The Top 100 Tag Teams of All Time | 97: Forever Hooligans

Click here to see the Top 100 Tag Teams of All Time list so far.

Here we have the number 115-ranked Forever Hooligans in the number 97 slot. The number 116-ranked Brisco Brothers (Jack & Gerald, not to be confused with Jay & Mark Briscoe) are from an era before when what it meant to have great matches was different, and an era before wrestling companies made it a priority to have footage of great matches on hand. The Cagematch Matchguide lists Brisco matches you can easily find online, but not enough of them to be a part of my list and they’re all from the very end of Jack’s career. 

Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov first started teaming in Mexico as D-Generation Mex alongside X-Pac in 2008. That team more or less deteriorated in 2009. Koslov joined CHAOS in New Japan in 2012, started teaming with Romero again, and changed the team’s name to Forever Hooligans when they won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. 

May 10, 2014 – Toronto, Ontario 

Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson def. Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero and Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA {IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match}
From ROH/NJPW Global Wars. The Jacksons came into this match and left as champs, but the other teams had both been champs in the past. The crowd is stoked to see Shelley back in ROH for the first time in four years. This was really spirited and a lot of fun. All three teams got to shine at one point or another. The only problem was it had a very exhibition type feel, and no one team was ever in control long enough to create any drama around who would win. So when the Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Kozlov for the win at 12:19, the match could have just as easily continued for another few minutes at the same place and it wouldn’t have felt strange at all. ***½ 

June 22, 2013 – Osaka, Osaka 

Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero def. Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA {IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match}
From NJPW Dominion. The Hooligans came into this match and left as champs. This was dope. Yeah, they ignored the legal man rules pretty much completely in the second half, but that’s also when the match started amping up until it hit a wild crescendo. Romero shined here, showing a ton of personality and making me root for a team that there was no question would lose because this match happened nine years ago. The Hooligans hit KUSHIDA with the Contract Killer for the win at 13:09. ***½ 

October 13, 2014 – Tokyo, Japan 

Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA def. Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero and Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson {IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match}
From NJPW King of Pro Wrestling. Okay, let’s see if my theory about their Toronto match holds up, as this got a bit more time than that did. At Dominion, shortly after Global Wars, the Time Splitters won the titles. I’ll be reviewing that match down the line in the Time Splitters’ entry. Apparently it’s bonkers. And as is the norm with this list, they came in and left the match as champs. I really liked the spot where Romero kept running the ropes until Kozlov got mad at him because, come on, how long can he really hold Shelley up? They made up after a brief spat. This did have a very embarrassing moment where Kozlov got tangled in the ropes going for a dive, but everyone sold as if he’d launched himself successfully. And that begot another spot where everyone stood around on the floor like a bunch of dopes in full view of the camera waiting for Matt to moonsault onto them. The match also had a ton of the same spots as the Toronto match, with the most notable exception being that the Time Splitters interrupted the More Bang for Your Buck on Kozlov and then KUSHIDA rolled Kozlov up for the win at 18:56. This was a mix of diminishing returns and a couple fun new developments. I’d split the difference, but those mistakes on the floor took me way out of the match for a while. ***¼ 

August 17, 2013 – Manhattan, New York 

Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero def. Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson
From ROH Manhattan Mayhem V. Not sure why the Hooligans’ titles weren’t on the line here, since they won anyway. I guess the bit where Kozlov gets mad at Romero’s exuberance was a common thing for them, which is a bit of a bummer though I appreciate that it didn’t come out in the same way here as it did in the previous match. And in the Dominion match, Romero did a similar bit but without Kozlov’s involvement at all. So I’ve decided I’m for it. And just in general, this is much more what I’ve been looking for when it comes to junior style tag team wrestling. The spots come at a rapid pace, but they’re within the context of a story I can sink my teeth into. Here, it was that the dickish Bucks were able to exploit the Hooligans’ goofy nature and take control with their tried and true tandem offense in the face of the Hooligans’ less reliable tandem offense. But when the Bucks got cocky and started mocking the Hooligans, they lost their edge. The Hooligans hit Nick with the Contract Killer for the win at 16:57. ****

July 27, 2013 – Providence, Rhode Island 

Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero def. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly {ROH World Tag Team Championship Match}
From ROH TV 98. This aired on August 3rd, but ROH’s taping schedule was so weird that I think it’s just safer to assume that their canonical dates for things like title changes (which this was) reverts to the live dates. No matter the decade, reDRagon’s theme music is garbage. For the first time, the Hooligan spat spot is a repeat. I mean, I’m sure for most folks these spots were repeated ad nauseum, but that’s the benefit of just looking at the highest rated ones. Aside from that, this was a blast. reDRagon were pretty vanilla, but they still hit hard and moved fast, so that’s fun. Also, this match was made a title match because of Fish’s arrogance, so it was neat to see reDRagon lose because Fish couldn’t connect with his half of Chasing the Dragon, and O’Reilly got rolled up immediately after at 13:12 (shown), making the Forever Hooligans double champs. The Hooligans lost the titles to the American Wolves in Canada just a few days later. That match was reportedly pretty bizarre because Davey Richards didn’t like that he got booed in Canada and acted like a weirdo during the bout. Richards, acting weird? No way. ***½ 

As a sideshow comedy act, the Forever Hooligans get the job done. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles are a midcard belt, so that was a great spot for them. The ROH World Tag Title scene less so, but they were only champions for a week (or less than a day if you go by time spent as champs between when their win aired and when people saw their loss live). So it all worked out. Kozlov retired from wrestling in 2015, his last match featuring Romero as his tag partner. That’s sweet.