Stakes raised for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals

On tonight's WWE Worlds Collide pay-per-view event, it was announced that the winners of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals next Wednesday on WWE NXT will not only receive the Dusty Rhodes trophy but also earn the opportunity to capture the NXT Tag Team Championships next month at NXT TakeOver: Portland

The news was broken by WWE announcer Cathy Kelley who interviewed the two finalist teams, The BroserWeights (Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle) and The Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson).

THIS JUST IN:The winners of this year's #DustyClassic will go on to #NXTTakeOver: Portland for an opportunity to capture the NXT #TagTeamChampionship! #WorldsCollide pic.twitter.com/gTgExkNL0q

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) January 26, 2020

The history of the tournament

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament was officially announced in 2015 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn as a means of paying tribute to WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes who passed away before the event took place.

The inaugural winners of the Dusty Tag Team Classic were Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, and the Authors of Pain won in 2016. The tournament did not take place in 2017 but it returned in 2018 where it was won by The Undisputed Era's Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly and in 2019, the team of Aleister Black and Ricochet won the Tag Team Classic.

This year, the finals will see NXT's The BroserWeights and NXT UK's Grizzled Young Veterans square off against each other. At the moment, Undisputed Era's Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly are the reigning NXT Tag Team Champions and whoever wins the Tag Team Classic may go on to face The Undisputed Era at TakeOver: Portland.