SCU were once the cornerstone trio in ROH and AEW. Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky won over the smarks with their Worst Town Bits over on BTE. The three would go on to win the ROH and AEW World Tag Team Titles, proving themselves as a definitive team from the independents. As AEW continues to develop its tag team division. SoCal Uncensored has faded into the background ever since losing the straps. Sky has gone onto singles competition while Kaz and Daniels are rebounding from multiple losses. After playing jobber to the stars an ultimatum was made. If Daniels and Kazarian lose one more match as a team, they will disband.
Chris Daniels and Frank Kazarian have a long history as a tag team. They started in TNA as Bad Influence, feuding with AJ Styles in the hilariously bad Claire Lynch angle. Following their release, they would go to ROH as The Addiction. Soon enough, Sky joined the group and the three would become instrumental allies to The Elite. Sky and Kaz were the inaugural AEW World Tag Team Champions. Daniels is a living legend able to part wisdom to the young blood. Sky has the potential for a great singles run. Kazarian has an entertaining anger management bit on BTE. The three are starting to do well individually, which is why it’s necessary for SCU to finally disband.
SC-Boo
SCU started off in AEW as one of the top teams in AEW’s fledgling year. They went on to win notable matches against Strong Hearts, Jurassic Express, and Best Friends. They feuded against The Inner Circle with Sky gaining a pinfall victory over Chris Jericho. Finally, they defeated The Lucha Bros and The Young Bucks to end AEW’s first year on top. Sky and Kaz would lose the titles to Hangman Adam Page and Kenny Omega on the Jericho Cruise before the pandemic hit.
Oddly enough, around their title victory, SCU would stop doing the worst town bits on BTE. It’s understandable that the trio would want to move in a more serious direction. The problem is, those bits were the reason SCU got over in the first place. Without them, they felt like just another tag team and fans began to care less about them. It wasn’t until Kaz’s anger management issues on BTE that fans were starting to invest in the trio again. However, Daniels and Kaz were relegated to Dark as AEW began to promote other teams such as FTR and The Butcher & The Blade.
It has gotten to the point that SCU feel like understudies compared to the main stars. Everything SCU does is performed better by other teams. The Young Bucks overshadow them in the ring, Santana & Ortiz outshine them on the mic, Best Friends outclass them in popularity, and The Lucha Bros surpass them in all three. Hell, even Chaos Project are more interesting than the pride of the west. At least Luther and Serpentico have a hilarious using my partner as a weapon shtick. Time isn’t on their side either, especially when they have to contend with younger and more exciting teams such as Private Party and Top Flight.
California Love
The biggest mistake AEW made with SCU was, ironically enough, crowing them as the first World Tag Team Champions. On paper, it sounded like a great idea. Daniels would get attacked by Penta and Fenix causing Sky to come in, win the tournament with Kaz, and become the champs. In execution though, it backfired like a sunburn. Pentagon and Fenix wowed in the tourney pulling out all the stops. Meanwhile, SCU’s matches against Best Friends and Dark Order were lackluster, to say the least. Considering The Lucha Bros are only now being taken full advantage of for the most part. It led to some fan resentment against the Southern Californians. Some people still don’t like SCU for this very reason.
So what happens if Daniels, Kaz, and Sky disband? Simple, they either move on to new tag teams or singles competition. Personally, I love when a tag team disbands and they find new tag partners. Look at Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox from NXT; they broke up in a bitter blood feud before forging new alliances. One team breaking up can lead to two all-new exciting tandems to add depth and new character opportunities. AEW already has plenty of teams for their division as is. On the other hand, tell me a team of Kaz and Brandon Cutler wouldn’t be comedic gold. Matt Sydal is doing nothing as a singles wrestler. Why not have him and Daniels team up again?
Though Kaz and Daniels hit their peaks, Scorpio is ready for singles glory. He’s a great wrestler and his theme song kicks ass. With more character moments on Dynamite, Scorpio can reach new heights. Daniels and Kaz can either find new tag team partners or experiment with singles action over on Dark. SCU have nothing left to achieve together. They already won the tag titles and left a legacy behind in ROH and PWG. Unless AEW sanctions a trios title, Daniels and Kaz will sit in the background unless they can move on to something new. It’s unfortunate yet necessary to say, the heat has died down for Southern California’s de facto trio.
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