Scott “Scotty 2 Hotty” Garland and Brian “Grandmaster Sexey” Christopher were a popular mid-card tag team during the Attitude Era, initially as heels before hooking up with the fans. The two had many memorable moments together, most often with their dance routines alongside other talents. Looking back at his time with the team in an interview “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” Garland recalled how the pair bonded.
“Right before WrestleMania ’98 in Boston, I was sitting at home,” he said. “I’ve been home for weeks or months and they haven’t done anything to me until now. So I’m ready to break free.”
The veteran was then randomly paired with Christopher in a tag team battle royal that opened WWE WrestleMania 14. “He was a heel, I was a kid up until that point, we’d wrestled each other a few times and we were also just thrown into this match as a tag team. It was pointless.” he announced.
At first, the two did not have a tag team name, nor were their gimmicks harmonized. Garland Caught up with Vince McMahon at Kettering, and told him about the tricks of their individual pasts. “I said: “I don’t know if you know this or not,” and I know he didn’t, “But a few years ago, in the independents, I wrestled as Scott ‘Too Hot’ Taylor… and Brian was ‘Too Sexy’ Brian Christopher.”
McMahon took the information and the following week on television they became Scott “Too Hot” Taylor and “Too Sexy” Brian Christopher in their tag team called “Too Much”.
Too Cool only became memorable a year later as “Too Much”.
Garland recalled that they spent about a year on Too Much before being rebranded by Vince Russo as Too Cool. The choice was made just before Christopher’s injury, and after his return, WWE wanted them to do something similar to The Hardy Boyz, wearing street clothes instead of their normal wrestling gear.
“We want you to dress like the kids at the mall.” That was the only direction we got,” he recalled. “They got these baggy jeans at hip-hop stores. We could wear the ones in the ring, knee pads, knee braces and all that good stuff underneath and still wrestle in them.”
While both worked well as a tag team, Rikishi’s inclusion led to many memorable moments, such as the three men dancing together in 2000. at the Royal Rumble before Rikishi eliminated both men. “Rikishi Too Cool only started in December (1999). That iconic moment at the Royal Rumble where the three of us dance together. That was four weeks later,” he added. Rikishi’s pairing with Too Cool lasted less than a year, according to Garland, but having the legendary Samoan with them was the highlight of his career.
As iconic as it would become, Garland didn’t initially see the pair working with Rikishi. “I say. “This doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t fit into what Brian and I do.” I go, ‘I don’t see this working,'” he recalls. “But there was just something about that first night. it’s one of those things you just can’t describe… I always say it was magical.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet” and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
