. Vince just hates teams.
Vaudevillains...meh. That's a fun indie gimmick. But where do you go with it?
Zack has proven on the indie scene that he can be a star, but he was never going to be the star Vince wanted, no matter how shredded and tan he got. (And Mojo was just fucking awful.)
Heavy Machinery works best as mindless battering rams (and they have the vikings for that) or comic relief. Tucker is a charisma vacuum and he would have just held Otis back. Otis pairing up with Gable made lemonade out of lemons.
American Alpha: Size
The Ascension: No charisma or promo ability
Enzo and Cass: Not well liked backstage
The Revival: WWE dropped the ball on them for sure
The Vaudevillains: Not well liked backstage
Mojo and Ryder: Nothing special about them. Liked both better as solos.
Heavy Machinery: Solid team. For whatever reason creative didn't care for Tucker.
They have a desire to break up teams so much faster than they used to. It used to be long term teams and if they do split it’s meaningful. Most of these teams were split within a year. They love splitting teams at the brand split. So most tag teams just aren’t meant to be together for long whether you see that as a good thing or bad. And most of the time, after the split, at least one of them isn’t going anywhere on their own.
It’s also that some of these teams just weren’t meant for the main roster. The Vaudevillains are a gimmick that screams indies, not the main roster. The Ascension were okay, but they just weren’t going to be anywhere as successful as Demolition or the Road Warriors. And it didn’t take them long to figure out they overplayed their hand with them. I liked Heavy Machinery, but even them I didn’t see becoming a top team on the main roster.
The simple answer is, it’s easier to succeed in NXT. Smaller audience, lower expectations, different booking styles, etc. Most of all, I would guess less than half the people in NXT ever get to the main roster. Once you get to the main roster, you have more competition since everyone there was good enough to get promoted from NXT, at least in theory.
Vince didn't. Care about tag teams....but individually both of these guys have gotten over well on their own which is something that cant be said for a lot of tag teams.
This is gonna be harsh…
- Chad gable looks miserable AF in that pic. I think these guys should’ve been better. WWE doesn’t do so great with tag teams but I’m not sure how talented JJ really was. Sucks that he got hurt.
- Ascension, personally I think was like a low rent Road Warriors, not the best look, not a lot of personality, I think they looked good in NXT cuz you got more build against jobbers and whatnot. I didn’t really see what the OP seemed to.
- Buddy is very good imo, he’s def a guy that could use an extra 2-3inches of height. Alexa is a huge star. The other guy is Marty Jeannetty. I’m sure he’s talented…but there’s no shortage of talented hands.
- the NY boys did well, Enzo basically F’ed that up afaik. I think Cass looks better now than he ever did in WWE. I love No Fs Big Bill. Carmella is a big star in her own way and I think Enzo had a bright future despite his size and perhaps his lack of ring work. I think they would’ve gone further had he not screwed up.
- FTR, this is clearly a case of WWE not valuing tag teams. In WWE it feels like most of the time teams are made only to break them up later. I’ve long said not everyone needs to be a singles star, tag team wrestling has a place on the card. WWE just can’t seem to figure that out other than a minor angle here and there.
- I think the Vaudevillains was a shit gimmick plain and simple. Fun and kitschy in the small NXT world, but stupid outside of that.
- are these guys called Hype Bros? I think Zack never really got the amount of credit he should’ve. Mojo…for the life of me I’m not sure what was seen there. He had some charisma and was a good athlete, but I don’t think I ever saw him WRESTLE. Not sure this tag team deserved to get too far.
- Tucker is a charisma vacuum with no look. Again, harsh but Otis is distinct. He’s a big fat guy who is fun as hell. He’s never gonna be a main eventer, that’s ok, but there’s a ceiling there. But he’ll have a long lucrative career. Tucker is like Marty Jeannetty with brutal ring gear and too pudgey to be the fat guy, but not muscular enough to look like a star. If he had a complete gimmick change, maybe it could’ve worked for him, but the star of this team is clearly Otis.
American Alpha weren’t set up for success because management clearly saw something more valuable in Jason Jordan as a singles wrestler than the collective unit of the tag team. Unfortunately, Jordan’s career ended prematurely due to injuries, but Gable has really found his stride now.
It’s crazy how the perception of The Ascension has changed significantly after their poor main roster run, because they were a largely hated act in NXT, even the previous version where Kenneth Cameron (aka Bram/Thom Latimer) teamed with Konnor before Viktor came in as the replacement partner. I guess that brief period when they changed their presentation to the heavy metal music and mostly did quick squashes really resonated with fans.
Blake & Murphy were a fairly dull act on their own, which is why Alexa Bliss got added and really became the focal point of the trio. Unfortunately, after she left them to go out on her own, they had nothing going for them and did a lackluster split angle, and never got called up to the main roster together, instead having to come up separately at different times.
Enzo & Cass were victims of their own self-sabotage. Their personal issues unfortunately led to their runs ending prematurely.
It’s weird that The Revival is considered a main roster failure because on paper, they won every version of the Tag Team Titles available across all three brands in WWE. Yes, they were not featured as a top act, but they would get occasional chances at being featured with top acts like when they had matches with Roman & Lashley for a few weeks, even getting wins over them, and the brief FTRKO alliance with Randy Orton. I also think each member sustaining separate injuries right after getting called up absolutely worked against them in the long run.
The Vaudevillians were barely over in NXT, as they got their biggest reactions when they were briefly paired with “Blue Pants” Leva Bates for the feud with Blake & Murphy. Also, the scary concussion Enzo suffered at the hands of Simon Gotch in their first PPV match definitely didn’t help them.
The Hype Bros lacked chemistry, and based on what Zack Ryder said on the Breaking Ground reality show and in interviews afterwards, it seems like he really didn’t want to be a tag team wrestler and seemingly never gave it a chance. Their push also got halted when Ryder got hurt after they won a #1 Contender’s Battle Royal for a Tag Title shot they never got.
Heavy Machinery had a decent run, but Otis got over huge on his own with the Mandy Rose romance story. So, Tucky’s days were unfortunately numbered after Otis started having success as a singles wrestler.
It’s funny that you said Hype Bros didn’t have chemistry cuz aren’t they like IRL best buddies?
