La R?sistance

[Coffey]

 

When I see Rob Conway, I see potential. When I see Sylvain Grenier, I see him holding back Rob Conway. I think that Conway could be a break away star. The problem is, if you take Conway away from Grenier, what happens to Grenier? He'd just be another lost wrestler in a sea of under-utilized talent. Perhaps it'd be the other way around and WWE would only use Grenier?

 

Would it be worth the risk though? I mean, La R?sistance aren't doing a lot as a tag team. Hell, even with the Heart Throbs showing up on Raw last week, you have to believe that the Raw tag team scene is dead. Perhaps they'd be better off if they split up? They've done everything that a tag team can do in this day and age in WWE already.

 

With the draft lottery coming up, perhaps Conway could go solo and Grenier could get back together with Dupree? I don't get UPN, so I can't watch Smackdown. That being said, I don't know how well Dupree is fairing by flying solo.

 

So, what do you guys think?

[Loss]

I'd like to see Dupree and Grenier somehow team back up again while Conway gets to try his hand at a singles push. I think your scenario would work, and I agree with you.

[Coffey]

It just seems like Grenier hasn't got any better during his entire stint in WWE so far. He's obviously the weak link in the team. The only thing that he ever really does is start to sing the Anthem so that he can get cut off by entrance music.

[Loss]

The gimmick also ran its course in record time. They could always do an angle on the night of the draft where they're having a 10-man tag. Say, Hassan/Daivari/Conway/Dupree/Grenier v Regal/Taijiri/Michaels/Benoit/Jericho, as an example. They somehow manage to all get Michaels alone after the match and are about to do something really horrid, like put an American flag over him and burn it, or something equally tasteless, and Conway thinks they've gone too far and tries to talk them out of it. They seem to agree, and he turns his back and he gets ambushed. Do this *after* some of the draft picks have already been announced in the evening and Dupree has been traded back to RAW. Grenier and Dupree start teaming again, and Conway comes out of the crowd the next week during a match they're having and levels them both with chairs. Eventually, La Res beats him down again, because the numbers just start getting the best of him. He finally finds a partner in Shelton Benjamin and they team up for a while against La Res and dispose of them. After that, start a slow burn dissension in the team turning either guy heel, and you have a new program to work toward.

[Coffey]

That sounds good enough except for the example you used. We all know it'd lead to Conway teaming with HBK and then Conway would be in the back seat again. Same with Benjamin probably. His best bet would be to be on a different show after the face turn. Then he could start out solo from the gates. He could get them both back at a dual brand PPV or something like that.

 

I know what you're saying though. Conway, eventually, will come around. It's always the natural progression for sympathizers.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

For the time being, it might be best to keep the team, but dump the gimmick. Have them cut a promo along the lines of when Tracy Smothers buried the Young Pistols gimmick when he arrived in SMW: "We've never been to France, and we don't reckon we'll ever visit.", and then have them bin all the French garb, and then come out a few weeks later in normal wrestling attire, and just have them be a normal heel tag team, complete with constant rule breaking and the like.

[Coffey]

I have to admit, I do like their finisher. Well, when they hit it correctly that is.

[Guest Some Guy]

I think Conway could prosper but probably won't be allowed to. Grenier is the shits. I think HTQ's idea is probably the most effective as far as getting them over. The Rougeau Brother 2K5 gimmick sucks, but they aren't horrible as a team. They need to let Cornette teach tag teams to work a more old school style, where they actually cut the ring in half and do double team spots. Even rehashing old ones like La Res has done with the Hart Attack would work as most of the fans have never even seen them. Every tag team in the Tag Team glory days of the WWF had a double team finisher that was over. The Rockers had the double fist drops off the top, LOD had the Doomsday Device, Demolition had Decapitation, Hart Foundation had the Hart Attack, even the Bushwhackers had their goofy battering ram move. That aspect needs to be brought back. They need to put teams together and let them work as a team, La Res does that better than any of the other cobbled together teams WWE has right now.

