All Elite Wrestling (AEW) arrives on Wednesday night to a lot of buzz, following four PPV specials throughout the bulk of 2018. And now AEW on TNT debuts on Wednesday night with AEW Dynamite. With a stacked roster of wrestling veterans from WWE and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) plus emerging stars from international indies and other promotions like Ring of Honor, IMPACT Wrestling and Lucha Underground, AEW is poised as the first major alternative to WWE since the fall of WCW in 2001.
#AEW World Champ @IAmJericho and @TonyKhan with potential future AEW World Tag Team Champions ?@ThatKevinSmith and @JayMewes #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/3t0Ws6gHWb
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 2, 2019
One of AEW’s biggest strengths out of the gates is its tag team division. Lead by Executive Vice Presidents Matt & Nick Jackson – known globally as the tag team sensations The Young Bucks – AEW has amassed a stunning tag team division in a short time. Here’s a quick look at the teams that will start competing for the AEW World Tag Team titles from the get go.
Angelico & Jack Evans
South African sensation Angelico and his US partner Jack Evans have been teaming together for years now. The duo are 3x AAA World Tag Team Champions out of Mexico, where Los Gueros del Ciel were one of the top high flying teams in the country. Jack Evans is also one of the last trainees in the Hart Dungeon of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he trained alongside Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Tyson Kidd, and Natalya.
Best Friends: Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta
Trent Beretta spent much of the past few years as part of NJPW’s roster, where he was part of the 4x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion tandem Roppongi Vice with Rocky Romero. But in the US, he’s been working since 2013 alongside his best friend, Chuck Taylor, in the duo known as Best Friends, starting in the West Coast’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), through runs in Ring of Honor and NJPW. Now the duo is heading to the big time in the US, as one of the top tag teams in AEW on TNT.
The Dark Order: Evil Uno & Stu Grayson
For over a decade, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson were one of Canada’s premier independent exports known as Super Smash Bros, competing in PWG and multiple US and Canadian indies. During their PWG run, they became fierce rivals with The Young Bucks, so it’s only natural that one of the Bucks’ greatest enemies headed to AEW on TNT to reinforce their philosophy of destruction. Now known as The Dark Order, they will stop at nothing until AEW tag team gold is in their possession.
Jurassic Express: Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt
The unlikeliest of allies sometimes make the strongest units. Luchasaurus is a former NXT prospect who headed back to the US indies, where he found success on Lucha Underground as the reptilian Vibora. After leaving LU, he became the dinosaur known as Luchasaurus, and in AEW he’s found two diminutive partners in the trio Jurassic Express. Jungle Boy is a West Coast indie prospect who exploded last year and his athleticism made him an early signing with AEW. Marko Stunt is child-sized in stature, but brings big match aerial abilities, as another US indies breakout star from 2018 heads to AEW on TNT.
Private Party: Marc Quen & Isaiah Kennedy
Private Party are young and hungry and for the past few years have been tearing up the US indies on the East Coast. Born out of the tough New York indie circuits, Private Party has blown minds with their innovative tag team combos, which they put on display in tag action at both AEW Fyter Fest and AEW All In. They may not strike tag team gold first, but these two are the future of AEW’s tag team division.
Proud N’ Powerful: Santana & Ortiz
For the past few years, Santana & Ortiz have risen the ranks from US indies to becoming the greatest tag team in IMPACT Wrestling history as LAX. The 4x IMPACT World Tag Team Champions faced some of the best in the world, and as a result, become one of the best tag teams in the world themselves in the process. They made their AEW debut by attacking the Young Bucks and Lucha Brothers at All Out and have just been revealed as partnering with AEW World Champion Chris Jericho for the opening night of AEW on TNT, where the trio will face The Elite’s Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks.
The Lucha Brothers: Pentagon Jr. & Fenix
Another of the top tag teams in the world right now, the Lucha Brothers’ Pentagon Jr. and Fenix were top singles competitors for years. Both men found national fame and success with Lucha Underground after heading to the US from Mexico – both men captured the Lucha Underground Championship – before being paired together as the Lucha Brothers. The two headed to IMPACT Wrestling, where their tag team feud with LAX dominated the country (and world) for nearly six months. At some point, these two will break off and chase singles glory once again, but for now, they have their eyes set on becoming the first AEW World Tag Team Champions.
SoCal Uncensored (SCU): Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky
Yet another world-class combination, the trio of SCU are dangerous no matter which combination of the three they send to the ring. Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian had years of singles success under their belts before they joined together in 2012 as Bad Influence. Daniels is a former ROH World Champion and 3x IMPACT X-Division Champion, while Kazarian is a former 4x X-Division Champion. Teaming together – first as Bad Influence in IMPACT, then The Addiction in ROH – the duo are 2x IMPACT World Tag Team Champions and 2x ROH World Tag Team Champions. In 2017, they added West Coast indie veteran Scorpio Sky to the mix, and they added another set of ROH World Tag Team titles (Kazarian & Sky) and the ROH 6-Man Tag Team titles. They departed ROH to head to AEW on TNT, where now the trio will look to add even more gold to their cabinets.
The Young Bucks: Matt & Nick Jackson
It’s hard to argue that the Young Bucks may be the best tag team of the past decade. In Japan alone, they’re former IWGP Tag Team Champions as well as record-setting 7x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. In the US, they’re 3x ROH World Tag Team Champions and 4x PWG World Tag Team Champions, plus recently holding the AAA World Tag Team titles out of Mexico. Innovative and high flying, these two brothers have unmatched chemistry and its only a matter of time before they hold AEW gold as well.
Check out all our AEW primers!
AEW on TNT: The Men’s Division
AEW on TNT: The Women’s Division
AEW on TNT: The Tag Team Division
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite every Wednesday night at 8:00 pm Eastern, 6:00 pm Pacific starting October 2nd, live on TNT.
