*Blog post started on September 30, 2021.
I Miss Sunday Night Heat & More of the Best Men's Doubles of All Time.
Professional wrestling eventually brought the excitement to my week. Where would the business be if it was not for AEW?
In
Japan of course. I kind of wish it was that way just to justify my NJPW
World subscription. The G1 Climax tournament's A Block has kept me busy
the past week, but now that the schedule is picking up, I ponder how
many shows that I am behind. At least the B Block being filled with
matches that are easy to recall (Tanahashi vs. Okada), means I will not
have much to catch up on.
I
guess my problem with AEW being established (before the Forbidden Door
was open) was that NJPW was the one stop for the best wrestling in the
world. My blog "The Disgruntled's $200 Wrestling War and Its Current Champions"
told you how expensive wrestling fandom is, provided you are not an
Xfinity customer. That price point was wrong because I did not include
the approximately $10 a month for access to NJPW. But with all their
gaijins moving back stateside, is NJPW now in the same boat WWE is? Do I
really only need the service for Wrestle Kingdom?
The
answer is that I need more friends who think the WWE is the end all be
all. That way, I could just pull up some classic Okada and Great
Muta to see if the reluctant can be saved. It is a lot easier than pulling out my
indie DVDs.
Well, I say it is easier, but the lack of streaming apps and the joys of WiFi can make using Chromecast a chore.
Of
course, the last person I was trying to sell that there was better
wrestling beyond Vince McMahon's narrative was the most insecure asshole
in Morton, Illinois. I knew that guy for 30 years before I had enough
of his bullshit, so it maybe wise not to let people like that into my
life. A WWE preference may be a red flag.
How
can you even have a WWE preference now? After AEW established that you
can run for two years and only have two disqualifications on TV, how can anyone
support a promotion with a DQ finish and a ring malfunction that
determined the outcome of you main event. At least AEW waits till the
action had concluded to leave the crowd questioning their television
production.
Jungle
Boy versus Adam Cole and Sammy Guevara capturing the TNT Championship
gave us the excitement that WWE withheld from us. With that said, is
Sammy Guevara not only the TNT Champion, but the holder of the DRCW OCHO
Championship?
The 154th and Current DRCW OCHO Champion:
(WWE and IWGP United States, Intercontinental, National, X Division, Television, North American, TNT)
AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara.
The
TNT Championship is the premier secondary title because we know that it
will be defended most often. Unless WWE goes back to having secondary
shows for their brands, there is no time for four titles over two hours.
If they had "Heat" and "Velocity", they would have championships that
would be the focus of a brand's extra hour. They would also be able to
use all the talent they have. I think it is the only way to justify
maintaining the brand split.
Fox
owns Tubi. Give the platform a show (Samantha Bee has made it clear
there is no reason to know of the app, unless you have a movie podcast
that requires a source of films to binge.). You just need to tolerate the
conservative commercials and you can have your own podcast like the
excellent "NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast".
With
that said, boycott Blue Chew. If men can have tele-medicine and women
cannot, you hurt women by taking something to encourage a higher
pregnancy rate while not allowing women to cancel that out.
Comcast/Universal
has Peacock, and every pay platform needs some free content to draw
viewer in. Why not put Sunday Night Heat back on during the last hour of
Fox's "Game of the Week"?
As
for other contender to Sammy Guevara, Hiroshi Tanahashi cannot defend
while competing in the G1. Jay White could introduce a new title to the
OCHO with the NEVER Openweight Championship, but being on Impact and
NJPW Strong will probably not offer those opportunities.
Suggesting
another NJPW addition to the OCHO's lineage is intriguing. Can we add
the Rev Pro's Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship? Because of the promotion's out of date website, I am leaning toward no.
Of
course, with the possibility that Guevara may just be holding the
championship for Miro to regain, this could lead to AEW losing this DRCW
championship. At least this exercise has reminded me that WWE's United
States and Intercontinental Championships are not necessarily the
immediate successors.
Now to the title that I think WWE will always have a stranglehold on.
The Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Championship:
The 102nd Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champion:
WWE Tag Team Champions
Justin Gabriel (aka as PJ Black) (3) and Heath Slater (3) (2/21/2011 to 4/19/2011)
The 103rd Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
WWE Tag Team Champions:
"The Big Show" Paul Wight (4) and Kane (6) (4/19/11 to 5/23/11)
The 104th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
WWE Tag Team Champions:
Michael McGillicutty (aka Curtis Axel) and David Otunga (5/23/11 to 8/22/11)
The 105th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
WWE World Tag Team Champions:
Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne (aka Matt Sydal) (8/22/2011 to 1/15/2012)
The 106th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions:
Crimson and Matt Morgan (2) (1/15/12 to 2/12/12)
Primo and Epico are brothers so you cannot downgrade that relationship to doubles.
The 107th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions:
Magnus (aka Nick Aldis) (2) and Samoa Joe (2/12/12 to 5/13/12)
The 108th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
Kofi Kingston (2) and R-Truth (2) (5/13/12 to 9/16/12)
Bad Influence (Daniels and Kaz) won the TNA championship.
The 109th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
ROH World Tag Team Champions
Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs (2) (9/16/12 to 12/16/12)
The best two guys who cannot stand each other since RVD and Sabu was Team Hell No. They had just won the WWE championship.
The 110th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions
Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Hernandez (2) (12/16/2012 to 1/25/2013)
The Briscoe Brothers won the ROH championship.
The 111th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions
Bobby Roode and Austin Aries (1/25/13 to 4/11/13)
The 112th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions
Chavo Guerrero J. (2) and Hernandez (3) (4/11/13 to 6/2/13)
The 113th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions
Gunner and James Storm (6/2/13 to 10/20/13)
The 114th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
TNA World Tag Team Champions
Robbie E (Robert Stone) and Jessie Godderz (10/20/2013 to 2/23/2014)
This
is really a great time for tag team wrestling. Everyone had established
acts as champions. BroMans just happened to be the lesser of all them.
The 115th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
NWA World Tag Team Champions
Rob Conway (2) and Jax Dane (2/23/14 to 4/16/14)
The American Wolves had won the TNA championship.
The 116th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
GHC Tag Team Champions
Maybach Taniguchi and Takeshi Morishima (4/16/14 to 5/31/14)
TNA's tag team scene would center around the Wolves while the NWA championship was playing second to the IWGP.
The 117th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
Open the Twin Gate Champions
Akira Tozawa and Shingo Takagi (2) (5/31/14 to 7/20/14)
The 118th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions
GHC Tag Team Champions
Masato Tanaka (2) and Takashi Sugiura (7/20/2014 to 1/10/2015)
I am kind of disappointed to miss out on Miz and Mizdow, but the Miz element is what held that team together.
The 119th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions
IWGP Tag Team Champions
Katsuyori Shibato and Hirooki Goto (1/10/15 to 2/11/15)
The 120th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions
Open the United Gate (Dragon Gate USA) Champions
Tony Neese, Caleb Konley, and Trent (Baretta) (2/11/15 to 4/18/15)
The 121st Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions
WWE Tag Team Champions
Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (4/18/15 to 4/26/15)
Now
this list is about to become a nightmare. We are approaching the
longest WWE...World...Tag Team...Championship reign with the New Day.
And of course, DGUSA has to close up to further limit my options.