PWP Contributor Ford Fischer & his “A View From The Ocean Floor” column returns to PWP Nation w/ a look at the 5 Best Ring of Honor Tag Teams who have never held the ROH Tag Team Championships.
Ring of Honor is one of the most successful non-WWE promotions of all time next to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and Total Non-Stop Action (TNA). They have become a pillar of the professional wrestling industry in their 13 year lifespan and have made all of their championships the most sought after in the world.
In particular, their set of World Tag Team Titles have had the most prestigious tandems in history including The American Wolves (or just The Wolves to TNA fans), Kevin Steen & El Generico, The Young Bucks, The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana), Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black aka Seth Rollins), Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin), Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli aka Cesaro), even going back as far as 2002 and the team named Amazing Phenomenon (Amazing Red & AJ Styles).
Of course, ROH’s go-to tag team can’t go unmentioned; the 8-time champions – Jay & Mark…The Briscoe Brothers. The list just goes on and on as we look back into the long history of the most valuable Tag Team Titles in the industry today.
While there have been so many great tag teams not in that list that have been champions, there are several teams that have prospered in Ring of Honor despite never winning their Tag Team Titles. Here are my five most deserving teams that should have or in the future could become Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions:
Honorable Mention: Future Shock
This thrown together team of Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole proved themselves during the initial run of ROH television in 2009-2011. They inevitably split before they could get very far as a team. From there, Kyle O’Reilly paired up with Bobby Fish & became both an American and Japanese sensation as reDRagon while Adam Cole became married to the ROH TV and ROH World Title for several years.
This team really has a proven track record even though they never gained the popularity they did on their own.
5. The Bravado Brothers
“The Bravado Bandwagon” never really got the start they wanted it to. This North Carolina based tag team has sound tandem moves and are one of the few tag teams that are actually brothers. These guys come from a great background of old-school wrestling and have been extremely successful both in Japan and Southeastern USA, but never gained the traction to become Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions.
While babyfaces, the fans would boo them nearly out of the building which could have made for them to make an epic heel turn once winning the titles if they ever got that far. These two have had spectacular battles with the most popular tag team in the world today: The Young Bucks.
Watch out for these two to possibly soar above and beyond any set of tag team titles and become one of the most memorable teams in history.
4. The House of Truth (Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin)
Truth Martini’s boys have changed so many times over the years, but by far the best tandem out of them has been “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin & Roderick Strong. During their run as a team, they won just about every bout their were in together and Roderick Strong even captured the ROH World Title for several months!
Too bad the team was too volatile for it’s own good and imploded before they could win the ROH Tag Team Titles. Dissension began once Strong lost the ROH World Title and Elgin began gaining more praise from the fans despite being a despicable heel, especially in his five-star bout against Davey Richards as he challenged for the ROH World Title in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during Showdown in the Sun 2012.
By the end of that year, the two had split and were feuding while Truth Martini had a very tough time choosing who to side with in the end.
3. Dark City Fight Club
The team of Kory Chavis and Jon Davis were bulldozers of the ROH Tag Team Division during their initial national television debut year of 2008 and 2009. They dominated over any and all teams, but were still unable to win the elusive ROH Tag Team Titles. The one road-block they ran into was in the form of The Briscoe Brothers during their sixth reign as champions and Dark City Fight Club’s only shot at the titles in early 2010.
Since then, these two have split and reconciled more than any tag team in recent memory…however, they are currently okay with each other and could easily be inserted back into the ROH Tag Team Division of 2015.
Much like The Prime Time Players of WWE fame, ROH did not pull the trigger on them winning the tag titles in their initial run there, but they could storm back onto the scene and win the titles in their second run if given the chance.
2. War Machine
The tandem of “Warbeard” Hanson & Raymond “Death” Rowe came about after the finals of the ROH Top Prospect Tournament of 2014 which put the spotlight on future possible ROH stars that have not had a chance yet. These two were in the finals and had such a barn burner (that Hanson won), which garnered so much respect both from the fans and between the two competitors that they created the juggernaut of a tag team.
They have been pounding the pavement and caving-in more heads than ever before since Rowe returned from a life-threatening motorcycle accident in 2014 soon after they formed the team. The two have yet to receive a shot at the ever increasingly valuable set of tag titles. To many fans, this is a downright crime while others believe they still need to prove themselves as a formidable tag team because they have really only had about eight months of being together legitimately (considering Hanson went on his own while Rowe was injured.)
These two show no signs of slowing down anytime soon and are the most likely team to win the titles from current champions The Addiction.
1. C & C Wrestle Factory
This team of Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander was the most exciting tag team in recent memory because they used some extra flashy moves, rarely botched and really gelled well as a team in general.
With Caprice almost 10 years older than his partner, it was surprising to see him able to keep up with Cedric; and that made the team all the more fun to watch. C&C Wrestle Factory has received more shots at the ROH Tag Gold than any other team on this list with seven separate matches with the titles on the line.
They have had great battles with the likes of reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish), The Briscoe Brothers, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, and SCUM (Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs)…but still came up just short of wrangling the titles into their possession.
Since their run as a team, Caprice has faded into the background and become an enhancement worker while doing part-time color commentary. Cedric Alexander, on the other hand, has stepped into the limelight particularly in his feud against Roderick Strong in the Summer of 2014. Alexander saw success in that feud by winning the final match between the two, but still could not break the glass ceiling and receive a World Title shot.
Now, Cedric has aligned himself with Veda Scott and until recently with the newest sensation in ROH, Moose. This team of Cedric and Caprice had the biggest opportunity to win the titles because of all the opportunities they had with such a wide array of opponents.
However, just like The Dark City Fight Club and with wrestling in general…these two could conceivably forgive one another (Caprice forgiving Cedric more than anything) and they could possibly come back and become ROH Tag Team Champions. That might come at the price of Cedric winning the ROH World Title, but as most fans of ROH would agree, winning the ROH Tag Team Titles is just about as meaningful as winning their World Title in the long run.
To be considered any champion in Ring of Honor is a rare feat to accomplish and this team could plausibly do it in the future despite their failures in the past.
There you have it, the five most deserving teams to never be Ring of Honor’s World Tag Team Champions. I hope you have enjoyed reading, I thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to do so.
Until next time, this is @FordTheFish with A View From The Ocean Floor signing out. Have a great weekend everyone!