Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is an annual professional wrestling tag team tournament held by the U.S.-based promotion WWE, and is featured on its NXT brand. Since the 2020 edition, wrestlers from the NXT UK brand are also featured.
The tournament is named in honor of WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Dusty Rhodes, who died in 2015. The tournament has been compared to and (at least partially) inspired by the Crockett Cup tournaments of the 1980s that were promoted by Jim Crockett Promotions (which would later become more widely known as World Championship Wrestling). Rhodes himself had been both the behind the scenes creator of and a featured performer in those tournaments.[1]
Tournament history
The 16-team single elimination tournament was established in August 2015 as a tribute to Rhodes - who had been serving as a senior producer and trainer in NXT - and was formally announced during NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, which took place shortly after he had died. That year's Classic featured tournament matches taking place all through September both on NXT's weekly TV show and at NXT house shows, and would culminate in October at NXT TakeOver: Respect, with the team of Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe winning, having defeated Baron Corbin and Rhyno in the final.[2]
The second Classic took place throughout the fall of 2016 - again with a 16-team field - which eventually culminating in November at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, where it was won by The Authors of Pain, having defeated TM-61.[3][4][5]
There was no tournament held in 2017 after taking an extra half year to switch to a spring schedule, returning in 2018. Now featuring an eight-team field, the 2018 Classic culminated at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans,[6] the night before WrestleMania 34. It was won by Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly of The Undisputed Era, who successfully defended their NXT Tag Team Championship in a Winner Takes All Triple Threat match against both tournament finalists, The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne.
The fourth Classic was held in February and March 2019. Aleister Black and Ricochet won the eight-team tournament, ultimately defeating The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler) in the final on March 13 during the WWE NXT tapings.
The fifth Classic was announced during the January 1, 2020 episode of NXT. again featuring an eight-team field, and for the first time including teams from sister brand NXT UK, with both brands having four teams each in the tournament.[7] All four first round matches featured direct NXT vs. NXT UK matchups, and the semifinals and finals also wound up featuring NXT teams vs. NXT UK teams. The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne) representing NXT won the tournament, defeating NXT UK's Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake) on the live January 29, 2020 episode of NXT in the finals.
Prize
The winners of the tournament receive a trophy that is modeled in part after Rhodes' signature "cowboy" style wrestling boots.[8]
In 2019, the winners also received an NXT Tag Team Championship match at NXT TakeOver: New York, and in 2020 the winners also received a tag team title match at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
Winners
| Event | Date | City | Venue | Winners | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NXT TakeOver: Respect | October 7, 2015 | Winter Park, Florida | Full Sail University | Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe | |
| NXT TakeOver: Toronto | November 19, 2016 | Toronto, Canada | Air Canada Centre | The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) |
Their manager Paul Ellering was suspended in a cage above the ring |
| NXT TakeOver: New Orleans | April 7, 2018 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Smoothie King Center | The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly) |
This match was also for the NXT Tag Team Championship, held by The Undisputed Era. The Undisputed Era were not official participants in the tournament, but were placed in the final after interfering in the official final between the previous winners, The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar), and the team of Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong causing a double disqualification. |
| NXT | March 13, 2019 | Winter Park, Florida | Full Sail University | Aleister Black and Ricochet | Earned a match against the War Raiders (Hanson and Rowe) for the NXT Tag Team Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York, where they were unsuccessful. |
| NXT | January 29, 2020 | Winter Park, Florida | Full Sail University | The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne) |
Earned a match against The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) for the NXT Tag Team Championship at NXT TakeOver: Portland, where they were successful. |
2015 tournament
