Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Who Are The Favorites?

Source: WWE.com

Beginning Wednesday on WWE NXT, sixteen teams will compete in the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Which teams are favored to win?

In 2015, NXT introduced the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The American Dream had a long history with NXT, as a trainer and coach, as well as on-screen authority figure. After his untimely passing, the tag team tournament was created as a way to honor Dusty’s legacy.

Last week on NXT, General Manager William Regal announced the tournament would be returning. Once again, sixteen teams will compete for the chance to be presented the trophy signifying a victory.

The first edition of the Classic featured many interesting developments. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa debuted during the 2015 tournament. Since then, they have established themselves as one of the top teams in NXT.

The tournament last year also indirectly helped shape nearly a year of NXT television and programming. The eventual winners of the tournament were Samoa Joe and then-NXT Champion Finn Balor. The duo teamed up for the first time in the tournament, and their combined talent led them to a victory over Baron Corbin and Rhyno in the finals.

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Of course, Joe wanted to be repaid for his partnership with a chance at the NXT Championship, and blah blah blah Joe was the first man to beat the Demon Balor. Oh, that match happened six months after the finals of the Dusty Classic. Factor in rematches, and the Balor/Joe storyline lasted for eight months from the end of the tournament.

With another edition of the tournament upon us, let’s take a look at all 16 teams announced to take part. We’ll break them down based on chances at victory in the finals.

Please click through for all the teams in the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Source: WWE.com

Underdogs

The Bollywood Boyz

Gurv and Harv Sihra debuted with WWE as a part of the Cruiserweight Classic. Fan response was generally positive to the brothers, but sadly that response didn’t translate to results. Gurv was defeated by Noam Dar, while Harv fell to Drew Gulak.

Apparently the positive reaction from fans led WWE to giving the Bollywood Boyz another look. They’ve been brought back for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. As the current Global Force Wrestling Tag Team Champions, the Sihras are no strangers to tag team wrestling.

Sadly, it will most likely not be enough for the Bollywood Boyz. Their rapid exits from the Cruiserweight Classic will likely serve as foreshadowing for their stay in the Dusty Classic. Being fan favorites can often propel superstars to victory, but the Sihra bothers are fighting an uphill battle.

Source: WWE.com

Niko Bogojevic & Tucker Knight

Collectively known as “Heavy Machinery,” Bogojevic and Knight are among the larger teams in the tournament. Bogojevic has yet to debut on television, but he’s being touted as one of the most powerful superstars in NXT. He was recently featured on WWE’s Youtube channel performing 45 reps on a bench press of 225 pounds.

Knight is no stranger to NXT, having appeared several times on the weekly programming. Unfortunately, he’s always been on the wrong side of the decision, as he’s yet to pick up a victory. He’s had a few singles matches, but he’s gotten most of his experience in tag team action with a variety of partners.

Coming together for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Bogojevic and Knight have their work cut out for them. It’s unlikely they advance into the second round, but there’s sure to be an impressive display of strength from both men before their defeat.

Source: WWE.com

Tino Sabatelli & Riddick Moss

Sabatelli and Moss are both relative newcomers to NXT. While both have been making the house show circuit in Florida, they have a combined one match on NXT television on their resumes.

Sabatelli is best known to the WWE Universe from his time on Breaking Ground. His return to action from injury was one of the focuses during the show’s run. He has a ton of natural ability, but putting it all together is taking some time.

Moss is more of an unknown, but all indications are that he’s in the same category as Sabatelli. His most notable work is a scary moment at a house show where he was briefly knocked unconscious during a duplex spot in a six man tag match.

Based on their lack of experience so far, it would be surprising to see Sabatelli and Moss advance to the second round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Source: WWE.com

HoHo Lun & Bin Wang

One of the more surprising teams in the tournament is HoHo Lun and Bin Wang. Lun made his debut in the Cruiserweight Classic, and despite making it to the second round he was outclassed in each of his matches. Wang is a highly touted prospect who only recently made his in-ring debut.

The chances of these two making it out of the first round are slim to none. While anything can happen between the ropes, conventional wisdom would tell us that Lun and Wang are a one-shot deal.

