The Top 10 Tag Teams to Never Hold the Tag Team Championship (In WWE or WCW)

Professional wrestling, much like its originator amateur wrestling, although vastly different in a numerous amount of ways, is still treated for the most part as a individual endeavor. That's why in many respects it is much easier to come up with a list of the greatest wrestlers to never hold a Heavyweight title, or other prestigious championship belt (such as the Intercontinental or U.S. Championship) than it is to think of the best teams in professional wrestling that never held the coveted tag team titles.

It's also safe to say that whether it was during the Golden era of the 60's and 70's, the booming era of the 80's and early 90's or the attitude era of the late 1990's that the big time wrestling promotions were much more generous with their tag team titles than they were with their other belts. If you go back through the history of professional wrestling, you can easily think of wrestler who never held the World's title or the belt just below it, but if that wrestler were also a tag team wrestler then he most likely held gold at some point in his career.  Examples of such, would be Gorilla Monsoon, Mr. Fuji, Ted Dibiase (his North American Championship is known by me, but let's face it. It is not officially recognized) Earthquake,and many others.

Truth of the matter is, Tag Teams have a better history of being appreciated and rewarded credential wise than individual wrestlers. When you think of the greatest tag teams of all time, many did indeed have a reign with the World's Tag Team titles. Most had more than one. Demolition, The Legion of Doom/Road Warriors, The Hart Foundation, The New Age Outlaws, Edge and Christian, Harlem Heat, The Steiners and so many more of the great tag teams we fondly remember, held gold around their waist. The Tag Teams simply don't have the sheer numbers of Jake Roberts's, Junk Yard Dog's, and Tatanka's (the best to never hold a title) that the individual ranks do.

With that said though, there are still some phenomenal tag teams throughout the history of professional wrestling that were never awarded the tag team championship.

Here are the top 10....

10. Philip LaFon and Doug Furnas

Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon also known as the Can-Am Express, were an extremely well known and popular tag team in Japan. During their time in All Japan Pro Wrestling, the two held tag team championships  on seven occasions. They also held the ECW tag team title on one occasion as well. Unfortunately for the two, their success in Japan did not translate well when they came to the WWE in the mid 1990's. Although hopes were high for Furnas and LaFon, their reign was lackluster and short. There are two reasons for this. First and foremost, Japanese professional wrestling audiences are much different than American professional wrestling audiences. Japanese fans are fascinated by technique, suave maneuvers and in the ring wrestling. If you don't have much of a personality or any charisma, that's ok, as long as you can put it together in the ring. American audiences want flair, they want the theatrics, they want someone who can put a microphone in their hand and lure them into the arena with their words. Furnas and LaFon weren't mic guys and they weren't characters. They were simply two guys, who were although jacked and in great shape, pretty much everyday average fellas.  Secondly, "Too much too soon." Furnas and LaFon were immediately shoved into the spotlight as a top tag team before WWE audiences had a chance to get to know and absorb them. They were also turned heel way too soon as well. It'd be nice to think that if they had stuck around a while longer they would have eventually caught on, but it's more honest to say that they probably wouldn't have. They just weren't what the American audience wanted. Thankfully, their talents were well recognized and appreciated in Japan.

9. The Orient Express 

It begs the question. When the Orient Express is mentioned, are we talking Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato or Pat Tanaka and Kato? Nothing against Sato, as he was a fine wrestler in his own right, but in terms of chemistry and skill in combination with Pat Tanaka, hands down Kato was better. Many laugh when thinking of the Kato version of the Orient Express with a masked Paul Diamond, to hide the fact that he was Croatian and not Japanese, but the two were a genuinely good tag team. Also known as Badd Company throughout their years of teaming together, the two were able to capture the American Wrestling Association tag team titles shortly before the company went out of business. Unfortunately they never had the same success in the WWE.

The Orient Express had two things going against them. In comparison to the other tag teams at the time, they were small. Tanaka was one of  the shortest wrestlers on the roster. Although years later, WWE would have a place for the 5'6 Rey Mysterio Jr's and the 5'8 Eddie Guerrero's, at the time the 5'10 Tanaka looked up at everyone else. With the huge well over six foot tall and in the 275 to well over 300 lbs a piece wrestlers that made up the other tag teams, there was no way Vince McMahon was putting the titles on the much smaller Orient Express. It also doesn't help that the tag team was Asian, during a time when with exception to The Great Muta, the only place it was well popular to push an Asian was in Japan.

8. The Killer Bees 

Talented both in and out of the ring, popular among the fans and fitting the criteria of an mid/late 80's tag team, it is surprising that the Killer Bees never had a tag team title reign during their three year stint in the WWE. The most logical explanation as to why, is that the WWE was abundant with tag teams at the time. There were so many good tag teams, that it was inevitable that at least a few of them would go without ever holding the gold. It just so happens, that the Killer Bees were one of them.

