This is a continuation of the Best Tag Teams post from Monday this week. The idea is to come up with the best tag teams in the last 28 years and rank the Top 10 in each decade. Then, once all the decades are done, make a complete Top 10 List of the Top Tag Teams of The Last 3 Decades.
The wrestling industry in the last several years has seen an emergence of popularity. Independent wrestling has become more and more prominent. Companies like New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor have seen their cultural influence expand with talent exchanges, co-productions of big events, the emerging popularity of many of its main stars among the internet to the point where their shirts are sold in Hot Topic, and the emergence on streaming apps to promote their content. WWE has likewise seen a growth in its company with the emergence of the WWE Network and continuing presence in the global consumer culture. WWE's recent deal with Fox is evidence of a company resurging in popularity and profitability.
Tag Team Wrestling has seen its share of problems during this decade. At times, tag teams were given moments to shine. At other times, tag teams were lucky to make it onto the preshow of major wrestling events like WrestleMania. Still, several tag teams were able to gain attention in and out of the ring to carry on the name of tag team wrestling. The following are a list of noteworthy tag teams that emerged during the last 8 years. As always, if you remember any other tag team from this decade and want to include them in your top ten (if you are following along at home), you may do so. Spoiler Alert: I'm going to forget A LOT of teams here.
List of Noteworthy Tag Teams
Team 3D/The Dudley Boyz
The Hardy Boyz
Motor City Machine Guns
Beer Money Inc.
D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
Big Show and The Miz
The Hart Dynasty
The Usos
Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella
The Nexus/The Corre (Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel)
John Cena and David Otunga
Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler
Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre
Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
John Cena and The Miz
Big Show and Kane
David McGillicutty and David Otunga
Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston)
Primo and Epico
Kofi Kingston and R-Truth
Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan)
The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns)
Cody Rhodes/Stardust and Goldust
New Age Outlaws
The Miz and Damien Mizdow
Jack Swagger and Cesaro
Tyson Kidd and Cesaro
The New Day
The Prime-Time Player
Cesaro and Sheamus
Gallows and Anderson
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins
Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins
Braun Strowman and Nicholas
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Tencozy- Tenzan and Kojima
Killer Elite Squad
Guerrillas of Destiny
War Machine/War Raiders
Evil and Sanada
The Young Bucks
Roppongi Vice
Roppongi 3K
rEDragon/Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish
The Golden Lovers- Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi
The Briscoe Brothers
The American Wolves
The Addiction/Bad Influence- Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian
Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez
Bobby Roode and Austin Aries
The Wyatt Family/Bludgeon Brothers- Harper and Rowan
The Ascension
The Lucha Dragons
Blake and Murphy
The Vaudevillains
The Revival
American Alpha
DIY
The Authors of Pain
Sanity
The Undisputed Era: Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong
Heath Slater and Rhyno
Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton
Breezango- Fandango and Tyler Breeze
Here are my top ten tag teams of this decade. Remember, these are based on several different factors as mentioned in previous posts
#10- Cody Rhodes/Stardust and Goldust- This pick is based on pure emotion, and that's a Rhodes thing for sure. Cody and Goldust first teamed together when they were fighting for their jobs (and their father's) against The Shield at 2013's Battleground PPV. The match was a classic in emotion with great wrestling, nostalgia, and audience participation all put together. The team went on to win the tag team championship. Then Cody transformed into Stardust, and they again won the Tag Team Championship. The two brothers worked tremendously together and had a few fun matches during their run (admittedly more during the Cody/Goldust run than the Stardust/Goldust run).
#9- The Addiction (Daniels and Kazarian)- Longevity gets these two on this list. Since 2011, these two have been consistently a tag team combination having multiple runs as tag team champions in TNA and in ROH. I'm not a huge Kazarian fan, but there's no doubt he and Daniels have earned their place on the top tag teams list by having consistent good matches and being hilarious on the mic at times. So, if Daniels and Kazarian ever read this, have an appletini and call this the worst blog in the world. And of course, you can worship them.... now.
