THE DREAM TEAM
Greg "The Hammer" Valentine & Brutus Beefcake
1985-1987
WWF Tag Team Champions
Written by Adam Zimmerman
The formation of The Dream Team dates back to May 1985. Greg Valentine (managed by Jimmy Hart) was the current WWF Intercontinental Champion and was embroiled in a brutal feud with former champion, Tito Santana. Johhny Valiant's charge, Brutus Beefcake, was teamed up with Valentine in order to help him fend off Santana and other top contenders such as The Junkyard Dog. Thus, The Dream Team was born.
This particular team was one of my favorite tag teams as a kid. My dad and uncle used to tell me stories about the legendary tag team of Johnny Valentine and Ric Flair and how after the infamous plane crash; Greg had to fill his father's role on the team. All of their stories had built Valentine up to a somewhat "mythical level" to me by the time I saw him begin to team up with Beefcake. Brutus, I was far less familiar with but he had the stamp of approval of my favorite WWF manager "Luscious" Johhny V, so that was good enough for me.
Valentine and the future Barber didn't team up for the long term (roughly around two years or so) but they perhaps became every bit as formidable as Valentine's prior team. After Valentine eventually lost his IC title to Tito Santana; The Dream Team set their sights on tag team gold.
Around this time, Johnny V became the sole manager of the team and they focused on taking out the current champs, The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo).
After eventually securing the titles away from the U.S. Express, Beefcake and Valentine began a feud with The British Bulldogs that culminated when the two teams met at Wrestlemania 2 with Ozzy Osbourne in The Bulldogs' corner; a match which the Bulldogs won.
After this setback, The Dream Team slowly slipped down the card and Johhny V's latest protege, Dino Bravo, was brought in to assist the team in 6 man tag matches. At WrestleMania III, The Dream Team and The Fabulous Rougeaus met head to head in what would be the original Dream Team's last match. After winning the match because of Dino Bravo's interference, they all began to argue and Beefcake was kicked off the team.
Bravo and Valentine then formed The New Dream Team but it was never quite the same and they never did win another championship. Interestingly enough, many years later, Beefcake and Valentine reunited as The Dream Team on several independent shows over the span of a decade or so.
Always a favorite of mine; I'm glad I got to give them a spotlight for Tag Team Appreciation Month.