The Dream Team (professional wrestling)

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The Dream Team
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Tag Team
Members Brutus Beefcake
Greg Valentine
Dino Bravo
Name(s) The Dream Team
The New Dream Team
Heights 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) – Beefcake
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) – Valentine
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) - Bravo
Combined weight 514 lb (233 kg/36.7 st) (Dream Team)
491 lb (223 kg/35.1 st) (New Dream Team)
Debut 1985
Disbanded 1988
Promotions WWF

The Dream Team was a World Wrestling Federation tag-team from 1985 to March 29, 1987 consisting of Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine managed by ”Lucious” Johnny Valiant. The New Dream Team saw Dino Bravo replace Brutus Beefcake and competed from March 1987 until the winter of 1987/1988, this version of the Dream Team was also managed by Johnny Valiant.

Contents

[edit] History

Prior to teaming up Greg Valentine had won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Tito Santana[1] and was in the middle of a brutal feud with Santana[2]. Brutus Beefcake entered the WWF a year prior to teaming up under the management of Johnny Valiant.

[edit] The Dream Team

Managers Johnny Valiant and Jimmy Hart first put Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake together in May of 1985[3]. Early on Beefcake teamed with Valentine to fight off Tito Santana and the Junkyard Dog, both high ranked contenders for the Intercontinental title. On July 6, 1985 Santana regained the Intercontinental Title in a steel cage match[1]. Shortly after Valentine lost the title the Dream Team set their sights on the reigning WWF World Tag Team champions the US Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda) [4].

Not long after Johnny Valiant became the sole manager of the Dream Team as the two started to team more and more regularly. Their initial shots at the tag team champions were unsuccessful[5] but on August 24 the Dream Team won the tag team titles from the U.S. Express when Beefcake rubbed Valiant’s cigar in Windham’s eye (only a storyline)[1].

Immediately after their title win, the Dream Team were challenged by the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid), often escaping with their titles due to underhanded means[6]. Besides defending against the Bulldogs the Dream Team also put the gold on the line against such teams as The Killer Bees[7] as well as the former champions the US Express (both versions). The Bulldogs remained a constant threat to the Dream Team as 1985 turned to 1986, finally the Dream Team agreed to give the Bulldogs one final tag team title shot at WrestleMania 2. On April 7, 1986 the two teams met in the Chicago section of WrestleMania broadcast from the Rosemont Horizon, with the addition of “Prince of Darkness” Ozzy Osbourne in the Bulldogs’ corner the Dream Team finally ran out of tricks and lost the gold[1].

Finding themselves in the challengers position the Dream Team now chased the Bulldogs in the months following WrestleMania 2 climaxing in a series of steel cage matches during the summer of 1986[8]. As the summer passed the Dream Team found themselves facing the Killer Bees and the 2nd version of the US Express instead of challenging for the gold. As 1986 turned to 1987 the Dream Team found themselves feuding with The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jaques and Raymond). The team was also joined by Johnny Valiant’s newest addition Dino Bravo in six-man tag matches[9].

At WrestleMania III the Dream Team and the Rougeaus clashed once again with the Dream Team winning due to Dino Bravo’s interference[10]. After the match Dino Bravo and Greg Valentine argued with Brutus Beefcake, kicking him off the team[2].

[edit] The New Dream Team

After dumping Beefcake, Valentine and Bravo began wrestling as “The New Dream Team” [2], starting out strong by defeating The Islanders in a series of house show matches[11] after which they continued the long running feud with the Rougeau brothers splitting matches between them over the summer, often in six man matches with Beefcake joining the Rougeaus to take on Valentine, Bravo and Valiant[12]. The Dream Team also had a couple of shots at the world tag team champions The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) but did not manage to repeat the success of the original Dream Team[13]

The New Dream Team’s last major appearance as a team was at the inargual Survivor Series where took part in a 10 team, tag team elimination match. Valentine was pinned by Paul Roma of the Young Stallions, eliminating the team from the match[14].

[edit] After the dream

After Survivor Series the New Dream Team broke up quietly, they simply stopped teaming up and went their separate ways. One of the main reasons for this split was because Valentine and Bravo legitimately did not get along outside the ring. Johnny Valiant left the WWF, Greg Valentine began working as a singles wrestler reuniting with Jimmy Hart[15], and Dino Bravo came under the guidance of Frenchy Martin[16].

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

The Dream Team

  • Ranked # 94 of the 100 best Tag teams during the "PWI" years in 2003.

[edit] References

Professional wrestling
Portal
  1. ^ a b c d Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 
  2. ^ a b c Brian Shields (4th Edition 2006). Main event – WWE in the raging 80s. Pocket Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-3257-6. 
  3. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1985. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(May, 1985) included Brutus Beefcake, Greg Valentine, Johnny V, & Jimmy Hart as guests of the Body Shop in which Valentine & Beefcake billed themselves as the 'Dream Team' for the first time”
  4. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1985. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(July 9 1985: Shown August 3, 1985) Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo (w/ Capt. Lou Albano) defeated Barry O & Larry Finnegan at 3:18 when Windham pinned Finnegan with a bulldog; during the bout, Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake, & Jimmy Hart appeared at ringside”
  5. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1985. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(August 10, 1985: Shown September 10, 1985) WWF Tag Team Champions Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo defeated Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake at 24:02”
  6. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1985. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(September 11, 1985) Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake via disqualification”
  7. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1985. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(September 17, 1985) WWF Tag Team Champions Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake defeated B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell”
  8. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1986. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(July 14, 1986: King of the Ring) WWF Tag Team Champions Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid defeated Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake in a steel cage match; Beefcake and Dynamite escaped the cage first; Smith escaped the cage after Valentine accidentally knocked him out the door”
  9. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1987. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(January 6, 1987) Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake, & Dino Bravo (w/ Johnny V) defeated Tito Santana, Pedro Morales, & Hillbilly Jim via count-out at 4:35”
  10. ^ prowrestlinghistory.com. WWF WrestleMania Results (III). Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  11. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1987. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(April 26, 1987) Greg Valentine & Dino Bravo defeated the Islanders”
  12. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1987. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(June 6, 1987) Brutus Beefcake, Jacques & Raymond Rougeau defeated Greg Valentine, Dino Bravo, & Johnny V”
  13. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1987. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(September 11, 1987) WWF Tag Team Champions Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart fought Greg Valentine & Dino Bravo to a double count-out”
  14. ^ prowrestlinghistory.com. WWF WrestleMania Results (III). Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  15. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1987. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(December 9, 1987) Greg Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Pete Sanchez via submission with the figure-4 at 2:01”
  16. ^ Graham Cawthorn. WWF Show Results 1987. Retrieved on April 21, 2007. “(December 26, 1987) Dino Bravo (w/ Frenchy Martin) pinned Koko B. Ware at 6:38 with the side suplex”
  17. ^ WWE: Inside WWE - History of the World Tag Team Championship. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.