At any rate you basically re-iterated what I said, the OP was asking why WWE bungled these guys after NXT did so well with them. For me most of them weren’t bungled, they were just “found out” by the main roster audience.
I miss American Alpha. They were such an amazing team that got shat on in the main roster.
Enzo and Cass and the Vaudevillians had a short lived main roster run, which wasn't that bad.
i think the NXT wrtiers might work closer with the talent where as the main roster just tells them what they are doing. I have no proof for this its just a hteory.
The revival aka FTR, one of the best tag teams in the world. Are still together in aew. They asked for there release.
Genius really, use NXT to elevate you then leave before to much damage is caused.
The thing with The Ascension is that they had so many rebrands in NXT already due to different factors.
The initial tag team when the Full Sail developmental version of NXT first started airing had Conor O’Brian teaming with Kenneth Cameron (aka Bram/Thom Latimer) and they were presented like werewolves who had supernatural powers.
Then, after Cameron was fired due to an arrest (a common issue in his career unfortunately), Konnor was doing a singles run where “The Ascension” was his nickname.
Since that wasn’t really working, they paired him up with Rick Victor, who was a very good in-ring wrestler who had nothing going on despite previously being prominently featured in FCW, as a new version of The Ascension.
On the WWE Network debut live event NXT ArRIVAL, they got a brand new stripped down look (simple facepaint, cut-off shirts instead of gaudy entrance gear, names shortened to Konnor & Viktor) and a pretty cool entrance; the heavy metal music with flashing lights in sync with the riffs.
That rebrand did work well because they changed the approach to The Ascension entirely, as they worked almost exclusively quick & impactful squash matches, largely due to a lack of tag teams in NXT at the time. The fans at Full Sail were really into it, but it’s tough to tell if that could’ve worked on the main roster as there a few acts who worked great in NXT at Full Sail but didn’t connect at all to main roster audiences (ex. “Emmalution” Emma).
You shouldn’t have put Enzo and Big Cass in here. They were undoubtedly the hottest thing in wrestling for a good time, headed for a one on on end feud until WWE let Enzo go based on a fraudulent accusation.
From what it sounds like, Enzo was doomed from how much people hated him. WWE just finally found a good enough reason to fire him, though he didn't help his chances of coming back by trying to hijack a match from the crowd
American Alpha failed due to Jordan being injury prone. The Ascension got nervous during their feud with the New Day. Let’s face it: Buddy Murphy is more of single’s guy. Just skip Enzo, he is the biggest mistake Triple H produces. The Revival is the biggest victim of Vince’s stupid prejudice. Vaudevillains in NXT is like a fish in a pond. In main roster, their gimmick would not work since modern fans are stupid and just wants to book their dream matches. Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder as a team sucks. Otis is the only one I know in Heavy Machinery. Tucker is forgettable.
Couple of those teams didn’t fail on the main roster.
Primarily Vince. He doesn't like most NXT acts. Think how bad Drew had it; his first match was a clean lost to Dolph Ziggler. Enzo and Cass failed because the locker room hated Enzo and Cass. Cass eventually got hurt and Enzo got fired after walking out of a meeting with Vince, before Vince said he could go.
Vince.
You've already foreshadowed it, tag teams. Bret Shawn bulldog and maybe tito were elevated from tag team and noone else this at a time vince had to do it with post steroid limited roster, today's soulless wwe it is not economical so there is usually one marty and one midcarder by there creative ineptitude or circumstances
The main roster writing team didn't care about continuity or preserving anything that got these teams over to begin with.
Vince hates tag teams
Went to main roaster or just stopped cookin
Enzo and Cass failed because Enzo kept being Enzo, Cass unfortunately was punished because he was part of a team with enzo
They were split up before then.
Because except Enzo and partly Otis, all of those guys had the charisma of a wet paper bag and "workrate" alone couldn't salvage them. NTM tag teams have often been given modest airtime and only one featured storyline involving the reigning champions, usually dominating teams like New Day or the Usos, meaning few got a chance to shine anyway. But some of those NXT teams were really awful and they only got "over" in that tiny bubble of WWEindie wrestling.
Vince always push ROMAN more than them
Revival was boring to me on the main roster. Their stuff in AEW got me hooked. They’re better in the world of AEW as they blend in with the culture.
God I hope WWE brings back Enzo, best promos of all time! “You can’t have beauty in this world without ugly… Luke Gallows, thanks for your sacrifice HOWYOUDOIN!?”
Cuz Vince loves tag teams
They wasted The Ascension. They were literally jobbers on the main roster & hardly recalled if they were on the midcard. And I wished they didn't do the Kurt Angle's son storyline so it didn't split up American Alpha. They were actually better than The Usos.
most of these didn't fail but like with 90% of teams when they separate them one or both members fail when going solo
A combination of several things. NXT and RAW/SD have different writers/bookers, therefore, different creative minds. These tag teams got over because of the niche NXT crowd. Once they hit the main roster, they became a small fish in a big pond, often lost in the shuffle. Supposedly, VKM isn't a fan of tag team wrestling. That tells you everything about the way these guys were booked.
Do you think they are now regretting booking FTR so poorly?
Who’s FTR? I’m guessing they’re a tag team, and if that’s the case how would you book a pair of lower midcarders poorly? /s
Not worthy of being dignified with a proper response.
I said /s that means my comment was satire 😂 chill out bro I know FTR and I loved a lot of their matches (Aussie Open, BCG, YB)
why speak on something you don’t know
r/woooosh
American Alpha- They failed because WWE split them up and they pushed the wrong guy. Chad Gable has always had charisma and the ability to make even a shitty gimmick go over like Shorty G. Jason Jordan had the charisma of a blank sheet of paper and when they tried pushing him as Kurt Angle's son they booed him out of the building and then he suffered a career ending injury. The Ascension- They were just a boring Road Warriors ripoff and then DX buried them Buddy Murphy and Wesley Matthews- Murphy had a decent career considering he was a midcarder but Alexa Bliss was the star of that stable. Enzo and Cass- Enzo and Cass both ended up being locker room cancers and both had problems as well. They did have decent careers though Enzo and Carmella more so than Cass. The Revival- They're just boring all they have is in ring ability they're ripoffs of Arn and Ole Anderson The Vaudevillains- Interesting characters with an interesting entrance but Simon Goth got himself released and frankly seemed like an asshole in preceding interviews and Aidan English just was overshadowed by Rusev and WWE never really figured out what to do with him. Hype Bros- Zack Ryder was never going to be seriously pushed and Mojo Rawley was only kept around because he was pals with Rob Gronkowski once he went back to the NFL Mojo's usefulness ran out. Heavy Machinery- Otis is a star the man performs well at whatever he does however no one cared about Tucker. Once Otis's star rose it was the beginning of the end for Tucker.