7. The Twin Towers 

Putting a grumpy and abusive law enforcement officer and a white man forced into a gimmick where he had to play a white man who wanted to be black, seemed like an odd combination. And it was. The thinking behind the tag team was most likely that the WWE needed a big, scary tag team at the time and both being heels and extremely large men, The Big Bossman and Akeem were thrown together. It would have made sense to have had the Twin Towers defeat the Demolition for the WWE tag team titles and to have had Demolition eventually win them back in a feud. However, it never happened. Bossman turned face a short time later, had a few short but memorable matches with Akeem, and that was the end of it.

6. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers 

Popular and well received as both faces and heels, the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers are one of the best tag teams to never win the WWE tag team titles. Now many fans will point out that they did indeed win the WWE tag team titles from the Hart Foundation in 1987, but the decision was later reversed and their title reign is not recognized in any official record books. Therefore, they remain on the list as one of the best to never hold the belts. Much like the Killer Bees, this was due in part to their being so many remarkable tag teams in the WWE at the time. It is also a fact that Raymond Rougeau retired relatively early into his career and the tag team abruptly ended prematurely. Had they been around for a while later, it is most likely that they would have captured the tag team titles at least on one occasion.

5. The Faces of Fear 

The Faces of Fear are the most unique tag team on this list of Top 10 Tag Teams to Never Hold the Tag Team Championship, because their placement on the list is more of a reflection of their career in WCW than it is their career in the WWE. Although they did team together in the WWE, it was more of a thrown together makeshift occurrence, than it was a well established tag team. It was WCW who took the idea and made it into something memorable. As well as Meng/Haku and The Barbarian worked together, they are about the only tag team in the 10 years of WCW from 1991-2001, that had a fair amount of success who never held the WCW tag team titles. WCW was a minefield of mistakes and missed opportunities during the time the Faces of Fear were around and not putting the belts on them was one of the many errors made during this time.

4. The Powers of Pain 

Huge, massive, extremely muscular, good in the ring and they had the devious Mr. Fuji as a manager. The Powers of Pain had anything and everything that a late 1980's WWE tag team would want or need. Two problems though. They looked and acted too much like the popular Road Warriors and it seems that although people could handle a world with both Pepsi and Coca Cola being sold in the same cooler, they couldn't handle a world where professional wrestling had two large, face painted tag teams with similar gimmicks. Throw in that the WWE already had Demolition, the Powers of Pain, although unique in their own right, were never going to be seen as anything more than rip-off's. It's a shame too, because the Warlord and The Barbarian worked rather well together and neither seemed to have the same charm as individuals that they did as a tag team. It's unfortunate for the Barbarian as he was twice in a tag team that should have held gold, but never did.

3. Power and Glory 

The WWE did a lot of things right over the years. Take one look at all of the success they have had in well over 50 years of entertaining us and it'd be easy to come up with 100's of times that the WWE saw and capitalized on an opportunity. With that said, among all the many successes and triumphs, that the WWE has had, they have made their fair share of mistakes and failures. One of these failures was not utilizing the talents, skills and popularity of the heel tag team, Power and Glory. Hercules raw power and no nonsense demeanor complimented the arrogant and narcissistic Paul Roma to a T. The two were a perfect match for one another and could easily be the hated opposition to any fan favorite tag team whether it be the Hart Foundation, The Rockers or the Legion of Doom. Had the WWE pushed the tag team and given them a much deserved tag team title reign, perhaps both Roma and Hercules would have stayed in the WWE a lot longer.

2. The Bushwackers 

Kids, adults, grandparents, even the girlfriends who were dragged to the wrestling matches by their diehard fan boyfriends loved the Bushwackers. They are one of the most popular and beloved tag teams to ever be in professional wrestling and it is inexcusable that in a 8 year span with the WWE, that they never held the WWE tag team championship. Yes they were a comedy tag team, used primarily for comic relief, but they should have held the tag titles on at least one occasion. Matter of fact, if their were a record for the tag team that had the most non-title match victories over tag team champions, the answer would have to be the Bushwackers. Luke and Butch for example had televised non-title match victories over the Body Donnas. Perhaps the Bushwackers, who were also known as The Sheepherders, were not the type to have a long, illustrious affair with the tag team championship, but they still deserved at least one title reign, even if it had been a short one.

1. The Rockers 

If you ask any hardcore professional wrestling fan or historian to name the top ten or even the top five tag teams of all time, nearly every one of them will include The Rockers somewhere on the list. Without a doubt, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, are the most popular tag team in the history of the WWE to never hold the tag team titles. Arguably, next to the Legion of Doom and Demolition, they are the most popular tag team of all time. Why they were never given a reign as champions is due to many factors, some legitimate and understandable and some not. Again, they were small during a time when the WWE was full of giants. Even though they operated in a believable way, conducting double team maneuvers like double dropkicks, and double side kicks to hut their opponents, WWE believed that no one would buy the small Rockers beating teams like The Twin Towers, The Legion of Doom or the Natural Disasters.

