All Elite Musings - #6 Booking the Tag Team Tournament

All Elite Musings

Booking the Tag Team Tournament

   The first episode of AEW Dynamite was very story driven and perhaps not the sports-centric product that was promised. Hopefully, this was due to them establishing characters and storylines to move forward with. A tournament is the perfect antidote to this. The most sports-like aspect of most companies is often tournaments,  from King of the Ring to the G1, these competitions add story based around competitiveness around each match that mirrors real sports competitions.

   AEW needs to have this built into their product. If they are a wrestling league then the majority of matches need to be in this ilk which the first episode of Dynamite did not showcase. The Tag Team Championship tournament must be the first steps of establishing this.

First Round

Young Bucks vs Private Party
  Another Bucks/Lucha Bros match could be tricky. They have faced each other a lot in the run-up to AEW on TNT and the matches have been excellent. Would the fans tire of these matches? I believe having it in the final would run into that problem therefore having them in the same half of the bracket avoids this issue if they are going to cross paths again. That brings us to the match in the first round versus Private Party.

   Private Party have looked great so far, a really compelling and exciting tag team who feel like the next big team to follow in the footsteps of the Hardy Boys and the Young Bucks. If this was the WWE, Private Party would have a real possibility of winning here. However, AEW are aiming to be a more sports-based brand therefore the Young Bucks should win but would put over Private Party in the process.

   That would all be well and good. On the other hand sports have upsets, the best teams don't, generally, win every single match. Tournaments should include upsets occasionally and in this tournament Private Party are the best placed team to do this with. Private Party shock the Young Bucks.

Lucha Bros vs Jurassic Express
   The Lucha Bros are two of AEW's most premier teams, along with the Young Bucks. Neither should win the competition especially not the Young Bucks. The Lucha Bros winning it could make sense however handing the first ever AEW Tag Team reign to another big team would really establish them.

   The Lucha Bros should go far in the competition to use their star power to elevate another team as the Young Bucks-Lucha Bros feud, excellent as it has been, is risking becoming stale. It is for this reason that the Lucha Bros will defeat the Jurassic Express.

   The Jurassic Express could be an option as a shock win however there's probably more sense in elevating Private Party first and the Young Bucks can bounce back from a first round loss easier than the Lucha Bros.

Best Friends vs SCU
   A match that has already taken place but one that will still be an outstanding contest.

   Best Friends are an outstanding duo. They can be serious and excellently proficient competitors or goofy entertaining performers. Their gimmick is simple and very over and their relationship with Orange Cassidy is a potential goldmine. However, they don't need this victory nor are they particularly strongly positioned to pick it up.

   SCU, Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, are veterans of professional wrestling and as they enter the last phase of their careers, they have the opportunity to become synonymous with AEW as it establishes itself as a promotion. These men have wrestled excellent matches in the road to AEW Dynamite and their connection with the crow is a precious commodity.

   SCU should win out over the Best Friends and go far in the tournament.