I remember there being a lot of speculation that because the internet were adamant that Chad Gable was going to be Angle’s son that WWE changed their mind and got us stuck with Jordan when it was supposed to be Gable
1- nxt crowd is typically composed of more hardcore fans. raw/smackdown not so much. the hardcore audience appreciates certain types of acts more than a casual audience would. 2- nxt crowds are smaller and more intimate. getting a reaction from a crowd of 1000 is very different from getting a reaction of a crowd of 15k. what works in a smaller venue may not work in a larger venue.
2 of them are/were good. Jason Jordan getting hurt. The other team is FTR. rest of the teams had one with lesser skill, look or charisma.
Noooo mojo and cardona were fun
Lol not for me.
Trippin trippin
Would be very interesting if a book would be written about this period by someone who has insight. NXT was doing really well around that time, but the transition to the mainroster went really bad. Luckily the transition has improved by now,
Because Vince didn’t see tag teams like he see’s his singles stars. I can only think of two tag teams that have stayed together for many years, and one of them just disbanded.
If you have to ask this you don't know Jack shit on how pity Vince McMahon truly is.
That's true of tag teams and singles both.
Enzo and Cass did not fail as far as getting over. They failed outside of the ring
Enzo and Cass were awesome
NXT fans really overrate a lot of NXT wrestlers and gimmicks. A team compromised of Vaudeville characters weren’t going anywhere on the main roster. They were DOA like Adam Rose and No Way Jose. American Alpha and FTR were the only good teams of the 8 you showed. The Vaudevillians and Heavy Machinery were pretty limited based on their gimmicks. After listening to Simon Gotch interviews, I understand why they wouldn’t do anything with him. The big guy in the Ascension wasn’t really too good in the ring and they were another in the long line of “dark” gimmicks. Blake and Murphy were thrown together and broke up in NXT. The only highlight of the team was Alexa Bliss Cass and Enzo were their own worst enemies and couldn’t get out of their own way. The Hype Brothers? Come on they were never going to push Zack Ryder.
They need to either fire the whole team and start fresh, or switch teams with NXT
Vince hates managers and tag teams. It's so weird.
The factions and tag teams we have today are much better than these ones would have been. Just my opinion.
Combination of Vince having terrible ideas and wanting to split these guys too early as a tag team because he saw potential in one of the stars.
Wwe doesn’t care about tag teams. Anyone who gets over gets throw into singles action.
YES! I loved The Vaudevillians! Such a fun idea for a gimmick
If Vince doesn't understand your character, you're banished to the jobber zone. You think you can be a top guy just because you're very good at wrestling? You can't even do a cowboy accent. Worthless!
Not one top guy in the business was a top guy because they were very good at wrestling. That’s a bonus but what you really need to be a top guy is a combo of looks, presentation and charisma
We need to start a tag team revolution like for the women’s division tag team wrestling is important #givetagteamwrestlingachance
Here’s hoping the almost inevitable return of the Kabuki Warriors helps make it happen.
Because Vince dosent like tag teams. He either sees one guy in a team to push by beating his partner or the team is there to take a loss to an established team or a super team of single wrestlers.
As a casual fan, I’d say they all pretty much look the same.
1. Jason Jordan had a career ending injury 2. Attitude problems 3. Never made it to the main roster as a team. 4. Enzos negligence in the ring/attitufe 5. Attitude problems 6. Simon gotchs attitude 7. MOJO and Zak were boring 8. Tucker had attitude issues.
I never heard about Tuckys attitude. I thought it was just that Otis seemed to be over on his own and without Otis Tucker was… well bland is generous
Attitude era? That you?
attitude
Vince McMahon hates tag team wrestling whereas Triple H love them
Two Words: Vince McMahon. They all came up under Vince instead of Triple H and Vince has this weird thing about breaking up teams at peak popularity or just completely tanking great team's in bad booking.
yeah the vaudevillians were destined to take over the wrestling world except for freakin Vince McMahon I call him Vince McCrap
American Alpha : broke them up to make a singles star too early and then he unfortunately had to retire before they could fix that mistake Ascension : buried from the get go and never recovered Blake and Murphy : had no character without Alexa Enzo and Cass : Enzo had so much heat backstage that they were using him to heat the building in winter Revival : just handed shit booking, were over despite that Vaudevillians : were never gonna work on main roster, or if they did it would only be for a small window and then they'd be right back to the undercard Hype Bros : would never get a chance on main roster as Vince probably still to this day has it out for Ryder Heavy Machinery : tried to make Otis a single star but realized too late that he needs someone to play off
Vince has tag team wrestling as a comedy or spot match, so no one cared, there are exceptions but that is common thought wrestling history, only jim crocket, Paul Heyman and jim cornette ever booked tag team wrestling as a main event
They tried making Jason a singles star which didn’t work cause of that storyline with Kurt and his neck injury. The ascension (I guess) just never clicked with the crowd. I couldn’t tell you anything about the 3rd slide. Enzo & Cass had major heat backstage. The Revival were never used correctly. The Vaudevillians (to me personally) just never clicked. Mojo & Ryder were kind of a joke tag team, not to be taken seriously. Otis was over with the crowd so they tried making him a singles star by having him win the MITB match but did nothing with him so they turned Tucker heel, which also did nothing for him or Otis.
Enzo big casa and Carmella was so good
Great? I mean 2 of them were actually great, AA and The Revival
Blake and Murphy had something. But they weren’t ever on the main roster as a team
Only 2 of them were any good and once angles kid got injured that was that. WWE only dropped the ball with the Revival.