Yet, the WWE couldn't ignore the Rockers immense popularity either and they gave in, putting the belts on the Rockers in a two out of three falls match against the Hart Foundation. Unfortunately for Michaels and Jannetty, the top rope broke during the match and the match was never televised. Wanting a wanting to leave Jim Neidhart to stay, the WWE stripped the belts off of the Rockers and handed them back to the Hart Foundation. The title change was never recognized by the WWE and fans wouldn't find out that the match even took place until years later.

A short time later, Shawn turned on Jannetty in one of the most infamous moments in professional wrestling history when he threw Jannetty through a glass window on an episode of Brutus Beefcake's "The Barbershop."  Shawn went on to have one of the most successful and decorated careers in the WWE, while Jannetty had a career of woulda, shoulda and coulda moments, that never accumulated into the success that he was well capable of.

For My Ashley

33 Questions and Answers for Miss Ashley Bunting. 

1. When was the first time you became aware of me?
   I met you on pof.com in March of 2015. I came across your profile and thought you looked like a nice person. I thought you'd be someone I should get to know. I was right. :)
2. Do you remember the first thing we said to one another?
   No. I wish I did.
3. What was your first impression of me? Did you ever dislike me?
   Genuine and real. I have never disliked you.
4. What’s your favorite memory of me?
   We were riding back to your house from Des Moines, we had already passed Jewel on that long stretch of highway before you finally get to the Fort Dodge exit. I could tell you were wanting to tell me something but you were afraid to. You were afraid that if you revealed something about your past to me, I might not want to see you again. Yet you summoned up the courage and you revealed to me that you had to have some extra help in school for certain classes. You were afraid that since I did pretty well in school, got good grades and present myself as a fairly intelligent person that I might scuff at you and no longer want to be with you. When I told you that I didn't care about that, and that a learning disability was nothing to be ashamed of, you smiled. I don't think I've ever seen you look prettier than you did at that moment. I know how good I made you feel that day and I wish I could make you feel as good as I know I made you feel then, every day of your life.
5. What do you like best about me?
   
   You have a heart of pure gold. You treat other people and animals with empathy, love and compassion. You judge people for legitimate reasons. Reasons a person should be judged, for the content of their character. You don't care about a person's religious background or their political background. All you care about is whether they're a decent person, or whether they're not. Do they treat people good? That's what matters to you. You don't have a mean bone in your body. You wish you were more like me sometimes. Smarter, capable of writing, acting and things I do well. I wish I were more like you sometimes. You don't seem to let people get to you, like I do me.
6. What is your favorite way of spending time with me?
   I love snuggling up with you and watching a movie.
7. How would you describe me?
   Genuine, real, loving, loyal, real and compassionate. I wish there were more people like you in the world.
8. What is something you did as a teen that you parents never learned about?
   I think more than one answer would probably apply here, but at the moment I can't think of anything. I was rebellious but not in a normal teenage way.
9. Who was the first person you kissed? What were the circumstances?
   Shelly Olson. She was my first girlfriend, and my only girlfriend for a very long time. I was 17. I was taking her home from a football game. I had wanted to kiss her before, but I had never worked up enough courage to do so. I finally leaned into her and kissed her real quick. She threw off my hat and practically tackled me, kissing me rather aggressively. My heart pounded like I had just wrestled a 6 minute match. It was the first time a girl had ever done anything like that to me.
10. What’s the craziest dream you’ve ever had? What’s the most recent dream you can remember?
    Every dream I have is crazy. My most recent dream was that I had to go over to Moline, Illinois to save my ex-brother-in-law's life. Talk about a weird dream.
11. What is your first childhood memory?
    I honestly think I can remember the day my memory started. I know it sounds asinine to think such a thing, but I honestly think I can remember. I was in my parent's bedroom and my mom had just got through giving me a bath. I watched a red bug crawl under a dresser.
12. What was the happiest moment of your life?
    That moment has yet to come.
13. What was your most embarrassing moment? How did you respond?
    I don't embarrass easy. I never have much cared what other people thought of me and when you don't give a hoot about what other people think, it's hard to get embarrassed.
14. Who has been the most influential person in your life?
    It wouldn't be fair to narrow it down to one. I've had many family members, teachers, coaches and a variety of friends and acquaintances who have had a positive impact on my life.
15. Do you have any birthmarks? If so, where is it?
    No
16. Do you fall for a person fast?
    No.
17. Have you ever talked marriage with another person?
    Sort of but not really.
18. How would you like to be remembered?
    I hope people remember me as a man of passion and someone who lived life his way. I want my friends to remember me as someone who they could count on, honest, true and real. I want every cat and dog I ever meet, to remember me as a friend.
19. What’s your favorite time of the year? Why?
    Amateur wrestling season!
20. What is your favorite holiday?
    I like them all for different reasons. 
21. Who is your favorite actor? Actress?
    I have too many to count. If you really want to know, I wrote a blog for each!
22. Who is your least favorite actor or actress?
    I can't stand Shiloh Fernandez. Just hate his style of acting. As for female actors, I've never been a big fan of Reese Witherspoon. Her southern innocence is so disingenuous and put on, but I will watch films with her in them. Who I really can't stand is Halle Berry. I'll avoid a film that otherwise looks good if she is in it. She just seems to ruin whatever she touches.
23. What’s your favorite color?
    Grey
24. If you could go anywhere on a vacation, where would you go?
    California!! And YOU are going with me!
25. If you were asked to give yourself a nickname, what would it be?
    I think Stephen suits me pretty good.
26. If you were asked to give me a nickname, what would it be?
    Ruby Jr.
27. Would you mind if your partner making more money than you?
    No. I'd be perfectly happy if you were to make a lot of money.
28. If your partner could make more money, would you stay home with the kids?
    If by kids you mean Miss Peanut and Miss Ruby, then certainly! I'd love to stay home and work on my writing career all the time.
29. If you were stranded on an island and allowed one luxury item, what would it be?
    Something to write with.
30. What’s the first thing you would do if you won $50,000?
    Pay off my student loans!
31. What would you do if you had one day left to live?
    Drive to California.
32. What is your least favorite color?
    Don't have one. I find the beauty in them all.
33. What’s your favorite type of food? Least favorite type of food?
    Look at me, I'm fat! I like so many types of food. My least favorite type are certain cheeses. Yuck! 