#8- The Briscoes- Jay and Mark Briscoe are on this list because they've been a major force in both NJPW and ROH. You can't talk about tag teams in ROH without mentioning the 9x ROH Tag Team Champions and their impact on the division. Their hardcore style probably wouldn't mesh well with WWE's more controlled environment, and I don't think the Briscoes would ever want to conform their style to WWE. So, here's to the Chicken Farmers.
#7- Team Hell No- Dear God almighty, this tag team always puts a smile on my face. You take this great wrestler, Daniel Bryan, who was known for yelling "NO!" at this time, and you pair him with The Mayor of Hell, Kane. You mix that in with hugging, anger management, humor, and continual bickering, and you get Team Hell No. This team was one of the most entertaining tag team combinations ever with several great skits and a few great matches to boot. If you've never seen Kane in Anger Management, look that up on Youtube. If you know the history of the character, you should get a sick laugh out of it.
#6- Gallows and Anderson- A couple Good Brothers make the list. Here's why: Gallows and Anderson helped transform the wrestling industry through their affiliation in The Bullet Club. Gallows and Anderson won multiple tag team championships and were the backbone of the aforementioned Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Their transition to WWE has been mixed, to be honest. WWE gave them a tag team championship run to go into WrestleMania 33 and were involved with AJ Styles in a feud with John Cena. But afterwards, the only other notable positive thing they were involved with was a reformation of The Club with Finn Balor. But their impact in the industry overall is undeniable. Hopefully, they'll get a chance to show more in the future... NEEERRRRDS.
#5- DIY- Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are best known today as two guys who love to beat the crap out of each other on your NXT Takeover main events. But once upon a time, these two made one HELL of a tag team. DIY was the underdog team everyone could root for, whether they were against monsters like The Authors of Pain or against old school heels like The Revival. They also created several classic moments in their run, including a truly epic 2 out of 3 Fall Match with The Revival at NXT Takeover Toronto. DIY will likely always be remembered as what led to the legendary feud between the two members, but let's not forget just how good this tag team actually was.
#4- The (Broken) Hardyz- The Hardyz had some tag team runs in TNA in 2013-2014. But let's be honest: 2016-2017 saw a massive awakening in The Hardys. Matt's transformation into Broken Matt Hardy in his feud with Jeff Hardy in Impact Wrestling transcended the promotion and became an instant internet sensation. The feud with "Brother Nero (as Jeff called him)" led to the reformation of The Hardyz as a tag team. They began a legendary "Expedition of Gold" that took them to multiple independent promotions to gain gold. Then, the unthinkable: they went to Ring of Honor to confront and dethrone The Young Bucks for their tag team championships. And even more unthinkable, the Hardys eventually in one weekend wrestled an independent show (WrestleCon, I believe), wrestled a Tag Team Ladder Match with The Young Bucks on Ring of Honor, and surprised the world by winning the Raw Tag Team Championships in ANOTHER Ladder Match at WrestleMania! The rest of their 2017 was somewhat forgettable, but it doesn't matter: They made such a huge impact that it was easily one of the better runs of the decade for a tag team. And considering this was a team ranked high in my last countdown, this shows you the power of the Hardy brand in wrestling.
#3- The Usos- The sons of Rikishi, Jimmy and Jay have stepped out of their father's shadow and became a staple tag team of the decade in WWE. They were there when the tag team division was in absolute shambles in the early 2010s. They also were able to shake up their gimmicks in 2016 by shedding away the facepaint and dancing. Instead, they adopted the Day One-Ish mentality that propelled them to the top of the SmackDown Live division. It was literally "Welcome to the Uso Penitentiary." In 2017, they entered into a great feud with The New Day that included several great matches, including the SummerSlam pre-show match (which overshadowed anything on the actual show) and the underrated Hell in a Cell match. The Usos will perform in any situation you give them, any opponent. You give them 15 minutes, and they will steal the show. Here's hoping the rest of 2018 features more of The Usos.
