Predicting the semi-finalists of NXT's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament
The 2021 edition of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament is currently underway on NXT and its sister brand, 205 Live. The first iteration of the contest took place in 2015, where Samoa Joe and Finn Balor were crowned as the winners. Since then, the tournament has become a staple on WWE TV. It has also proved to be a fertile ground for tag teams looking to make a name for themselves in WWE.
The latest edition of the tournament has 16 teams competing for the coveted trophy. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong), MSK (Nash Carter, Wes Lee), and Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) have advanced to the quarterfinals, thus far. More qualifying matches are lined up for this week's WWE 205 Live and next week's NXT, after which things will become much clearer.
Several fans have already begun predicting the teams they would like to see in the advanced stages of the tournament. However, with quite a few terrific teams in contention, it has also become a little hard to determine who will come out on top once the event is over.
Do share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. On that note, let's take a look at the possible semi-finalists for this year's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.
#4 Grizzled Young Veterans (WWE NXT)
The duo of James Drake and Zack Gibson, collectively known as Grizzled Young Veterans, were the finalists in the 2020 edition of the tournament, where they came up short against Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne in the finals. They had a terrific showing in the first match of the tournament this year, where they convincingly defeated Ever-Rise on the recently concluded episode of NXT.
The duo was all set to become a prominent part of NXT's tag division, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions halted their push, as they were forced to sit back at home for the most part of 2020. However, things are seemingly going in the right direction for them in 2021.
With enough momentum behind them, the duo will be gunning to defeat the team of either Kushida and Leon Ruff or Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory, as both of these teams are set to take on each other during the next week's episode of NXT. With Kushida and Gargano possibly colliding for the NXT North American Championship soon, none of their teams are expected to go over Grizzled Young Veterans at this point.