| First Round NXT/Live events | Quarterfinals NXT/Live events | Semifinals NXT TakeOver: Respect | Final NXT TakeOver: Respect | ||||||||||||
| Enzo Amore and Big Cass | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton | [9] | ||||||||||||||
| Enzo Amore and Big Cass | 09:13 | ||||||||||||||
| Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) | [10] | ||||||||||||||
| Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| The Revival | 09:05 | ||||||||||||||
| Blake and Murphy | [11] | ||||||||||||||
| The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| The Vaudevillains | 12:25 | ||||||||||||||
| The Revival | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Elias Samson and Tucker Knight | [12] | ||||||||||||||
| The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe | 11:10 | ||||||||||||||
| Baron Corbin and Rhyno | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Alexander Wolfe and Noah Kekoa | [13] | ||||||||||||||
| The Hype Bros | 22:03 | ||||||||||||||
| American Alpha | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Neville and Solomon Crowe | [14] | ||||||||||||||
| American Alpha | 10:28 | ||||||||||||||
| Baron Corbin and Rhyno | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Baron Corbin and Rhyno | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) | [14] | ||||||||||||||
| Baron Corbin and Rhyno | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| DIY | [15] | ||||||||||||||
| Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey | [16] | ||||||||||||||
| DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
2016 tournament
| First Round NXT (October 5) | Quarterfinals NXT/Live event (November 2) | Semifinals Live event (November 7) | Final NXT TakeOver: Toronto (November 19) | ||||||||||||
| TM-61 (Nick Miller and Shane Thorne) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli | [17] | ||||||||||||||
| TM-61 | Pin2 | ||||||||||||||
| Austin Aries and Roderick Strong | [18][19] | ||||||||||||||
| Austin Aries and Roderick Strong | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight) | [20] | ||||||||||||||
| TM-61 | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| SAnitY | [21][22] | ||||||||||||||
| Kota Ibushi and T.J. Perkins1 | Sub | ||||||||||||||
| Lince Dorado and Mustafa Ali | [23] | ||||||||||||||
| Kota Ibushi and T.J. Perkins | [19] | ||||||||||||||
| SAnitY | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Bobby Roode and Tye Dillinger | [17] | ||||||||||||||
| SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| TM-61 | |||||||||||||||
| The Authors of Pain | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| The Bollywood Boyz (Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra) | [24] | ||||||||||||||
| The Authors of Pain | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| No Way Jose and Rich Swann | [18][19] | ||||||||||||||
| No Way Jose and Rich Swann | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Drew Gulak and Tony Nese | [20] | ||||||||||||||
| The Authors of Pain | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| DIY | [21][22] | ||||||||||||||
| The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Andrade Almas and Cedric Alexander | [24] | ||||||||||||||
| The Revival | [19] | ||||||||||||||
| DIY | Forfeit3 | ||||||||||||||
| DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Ho Ho Lun and Tian Bing | [23] | ||||||||||||||
1 ^ Ibushi's original partner, Hideo Itami, was injured before the tournament began, and was replaced by T.J. Perkins.
2 ^ Aries could not compete due to injury. William Regal decided that the winners would be determined by a singles match pitting Thorne against Strong.
3 ^ The Revival withdrew from the tournament, asserting that Dawson was injured.
2018 tournament
| First Round NXT (March 7, March 14, March 21) | Semifinals NXT (March 28) | Final NXT TakeOver: New Orleans (April 7) | ||||||||||||
| Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight) | 3:39[25] | |||||||||||||
| The Street Profits | 2:31[26] | |||||||||||||
| The Authors of Pain | Pin | |||||||||||||
| TM-61 (Nick Miller and Shane Thorne) | 8:03[27] | |||||||||||||
| The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Authors of Pain The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly) | Pin2 | |||||||||||||
| Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong3 | 11:38 | |||||||||||||
| Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli | 3:45[25] | |||||||||||||
| SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| SAnitY | 10:23[26] | |||||||||||||
| Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan | 8:29[28] | |||||||||||||
| Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong1 | Pin | |||||||||||||
1 ^ Dunne and Strong replaced the previously announced Tyler Bate and Trent Seven after Bate suffered a knee injury.
2 ^ This was a Winner Takes All triple threat tag team match that was also for the NXT Tag Team Championship, held by The Undisputed Era.
3 ^ Strong turned on Dunne during the match, joining The Undisputed Era and helping them win the match.
