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Couture's Championship Profiles: WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Rey Mysterio Jr.
Yes, it's true, no need to rub your eyes in amazement until they're raw and bloody, the artist formerly known as The Fake Jim Cornette on the World Wrestling Insanity Forums has gone mainstream, or as mainstream as a wrestling website can get. In all the seriousness I can muster, though, I do have to thank James for this opportunity, and I hope y'all enjoy. I decided to profile a couple of guys who are currently major stars in order to draw in some readers who might be put off by an article about Pete Gas. The year was 2002 and uncertainty rocked SmackDown to its core. Lance Storm and Christian had won the tag team titles from Hulk Hogan and Edge (mind blowingly ironic since it was Edge who had ended the Intercontinental Title reigns of Storm, Christian, AND their cohort Test the previous year). Upon winning said gold, they almost immediately bolted to Raw, taking the straps with them. What were the tag teams on SmackDown to do? Were teams like Billy and Chuck and, uh, Val Venis and Hardcore Holly, maybe, forced to drift aimlessly, or, more accurately, aimlesslier? Heavens no! After a few action packed months in which the only belts on SmackDown were the shared Undisputed Title and the Cruiserweight Title, SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon gave in to unrelenting demand and created a new WWE Tag Team championship, to replace the old WWE Tag Team championship, which had been renamed the World Tag Team championship, to either avoid or create confusion. To make sure this title got off on the right foot, WWE gathered the finest tag teams from around the world, from Billy Kidman and John Cena (with a falling out leading to their unforgettable feud) to Mark Henry and Rikishi and six teams in between.
"Yes, we wanted to make sure we had a strong tag team division on SmackDown to support the title, and not have some hackneyed tournament that was just thrown together, and I can honestly say at least one of the things I said happened." Somewhere in between were Edge and Rey Mexterio, who both had a bevy of tag team experience. Edge had held the WWE/World Tag Team championship 8 times, the aforementioned Edge-Hogan reign and seven times with his brother, Christian, upending Hall of Fame tandems like Too Cool and Bull Buchanan & The Goodfather. Rey had held the WCW Tag Team title with Billy Kidman and Juvi-Juice Newton-Guerrera, as well as the fabled WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team title (yes, it actually existed) with Kidman. Edge had been a WWE mainstay for years, managing to escape the daunting shadow of Gangrel to become a singles star. Rey had come to the 'Ent earlier in the year and impressed fans with his Mexicanranas and Chalupa con hilos, as well as his signature 619 move, named for, according to his theme music, his "pueblo". For reasons yet to be determined, Edge and Rey decided to team up and go for the gold. Their first round match-up wasn't an easy one, though, as they had to face WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Japanese Skillsaw Tajiri. Luckily, this was, if you can believe it, the first time Lesnar and Tajiri had ever tagged, or, presumably, met, so Edge and Rey were able to pull it out.
"Yeah, me and Tajiri never got off the ground in the U.S. We're still big in Japan, though." In the second round, Edge and Mysterious pulled off the upset of a lifetime, upending two halves of legitimately good tag teams, Reverend D-Von and Ron "Faarooq" Simmons (that's RFS to you).
"Damn"
In the finals, Edge and My Stereo faced off against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Would the plucky underdog fan favorites be able to upset quite possibly the best thrown together tag team ever?
"Yeah, I didn't think that was appropriate"
The reign was significant for Edge, too, as he proved he didn't need to ride the coattails of living legends like Hulk Hogan and Gangrel to be taken seriously.
Got an opinion on Couture's column? Stop by the World Wrestling Insanity Forums to discuss it.
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