The Top 30 Physiques in Professional Wrestling of All Time

I began watching professional wrestling at the tender age of 4 in the summer of 1989. I caught a glimpse of it while at a neighbor's house one night and instantly fell in love. One of the things that fascinated me most was how big and strong the wrestlers were. How chiseled and defined their muscles were. I developed an interest in bodybuilding and was hoping that with enough hard work I'd one day look like one of the stars I saw on TV.

Unfortunately when I looked into the mirror last to see which superstar I currently resembled, the answer was Mideon aka Phineus I Godwin aka Dennis Knight.


My goal is to miss no lifting sessions, add in cardio, stop cheating on my diet and when I'm at lifting sessions lift till absolute exhaustion. I'm hoping by doing so I can achieve a look similar to a young Arn Anderson.

Who as you can tell looks pretty damn good for an average bloke, but in comparison to many other professional wrestlers, his physique is average.

It should also be noted that this list is a comprehensive list of 30 male wrestlers I feel have the physiques in professional wrestling of all time. Perhaps I'll make a list of female physiques later that impress me, but I can see a lot more arguments developing with people doing that, considering that how I define beauty and what I find stimulating and attractive is much different than what most men (and for that matter women) do.

On my list for example, you wouldn't find any Sables or Stacy Keiblers. I just don't find the bitchy, try and look tough look attractive on a woman. My list would include more the friendly, still hot as Hell, but girl next door look.

For example Molly Holly would top my list at #1 and I'm not sure if she'd even make anyone else's top 5 list. I researched and found four "most attractive women in professional wrestling of all time" list and only one of the four even had Molly on the list. And at that, she was #11 on a top 15.


Even though the following list includes thirty professional wrestlers in random order (I tried to rank them but it was way too difficult) I know I left some off the list that probably deserve to be on it. Keep in mind that I had to stop somewhere. Keep in mind that this is a highly subjective topic. 

I mean I don't see anyone crying about me leaving the late Dusty Rhodes off the list. We can all agree that while he's one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, ole Dusty had the body of a 40 year old couch potato that lived in his mother's basement. Guy could out perform, out talk, and out do 95% of the guys on this list, but we're not analyzing these guys talent and ability. We're strictly looking at their physiques.


A few of the guys who didn't make the list......

Brian Adams, who spent a majority of his professional wrestling career performing as Crush, was one of the strongest men to ever be in professional wrestling. During WWE runs, he had the size and the bulk but he was never really chiseled. It was obvious that he spent a lot of time in the gym pumping iron, but he didn't achieve the more chiseled, defined look until the last year's of his career in WCW. 

Scott Norton is another guy I left off of the list. While Norton had an impressive physique, and this picture is him at his best, for the majority of his career he was built like a big offensive lineman. A power-lifter's body, that was extremely impressive in its own right, but not as impressive as the bodybuilder physiques of others. 

And another wrestler I left off the list was Steve Williams, who I'll say had genetics working against him. He was hairy, and extremely thick. Nevertheless he still looked very good.


And now my top 30......

They called him "The Total Package" for a reason. The former Canadian Football star had a killer physique with no noticeable flaws. 

He'll be the first to admit that he achieved his chiseled physique with the awkward looking biceps through the usage of anabolic steroids, but do keep in mind when he was using them back in the late 1970's and early 1980's they were legal. Steroids didn't become federally demonized and criminalized until 1991. 

Another wrestler who had one of the most impressive physiques. The most notable feature of Atlas' was his back. Traps, deltoids, lats, the guy had one of the most impressive backs of all time. 