[Guest Mac]

The gimmick also ran its course in record time. They could always do an angle on the night of the draft where they're having a 10-man tag. Say, Hassan/Daivari/Conway/Dupree/Grenier v Regal/Taijiri/Michaels/Benoit/Jericho, as an example. They somehow manage to all get Michaels alone after the match and are about to do something really horrid, like put an American flag over him and burn it, or something equally tasteless, and Conway thinks they've gone too far and tries to talk them out of it. They seem to agree, and he turns his back and he gets ambushed. Do this *after* some of the draft picks have already been announced in the evening and Dupree has been traded back to RAW. Grenier and Dupree start teaming again, and Conway comes out of the crowd the next week during a match they're having and levels them both with chairs. Eventually, La Res beats him down again, because the numbers just start getting the best of him. He finally finds a partner in Shelton Benjamin and they team up for a while against La Res and dispose of them. After that, start a slow burn dissension in the team turning either guy heel, and you have a new program to work toward.

That's pretty much what i was thinking (although not in as much depth). Conway could have a great singles career but it'll be hard to shake off the anti-american gimmick so they need to have him get so disgusted by something that it brings back his patriotism.

[Guest Matt]

I think that the gimmick and team has a lot of fuel left in it's tank. The only thing that really needs to change is the fundamentals of tag team wrestling in the WWE, which is what "Some Guy" said. After the entire Draft Lottery, I'd say that would be the best time to redeem the division(s). And even if that means that only one show showcases a tag team division fully equipped with a tag team championship. Just bring back tag team wrestling. And going back to the original topic, I would say that Conway & Dupree would be arguably the best bet w/Grenier portraying an outside/managerial role (while wrestling on the b-shows).

[Coffey]

I don't know what WWE is planning to do with tag team wrestling, even with the draft on the horizon. If they put all the teams on one show, they'd have a passable division. Who do you put the gold on though? MNM? The Dudleyz? La R?sistance?

[Loss]

MNM. They need at least one pair of established singles wrestlers they're not doing anything with (Benoit & Jericho??) in the division to give it credibility.

[Coffey]

I don't know. I disagree with that. Having two single's wrestlers slapped together has always pissed me off. Especially when they suddenly win in tag team matches. I don't care if it's two main eventers against a lower midcard tag team. The tag team should ALWAYS win. The experience should be built up and what not. Austin & The Rock shouldn't be able to defeat The Dudley Boyz for example. I don't care if Austin has former tag experience or whatnot. He doesn't have the cohesiveness with the Rock. The Dudleyz have a lot of team experience. They know each other well. They know tag team wrestling well. They should be able to cut the ring in half and tag advantage of non-tag wrestlers.

 

Same with Benoit & Jericho. They shouldn't be able to beat La R?sistance, The Dudleyz or MNM.

[Loss]

But if Benoit and Jericho put them over, people will take them seriously. The most successful tag divisions in history (meaning the tag titles were able to be defended in main events) had stars showing interest in the belts. They need top guys to care about those titles, because if they don't, the viewers will see it as a tokenist thing, kinda like the women and the cruiserweights.

 

I do think if they put Benoit and Jericho in the division as a tag team, they should stop wrestling singles.

[Coffey]

Ah, I see where you're coming from now. The single's wrestlers could give the rub, so to speak, to the new tag team champions.

 

See, I don't know, I still think that the single's wrestlers would have to get wins over other tag teams to get "built up" so that they had a rub to give. Even if they have tons of accolades from single's wrestling, it shouldn't matter in the tag team scene.

[Loss]

Rob Conway getting a pinfall over either Chris Benoit or Chris Jericho in a tag match will give him cred.

[Coffey]

OK, yeah, I agree with that.

[Guest Matt]

I don't know what WWE is planning to do with tag team wrestling, even with the draft on the horizon. If they put all the teams on one show, they'd have a passable division. Who do you put the gold on though? MNM? The Dudleyz? La R?sistance?

Well I would probably like to see Marty & Shawn tag full time again and become the undisputed tag team champions. But that's just personal preference.