The wisdom behind the decision is strange. Why rush Wang into a televised match? Is it part of the fine print of the recent business deals WWE made in China a few months back? It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the tournament and beyond.

Source: WWE.com

Middle of the Pack

No Way Jose & Rich Swann

This is quite possibly the most fun team in the entire tournament. No Way Jose is a non stop party machine, and Rich Swann likes to entertain the masses all night long.

The combination of Jose and Swann should prove rather formidable for their opponents. Underneath their fun loving exteriors, both superstars possess tremendous talent. It’s easy to look at them and discount their chances, but it would be foolish to do so.

It may not be the right time for Jose and Swann to be victorious in a tournament such as this, but they should have a good match or two before they are eliminated. The futures for both Jose and Swann are bright, and putting on a show in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is a step in the right direction.

Source: WWE.com

Bobby Roode & Tye Dillinger

The first team announced for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Dillinger and Roode make for strange bedfellows. Aside from their shared Canadian heritage, it seems there’s not a lot uniting this team.

Like the majority of you, dear readers, I’ve watched a lot of wrestling in my day. A lot of wrestling. While it’s possible for seemingly opposite superstars come together for a common goal, I’m not getting that vibe from Dillinger and Roode.

The idea of Glorious Perfection is great on paper, but without a bit more work together ahead of the tournament, it’s not likely they make it very far. And as a big fan of both these guys, it really pains me to admit as much.

Source: WWE.com

Andrade “Cien” Almas & Cedric Alexander

From the NXT review from September 21:

Yes, Cedric Alexander made his NXT debut and defeating Andrade Almas, and Almas did not seem happy. The handshake and show of respect seemed way too forced, and methinks something is going down.

The early announcement that Almas and Alexander would be teaming up pushes that over the edge into “Chekhov’s gun” territory. You know, that old writing device that says if there’s a gun on the wall in act one, it better get fired before the play is over? Well, Almas basically loaded a pistol when he hugged Cedric, in my opinion.

With WWE announcing that Almas and Alexander will meet The Revival in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic this week on NXT, we may see some fireworks before the night is over.

Source: WWE.com

Lince Dorado & Mustafa Ali

Hey, it’s Team CWC! Dorado and Ali made their WWE debuts in the Cruiserweight Classic. In fact, they squared off against each other in the first round of the tournament, with Dorado earning the victory.

But that match is ancient history, and the cruiserweights are looking to continue to make an impact. Dorado has already appeared on both Raw and NXT, and seems to have established himself as here for throng haul.

Ali, on the other hand, has not been around much since the CWC. He made a brief appearance on NXT, losing to fellow Dusty Classic competitor Hideo Itami.

Ali and Dorado are both high-flyers, which may be difficult to prepare for and defend. They have a decent chance to make it to round two or beyond.

Source: WWE.com

Not Quite, But Almost

Austin Aries & A Mystery Partner

Ever the man of mystery, Aries has thrown his hat into the ring for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but won’t disclose who his partner is.

From what we know about the team, it’s a strong duo. Aries is a former world champion, and he’s been on a roll of late in NXT. Despite his recent cowardice – and constant running away from Hideo Itami – The Greatest Man That Ever Lived has more than earned that nickname.

Of course, the identity of his partner has a huge bearing on how far the team can go in the classic. There’s no shortage of past, present, or even future NXT superstars for Aries to have chosen from. He could have picked a jalopy to prove how good he is, or he may have chosen a real hot rod to keep up with him.

Once Aries and his mystery partner hit the ring for their opening contest, we’ll find out just how far they’ll be able to go.

(If you really want to know who Aries may be teaming with, click here – possible spoilers ahead, obviously)

Source: WWE.com

Tony Nese & Drew Gulak

Wait a minute, I thought we already had a Team CWC earlier on the list…

Tony Nese just picked up a major victory on Raw this past Monday over Rich Swann. He’s a rare combination of speed and power, and he excels at both outpunishing opponents and flying around them. Drew Gulak is one of the top competitors from the independent circuit, and his time in the CWC, NXT, and Raw has only made him better.

Nese and Gulak actually have some experience teaming together. During one of the tapings for the Cruiserweight Classic, they squared off against Lince Dorado and Kenneth Johnson.