It's hard to believe looking at him now, but at one time Tom Billington aka The Dynamite Kid had an impressive physique. 

Paul Orndorff already had an impressive physique when he was playing football at the University of Tampa, a few steroids later, an unbelievable dedication to the gym and his diet, and Orndorff has arguably the best body professional wrestling has ever seen. 

If you look at the British Bulldog when he first started in professional wrestling, it would have been hard to have imagined the tall, lanky, skinny kid one day being one of the most muscular men in professional wrestling. 

He already looked like a million bucks when he won a Florida High School State wrestling title in 1971, and he just kept getting more chiseled as time went on. 

They called him The Model, for good reason. The men wished they could look like him and despite doing all he could to tick off everyone in the crowd with his arrogant gimmick, the ladies loved Rick Martel. 

An advocate for the legalization of steroids, The Warlord, admits to heavy steroid usage along with spending hours upon hours in the gym. He's still alive today and doing well, and says it is because the only thing he took with steroids was protein. According to other professional wrestlers, the Warlord would eat steak for breakfast, lunch, dinner and his three or four midday snacks. 

The Ultimate Warrior had damn near everything. He had an impressive chest, shoulders, abs, legs, and some of the most impressive biceps ever known to professional wrestling. Oddly enough the guy had no triceps. When questioned about it in an interview once, he said that he felt that training chest and shoulders put enough strain on the triceps as it was and over-training the triceps might take away from his biceps. He trained triceps later on in life though. 

If I had to pick out the best pectoral muscles/chest of all professional wrestlers, Kerry Von Erich aka The Texas Tornado aka The Modern Day Warrior would be one of them. 

Romeo Paul Roma is perhaps the most underrated superstar on this list. All around chiseled with no noticeable flaws, it's strange how he's not even considered for most list. 

Sid would most certainly give Paul Orndorff a run for his money as the #1 pick. 

I always thought it was strange that Ted Dibiase's manager looked 100 times better than he did. 

Even before he became the genetic freak, Scott Steiner had an extremely impressive body. While his biceps didn't peak the way that the Warrior's did, they were just as big, if not bigger. 

Another wrestler with an all around phenomenal physique, what stood out most on the mighty Hercules were his massive shoulders. 

Who had the better physique? Ron Simmons aka Faarooq? Or his tag team partner Butch Reed? 

And here is Butch Reed. 

The former standout football star for the South Caroline Gamecocks was already a defined piece of granite when he got into professional wrestling. Some steroids for bulk and some cutter, and you have yourself one of the best bodies professional wrestling has ever seen. 

It was heartbreaking for some fans when Ken Shamrock finally tested positive for steroids, as for years he was often labeled by many, "The best non-steroid physique" in pro wrestling. 

What's most impressive about Steve Blackman is that in the late 1980's he was a rookie professional wrestler on his way to stardom.Overseas he got a terrible infection that nearly ended his life and spent the next nearly 10 years recovering. He lost all of his size and strength, and had to start again from scratch to come back in the late 90's as The Lethal Weapon. 

Not many who are as big as Brock Lesnar are as defined as Brock Lesnar. Like Kerry Von Erich, his chest is extremely impressive. Best traps of anyone I've ever seen. 

The three time NAIA wrestling champion for Missouri Valley has a body that would rival anyone's. Another contender for the #1 spot. 

John Cena, another contender for the #1 spot. 

And yet Shelton Benjamin, another contender for the #1 spot. 

If anyone could give Brock Lesnar a run for his money on the most impressive traps, it is Dave Batista. 

I still think Tony Atlas wins "best back" but David Otunga is a close second. 

Marcus Alexander "Buff" Bagwell has said on more than one occasion that he never took steroids. Said he got his billion dollar body from intensive training in the gym, a strict diet and getting plenty of sleep. Either way, he has a look most would die for. 

No one had better abdominal muscles than Rick Rude. No one. 

Ivan Putski proves the importance of diet and cardio while you're lifting weights. The picture on the far right shows what he looked like when he was all about lifting.


So there are the best physiques in professional wrestling of all time in my opinion.  What do you think?

"Ah!!!!! Wa! Wa!"
*Cries like a little baby**
"You left Triple H off the list!!!  Ah!!!!!"


Yep

I also left off Jim Powers and a multitude of other professional wrestlers with outstanding physiques who are more than worthy of being on a "Best Physiques in Professional Wrestling of All Time" list. I got to thirty and decided that I already had way too many, so it was time to stop.

The Time Honored Tradition: How to and How Not to Do it.

In professional wrestling there is a terminology known simply as the "time honored tradition" where a wrestler who is leaving a particular company will do a job for another wrestler whom the company is currently wanting to push. The idea is that the wrestler leaving the company goes out of his way to make the wrestler whom the company is developing into a star, look like a million bucks. In return the wrestler who is staying, while gaining victory over the leaving wrestler, makes sure that his opponent still looks strong on his way out the door.

