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What's the story?
Last year we didn't get a Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic as it seemed that Starrcade and WarGames took its place, but during the recent NXT television tapings, it was announced that the popular tag-team tournament was coming back!
In case you didn't know...
The Dusty Rhodes Classic is a tag-team tournament with a similar format to the Mae Young Classic and Cruiserweight Classic, featuring sixteen tag-teams in a knockout style tournament format.
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There have been two Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classics, the first was won by Finn Balor and Samoa Joe in 2015, and the second was won by the Author's of Pain in 2016. As mentioned, there wasn't one last year.
The heart of the matter
During the February 1st, 2018 tapings of NXT a new tag-team debuted called The Forgotten Sons made up of Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler. After defeating some local competition they announced they would be entering the Dusty Rhodes Classic.
It was then announced later on in the night that the Dusty Rhodes Classic would officially be returning with matches being taped for it during the February 2nd, 2018 tapings at Center Stage.
Currently announced for this set of tapings are Kairi Sane, Aleister Black and The Author's of Pain. So we can be safe to assume that AOP and The Forgotten Sons will be two of the sixteen teams in the tournament.
What's next?
We'll have to see what happens at the February 2nd tapings to see what happens, but given that the NXT Tag-Team Division is incredibly strong, and packed with great teams like the recently returned TM61 (now known as The Mighty, the recently signed War Machine, and of course last Dusty Rhodes Classic winners The Authors of Pain.
Author's Take
I was definitely among the many to be disappointed that the Dusty Rhodes Classic didn't feature at all last year, so I'm incredibly happy they're bringing it back this year. It's also the best way to truly show off the strength and depth of NXT's tag-team division.