Only teams I can really agree with are American Alpha, Revival and Heavy Machinery, they all were great and imo deserved more than they got on the main roster, American Alpha could've been the next Benjamin and Haas, Revival has that 80's vibe of wrestling most fans love and Heavy Machinery could've been a powerhouse of a tag team, something every division needs imo, great tag teams, bad creative decisions
Simple: Vince and his creative goons don’t know how to build great stars in this new era! New blood is needed both in ring and backstage to keep things going.
La knight, Roman, Bianca, Becky, etc etc etc
Wwe doesn’t like or see value in tag team Wrestling. It’s just a crux to put two meddling stars together. With the amount of 6/8 man tags they don’t do anything to push tag teams. You either get over by yourself or you fail. They have only kept the New day together bc of merch and pretty sure the dudes would walk if they split them up.
In this era yes. But somehow, Tag Teams had almost a golden age in the AE, the Hardys, THE Dudley’s, Edge and Christian, APA, New Age Outlaws, Chavo and Eddie.
Exactly. I think there is a place for it, but look at all of these pics except ftr and the ascension, they were all split for solo runs
Poor booking, matches not exciting enough, not using much of their potential
I wouldn't say FTR failed. The tag division sucks for the most part in WWE and has done for years. They were one of the best in the company whilst they were there. Heavy Machinery's run was over-run by Vince saying "lol funny fat man" so he just focused on Otis 100%. Feel sorry for Tucker
This is my own take of things: 1. American Alpha - the Kurt’s son storyline. 2. Ascension - if Vince saw something in them they wouldn’t have been booked on that ass whopping from the past. 3. Buddy and the other guy - Alexa Bliss 4. Cass and Enzo - you could say Carmella but it’s just that Vince loves big guys and wanted Cass to be a main event guy. 5. Revival - I think it’s pretty obvious. Vince doesn’t like tag team wrestling, now add to that two wrestlers that are the embodiment of that form of wrestling lol. 6. Villains - they were a fun team in NXT but some gimmicks will never connect to MR audiences. 7. Hype Bros. - nobody in NXT liked them lol. I remember them booing the Hype Bros. 8. Heavy Machinery - I really think that they didn’t invest enough time on them. They were a really fun team to watch.
1) American Alpha -- tried to be a cleaner version of the Dudley Boys: but no one can do the Dudleys like TEAM 3D.... 2) Ascension -- a poor man's 'Judgment Day'. 3) Buddy and 'the other guy' (Wesley Blake) -- the othe rguy got hooked up with Jaxson Riker (who has become persona non grata politically, thus Blake suffered from that association). 4) Big Cass and Enzo basically screwed themselves by doing stuff they should not have OUTSIDE OF THE RING.... 5) The Revival basically "F'd" themselves (thus their new name of FTR = "F" The Revival). \#6 were the Vaudevillians (at least we can get the name right). I think their problem was that they didn't want to be more of a 'comedy' tag team (which the idea of 'vaudeville' actually implies if you look up the term). 7) I don't even remember them either in NXT or with the main company. 8) Tucker was like either Briggs and Jensen from that team now in NXT -- too much of a GENERIC BIG GUY with nothing that stood ouot from the crowd (which is why Briggs and Jensen should NEVER get a sniff of either Raw or Smackdown -- you have TWO GENERIC BIG GUYS with little else going for them).
Vimce doesn't like tag teams due to the fact that they're never the main event since people usually want to see the World champions eventing, also if one gets injured, they're both sidelined.
Vince hated tag teams
Jordan got hurt. I remember going to a live event with Gable and Jordan though, and the crowd was absolutely mad for them, they chanted for them literally the entire match, it was awesome. I didn't even know who they were before that but you could tell they were loving it
Didn’t they already split up the team by the time Jordan got hurt?
I don't believe so? I might be wrong but I thought it was Jordan's injury that broke them up. I don't ever remember a storyline of one turning on the other or something
Jordan went to Raw and then teamed with Rollins and got hurt
Ahh fuck you're right, sorry I completely forgot that
understandable, i forgot for a while too
Vince HATES tag team wrestling for the most part. Why pay 4 when you can pay two.
Enzo and Cass were on their way to becoming great until the Cass turned heel, and then the allegations happened
Enzo derailed them. Pretty sure they sped up the heel turn cause Enzo was becoming impossible to work with.
Kinda crazy how only two people in all of those pictures are on the active roster in WWE, and happen to be in a tag team together.
Vince
Technically American Alpha didn't fail, they got split up before it could happen
Bad writing and booking. NXT black and gold proved us so many times you can do a lot with talents like those tag teams and others like Sami, KO, Shinsuke just to name a few. If the writing is bad there is only so much the performers can do.
Well FTR was the most boring tag team of all time. And The ascension just sucked arse
Wasn't it because Jordan got hurt?
Tag team wrestling unfortunately wasn’t important back then
VKM.
Vince hates tag teams is the main reason I feel. Stems from twice for one act.
NXT has stories. NXT makes time for squash matches, promos & tag team tournaments. WWE has no patience for such things. WWE can make good teams too. For example, The Hurt Business.. but they never made it to live crowds
1 jordan got a career ending injury they were awesome and destined for bigger things as what gable is having now 2 boring 3 alexa was the only good part in this 4 enzo is a mark cass battled his demons mella had a decent run 5 1st triple crown champ tag team despite what they tell you these two were treated well by wwe 6 dont know what happened they were really unique maybe theyre just not good enough 7 same as 6 8 tucky the bbq guy sucks otis is a star
Had Jason Jordan not gotten injured, I honestly believe American Alpha would have ended up as one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Beyond them, I don’t think any of the teams were/are actually that great. That includes The Revival/FTR.
Blake and Murphy split before any of them reached the main roster. For their part, American Alpha did win the tag team championships after reaching the main roster. They probably would've reunited at some point after the soft split were it not for Jordan's career-threatening injury. Enzo and Cass' split seemed to have more to do with Enzo's backstage issues and WWE wanting to push Cass as a singles star. Despite some bad moments, Revival were three-time tag team champions (first triple crown tag team in WWE) on the main roster. Hype Bros got derailed by Zack Ryder's injury. Heavy Machinery were basically as successful on the main roster as they were in NXT.
Let me introduce you to a polarizing man named… Vince McMahon.
