411’s WWE’s The 50 Greatest Tag Teams Report (#35-21)

-Back for the second installment of this countdown as we near the top twenty. Once again, WWE crowned the first WWF Tag Team Champions 50 years ago and to celebrate that milestone, we have this list. As mentioned previously, only teams that have appeared in the WWF/E were eligible. So that is why you won’t see Harlem Heart or The Hollywood Blondes. Let’s get to it!

-Tyler Breeze and Breezango welcome us back to the countdown and they are still in the WWE Warehouse along with various versions of WWE Tag Titles.

35. Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show)
-WWE Tag Team Champions; Debuted July 2009

-Another thrown together team and both guys are currently in AEW which gives me hope Revival could pop up, but I assumed they would have already shown up by now, so likely means we won’t see them.  Funny they show Jericho announce The Big Show as his new partner before a match and inside the ring is as one of their opponents is Cody Rhodes.  The story is that Jericho needed a new partner after Edge tore his Achilles.  The main thing I remember from their run was the feud with DX though apparently Shaq was involved as well.  Man, with the JR soundbites here this is basically an AEW block. I also remember them getting the tag tiles back from DX on the same night TNA kicked started their attempt at recreating The Monday Night War.

34. The Natural Disasters
-WWE Tag Team Champions; Debuted July 1991

-This was a perfect pairing and added more years to Quake’s WWE run and helped Typhoon get past his Tugboat run.  The high point for the team was successfully defending the Tag Titles at SummerSlam 1992 in Wembley Stadium.  They deserve to be on the list, but I still think The Smoking Gunns and The Nasty Boys would be higher than them. 

33. The Street Profits
-RAW Tag Team Champions; SmackDown Tag Team Champions; NXT Tag Team Champions

-When they do this list again in 5-10 years, these two are going to be much higher.  Actually, you could probably make a case for them to be higher as it is based on their resume.  I will note calling them SmackDown Tag Champs is kind of cheap, as they just took their RAW Titles to SmackDown and name was changed, so they still haven’t won the SmackDown Tag Titles.  I am a big fan of The Profits and they were MVPs on the Tag Division during The Pandemic Era.  It seems The Profits are the second Triple Crown Tag Team Champions. 

32. The Brisco Brothers
-WWE  Hall of Famers; 3 Time NWA World Tag Team Champions

-Not the ROH ones obviously.  Some great old school footage with this package as they show them battling The Funks, Road Warriors, and Steamboat/Youngblood.  The Brisco Brothers had a heated rivalry with Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch in the WWE.  So this basically confirms that must have appeared in the WWE, but what they did outside the WWE also counts. 

-Just as note Fandango and Breeze show up every now and then and have fun with items in the WWE Warehouse and while amusing, I haven’t recapped them.  This one was too good to pass up though as Breeze is sporting a Rowan lamb mask and each man is trying to a war hammer and can’t do so.  Breeze saying, “I knew Harper was special,” gave me all the feels! Kudos to those in WWE for this nice little moment as they didn’t have to throw this in there.

31. Harper and Rowan
-SmackDown Tag Team Champions, NXT Tag Team Champions

-This team was great no matter what you wanted to call them, but then I am a massive sucker for The Wyatt Family.  The team started in NXT as followers of Bray Wyatt with Luke being the first son of The Wyatt Family and Rowan the second.  We see their RAW debut when they attacked Kane and then the greatness that was their short feud with The Shield.  Oh man, that 6 man at Elimination Chamber was epic.  After a brief run as singles, they were reunited as The Bludgeon Brothers and won The SD Titles at WrestleMania.  I couldn’t help but smile during all this just because of the Harper footage. 

30. The British Bulldog and Owen Hart
-WWE Tag Team Champions; Debuted March 1996

-Sure, get me smiling with Harper footage and then follow it with Owen Hart footage.  All the feels and smiles!  They even tossed in a cameo by Brian Pillman in the package.  Owen and Bulldog won the Tag Titles from The Smoking Gunns at Mind Games and man, was Sunny a smoke show back then.  Owen always ducking in front of Bulldog to mug for the camera was amazing.  The team seemed to be on the verge of imploding, but Bret Hart made peace in a wonderful segment that showed America what real family values were all about.  This made me happy!

