Bengaluru, December 31: WWE is set to bring back the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on NXT! This might be the company’s answer to those who complain about Vince McMahon killing tag team wrestling with his bare hands as they now want to showcase the skill-sets of the emerging tag teams available on the development territory.

During the final NXT episode of 2020, it was confirmed that The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will be back in two weeks of time that is on the January 13 episode. The first team announced for the tournament is The Undisputed Era, which will be represented by Adam Cole and Roderick Strong.

As mentioned earlier, WWE innovated this unique tournament for the tag team division which previously used to be a WWE Network special content. But now it'll be airing on the USA Network as part of the mainstream NXT product. Plus, it was a way of honoring the late great Dusty Rhodes, WWE Hall of Famer, and one of the pioneers behind NXT's success.

Brackets and the remaining competitors of the 2021 edition of Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will be revealed on NXT New Year's Evil, airing next week. It was also announced that the winners of the tournament will receive an NXT Tag Team Championship opportunity, down the road.

The current champions from this division are Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan, who are enjoying their first reign both as a team and individuals. They defeated Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) on October 21, 2020, on a weekly episode of NXT to capture the golds. Following the completion of the upcoming tourney, they’re likely to receive their next challengers.



In 2020, the odd alliance of Pete Dunne and Riddle won the Dusty Classic who then went on to defeat The Undisputed ERA - Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly for the NXT Tag Team Titles at NXT TakeOver: Portland, earlier this year in February.

The inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was held in 2015 with Samoa Joe and current NXT Champion Finn Balor securing the win.

The Authors of Pain - Akam and Rezar won in 2016, The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly) won in 2018, Ricochet and Aleister Black won in 2019, while as mentioned above, the 2020 tournament was won by The BroserWeights (Riddle and Pete Dunne). The first two Dusty Classics featured 16 tag teams, while the rest have had 8 teams in the melee.