Although this tradition has been in the professional wrestling business for a very long time, the term didn't become a mainstream word among the professional wrestling fans themselves until the Montreal Screw-job at the 1997 Survivor Series. Bret Hart did not want to job to Shawn Michaels, on his way out of the WWE to the WCW. To be fair to Bret, is was not a matter of him simply not wanting to job on his way out the door. He's stated in many interviews that he would have gladly dropped a match to the Undertaker and that he had made it clear that he wanted to put Steve Austin over as he was leaving. Fact of the matter is, in all sense of reality, had it been anyone besides Shawn Michaels, Bret would have gladly dropped the belt in his last WWE match.

It's rather laughable to listen to Shawn complain about Bret and state that Bret should have simply done what he was told to do and done the right thing. Shawn himself for most of his career has been a big baby about doing jobs and hearing him complain about Bret, might be worthy of a Guinness World record for hypocrisy. Shawn has been on both ends of the spectrum. He's been the guy whom the company wanted to put over and he's been the guy who was putting someone else over. Neither time would qualify as doing it the "right way."







When Diesel signed with the WCW and put in his notice with the WWE, the powerful "Kliq" as it was known had so much political pull, that they didn't ask Vince McMahon if they could do something, they told him what they were going to do. Diesel was going to put his good friend Shawn Michaels over, and that was final. That decision in itself was fine as the WWE at the time was making Shawn Michaels the face of the company. Putting over a monster heel who had held the WWE title was huge for Shawn's image. However, the stint at the end of the match, where Shawn and Diesel (along with Razor Ramon and Triple H) broke kayfabe to hug, was a spit in the face to all of the many professional wrestlers over the years who have worked hard to keep it real.

Shawn was always happy to do anything that made him the star and to be fair, there was a time in his life where he was always happy to repay the favor. From 1994 to 1998, however, was not that time. If you go back through Shawn's career during that 4-5 year period, you'll notice something. Shawn didn't like to lose, and hardly did. After Shawn won his second intercontinental championship, he wasn't too keen on losing the title. So they stripped him of it and Razor Ramon won it in a Battle Royal contest final against "The Model" Rick Martel. A few years later, Shawn was more than happy to win the I.C. title again against Jeff Jarrett, but when it came time to drop the title, he once again wasn't up to it. He was too injured to perform after being jumped at a night club in Syracuse, New York and he forfeited his title to Dean Douglas. To further illustrate Shawn's refusal to do jobs for others, when he and Diesel defeated The Headshrinkers for the WWE tag team titles, a refusal to drop the belts to any other tag team eventually lead to a tag team tournament where Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Kid defeated Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow to be crowned the new champions.

After defeating Bret Hart at the 1997 Survivor Series, Shawn was more than happy to publicly criticize Bret, as he carried around the WWE heavyweight championship, with victory after victory over a multitude of WWE talent. Yet, when it came time for him to drop the title to the hottest rising star in the WWE at the time, Shawn was reluctant to do so. Rumor confirmed, Shawn didn't want to go out and drop the title to Stone Cold Steve Austin. It took the persuasion of a promised real life ass-kicking from the Undertaker in order for Shawn to go out and drop the title to Austin. To credit the Heartbreak Kid however, he did sell his ass off for Austin and made Stone Cold look as good as he possibly could have.





Another similar incident to Shawn Vs Stone Cold happened six years earlier at Wrestlemania VIII when Jake Roberts did a job for the Undertaker. Now Jake had nothing against the Undertaker. He was more than happy to go out and take a three count for his friend, but he was not leaving on good terms with the WWE. Unhappy with how he was being used and how the WWE had lied to him, he held the company up for more money. Either they were going to pay him what he was asking for, or he wasn't going to take the tombstone and lose to Taker. WWE agreed to Roberts' demands and Jake gladly took a tombstone as he walked out of the WWE with a good chunk of change into the WCW.

It's unfortunate that Hercules had to take his frustration with the WWE out on Sid as he left the company in early 1992. Hercules was unhappy with how the WWE was using him at the time, and was hoping for a push after tag team partner Paul Roma left for WCW. WWE had other plans for Hercules, and he was not happy with them. Upon giving his notice, he was asked to go out and do a squash match for newcomer Sid Justice. Pissed the the WWE wanted to bury him in such a way, Hercules went out into the match and barely sold a thing that Sid did to him. A few minutes later, Sid hit the vicious powerbomb and pinned Hercules. The second after the referee's hand hit a third time, Hercules got up like nothing had happened and walked casually back to the locker room. The slap in the face to the WWE was most understandable but it was a shame that Hercules didn't have more respect for Sid. It's one thing to want to stick it to the WWE for being unfair to you, but Sid wasn't a part of that, and it was wrong for Hercules to make Sid look stupid in the process.