Gulak and Nese displayed an impressive amount of chemistry in the match, earning a hard fought victory. That experience will serve the two standouts well in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Source: WWE.com

SAnitY

With little to go on outside of videos hyping an arrival, SAnitY is a total unknown the NXT Universe. Since the first hype video aired during TakeOver: Brooklyn II, fans have been trying to figure out who was being promoted.

A slot in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic means that SAnitY is at least two people, so another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. And WWE is being very careful to always use the same capitalization, so three capital letters could mean three people.

Based solely on the amount of hype SAnitY has gotten ahead of a debut, there’s no way they’re going to be a one and done. They’ll make the second round of the tournament at very least. Depending on who exactly makes up the team, they could go even further.

(If you really want to know who SAnitY is, click here – again, possible spoilers ahead.)

Source: WWE.com

TM61

Shane Thorne and Nick Miller make up one of the most frustrating tag teams in NXT. TM61 should be among the elite tag teams in all of wrestling. But their time in NXT has been uneven at best.

For some reason, it seems that TM61 is using the “two steps forward, one step back” method of building momentum. Every time it looks like they’re ready to bust out and build momentum, they take another loss.

I’ve been on record in our weekly NXT reviews saying that TM61 needs to put together a string of victories. Thorne and Miller are crazy good and talented, and the last thing they need is to keep losing matches. The next step after that is usually losing the fans.

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is a good chance for the boys from Down Under to get things back on track.

WWE.com

Favorites

Hideo Itami & Kota Ibushi

As soon as this duo was announced as entering the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, they were crowned as the favorites of the whole thing.

While I don’t know about favorites to win the whole thing, Itami and Ibushi are primed to head deep into the tournament. Two of the absolute best talents to come to NXT, it’s exciting to witness them work together.

Itami has slowly been rebuilding both strength and momentum since returning from injury a few months back. Ibushi surprised no one with his run in the Cruiserweight Classic over the summer. In fact, the only thing that surprised some people was that Ibushi didn’t win the whole thing.

With these two on the same page, they will be difficult to stop as the tournament rolls on.

Source: WWE.com

Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa

Last year, Gargano and Ciampa made their NXT debut in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. This year, they have to be considered to be one of the favorites to win it all.

In the months since last year’s tournament, the former indie standouts have been one of the strongest tag teams in NXT. Recently rebranding themselves as “DIY,” Gargano and Ciampa are taking matters into their own hands.

After having possibly the match of the night at TakeOver: Brooklyn II, the NXT Tag Team Championships remain elusive for DIY. A victory in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic would go a long way towards getting another shot at the titles.

As long as Gargano and Ciampa can remain on the same page, they can go all the way to the finals of the tournament this year.

Source: WWE.com

The Revival (NXT Tag Team Champions)

At first glance, one would be tempted to say that Dash and Dawson would be the favorites in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. After all, they’re the NXT Tag Team Champions. Technically, they’ve already proven themselves as the best tag team in the company.

However, if history is any indicator, The Revival will have a short stay in the tournament. In the inaugural classic, then-champions The Vaudevillains lost in the second round – to the team that would later defeat them for the titles.

By the way, that team was Dash and Dawson, who made it to the semi finals before falling to eventual winners Finn Balor and Samoa Joe.

You know what they say about karma, right? It wouldn’t be surprising to me in the least if The Revival faced DIY in round two, and history repeated itself. If not, then Dash and Dawson could go all the way.

Source: WWE.com

The Authors of Pain

Based on everything we’ve seen thus far from Akam and Rezar, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is theirs to lose. Undefeated in NXT, the Authors of Pain are one of the most dominant forces around.

Since their surprise debut at TakeOver: The End when they assaulted American Alpha, these two monsters have run roughshod over every team they’ve encountered. Besides American Alpha, scores of local talent have fallen to Akam and Rezar. They also earned a decisive victory over TM61 over the summer.

The wild card for the Authors of Pain has nothing to do with their immense size, power, or talent. Instead, their Hall of Fame manager Paul Ellering may hold the key to greatness. Under his tutelage, there’s not much a tag team can’t accomplish. Will the Authors of Pain rise to the top?

Who do you think has the best chance of winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic this year?

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