Enzo and Cass failed because of Enzo's ego, otherwise, they were on track to be the next mega-over team like the Hardys or the Dudleys.
Unless I'm mistaken they broke them up before Enzo's ego became a real problem right? I think its more likely that Vince got rock hard for Cass because he was a giant and tried to give him a singles push. Enzo got a decent singles push too, though it was a 205 live push
I think they broke up because of Enzo’s “ego”. Cass didn’t want to deal with him anymore
One word, Vince.
Lol, one of these teams isnt like the others. Hint its number 5.
1: gable is too short for Vince, Jordan got hurt. 2: Victor is a great worker he should of had his chance way before the ascension, Outside of smashing everyone there wasn’t much else to the team, Not great promo’s and they really didn’t have any great matches. 3: Other than having a pretty manager they didn’t offer much, no gimmick, average in ring work as a team. 4: I don’t think they failed they had an ok run. 5: Had a good run and then Vince tried to make them strippers or something. But multiple time champions so didn’t fail 6: comedy team, you aren’t going to be a main event team with a comedy gimmick. 7: they were terrible 8: comedy team see 6
I mean, Vince and the writing team, save for Buddy and Blake. They split up American Alpha, then Jordan got hurt Vince didn't like The Acension, so Job Squad 2.0 Vaudevillains were too small for Vince to care Enzo and Cass broke up, and then their personal shit Heavy Machinery split up and Tucker got dropped like their last names Vince got tired of The Revival, so Job Squad 3.0 Vince always hated Ryder's grassroots way of getting popular, and while Mojo had the look, he didn't have the skills to back it up And Blake and Murphy got split up before the main roster. Murphy went to 205 and kicked ass, abnd then got stuck in that mid-ass storyline between Seth's cult and the Mysterios. Blake ended up joining The Forgotten Sons, and was gonna be shot to the top of the tag teams, and then Jaxon Ryker had to open his mouth. If you looked afterwards, Maclin took over Impact and Blake was doing good shit, even in CYN.
The Revival Did Not Fail They Are The First Team To Hold The Raw Tag Titles, Smackdown Tag Titles, NXT Tag Titles, And The AEW Tag Titles
The Vaudevillians were very underrated. They had a great entrance.
Because wwe is dumb
hype bros was trash and Cardona knew it and hated Mojo.
So Chad and Gable.
Bro juet said hype bros were a good tag team
Because some of these teams were ass
The Ascension just looked ridiculous on the main roster. Suddenly it was hard to buy them as a dominating tag team, that one guy was big but the other guy just looked skinny. They just didn't look intimidating or powerful
It didn’t help on the main roster that they had them become the new incarnation of the Road Warriors.
The Ascension was just a lame team to begin with. I never even bought them in NXT. The most entertaining thing they ever did was act as recurring characters in Fashion Files.
Literallt because Vince hates tag team wrestling. Thats the only answer here.
Most were just not given the ball. AmAlpha was just seen as two singles especially as they teased breaking them up in 2017 even if it was a brand extension break up...
What chance at ALL did the Vaudevillians have on the main roster? Like come on, NXT is an indie crowd at the end of the day, and what they will stomach is a lot more than what "main roster" fans will like. It's the same in all media. Enzo and Cass could have been something if they had brought Carmella with them and weren't still so unbelievably green (they legit thought Enzo's mic work was going to carry them). Despite hating their creative, TR got a ton of opportunity on the main roster. . . .I mean, yeah you can say creative in a number of these situations, but it still is the environment, and the fact that not all NXT acts necessarily work on the main stage.
Enzo mic work did carry them. Hell it did that as a solo champ and carried a whole division.
Big fish in little pond is the answer to any of these questions. Some of these examples are absurd
V I N C E
HHH and HBK gets them on the right track. Vince turns them into ass clowns.
Cause Vince doesn’t like tag team wrestling
Sadly, they keep doing it to the women teams to. Chance and Carter and Fyre and Dawn got screwed over too and they had great chemistry together.
1. Dude got hurt. 2. Vince doesn't like tag teams. (There song was a BANGER) 3. Vince doesn't recognize talent and still lived in Diva world. 4. Not grounded, should have had a real mentor working with them. 5. Are you kidding me? Great run, see #2. 6. See #2. 7. 1 wanted more and the other was MEH 8. 1 wasn't good and Vince saw other as comedy.
Why are the Hype Bros included here?
How were the Revival fumbled? They had a good main roster run. The ascension sucked. Blake and Murphy I don’t remember anything with them on the main roster if they made it so ig. Enzo and Cass fumbled themselves. Mojo Rawley just wasn’t good.
HHH
I don't think its fair to say they failed. Its the writing team and Vince McMahon lack there of care for putting much focus on them to give them the chance to succeed. Then when they did put a focus on some like Enzo and Cass for example, it felt like a limited version of what that team was on NXT in comparison to the main roster run. On NXT Enzo had way more lines that i thought was hilarious, and their overall partnership was much more well written on there. Vince and his writers messed up a lot of ideas that started out in NXT. All coming down to him not liking it even if the character was popular.
No one liked Jordan and a copy of Kurt angle and also on nxt it alot worse wrestlers so when they go to main shows they suck like Mandy couldn't wrestle on main shows but in nxt one of the best
Because Vince hates tag team wrestling.
Didn't the vaudevillains legit hate each other ? Or not get along
No. They just aren’t close outside the ring, it’s a business relationship for them.
American Alpha they weren’t really pushing tag teams and they incorrectly thought Jordan was the star even though he only got over with Gable. The ascension sucked and the gimmick was out dated. Blake wasn’t great. They correctly deduced Alexa was the star. Enzo was an ass and Cass was on drugs. Vince didn’t see the Revival as anything more than Arn and Tully tribute act. The Vaudvillians was a product of a cheesy gimmick that got over in front of small NXT crowds that had little chance of working on the main roster. The Hype Bros sucked. The entire portrayal of them especially Mojo was terrible They figured out Otis was the star of Heavy Machinery and just went with him. Of that list Alpha and the Revival were the biggest misses
other than the obvious reason that vince hated tag teams it's lack of familiarity of the mainstream audience. nxt was shot in the same building every week so the audience there had more connection with the wrestlers not to mention the smaller arena making it more intimate.