Then the wrestling world has a guy like Vader. A guy who is always more than happy to do anything that makes him look like an unconquerable God, but always seems to pout when told it's time to do the favor for someone else. When Vader first arrived in the WWE, he was coming off a career in WCW that had him hold the heavyweight championship on three occasions. He was a deity in the WCW, and the idea was that he would do the same in the WWE. At first it looked as if he were going to. In one of his first high profile matches, he dominated four time Intercontinental champion Razor Ramon. Even though he won convincingly he still took a fair number of bumps to make Ramon look good in his last PPV match.

Years later Vader realized that he was never going to be the mass superstar in WWE that he had been in WCW. Shawn Michaels who more or less ran the show behind the curtains, didn't care for him and there wasn't much left in WWE for him to do. A title reign was most likely out of the question and higher mid-card status was as good as it was going to get for the behemoth mastodon.  Vader put in his notice and was asked to do a job for up and comer Edge.

Now it's understandable that Vader felt insulted by the WWE. Here he was a three time heavyweight champion for a company who was at the time, just as big and just as important as the WWE, and they were wanting him to go out and job to a rookie who had yet to establish himself. It would have made anyone angry. However, if he had that much of a problem with it, then he shouldn't have agreed to do it. Edge was simply a new comer, wanting to go out and do a good job. For Vader to go out and purposely try and hurt Edge, both physically and his image, was uncalled for and selfish. He no sold a majority of Edge's moves and he made Edge's finisher look weak and harmless. Vader was pissed at the disappointing career he had in the WWE, and he took it out on an innocent Edge. Luckily for Edge, the WWE realized that all shortcomings in the pathetic match against Vader, were Vader's fault and Edge went on to have a successful and storied career.




There are a lot of things Ric Flair has done during his illustrious professional wrestling career that many would deem to be shady and selfish. The Nature Boy has been devious and mischievous more than once in the past dang near 50 years. However, he's done a lot of honorable, respectable and admirable things in his career as well, and one of them is the way that he's never been too good to put someone over. After a successful, but short stint in the WWE that had Flair hold the WWE title on two occasions, he saw that it was time to return home and back to WCW. Rather than think he was above WWE and too good to job to anyone, Flair was more than happy to put over up and rising stars on his way out the door. He started by submitting to Bret Hart's sharpshooter in dropping the WWE title to the Hitman at a house show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Many felt at the time that losing by submission might bury Flair and felt that he should instead lose with a small package or type situation. Flair, knew he was too strong to be buried and gladly let Hart put the sharpshooter on him.  Then not long after, Flair lost cleanly in the middle of the ring, as he was pinned in Mr. Perfect's Perfect plex. Many at the time felt that Flair was burying himself by losing to Perfect in such a manner. Flair knew better. He knew that there was no shame in losing to someone of Perfect's caliber and talent. He went back to WCW and it was only a short amount of time before he became a top star there again, like he had been year's prior.





So are there superstars in professional wrestling who truly honored the "time honored tradition" from both ends of the spectrum. Workers who appreciated the job that another worker was doing for them, and showed that appreciation by making that particular opponent continue to look good despite the loss? Workers who later on found themselves in a position to do a job for someone on the way out the door, who were more than happy to help build someone's career as they were leaving?

The answer to that question is yes, and perhaps there is no better example than Bam Bam Bigelow.  When Bam Bam returned to the WWE, one of the first things he was assigned to do was to defeat the Big Bossman at the 1993 Royal Rumble. Having a ton of respect for Bossman and appreciating the job Bossman was doing for him, Bigelow went out of his way to sell enough during the match to keep Bossman looking strong. A short time later, he was asked to do the same thing for Jim Duggan and both Duggan and Bigelow sold tremendously for one another in Duggan's final match and final loss in the WWE at that time.

A couple of years later, Bigelow found himself wanting to test the waters in ECW and he put in his notice. Remembering what Bossman and Duggan had done for him during his career, he was more than happy to pay it forward to put Goldust over at the 1995 Survivor Series in the PPV's most entertaining match. Bigelow understood what the time honored tradition was all about and set an impeccable example for both those doing the job and those who the job is being done for.

Counting My Friends and I keep losing count.

At a wrestling camp my senior year of high school, Tom Brands, who was an assistant coach at the University of Iowa at the time, said something to a group of wrestlers, one of which was me, that has stuck with me ever since.

He held up his left hand and with his right index finger he touched the tip of all four of his fingers and his thumb. He then said, "In this life, you will find that you have more fingers on one hand than you do true friends."

At the time I thought what he said was a bit asinine as well as pessimistic. I certainly had at least five friends in life. Hell, I had a lot more.

Here I am nearly 13 years later and I've discovered that Coach Brands wasn't nearly as senile as I originally thought. Turns out that he knew a little more about the situation than I initially thought.

I do have more fingers on one hand than I do people in this life who I know for a fact are real, true friends. I would like to know when it came down to the wire that I had more true friends than that, but I don't feel as confident about it  as I once did. There are about 3 to 5 people in this life that I feel very confident putting on that list. The rest, I have my questions. I even have my doubts.