29. Miz and Morrison
-WWE Tag Team Champions; SmackDown Tag Team Champions

-Tough Enough Unite! Miz and Morrison were thrown together and won the tag titles from MVP and Matt Hardy their first night as a team and held the titles for 220 days. They got themselves over with their web series “The Dirt Sheet.” Eventually the team split and everyone figured Miz would be Jannetty and it, didn’t happen that way. All these years later they are back together again complete with Bunnies and Zombies!

28. The Bar
-4 Time RAW Tag Team Champions; SmackDown Tag Team Champions

-Nice! Take two tough lads, have them beat the snot of of each other in a series of matches and then put them together as a team. As mentioned they battled each other and started as partners that hate each other and thankfully they went the route of making them bond over beating up people. Their run included feuds with The Shield, New Day and The Hardy Boyz. WE ARE THE BAR!

27. Team Hell No
-WWE Tag Team Champions; Debuted Sept 2012

-See, I would have a few teams higher than Team Hell No, but doesn’t mean they were hilarious together. Their skits in anger management and then having to hug it out are all amazing. This team is more noted for what they did outside the ring inside of what they did inside of it. “I’m the tag team champions,” is still pretty hilarious. The team also got Bryan over even more as it showed a comedic side and proved he was more than just a world class in ring competitor.

26. Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik
-WWE Tag Team Champions; Debuted July 1984

-Heat magnets! Sure you can say it was cheap heat, but doesn’t matter as they were hated in the 80s. Just look at the garbage flying at them in these highlights. The high point of their run was winning the WWF Tag Titles from The US Express at WrestleMania I. Big upset at the time, but much needed as it have the first Mania a title change. Both men ended up in the WWE Hall of Fame.

25. Los Guerreros
-2 Time WWE Tag Team Champions; Debuted Aug 2002

-I love Eddie, but this seems a little high or at least several teams behind then should probably be above them. The highlight package is great though as they show off Eddie cheating to win! Each had successful solo careers before and after the run as a team and that’s likely why I don’t think of their run together as much as other teams on this list. Still, great seeing Eddie footage.

24. APA
-WWE Hall of Famers; 3 Time WWE Tag Team Champions

-Huh, with how revered this team is in WWE lore I kind of figured they would be in the Top 20 easily. The team was put together in their ministry of darkness run and then spun off into a bodyguard for hire team. The backstage skits were what got the team over as they drank beer, played poker, and got into bar fights. The team kept JBL around until they were able to find a solo character for him and extended the run of Ron Simmons.

23. The Blackjacks
-WWE Hall of Famers; WWE Tag Team Champions

-Two tough cowboys that beat up people. Just two big, mean Texans. The team found early success in the AWA with Bobby Heenan and then showed up in the WWE with Captain Lou as their manager. The ended up winning the tag titles and then were inducted into The WWE hall of Fame in 2006. Team was loved so much they tried to spin off a new version in a one of the failed attempts at doing something with JBL before hitting on The Acolytes.

22. The Shield
-2 Time RAW Tag Team Champions; WWE Tag Team Champions

-In this case it is all 3 members of the team as various combinations held the tag titles over the years. Those early days were just amazing and put some new life in the WWE. They really did usher in a new era. They show Ambrose winning the US Title the same night Rollins and Reigns won the Tag Titles. The run ended with Rollins’ famous turn to kick start his run at the top of the card. All 3 members went on to win The WWE Championship including one night when all 3 held the title at one point. The had one last run as a team before Ambrose left the company. Good stuff!

21. D-Generation X
-WWE Hall of Famers; WWE Tag Team Champions

-In this case it’s Shawn Michaels and Triple H. The team formed in 1997 though they really didn’t team all that often until their second run nearly a decade later. That second run is what earned them a spot on this list though they were nearly as edgy due to it no longer being The Attitude Era. DX won the tag titles from Jeri-Show at TLC for their only reign, but they always seemed bigger than the titles anyway.

-Breeze and Fandago wrap things up for the episode. Next time we get #20-11.

-Next week we get into the Top 20 and have some heavy hitters getting ready to show up on the board. Thanks for reading!