2019 tournament
| First Round NXT (Taped February 20, aired March 6)[29] | Semifinals NXT (Taped February 20, aired March 13)[29] | Final NXT (Taped March 13, aired March 27)[30] | ||||||||||||
| Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | ||||||||||||||
| Moustache Mountain | ||||||||||||||
| The Forgotten Sons | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch | ||||||||||||||
| The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Forgotten Sons | ||||||||||||||
| Aleister Black and Ricochet | Pin | |||||||||||||
| DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish) | ||||||||||||||
| DIY | ||||||||||||||
| Aleister Black and Ricochet | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Aleister Black and Ricochet | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel | ||||||||||||||
2020 tournament
| First Round NXT (January 8, January 15) | Semifinals NXT (January 22) | Final NXT (January 29) | ||||||||||||
| Imperium (NXT UK) (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Forgotten Sons (NXT) (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake) | 5:08[31] | |||||||||||||
| Imperium (NXT UK) | 11:23[32] | |||||||||||||
| The BroserWeights (NXT) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The BroserWeights (NXT) (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster (NXT UK) | 18:20[33] | |||||||||||||
| The BroserWeights (NXT) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT UK) | 17:39[34] | |||||||||||||
| Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT UK) (James Drake and Zack Gibson) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Time Splitters
(Kushida and Alex Shelley) (NXT) | 12:00[33] | |||||||||||||
| Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT UK) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Undisputed Era (NXT) | 13:00[32] | |||||||||||||
| Gallus (NXT UK) (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) | 8:51[31] | |||||||||||||
| The Undisputed Era (NXT) (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) | Pin | |||||||||||||
References
- 9/3/15 NXT recap - Hidden Remote.com
- Best and worst of NXT TakeOver:Respect - Uproxx.com
- 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic - WWE.com
- 2016 Dusty Rhodes tag Team Classic teams revealed - Uproxx.com
- Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic - Yahoo.com
- Teams revealed for 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic - 411 Mania.com
- Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy
- Martin, Adam (August 29, 2015). "SPOILER: 8/28 DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC TAPING". WrestleView. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- Martin, Adam (August 25, 2015). "SPOILERS: 8/25 WWE MAIN EVENT TAPINGS IN PROVIDENCE". WrestleView. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- Martin, Adam (September 5, 2015). "SPOILER: 9/4 DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC TAPING". WrestleView. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- Namako, Jason (August 31, 2015). "SPOILER: 8/29 DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC TAPING". WrestleView. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- Namako, Jason (September 4, 2015). "SPOILER: 9/3 DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC TAPING". WrestleView. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- Witner, Emerson (September 2, 2015). "WWE NXT 9/2 Live Recap and Results: Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic begins, Ascension returns". Figure 4 Wrestling Observer Online. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- Middleton, Marc. "** SPOILERS ** WWE NXT Tapings Airing In September". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- Porter, Lovell. "WWE NXT Results (9/9)- Johnny Gargano And Tommaso Ciampa Debut, Samoa Joe And Finn Bálor Take On The Lucha Dragons!". Wrestlezone. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 10/12/16 (SAnitY debuts with a returning Eric Young, Nakamura gets revenge on Samoa Joe)". WrestleView. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- Moore, John (October 29, 2016). "10/28 NXT in San Jose results: Moore's in-person report on two Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic matches, Asuka vs. Daria Berenato for the NXT Women's Championship, Shinsuke Nakamura and Tye Dillinger vs. Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
- Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 11/2/16 (Complete second round action of Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic)". WrestleView. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
- Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 10/19/16 (Roderick Strong debuts as Austin Aries' tag partner in the Dusty Classic)". WrestleView. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
- Brouillette, Mike. "10/30 NXT in Los Angeles, Calif.: Eric Young headlines with Joe and Nakamura, Kota Ibushi vs. Roode, TM61 vs. Sanity". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
- Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 11/9/16 (Nakamura-Joe contract signing, Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Finals)". WrestleView. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 10/26/16 (The Dusty Tag Classic continues, Mickie James sends a message to Asuka)". WrestleView. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
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- James, Justin (March 14, 2018). "3/14 NXT TV Report: Tomasso Ciampa returns, Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne, Almas-Black contract signing, Sanity vs. Moss & Sabbatelli". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
- James, Justin (March 28, 2018). "3/28 NXT TV Report: Regal's big announcement, debut of EC3 in NXT, AOP vs Profits, Dunne & Strong vs. Sanity, Lars Sullivan returns". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- James, Justin (March 7, 2018). "3/7 NXT TV Report: Aleister Black vs. Killian Dane, TM61 vs. Authors of Pain in Dusty Classic tourney match, Belair vs. Renee". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
- James, Justin (March 21, 2018). "3/21 NXT TV Report: Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno, Aliyah vs. Ember Moon, Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- Killam, Mike (February 20, 2019). "SPOILERS: Live Updates From Tonight's WWE NXT TV Tapings". ProWrestling.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
- Lambert, Jeremy (March 13, 2019). "Ongoing Spoilers: NXT Television Tapings From Full Sail For 3/13". Fightful. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- Moore, John (January 8, 2018). "1/8 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Damian Priest in a four-way for a shot at the NXT North American Championship, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament begins". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- Moore, John (January 22, 2020). "1/22 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Roderick Strong vs. Keith Lee for the NXT North American Championship, Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament semifinal matches, final Worlds Collide hype". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- Powell, Jason (January 15, 2020). "1/15 NXT TV results: Powell's review of a Battle Royal for a shot at the NXT Women's Championship, Kushida and Alex Shelley vs. Zack Gibson and James Drake and Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- Moore, John (January 29, 2020). "1/29 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne vs. Zack Gibson and James Drake in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament final, Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai, Adam Cole's challenger for the NXT Title at Takeover". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
