Booker T recently lobbied for the former tag team, The Nasty Boys, to join the WWE Hall of Fame. Wrestling has a very long and diverse history. In their heyday, The Nasty Boys, consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Saggs, became notable players in both WWE (then WWF) and WCW, winning tag team gold in both companies.
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The Nasty Boys were anti-social punks and specialized in hardcore brawls. Back at WCW’s Spring Stampede pay-per-view event in 1994, they faced the team of WWE Hall of Famer Cactus Jack (aka Mick Foley) and Maxx Payne in an epic Chicago Street Fight. The match took place years before hardcore wrestling and brawls became commonplace in wrestling programming.
Two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently talked about The Nasty Boys on his Hall of Fame Podcast with Booker T and why he thinks they deserve to be inducted. He stated the following:
“I’m lobbying again for The Nasty Boys to go into the Hall of Fame. I really believe, truly in my heart, that The Nasty Boys deserve a spot inside the WWE Hall of Fame. They put a lot of work in WCW, in WWE, in WWF. They pretty much did it all, so I’m hoping to see my man Knobbs and Sags.
“…I would love to see The Nasty Boys get inside the Hall of Fame because my brother [Stevie Ray] and I, we had so many matches with The Nasty Boys. I don’t think our careers would have been what they were without The Nasty Boys. That six-month run alone to get them in the Hall of Fame as far as I’m concerned because it was rough. It was a rough six months working with those boys.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
The Wrestling World Got A Nasty Sensation
The Nasty Boys may not be in the running for many fans’ tag teams of all time. In 2021, they only ranked No. 41 on WWE’s curated list of the Top 50 Greatest Tag Teams Ever. However, they have wrestled and put over some of the best tag teams of their day.
The peak of The Nasty Boys is definitely the early to mid-’90s. After a short-lived run in WCW in 1990, they soon joined WWF. Their early success was in large part because they were partnered up with a WWE Hall of Fame manager Jimmy Hart. In their first year in WWF, they beat the legendary Legion of Doom and The Hart Foundation to become the WWF World Tag Team Champions. They continued to feud with some of the best tag teams in WWE at the time.
In 1993 The Nasty Boys made their way over to WCW. While in WCW they started feuds with some of the best teams in WCW. This includes The Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, and Booker T’s tag team, Harlem Heat. They defeated Harlem Heat to win their third WCW World Tag Team Championship.
The Nasty Boys’ Legacy in WWE and WCW
During The Nasty Boys’ career, they were able to win the WWF World Tag Team Championships once and the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times. They became WWE Tag Team Champions after beating The Hart Foundation, featuring Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart, to win the belts back at WrestleMania VII in 1991.
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One could argue the true measure of success for The Nasty Boys is what they did for other tag teams. They were put in feuds with young up-and-coming teams like Harlem Heat and The Rockers. Their job was to get the best out of these teams and show the world what they could do. They won enough to show fans that they were a threat to any tag team, so when they lost it meant something. If they could beat or put on a good showing against The Nasty Boys they must be good.
In this way, The Nasty Boys were a different type of enhancement talent. Instead of getting squashed to show how good the other team was, they would put on a good match. A modern version of this may be New Day. They have enough respect to be a threat, but they haven’t been tag team champions in a long time. Like Booker T said they were important in helping Harlem Heat become the WWE Hall of Fame tag team they became. Their feuds with young teams like The Rockers and Harlem Heat put a spotlight on those teams and because of that, we got Shawn Michaels and Booker T.
The Nasty Boys Aren’t Totally Nasty
The Nasty Boys’ story in wrestling may not have been them trying to help and build up young talent, but they did. The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony usually takes place before WrestleMania which happens April 6, so Booker T has some time to lobby for them.
Do you remember The Nasty Boys? Were you a fan? Do you think they should be in the WWE Hall of Fame? Who do you think should induct them? Do you think they played an important role in helping to build up young teams? Let us know on social media who you think is a tag team in WWE who is building up young talent like The Nasty Boys did.
SOURCE: Hall of Fame Podcast with Booker T, Wrestling Inc.
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