The Can-Am Express

[peachchaos]

Quite possibly the most underrated, under-exposed team in the history of the game. Incredible in-ring talents who found a nitch as the gloating but successful foreign heels in All Japan, with a ton of good matches under their belt. They got over pretty well with the ECW crowd before signing with Vince. It really seemed like they would get the chance to revitalize the WWF Tag Team division, and they did have some nice stuff with Owen and Bulldog before losing all their momentum for good, but in the end it wasn't meant to be and they wound up back in ECW before injuries and car accidents forced them into retirement.

 

Performed as a team in AJPW, ECW, WWF, UWA.

 

A record 5-time All Asia Tag Team Champions. Had a cup of coffee with the ECW Tag Team Championship.

 

Awesome ring attire.

 

Literally everything they did in AJPW is worth watching. The ECW stuff from 1996 with Van Dam and Sabu is a lot of fun. They never had a bad match with Owen and Bulldog, and there's even a hidden gem from an MSG show in 1997. Their final run in ECW did not produce anything close to a classic, but I'm a huge fan of their stuff with Mikey and Spike as well as a TV match with Candido and Storm. Has anyone seen their UWA run?

 

So here we go. Let's put the Can-Ams under the microscope.

 

I just noticed Ditch put up the FULL version of their Meltzer-awarded five-star match from 5/25/92 with Kobashi and Kikuchi. Suddenly I can't wait to go home tonight.

 

Did I mention they're my favorite tag team? Did I?

[Alan4L]

I can't think of a more fitting thread to make my first post here than this topic. I'm with you man, one of the all time great tag teams that did so much and quite frankly could have done so much more. I think Can-Ams vs. Steiners circa 1992 would have been my all time dream match that never happened.

 

They were such a perfect combo. Doug would come in and do these incredible feats of athleticism like the rana, the highest dropkick ever and the backflip corner charge. Then you'd have Danny bringing the structure and putting together these ridiculous finishing runs with all these twists and turns. They should have unquestionably been given a run with the main tag titles, although they really put the All Asia version on the map for a while there (kinda like Sekimoto and Okabayashi in 2011).

[Johnny Sorrow]

I honestly thought the topic was gonna be about Martel and Zenk.

[Dylan Waco]

I love the Can Ams, think the Footloose matches are pretty much the pinnacle of explosive, high energy tag matches, and like both guys a lot in other settings (Kroffat was a real good tag worker in general), but that ECW run was as disappointing a run as there has ever been. I love the Furnas v. Van Dam match which was built around Rob taking psychotic bumps for Furnas crazy strength/power spots, but I thought being in the States badly exposed them as a team that lacked the character intangibles you need to be in the discussion for best team of all time. Speaking for myself, I loathed the matches against RVD/Sabu, though the Mikey and Spike matches were very good (though honestly I thought they were outworked by the little guys in those matches). But I was expecting so much more from them.

 

Having said that they are probably just one rung down from the teams I would consider in a discussion for best of all time, which still comfortably locks them in as a great team.

[KrisZ]

What Dylan said about character doomed Furnas in general in the US.....if Furnas came along 10 years earlier he would've been a huge star but his charisma level doomed him in his era.

 

Phil LaFon was in that same boat and was like the Rougeaus when they were younger but he didn't have that heel charisma that Jacques had.

[WingedEagle]

Their work stateside was a real disappointment and exposed them for the reasons Dylan highlighted. I actually enjoyed the first Sabu/RVD tags, but haven't watched them in years and kind of expect they wouldn't hold up very well.

 

I know 5/25/92 gets all the love, but if you put it on mute, the Footloose matches and 2/92 vs. Kawada & Kikuchi are arguably just as great.

[jdw]

What Dylan said about character doomed Furnas in general in the US.....if Furnas came along 10 years earlier he would've been a huge star but his charisma level doomed him in his era.

 

Phil LaFon was in that same boat and was like the Rougeaus when they were younger but he didn't have that heel charisma that Jacques had.

I think if they came to the WCW in 1989 they would have been terrific. Though... there were probably too many tag teams in the promotion at that time, it's still a place where they would have been excellent. They could have used their version of Cornette to manage them.