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Hello friends and welcome to the latest edition of the AEW Power Rankings and this week we look at the tag teams that are jostling for the top spot of AEW Tag Team division.
Also for this edition, we will double up and use these Power Rankings as a preview for the two Battle Royals which will be a qualifier for the three-way Tag Title match at AEW Revolution.
So who have put themselves in prime position to throw their peers over the top rope and get their shot at Jurassic Express.
#1- Jurassic Express (No change)
Since their title win on the premiere episode of Dynamite on tbs, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus have been the defending champions we expected them to be, beating Private Party and The Gunn Club in title matches since our last Tag Rankings.
Their most difficult challenge will come at Revolution with not just one but two challengers and with the rules of a three-way match seeing only one fall in the contest, Jurassic Express could lose the belts without being the ones being pinned or submitted. The champs will probably use the experience of their mentor Christian Cage to help them navigate their tricky task and as the last few weeks has shown with Jungle Boy using Christian's longtime finisher The Killswitch to pin Austin Gunn, Jungle Boy is learning from the multi-time tag champion.
#2- Kings Of The Black Throne (New Entrant)
The current PWG Tag Champions have got off to a blistering start to their attempt to gain AEW gold with wins over Varsity Blondes and Penta El Zero Meido and PAC. Black and King are not entered in the first Battle Royale which will be a mass start with all 10 teams in the squared circle when the bell rings but surely the 2nd ranked team in the Official AEW Rankings will be entered in the second Battle Royale which will be under Casino Battle Royale rules in which the teams entered will have staggered entrances to the contest
King could be the heaviest guy in that match but they will be looking for the luck of the draw as they seek one of the slots for the title match.
Odds of winning (should they enter the Casino Battle Royale)- 8/10
#3- Santana/Ortiz (Up 3 places)
Their victory over Chris Jericho and Jake Hager could go a long way in their bid to exercise the shadow of the Inner Circle and their leader Jericho and while Hager was asking Santana and Ortiz to "Tell Him Why" they have been showing their discontent with their IC leader, it seems that Santana and Ortiz's career path the last few weeks is not a mistake.
Santana and Ortiz will be entered in the first Battle Royale which looks filled with star names but with a second place finish in the inaugural Tag Team Battle Royale and a good showing in the 2021 edition in which they eliminated The Young Bucks, Santana and Ortiz will fancy their chances at winning on Wednesday night.
Odds of winning- 9/10
#4- Sting/Darby Allin (No change)
After a victory against The Acclaimed which preserved their perfect record in tag team matches, you would think Sting and Darby would be in line for a shot at tag gold but with Darby's challenge for the TNT Title last week and a feud with Andrade El Idolo on the horizon, The Icon and Darby will in all likelihood remain an attraction for fans to get behind and not a threat to the champs.
With Darby in the TNT Title picture after his controversial loss to Sammy Guevara and scores to settle against Andrade, quite possibly at the Revolution PPV, we probably will not see the pair in Battle Royale #2 next week after their name was not on the start list for this week's Royale. It would be a shame because Sting has a great track record in Battle Royals throughout his career and would be a potential favourite in the second royal but I'll take a Darby vs Andrade match on March 6th for sure.
#5- The Young Bucks ((No change)
With their match against Roppongi Vice cancelled after Matt Jackson tested positive for Covid-19, the wait for the clash of the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Champions would have to last an extra few weeks. The Bucks would come out victorious after a BTE Trigger on Rocky Romero on the 11th February episode of Rampage.
Matt and Nick will enter the first Battle Royal alongside reDRagon, who they have had an interesting dynamic with since Adam Cole brought Kyle O'Reilly in two months ago. With all four in an AEW ring for the first time in official competition, sparks will fly but the Young Bucks have a great history in the AEW Tag Battle Royal with their victory in 2020 and with their ability to escape trouble in such matches, the Bucks will start favourites on Wednesday.
Odds of winning- 9/10
#6- FTR (Up 1 Place)
A month of mixed fortunes for the former champs saw FTR beat Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson but lose to CM Punk and Jon Moxley in a contest that would be sanctioned less than an hour before the opening bell (the shortest amount of time between a match being signed and the bell ringing for such match in AEW history) giving Dax and Cash a decent excuse to why they lost what was a very even matchup.