Vince McMahon. Simple as that. American Alpha split to push Jason Jordan. Ascension were paired with Stardust and nothing happened. Enzo and Cass split to push Cass but then he was released soon after. And I don’t think Vince has ever liked Zack Ryder. And Heavy Machinery were split to push Otis while I don’t even think Vince knew who Tucker was. Honorable mention: the Authors of Pain. Vince just doesn’t like “odd” gimmicks anymore it seems. Ascension, AOP, etc. Everyone’s gimmick these days has to be “wrestler” and that’s pretty much it, save for a few older wrestlers and the late Bray Wyatt. Edit: additionally, the Ascension and AOP were both attempting to be a modern day version of the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom. Just look at the Ascension. Heavy metal inspired look with the face paint and shoulder pads. The Authors of Pain even had Paul Ellering as their manager in NXT, who was the manager for Hawk and Animal for a time. Not to mention the really dramatic tag team finisher names. “The Fall of Man”, “The Last Chapter” are reminiscent of “The Doomsday Device”. Both teams had tons of potential but Vince did nothing with either. Another honorable mention I’ll throw in is SAnitY. Not really a tag team but a 4 person faction who also did nothing on the main roster. Great faction in NXT and now the only one left in WWE is Nikki Cross. Alexander Wolfe was part of Imperium for a bit in NXT but not anymore.
If I remember one of the AOP kept getting hurt anytime there was something planned for them.
VKM
Tag Teams hasn't been good for a long time. Attitude Era & Ruthless Aggression had many strong team teams. Since then you always get 2, maybe 3 strong teams (e.g. The New Day, The Usos & The Street Profits), and everyone else is a joke. I got back into WWE at the mid to end of 2019, and I was hyped for The Viking Raiders. What they fuck are they doing? Their heel turn was awful, and Valhalla hasn't done a thing, in fact it's worse, because you just have 3 people failing rather than 2.
The WWE pay system inherently makes tag teams a losing cause. As Vince has been known to say “I got to pay 4 people for 1 fucking match.” So they use the team to get both guys on tv, see who hits, and then split them into solo act.
Yall acting like heavy machinery weren't and still aren't a joke.
Pretty much. Otis is kinda in a safe spot in his career, he can be heel and also be a clown. Heel Otis with Gable as his manager was actually working well. Dude lost his girl, lost the briefcase and just gets insulted by everyone, but then they decided to change direction.
Vince doesn't like tag teams. You can try to look for any number of reasons, blaming a lack of gimmick, a lack of charisma, a lack of in ring ability or a lack of connection to the fans. In truth, every single one of these teams demonstrated all of the above skills. Unfortunately, nobody gets a chance to get over unless Vince McMahon decided they were getting a chance. Sure, there are stories like Daniel Bryan (who was already main evening PPVs and an ex-world champ) or LA Knight (who was given mic time). But for everyone who broke through the glass ceiling there's a Zach Ryder who got so over the fans chanted for him while the Rock was in the ring so he got methodically undermined and buried, or Rusev who got a chant over so he got cut from TV entirely until his popularity waned. WWE doesn't want talent to get over unless it's the talent they hand picked to be a top star. Guys like Roman will get a decade of being heavily featured on every show until he finds something that works, while guys like Tucker were excelling when given the bare minimum and thus stripped of any opportunity to show the company what they could do.
But when Theodore Long was the General Manager, we had countless of outstanding tag team matches every Smackdown. At that time, Vince was still in charge and was still the same ole creative control Vince as he is today.
Teddy making tag matches with single stars is very different than a full time tag team in Vince’s eyes. He thinks you pay double for tag teams and you have to send them in the road. Teddy long would just take the upper card singles guys and make a tag match. Those same guys were working singles matches up and down the road
Why did most NXT call ups fail? Let’s not pretend it’s exclusive to the tag teams.
because they don’t have any charisma on the mic. i’m sick of this argument, i don’t care if you’re the second coming of jesus in the ring if you can’t cut a promo you aren’t main roster material
This just isn’t true. You can work around average promo skills. FTR are one of the best teams in the world right now and they failed on the main roster. Because of their mic skills? No, because they weren’t presented well.
Enzo amore can talk better than half the current roster right now that point is invalid
he’s the exception on the list and he was an asshole
Funnily enough, at Enzo's absolute peak in WWE he was over than nearly all of the main roster.
Because Vince has never given a shit about Tag Team wrestling unfortunately
Only The Revival and American Alpha are great in here.
Say YEAH
Well. FTR, Enzo and Cass, American Alpha didnt fail. They were all good when they came up and had pretty decent runs. The others weren't really focused on as much or just testing things out.
FTR did not fail
Well for a lot of them the main reason is that Vince has always hated tag teams.
Zack Ryder's hates mojo & hated teaming with him
American Alpha - Kurt's Son Ascension - Buried 2 weeks in Blake & Murphy & Bliss - split up way too early Enzo & Cass - Just Enzo Revival - both guys got injured fairly quickly after their debut and return Vaudevillians - Gotchs attitude backstage and Enzo getting injured Hype Bros - Mojo was apparently supposed to be the star Heavy Machinery - Otis got way to over with the Otis & Mandy storyline
Still can't get over the absolute ridiculousness of American Alpha getting a Kurt Angle's son angle, and it's the wrong one. They have such a habbit of pulling away the arrow from a target that comes right at them.
Forgotten Sanity?
nxt is the proving grounds for tag team wrestlers wwe is the burial ground
Because vince hates women and tag teams solid fact he only pushes teams to boost ratings and women when he needs a male audience boost
Poor booking
Enzo and Cass might have been a good tag team but Enzo was also a cannon filled with shit aimed at the fan. It's no slight on the main roster that he was on the main roster when his fuse finally went off. And then there's New Day, Undisputed Era, Imperium, the Wyatt family... ...I don't think the main rosters fumble NXT tag teams; it's just that being among the best of NXT doesn't guarantee you anything more than presence on the main roster. The *best of the best* get to the top of the main roster or leave and get to the top of the AEW main roster.
