One of the things that has saddened me over the past few years has been the demise of tag team wrestling. When I first took an interest in the American wrestling scene there must have been twenty or so teams plying their trade in the then-big three of the WWF, the NWA and the AWA, vying to win the three major titles when those belts actually meant something.
These days that tag team division is more or less ignored, and it seems the only teams we’ve had in recent years have been made up of mid-carders whose careers weren’t going anywhere: James Storm and Robert Roode, John Morrison and The Miz, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, Santino Marella and Zack Ryder, Santino Marella and…you get the point.
Now those of us who are old enough to remember the time when duos were a major part of any company’s roster can hark back to the good old days with the held of a new book, The Lost Art of Tag Team Wrestling by Todd Roberg.
Like me Todd can be considered an old school kind of wrestling fan. Having discovered the WWF through the Hulk Hogan Rock ‘N’ Wrestling cartoon show, and having accidentally discovered the NWA shortly afterwards, young Todd developed a love for the grappling game, and for tag team wrestling in particular.
With the help of such luminaries as Jerry Jarrett, J.J. Dillon, Bryan Alvarez and many others Todd takes us back in time to look at the origins of tag team wrestling, looking at how the matches were conceived and how they were structured so they could draw certain emotions from the fans at certain times.
He also compares the tag matches of yesteryear with their modern day equivalents, focusing on how much they’ve changed over the years.
Inevitably, as a child of the 80’s, a large portion of the book focuses on the great teams of that time. There’s quite a few pages given over to profiles of the likes of the Rockers, the various incarnations that came from the Four Horsemen, the Road Warriors, the Freebirds, the Hart Foundation and the British Bulldogs among others.
But perhaps the best part of this book is the section where Todd looks at the tag team wrestling of today, and as a wrestling fan for most of my 41 years on this planet I can certainly see where he’s coming from.
In conclusion – this is a very good read. If you’re a wrestling fan of a certain age you’ll definitely be interested in this. It’s well written and well researched, and Todd comes across as someone who is very passionate about wrestling, and as someone who really knows his stuff.
So if you’re looking for a stocking filler or you want to buy this for yourself you can do so in the knowledge that The Lost Art of Tag Team Wrestling gets the big thumbs up from me.
With thanks to the author for supplying a copy of this release. The Lost Art of Tag Team Wrestling by Todd Roberg can be purchased online at sportofwrestling.blogspot.com.
Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years now!
