Scotty 2 Hotty Details Origins Of Too Cool Tag Team In WWE

Scott "Scotty 2 Hotty" Garland and Brian "Grand Master Sexay" Christopher were a popular mid-card tag team during the Attitude Era, originally debuting as heels before getting over with fans. The two had plenty of memorable moments together, most often with their dance routines alongside other talent. Looking back at his time with the team in an interview on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Garland recalled how their pairing came together. 

"Right before WrestleMania of '98 in Boston, I was sitting home," he said. "I had been home for weeks or months, and they had done nothing with me up to this point. So I'm ready to get released."

The veteran was then randomly paired with Christopher to take part in the tag team battle royal that opened up WWE WrestleMania 14. "He was a heel, I was a babyface up to that point; we had wrestled each other a bunch of times, and also we were just thrown into this match as a tag team. It made no sense whatsoever!" he proclaimed.

At first, the two didn't have a tag team name, nor were their gimmicks harmonized. Garland bumped into Vince McMahon in catering, and told him about their individual past gimmicks. "I said, 'I don't know if you know this or not,' and I know he didn't know it, 'But a few years ago, on the independents, I wrestled as Scott 'Too Hot' Taylor ... and Brian was 'Too Sexay' Brian Christopher.'"

McMahon took the information in, and the following week on television, they became Scott "Too Hot" Taylor and "Too Sexay" Brian Christopher, with their tag team referred to as "Too Much."

Garland recalled that they went by "Too Much" for about a year before being rebranded as "Too Cool" by Vince Russo. The choice was made right before Christopher suffered an injury, and upon his return, WWE wanted them to do something similar to The Hardy Boyz, wearing street clothes instead of normal wrestling gear.

"'We want you to dress like the kids are dressing in the malls.' That was the only direction we got," he recalled. "They got these baggy jeans in the hip-hop shops. We could wear those in the ring and get knee pads and knee braces and all those good stuff underneath and still be able to wrestle in them."

While the two worked well as a tag team, the inclusion of Rikishi led to many memorable moments, such as the three men danced together in the 2000 Royal Rumble before Rikishi eliminated both men. "Rikishi Too Cool didn't start until 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 was less than a year according to Garland, but having the legendary Samoan with them was a highlight of his career.

As iconic as it would become, Garland didn't originally see the pairing working with Rikishi. "I'm like, 'This doesn't make any sense. He doesn't fit with what Brian and I are doing.' I go, 'I don't see this working,'" he recalled. "But that first night, there was just something — it's one of those things you just can't describe. ... I always say it was magic." 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet," and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.