I've found as I've gotten older, that I don't like people as much as I once did. I still like people, don't get me wrong. I simply don't trust them like I used to. I've discovered how bigoted, narcissistic, and mean spirited people are. It's discerning and discouraging. I used to enjoy going out and meeting new people, making new friends and discovering people. I suppose I still do, but now I'm much more reserved and I make people approach me, before I dare think about trying to make a new friend.

From age 18-21 I went through some life altering moments that completely changed how I saw life and who I am. In June of 2007 I made the internal discovery that I was no longer a Christian. I lost a lot of "friends" during that time. For the most part it didn't bother me, but there were a few people who left my life, never to return again, that did bother me.  For those that remained my friend, it strengthened our friendship, at least from my point of view. I have a ton of admiration and respect for someone who chooses to remain someone's friend, who may think differently than they do.

Because most people don't.....

Most people want everyone that they associate with to think like they do, believe like they do, act like they do and feel like they do.  And maybe there's something wrong with me. Maybe I'm the one with the problem and that is how it's supposed to be. Maybe I'm screwed up because I'm not playing the game by the rules, the way it is "meant" to be played.

But I can't do that, because I don't agree with it. I think it's wrong. I think it's sick. I think it's a reflection of a society that needs a serious attitude readjustment.

You know why I dislike people? You know why I choose to stop being friends with someone? Because of something unforgivable that they do to me. For something they do to me personally. If you haven't hurt me on a personal level, then you have to do one of the following. You have to treat someone I care about very poorly or you have to be a miserable, mean individual in general. If you're abusive towards children or animals, I'm not going to like you either.

I won't like you for legitimate, justifiable reasons.

I'm not going to hate you just because you vote differently than me.  I'm not going to hate you, because you spend your Sunday mornings differently than I spend mine.

A lot of people will though.

And yes, it bothers me.

There are people I've known for 20 years. Some 25.  I'm only 31, so I can't know someone for much longer than that. These are people I would go as far to say that I love. These are people that if they were drowning in rough waters, I'd jump in and try and save them. If they were trapped in a burning building, I'd run in and try and save them. If they were going to get jumped in an unfair fight, I'd jump in and even up the odds.

And to know that they would let me drown, let me burn, let me get the tar kicked out of me, all because they've voting for Trump and I"m not or because they're voting for Hillary and I"m not....makes me sick.

To know that they'd turn their back on me, 25 years of friendship, 25 years of happy, fond memories of having each other's backs and sharing some good...great times...they'd forget about all of that, all because they're a Christian and I'm not. That is very depressing. It makes me want to lock myself up in my room, and forget that the outside world even exist.

And it works both ways. Don't think for a second I'm disillusioned about that, because I'm not.

I know good and well if something monumental were to happen in my life, and I were to become a Christian, that there are a far number of "friends" I've made over the years, that would leave my life. People who like me and like me only because I'm an agnostic.

If for some reason, I were to suddenly become a conservative and start leaning more towards Republican ideas, I'd lose a lot "friends".  A lot of people can't handle associating with people who don't think, act, believe and feel exactly like they do.

Matter of fact, it has happened to me already. I'm not nearly as liberal as many people believe me to be.  It's simply a matter that civil issues and liberty mean everything to me. I value liberty above anything else, and I am a ball of burning fire whenever someone tries to rob anyone unjustly of their liberty. As a result, that gives me the appearance of being very liberal.

Yet, don't kid yourself. I've lost just as many Hillary Clinton supporter friends this past election time as I have Republican supporter friends.

People often ask me why am I friends with people who are Republican and Christian. It's very simple. As odd as it may sound, if you take the time to think about it, it makes perfect since. They're ones, I know for sure are real. They don't associate with me, just because I'm a Bernie Sanders fan.  They don't associate with me, just because I'm not a Christian.


I think I'm most likely to remain an agnostic the rest of my life. I imagine that politicians like Bernie Sanders will always appeal to me and that politicians like Paul Ryan and Ben Carson will always scare the Hell out of me. I suppose a Ron or Rand Paul could come along again and you could see me supporting someone on the other side like that.

Frankly it scares me, it terrifies me to sit and wonder about it. Is there anyone that I'm really close with right now. Anyone that I value highly and consider to be a great friend that would leave me in the dust?

Unfortunately I think the answer to the question is yes. It happened to me before. There are people 5-10-15 years ago I thought I'd be friends with....GOOD friends with....till the day I died.

We never got into a fight. I never did anything nasty and unforgivable to them. They never did anything nasty and unforgivable to me. It was simply that they were going to vote for Romney and found out that I was voting for Obama. It's simply that they found out that I no longer identify as a Christian and now identify as a Possiblist/Agnostic.

I often use the word wish for things that I understand won't change. For things I know that there is little to nothing I can do anything about. For things I know will never be.

I wish I could sing. I wish I was a high school state champion wrestler. And I wish that people in this life weren't that way.