Introduction

The WWF always had the rep of not having the best in-ring wrestling, but there were times they also had a robust and talented tag team division. I didn’t want to focus too much on the peak (mid-late ‘80s), but every match is pre-Artitude era.

The Video 

08/24/1995 WWF

World Tag Team Title Match: The Dream Team def. Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda in 19:10

The Dream Team is largely forgotten and pretty underrated overall. Yes, Beefcake wasn’t very good at this point (some might argue ever), but he added a little bit of color and a little bit of power to Valentine’s in-ring style, and they complemented each other well. Barry Windham was such a great white meat babyface here, even the surly Philly faithful were strongly behind him. The babyfaces worked at a brisk pace, and the heels did a great job getting heat on Rotunda. Rotunda constantly struggled to fight his way over to Windham and make a hot tag, and had the fans captivated. They did a wild finish where Brutus rubbed Johnny V’s lit cigar in Barry’s eyes behind the ref’s back. Beefcake had a few spots where his timing was off, but overall, this was a great match. ****

The Video 

06/05/1990 WWF

World Tag Team Title Match: Demolition (C) def. The Rockers at 9:00

This was a dark match from a TV taping in Rochester on one of those marathon 20+ match tapings for the era. Demolition was in the Crush era, as Ax was recovering from a near-fatal illness and acting as a manager. Crush looked green at times, but was still a fun big guy in 1990. However, he did show why most wrestlers press a wrestler into the ring from the floor over the second rope instead of the top rope. He threw Shawn in over the top, and it looked like it fucking sucked to take for Shawn, who sort of tumbled over the rope clumsily. They worked the big man vs. little man pace and style you’d expect, but also had a couple of nearfalls the crowd bought when each hit their finishers. The finish came when Ax clotheslined Shawn behind the ref’s back, allowing Smash to get the cover. It was short and a little clunky at times, but not enough or in a way that prevented it from being a good match. **3/4

The Video 

02/05/1994 WWF Superstars 

World Tag Team Title Match: Steiners def. Quebecers by DQ in 9:57

For those unfamiliar, the Steiners were ending their time in the WWF soon after this, and had been with the company for a little over a year after leaving WCW. They were not happy dropping the belts to the Quebecers when they did, and some heat had developed backstage, mostly with Jacques (shocker). Both Quebecers kept turning their heads when taking clotheslines, and this was after a months-long house show feud, so imagine how those went for that to be their voluntary reaction. Other than that, the teams worked well together, except for a badly botched Rick bulldog off the top that they tried to edit out. The Quebecers always did some fun double-team moves, at least. Polo rang the bell after a frankensteiner, but the ref restarted the match. Polo eventually climbed into the ring, and the Steiners hit a top rope bulldog on him. Vince McMahon said they were almost out of time, and it ended. I believe this was the last Steiners televised title shot. The match was pretty good, despite any lingering conflicts. **1/2