#2- The New Day- Three guys heading nowhere in WWE with nothing left to do. One stupid gimmick that didn't have any reason to succeed. But three performers' legitimate power of positivity and willingness to go full force into the gimmick resulted in perhaps the greatest WWE tag team creation in decades. These three bonded into a cohesive unit that could deliver on the mic, backstage, and in the ring. They have had several excellent tag team matches with many of WWE's tag teams. Moreover, they sell a hell of a lot of merchandise. Don't believe me? Go into an FYE. See the boxes of Booty-Os? And you know the pancake mix is coming. They've even hosted a WrestleMania because WWE didn't want to leave them on the sidelines. The New Day is the best team in WWE this decade period. But... they aren't the best tag team overall.
#1- The Young Bucks- This is going to be controversial because some people absolutely hate The Young Bucks. But you know about them, don't you? And that's really the point isn't it? For two guys who have never wrestled for WWE as full-time contract wrestlers, they've created quite a buzz for themselves. And their popularity has changed the wrestling industry. Their shirts fly off shelves at Hot Topic. They have an extremely popular YouTube show. They helped do the impossible: sell out a 10,000 seat arena outside the WWE in America. They are about to have their own Funko Pops. Their matches consistently are the must-see attractions of the show. They are the talk of the wrestling world. And back to the main fact, the fact that they did it outside the WWE propels them to #1 whether you, I, or anyone likes the 95 Superkicks in a match factory or not. RESPECT THE BUCKS!
Top Ten Tag Teams of 2010s
1) The Young Bucks
2) The New Day
3) The Usos
4) The (Broken) Hardyz
5) DIY
6) Gallows and Anderson
7) Team Hell No
8) The Briscoes
9) The Addiction
10) Cody Rhodes and Goldust
_ _ _ _ _
Well, this is it. I've counted down my top ten tag teams over the last 28 years by decade. The only thing left is to make the complete list. I'm taking only teams that made it in the top ten in each of the three lists. And here's the kicker: a team that may not have ranked #1 in either decade could be at that position given the overall impact of their careers over the time frame. I'm not foreshadowing anything, but I'm just saying I'm not going to be limited to putting a team at a position because they didn't get there on a decade list. I will be posting the final countdown (cue the music) on Sunday.
Until next time, as always, take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.
The wrestling industry in the last several years has seen an emergence of popularity. Independent wrestling has become more and more prominent. Companies like New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor have seen their cultural influence expand with talent exchanges, co-productions of big events, the emerging popularity of many of its main stars among the internet to the point where their shirts are sold in Hot Topic, and the emergence on streaming apps to promote their content. WWE has likewise seen a growth in its company with the emergence of the WWE Network and continuing presence in the global consumer culture. WWE's recent deal with Fox is evidence of a company resurging in popularity and profitability.
Tag Team Wrestling has seen its share of problems during this decade. At times, tag teams were given moments to shine. At other times, tag teams were lucky to make it onto the preshow of major wrestling events like WrestleMania. Still, several tag teams were able to gain attention in and out of the ring to carry on the name of tag team wrestling. The following are a list of noteworthy tag teams that emerged during the last 8 years. As always, if you remember any other tag team from this decade and want to include them in your top ten (if you are following along at home), you may do so. Spoiler Alert: I'm going to forget A LOT of teams here.
List of Noteworthy Tag Teams
Team 3D/The Dudley Boyz
The Hardy Boyz
Motor City Machine Guns
Beer Money Inc.
