The WWF Should Promote An Annual Tag Team Tournament

Does anybody remember the annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament? WCW promoted the tournament from 1986 to 1988, and for a time, the event featured several of the top tag teams around the world. With the WWF’s enormous talent depth, the promotion should also stage an annual Tag Team tournament.

WCW named their annual tournament after Jim Crockett Jr.’s (then owner of World Championship Wrestling) father, a wrestling promoter for 38 years in the Carolinas. The WWF would also need to choice an appropriate person to name their tournament after. My suggestion is to dub the event the Owen Hart Memorial Tag Team Tournament.

Hart, who tragically fell to his death at age 34, captured the federation’s tag team titles with his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, Jeff Jarrett, and the late Yokozuna. The Hart family and the WWF settled the wrongful death suit filed by the Hart’s back in November. This would be a fitting tribute to someone who contributed a great deal to the business he ultimately died for.

The event should replace the WWF’s annual December PPV offering (last year called “Armageddon”), which is typically a throw away PPV sandwiched between the Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble. This would be an additional “major” PPV each year.

The field would be quite impressive for such a tournament. The Dudley Boyz, Hardy Boyz, The Acolytes, Edge and Christian, and The Undertaker and Kane would receive top seeds and be among the favorites to win the event.

The number one seed should automatically go the WWF World Tag Team champions at the time of the PPV. This stipulation would add importance to tag team title matches leading up the event.

Think of the dream teams the federation could assemble for the tournament: The Rock and Steve Austin, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle and Eddy Guerrero, Mick Foley and Al Snow.

Mid card tag teams would also comprise the field, such as X-Pac and Justin Credible, Rikishi and Haku, Too Cool, Kai En Tai, Lo Down, Right to Censor, The Holly’s, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko, Raven and Tazz, among others. Foreign talent from Japan, Mexico, and Puerto Rico would add an international flavor to the event.

In the weeks leading up to the event, WWF television would feature qualifying matches. The company should keep the field limited to eight elite qualifying teams. The PPV would consist of seven-tag team matches, plus a Women’s title matches.

The winners of the tag team tournament should receive a trumped up cash reward, plus an automatic title shot at the WWF Tag Team titles. If the reigning champions win the event, the team should receive an extra monetary prize. If promoted correctly, this annual event could rival the federation’s King of the Ring tournament.

Tidbits: Despite retaining a roster spot, at this point, WCW has no plans of using Stacy Kiebler (Miss Hancock) … Wrestling bad boy Scott Hall is booked for New Japan Pro Wrestling for their March tour … Kurt Angle’s book is scheduled to be released in August … The Blue Boy (the former Blue Meanie) and his girlfriend Jasmin St. Claire were spotted backstage at last week’s Nitro/Thunder tapings in Huntsville, Alabama … Smackdown! 3 will be released this fall for Playstation 2.

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