Battle Royals are not the speciality of a team with the old-school mentality that FTR inhibit but their world-class double team expertise and in-ring psychology could be the advantage that FTR will need to outlast their rivals and while others are more favoured, they could be the sexy pick for the next two weeks of battle royals.
Odds of winning- 7/10
#7- Private Party (Re-entrant)
While Isiah Kassidy's one-sided loss to Keith Lee earned him a spot on the Rushmore of wrestling GIF's after THAT Beell and could be seen as a setback to his career, Matt Hardy leaving in disgust could end up being a great thing for Kassidy and Quen because let's be honest, they have regressed since Matt Hardy became their manager. They are a shell of the team that shocked the wrestling world when they beat The Young Bucks in the Championship Tournament on the second ever episode of Dynamite. A very good showing against the Tag Team champions on the 28th Jan episode of Rampage shows their ability and maybe in the next few months, we'll see Isiah and Marq flourish again without Hardy.
Unfortunately for Private Party, their chances of success in the Battle Royals are small. They did manage to get a Top 5 finish in the Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing 2021 but in a tag team battle royal setting they have struggled and it's hard to see them succeed in the next two weeks.
Odds of winning- 5/10
#8- The Acclaimed (Down 5 places)
Despite a loss to Sting and Darby Allin, The Acclaimed are still No.1 in the Official AEW Rankings and while singles action has not seen success for the pair with losses to Jon Moxley and Wardlow for Bowens and Caster respectively, the pair have been involved in victories in multi-man tags since their Dynamite main event loss to Sting and Darby.
It asks the question to why The Acclaimed are not in the first Battle Royale. After asking around the important people in wrestling (ok, I popped a question on the PW Musings writers group chat and on the VOW Discord chat) it seems the popular opinion is that all the teams that do not win this weeks Battle Royale will also enter the Casino Battle Royale. Does this mean The Acclaimed are not going to enter the second Battle Royale either? We have yet to hear from Tony Khan about who will enter the Casino Battle Royale next week but if the No.1 and No.2 ranked team do not enter either Battle Royal, it will be a bemusing decision from AEW's CEO and President.
Odds of winning (should Acclaimed enter the Casino Battle Royale)- 7/10
While we have discussed the chances of our Top 8 teams in our Power Ranking, six other teams will be on the start list for the first Battle Royal.
John Silver and Alex Reynolds will be a fun addition to the match as the Dark Order's team entered and it would be a pleasant surprise if they were to advance to the AEW Tag Team three-way match but an unlikely happening. Odds of winning- 5/10
Austin and Colten Gunn have flattered to deceive whenever they have faced a high-ranked duo and surrounded by nine quality teams, I expect the Gunn Club to fail yet again.
Odds of winning- 3/10
2point0 might come across as comedy figures but their overall record of 6-2 in 2021 has been in contrast to their perception but only two of their wins come in 2 vs 2 action and those were against non-roster talent. The question coming into the match on Wednesday is will they last longer than Gunn Club? Odds of winning- 3/10
The Butcher and The Blade could be bolstered by Andrade El Idolo's investment into the Hardy Family Office which could be end up being wrestling's version of investing in cryptocurrency i.e it could end in tears. Butcher's strength will be an advantage for the team but with classier teams surrounding them, their chances of winning are small. Odds of winning- 4/10
Best Friends have infrequently tagged lately with Trent's injuries and the addition of Rocky Romero, Trent's Roppongi Vice partner to the Best Friends/Chaos squad. The changing face of AEW might have left Chuckie T and Trent behind and one of AEW's cornerstone teams see themselves as an outside bet for the Battle Royals. Odds of winning- 5/10
reDRagon are the second most decorated team in Wednesday's Battle Royal with their multiple championships won in multiple promotions. The question to be asked is will the tension with their frenemies The Young Bucks be a barrier? If neither win on Wednesday, could the pair of duos cost each other the second Battle Royal. But if members of both teams end up being in the ring at the end, Kyle O'Reilly and/or Bobby Fish will be fancied to win and advance to the title match at the PPV. Odds of winning- 9/10
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