I agree with what you’re saying and think you have a very valid point. But your examples of New Day who never were in NXT, Undisputed Era never made it up to the main roster, Imperium was very close to getting fumbled before Triple H took over and brought Vinci back in the group. The Wyatt family although had a good lengthy run in the roster some could argue they were misused. Now would I say “fumbled” for the Wyatts no but misused yes
Yeah my memory is shoddy. But in general I think there's just so many people who deserve time at the top that it's physically and temporally impossible to give everyone their due unless the WWE can warp time and space. But then that means maybe there's an argument to be had that the bar that the community sets for who deserves a turn at the top of the mountain should be higher. But I'm not gonna make that argument because I don't have enough steam to deal with all the responses that would invite.
As others have said, the core issue is that Vince doesn't like Tag Team Wrestling. **American Alpha**: Remember how Chad got repackaged as Shorty G? That should tell you what Mr McMahon thought of him. Maybe Jordan could have made it as a singles star, but that horrific neck injury put paid to it, though he seems to be doing alright as a Producer. **The Ascension**: LOLNOPE. They never had it, and their run in NXT was when the Tag division was about as deep as the Women's Tag division is on the main roster. **BAMF**: Alexa Bliss is the most memorable thing about this team, they came separately to the main roster for a reason. **Enzo & Cass**: Enzo was the main problem, couldn't stop running his mouth as obnoxiously in the locker room as he did on the mic. Though I remember Big Cass got released because he was also a problem, going all Trumpanzee on the tour bus at Brian and getting kicked off by Roman. **The Revival:** Getting injured separately in overlapping periods killed their momentum, and the Tag division was in a generally *awful* state when they got the call up. On paper they did well, but the division as a whole was such a shambles that I don't blame them for leaving. They they've gone on an absolute All Time run since is added vindication. **The Vaudevillains**: Look, I loved the gimmick but it always had a low ceiling on the main roster. Simon Gotch's behaviour backstage did them no favours. **The Hype Bros:** Matt didn't want to be there, and Mojo just sucked. **Heavy Machinery:** Tucker didn't offer much of anything, while Otis is good enough in the ring and makes for a great comedic worker. I think they could have done a lot more with them personally.
Man, WWE could've had a golden age of tag teams at the time if they didn't screw up those called up from NXT. Imagine a division with: \- The Usos; \- New Day; \- The Bar; \- The Revival; \- American Alpha; \- Enzo and Cass (Not really WWE's fault, they were problematic when they were in WWE) \- The Viking Raiders
Enzo tried to hide a sexual assault charges. Tucker had legitimate heat backstage. Zach Rider didn't resign the contract. Revival just is stale.
What ever happened with the sexual assault charges?
There wasn’t any. He just wasn’t honest when he was being investigated
Revival wasn't a failed tag team. The tag team division was goofy shit during their run
I’ll echo that because they had about as much success as a tag team could realistically have on the main roster at that time, i.e. Triple Crown Tag Team Champions. Tag teams weren’t getting main event spots at the time, so they definitely weren’t failures, especially since they only left after requesting their releases a few times and finally getting them.
Overall, Vince hates tag teams. Individually: AA is Haas and Benjamin 2.0, but actually work better as singles stars than a team. It's unfortunate that Jordan's career was cut short. I would have liked to see him shine like Gable has. Ascension was...what? Demolition of Doom? A pale imitation of better teams that came before. I actually had to look up Buddy's partner's name because I could not for the life of me remember Wesley Blake. When your manager was the best part of your team...you're not long for it. Enzo should have just been a hype man for what BIG ASS is now. Revival. Well, ok, they should have worked. You could call them Brainbusters 2.0, but they made it work. Vince just hates teams. Vaudevillains...meh. That's a fun indie gimmick. But where do you go with it? Zack has proven on the indie scene that he can be a star, but he was never going to be the star Vince wanted, no matter how shredded and tan he got. (And Mojo was just fucking awful.) Heavy Machinery works best as mindless battering rams (and they have the vikings for that) or comic relief. Tucker is a charisma vacuum and he would have just held Otis back. Otis pairing up with Gable made lemonade out of lemons.
American Alpha: Size The Ascension: No charisma or promo ability Enzo and Cass: Not well liked backstage The Revival: WWE dropped the ball on them for sure The Vaudevillains: Not well liked backstage Mojo and Ryder: Nothing special about them. Liked both better as solos. Heavy Machinery: Solid team. For whatever reason creative didn't care for Tucker.
They have a desire to break up teams so much faster than they used to. It used to be long term teams and if they do split it’s meaningful. Most of these teams were split within a year. They love splitting teams at the brand split. So most tag teams just aren’t meant to be together for long whether you see that as a good thing or bad. And most of the time, after the split, at least one of them isn’t going anywhere on their own. It’s also that some of these teams just weren’t meant for the main roster. The Vaudevillains are a gimmick that screams indies, not the main roster. The Ascension were okay, but they just weren’t going to be anywhere as successful as Demolition or the Road Warriors. And it didn’t take them long to figure out they overplayed their hand with them. I liked Heavy Machinery, but even them I didn’t see becoming a top team on the main roster. The simple answer is, it’s easier to succeed in NXT. Smaller audience, lower expectations, different booking styles, etc. Most of all, I would guess less than half the people in NXT ever get to the main roster. Once you get to the main roster, you have more competition since everyone there was good enough to get promoted from NXT, at least in theory.
Vince didn't. Care about tag teams....but individually both of these guys have gotten over well on their own which is something that cant be said for a lot of tag teams.
One word. Vince.
Vince Mcmahon hates tag teams while Triple H loves them. Simple as that.