D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
Big Show and The Miz
The Hart Dynasty
The Usos
Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella
The Nexus/The Corre (Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel)
John Cena and David Otunga
Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler
Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre
Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
John Cena and The Miz
Big Show and Kane
David McGillicutty and David Otunga
Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston)
Primo and Epico
Kofi Kingston and R-Truth
Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan)
The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns)
Cody Rhodes/Stardust and Goldust
New Age Outlaws
The Miz and Damien Mizdow
Jack Swagger and Cesaro
Tyson Kidd and Cesaro
The New Day
The Prime-Time Player
Cesaro and Sheamus
Gallows and Anderson
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins
Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins
Braun Strowman and Nicholas
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Tencozy- Tenzan and Kojima
Killer Elite Squad
Guerrillas of Destiny
War Machine/War Raiders
Evil and Sanada
The Young Bucks
Roppongi Vice
Roppongi 3K
rEDragon/Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish
The Golden Lovers- Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi
The Briscoe Brothers
The American Wolves
The Addiction/Bad Influence- Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian
Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez
Bobby Roode and Austin Aries
The Wyatt Family/Bludgeon Brothers- Harper and Rowan
The Ascension
The Lucha Dragons
Blake and Murphy
The Vaudevillains
The Revival
American Alpha
DIY
The Authors of Pain
Sanity
The Undisputed Era: Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong
Heath Slater and Rhyno
Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton
Breezango- Fandango and Tyler Breeze
Here are my top ten tag teams of this decade. Remember, these are based on several different factors as mentioned in previous posts
#10- Cody Rhodes/Stardust and Goldust- This pick is based on pure emotion, and that's a Rhodes thing for sure. Cody and Goldust first teamed together when they were fighting for their jobs (and their father's) against The Shield at 2013's Battleground PPV. The match was a classic in emotion with great wrestling, nostalgia, and audience participation all put together. The team went on to win the tag team championship. Then Cody transformed into Stardust, and they again won the Tag Team Championship. The two brothers worked tremendously together and had a few fun matches during their run (admittedly more during the Cody/Goldust run than the Stardust/Goldust run).
#9- The Addiction (Daniels and Kazarian)- Longevity gets these two on this list. Since 2011, these two have been consistently a tag team combination having multiple runs as tag team champions in TNA and in ROH. I'm not a huge Kazarian fan, but there's no doubt he and Daniels have earned their place on the top tag teams list by having consistent good matches and being hilarious on the mic at times. So, if Daniels and Kazarian ever read this, have an appletini and call this the worst blog in the world. And of course, you can worship them.... now.
#8- The Briscoes- Jay and Mark Briscoe are on this list because they've been a major force in both NJPW and ROH. You can't talk about tag teams in ROH without mentioning the 9x ROH Tag Team Champions and their impact on the division. Their hardcore style probably wouldn't mesh well with WWE's more controlled environment, and I don't think the Briscoes would ever want to conform their style to WWE. So, here's to the Chicken Farmers.
#7- Team Hell No- Dear God almighty, this tag team always puts a smile on my face. You take this great wrestler, Daniel Bryan, who was known for yelling "NO!" at this time, and you pair him with The Mayor of Hell, Kane. You mix that in with hugging, anger management, humor, and continual bickering, and you get Team Hell No. This team was one of the most entertaining tag team combinations ever with several great skits and a few great matches to boot. If you've never seen Kane in Anger Management, look that up on Youtube. If you know the history of the character, you should get a sick laugh out of it.
#6- Gallows and Anderson- A couple Good Brothers make the list. Here's why: Gallows and Anderson helped transform the wrestling industry through their affiliation in The Bullet Club. Gallows and Anderson won multiple tag team championships and were the backbone of the aforementioned Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Their transition to WWE has been mixed, to be honest. WWE gave them a tag team championship run to go into WrestleMania 33 and were involved with AJ Styles in a feud with John Cena. But afterwards, the only other notable positive thing they were involved with was a reformation of The Club with Finn Balor. But their impact in the industry overall is undeniable. Hopefully, they'll get a chance to show more in the future... NEEERRRRDS.
#5- DIY- Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are best known today as two guys who love to beat the crap out of each other on your NXT Takeover main events. But once upon a time, these two made one HELL of a tag team. DIY was the underdog team everyone could root for, whether they were against monsters like The Authors of Pain or against old school heels like The Revival. They also created several classic moments in their run, including a truly epic 2 out of 3 Fall Match with The Revival at NXT Takeover Toronto. DIY will likely always be remembered as what led to the legendary feud between the two members, but let's not forget just how good this tag team actually was.
