Matches That Time Forgot #31

It's that time once again. It's time for me to use this column as an outlet to vent on the current state of WWE's tag team division. I consider 1990 and 2000 to be the best years for said division, and today, we're traveling back to 2000. The Attitude Era was successful for a variety of reasons. It goes without saying that Rock, Austin, DX and the McMahon family had a hand in igniting a stale industry (as did the goofballs over at WCW), but in my opinion, the principal catalyst responsible for the wrestling boom of the late 90's is almost always overlooked. The entire card was relevant. The light heavyweight division? Stacked. The tag team scene? Stacked. The Diva's? Er, should I say stacked? Sable was godawful, but at least the crowd cared about her.

My point is that each and every talent was given something to do. The tag division was so festive, that the homely "c-teams" were utilized on a semi-regular basis. Here we have Kaientai versus Lo Down. It's the battle of the racist, yet highly entertaining gimmicks! This version of Kaientai was comprised of Funaki and Taka Michinoku. Their promos were dubbed. Indeed. This version of Lo Down (yes, there was more than one version) saw D'Lo Brown and former Headbanger Chaz being led to the ring by Tiger Ali Singh. They worked a Sikh schtick. Sikhism is a religion that was founded in the Punjab region of South Asia. Anyway, Lo Down donned gaudy turbans and pegged away in the salt mines (a.k.a. Sunday Night Heat) for several months before splitting up.

This contest determined the last entrant in the Royal Rumble. See, even undercard tag team bouts served a purpose. Nevermind the fact that the outcome of this match was later rendered null and void (the last spot in the Rumble was proffered to Drew Carey...gag me with a wooden spoon).