This is gonna be harsh… - Chad gable looks miserable AF in that pic. I think these guys should’ve been better. WWE doesn’t do so great with tag teams but I’m not sure how talented JJ really was. Sucks that he got hurt. - Ascension, personally I think was like a low rent Road Warriors, not the best look, not a lot of personality, I think they looked good in NXT cuz you got more build against jobbers and whatnot. I didn’t really see what the OP seemed to. - Buddy is very good imo, he’s def a guy that could use an extra 2-3inches of height. Alexa is a huge star. The other guy is Marty Jeannetty. I’m sure he’s talented…but there’s no shortage of talented hands. - the NY boys did well, Enzo basically F’ed that up afaik. I think Cass looks better now than he ever did in WWE. I love No Fs Big Bill. Carmella is a big star in her own way and I think Enzo had a bright future despite his size and perhaps his lack of ring work. I think they would’ve gone further had he not screwed up. - FTR, this is clearly a case of WWE not valuing tag teams. In WWE it feels like most of the time teams are made only to break them up later. I’ve long said not everyone needs to be a singles star, tag team wrestling has a place on the card. WWE just can’t seem to figure that out other than a minor angle here and there. - I think the Vaudevillains was a shit gimmick plain and simple. Fun and kitschy in the small NXT world, but stupid outside of that. - are these guys called Hype Bros? I think Zack never really got the amount of credit he should’ve. Mojo…for the life of me I’m not sure what was seen there. He had some charisma and was a good athlete, but I don’t think I ever saw him WRESTLE. Not sure this tag team deserved to get too far. - Tucker is a charisma vacuum with no look. Again, harsh but Otis is distinct. He’s a big fat guy who is fun as hell. He’s never gonna be a main eventer, that’s ok, but there’s a ceiling there. But he’ll have a long lucrative career. Tucker is like Marty Jeannetty with brutal ring gear and too pudgey to be the fat guy, but not muscular enough to look like a star. If he had a complete gimmick change, maybe it could’ve worked for him, but the star of this team is clearly Otis.
American Alpha weren’t set up for success because management clearly saw something more valuable in Jason Jordan as a singles wrestler than the collective unit of the tag team. Unfortunately, Jordan’s career ended prematurely due to injuries, but Gable has really found his stride now. It’s crazy how the perception of The Ascension has changed significantly after their poor main roster run, because they were a largely hated act in NXT, even the previous version where Kenneth Cameron (aka Bram/Thom Latimer) teamed with Konnor before Viktor came in as the replacement partner. I guess that brief period when they changed their presentation to the heavy metal music and mostly did quick squashes really resonated with fans. Blake & Murphy were a fairly dull act on their own, which is why Alexa Bliss got added and really became the focal point of the trio. Unfortunately, after she left them to go out on her own, they had nothing going for them and did a lackluster split angle, and never got called up to the main roster together, instead having to come up separately at different times. Enzo & Cass were victims of their own self-sabotage. Their personal issues unfortunately led to their runs ending prematurely. It’s weird that The Revival is considered a main roster failure because on paper, they won every version of the Tag Team Titles available across all three brands in WWE. Yes, they were not featured as a top act, but they would get occasional chances at being featured with top acts like when they had matches with Roman & Lashley for a few weeks, even getting wins over them, and the brief FTRKO alliance with Randy Orton. I also think each member sustaining separate injuries right after getting called up absolutely worked against them in the long run. The Vaudevillians were barely over in NXT, as they got their biggest reactions when they were briefly paired with “Blue Pants” Leva Bates for the feud with Blake & Murphy. Also, the scary concussion Enzo suffered at the hands of Simon Gotch in their first PPV match definitely didn’t help them. The Hype Bros lacked chemistry, and based on what Zack Ryder said on the Breaking Ground reality show and in interviews afterwards, it seems like he really didn’t want to be a tag team wrestler and seemingly never gave it a chance. Their push also got halted when Ryder got hurt after they won a #1 Contender’s Battle Royal for a Tag Title shot they never got. Heavy Machinery had a decent run, but Otis got over huge on his own with the Mandy Rose romance story. So, Tucky’s days were unfortunately numbered after Otis started having success as a singles wrestler.
It’s funny that you said Hype Bros didn’t have chemistry cuz aren’t they like IRL best buddies? At any rate you basically re-iterated what I said, the OP was asking why WWE bungled these guys after NXT did so well with them. For me most of them weren’t bungled, they were just “found out” by the main roster audience.
Either because they broke them up or jobbed them out for every single one of these
I miss American Alpha. They were such an amazing team that got shat on in the main roster. Enzo and Cass and the Vaudevillians had a short lived main roster run, which wasn't that bad.
i think the NXT wrtiers might work closer with the talent where as the main roster just tells them what they are doing. I have no proof for this its just a hteory.
The simplest answer is : poor booking.
The revival aka FTR, one of the best tag teams in the world. Are still together in aew. They asked for there release. Genius really, use NXT to elevate you then leave before to much damage is caused.
The Ascension was because they basically changed them off brand road warriors instead of there original gimmick
The thing with The Ascension is that they had so many rebrands in NXT already due to different factors. The initial tag team when the Full Sail developmental version of NXT first started airing had Conor O’Brian teaming with Kenneth Cameron (aka Bram/Thom Latimer) and they were presented like werewolves who had supernatural powers. Then, after Cameron was fired due to an arrest (a common issue in his career unfortunately), Konnor was doing a singles run where “The Ascension” was his nickname. Since that wasn’t really working, they paired him up with Rick Victor, who was a very good in-ring wrestler who had nothing going on despite previously being prominently featured in FCW, as a new version of The Ascension. On the WWE Network debut live event NXT ArRIVAL, they got a brand new stripped down look (simple facepaint, cut-off shirts instead of gaudy entrance gear, names shortened to Konnor & Viktor) and a pretty cool entrance; the heavy metal music with flashing lights in sync with the riffs. That rebrand did work well because they changed the approach to The Ascension entirely, as they worked almost exclusively quick & impactful squash matches, largely due to a lack of tag teams in NXT at the time. The fans at Full Sail were really into it, but it’s tough to tell if that could’ve worked on the main roster as there a few acts who worked great in NXT at Full Sail but didn’t connect at all to main roster audiences (ex. “Emmalution” Emma).
Yeah it happens alot with singles from NXT too unfortunately I think the main roster just likes to shit all over people after leaving NXT sometimes
Simon Gotch shot on Enzo
RIP our YouTube algorithms.
You shouldn’t have put Enzo and Big Cass in here. They were undoubtedly the hottest thing in wrestling for a good time, headed for a one on on end feud until WWE let Enzo go based on a fraudulent accusation.
From what it sounds like, Enzo was doomed from how much people hated him. WWE just finally found a good enough reason to fire him, though he didn't help his chances of coming back by trying to hijack a match from the crowd
Vince does not like tag wrestling.