#4- The (Broken) Hardyz- The Hardyz had some tag team runs in TNA in 2013-2014. But let's be honest: 2016-2017 saw a massive awakening in The Hardys. Matt's transformation into Broken Matt Hardy in his feud with Jeff Hardy in Impact Wrestling transcended the promotion and became an instant internet sensation. The feud with "Brother Nero (as Jeff called him)" led to the reformation of The Hardyz as a tag team. They began a legendary "Expedition of Gold" that took them to multiple independent promotions to gain gold. Then, the unthinkable: they went to Ring of Honor to confront and dethrone The Young Bucks for their tag team championships. And even more unthinkable, the Hardys eventually in one weekend wrestled an independent show (WrestleCon, I believe), wrestled a Tag Team Ladder Match with The Young Bucks on Ring of Honor, and surprised the world by winning the Raw Tag Team Championships in ANOTHER Ladder Match at WrestleMania! The rest of their 2017 was somewhat forgettable, but it doesn't matter: They made such a huge impact that it was easily one of the better runs of the decade for a tag team. And considering this was a team ranked high in my last countdown, this shows you the power of the Hardy brand in wrestling.
#3- The Usos- The sons of Rikishi, Jimmy and Jay have stepped out of their father's shadow and became a staple tag team of the decade in WWE. They were there when the tag team division was in absolute shambles in the early 2010s. They also were able to shake up their gimmicks in 2016 by shedding away the facepaint and dancing. Instead, they adopted the Day One-Ish mentality that propelled them to the top of the SmackDown Live division. It was literally "Welcome to the Uso Penitentiary." In 2017, they entered into a great feud with The New Day that included several great matches, including the SummerSlam pre-show match (which overshadowed anything on the actual show) and the underrated Hell in a Cell match. The Usos will perform in any situation you give them, any opponent. You give them 15 minutes, and they will steal the show. Here's hoping the rest of 2018 features more of The Usos.
#2- The New Day- Three guys heading nowhere in WWE with nothing left to do. One stupid gimmick that didn't have any reason to succeed. But three performers' legitimate power of positivity and willingness to go full force into the gimmick resulted in perhaps the greatest WWE tag team creation in decades. These three bonded into a cohesive unit that could deliver on the mic, backstage, and in the ring. They have had several excellent tag team matches with many of WWE's tag teams. Moreover, they sell a hell of a lot of merchandise. Don't believe me? Go into an FYE. See the boxes of Booty-Os? And you know the pancake mix is coming. They've even hosted a WrestleMania because WWE didn't want to leave them on the sidelines. The New Day is the best team in WWE this decade period. But... they aren't the best tag team overall.
#1- The Young Bucks- This is going to be controversial because some people absolutely hate The Young Bucks. But you know about them, don't you? And that's really the point isn't it? For two guys who have never wrestled for WWE as full-time contract wrestlers, they've created quite a buzz for themselves. And their popularity has changed the wrestling industry. Their shirts fly off shelves at Hot Topic. They have an extremely popular YouTube show. They helped do the impossible: sell out a 10,000 seat arena outside the WWE in America. They are about to have their own Funko Pops. Their matches consistently are the must-see attractions of the show. They are the talk of the wrestling world. And back to the main fact, the fact that they did it outside the WWE propels them to #1 whether you, I, or anyone likes the 95 Superkicks in a match factory or not. RESPECT THE BUCKS!
Top Ten Tag Teams of 2010s
1) The Young Bucks
2) The New Day
3) The Usos
4) The (Broken) Hardyz
5) DIY
6) Gallows and Anderson
7) Team Hell No
8) The Briscoes
9) The Addiction
10) Cody Rhodes and Goldust
_ _ _ _ _
Well, this is it. I've counted down my top ten tag teams over the last 28 years by decade. The only thing left is to make the complete list. I'm taking only teams that made it in the top ten in each of the three lists. And here's the kicker: a team that may not have ranked #1 in either decade could be at that position given the overall impact of their careers over the time frame. I'm not foreshadowing anything, but I'm just saying I'm not going to be limited to putting a team at a position because they didn't get there on a decade list. I will be posting the final countdown (cue the music) on Sunday.
Until next time, as always, take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.
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