The Great Eight: The Top 8 WWE Tag Team Champions

Today, we are continuing our look into the best WWE Tag Team Champions! And we have hit full brand split, which is so much fun to parse through. We have teams crossing brands and exchanging titles, because that’s what happens when you have branded championships, I guess. And despite Vince McMahon doing his best to kill tag team wrestling, there has been a surprising amount of great tag teams and matches in the past 20 years.

Like I said last week, I love tag team wrestling, and it’s been fun going back and reliving some of the best teams to come through the WWE. I look forward to seeing everyone’s takes in the comments section. And I promise I am doing my best to mitigate errors. Please remember I am one woman who writes this stuff during her downtime at work. I appreciate your grace as I try to provide a jumping-off point for fun discussions.

Fun Facts:

Since the inception of the current World and WWE Tag Team Championships, there have been a combined 139 reigns across 113 teams and 133 individuals.

The Usos hold the records for the longest reign at 622 days and most combined days at 1,665 days.

The New Day holds the record for most reigns at 12.

Ranking Explanations:

So, I intended to have two separate lists for the tag titles that are currently called the World Tag Team Championships and WWE Tag Team Championships. These titles are the same as the old SmackDown and WWE Tag Team Championships, and most of these teams held both at different times.

So, for this list, we are going to look at both sets of titles, with the current World Tag Team Champions going back to 2002, when they were called the WWE Tag Team Championships. As well as the current WWE Tag Team Championships, which go back to 2016 and were originally called the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Confused? It’s a convoluted mess for sure. But here we are, thank you, brand split.

As always, rankings are based on the length of and the number of reigns, the in-ring work and promo work, and how memorable the reigns are.

Exclusion Explanations:

Paul London & Brian Kendrick will not be on the list. This is due to Kendrick being a Holocaust denier and for supporting the conspiracy that the Sandy Hook shooting didn’t really happen.

For similar reasons, Team Hell No is also not on this list. This is due to Kane supporting the decision to overturn Roe vs Wade, and the allegations that he pressured people to cover up his misconduct while in office.

Plugs

I don’t use social media, but you can follow me on Spotify, where you’ll find playlists covering every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s. As well as several genre-specific playlists.

Disclaimer:

This is my list; if you don’t like it or have a different list, awesome! Please share your own list and opinions in the comments section. I welcome open discourse about this wacky art we all love. It is an art form, so it is subjective; we all have our opinions on it, and all of them are valid. So, if you want to share your thoughts and opinions, don’t insult others for their opinion. There is already enough negativity in the world; let’s not add to it. And with that, on to the list!

The List

Honorable Mentions:

The Colóns (Carlito & Primo), The Shield (Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins), The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar), Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

8: Miz & Morrison

I think it’s safe to say that both Miz and Morrison have had the most success out of any Tough Enough participants. Even though Miz did not sign until two years after the season he was on, he has had a 20-year career in the WWE, is a former WWE Champion, and beat John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania. John Morrison may never have risen to the top of the WWE, but he had a good upper midcard run during his first run in the company.

After leaving the WWE, Morrison appeared in several promotions. Becoming the TNA World Champion (as Johnny Impact), AAA Mega Champion, and the Lucha Underground Champion. Not a bad resume by any stretch. But before they moved on to bigger things, Miz and Morrison first got over as a highly entertaining tag team. Morrison brought the in-ring action and the tag team experience (more on MNM later). While The Miz brought his charisma and mic skills. The two men brought out the best in each other. And in a time when tag team wrestling was at its worst in the WWE, Miz and Morrison were a bright spot. Their ability to entertain fans and the quality of their work as champions earn them a spot on today’s list.

7: The Street Profits

What a frustrating career the Street Profits have had. So many start and stop pushes, Montez Ford has been the clear breakout star, but he chose to stay with Angelo Dawkins so Dawkins wouldn’t get left behind. I do think the team is primed for a split, and we will see Ford in the Vision soon. But for years, fans have just wanted to support the Street Profits, and the WWE has always jerked them around.

The Street Profits have had two (technically three, because they switched titles with The New Day when the teams switched brands). Tag Team Championship reigns during their time on the main roster. Which honestly feels like it should be a higher number. They’ve been on the main roster since 2019, and there were damn near six years between their two reigns. Some of that was due to injuries, and the almost two years The Usos spent as champions. But at the same time, did A-Town Down Under, AJ Styles & Omos, and Awesome Truth need those titles more than them?

Anyway, I’ve been a fan of the Street Profits going back to NXT. While Ford was the clear star, he helped to raise Dawkins into the spotlight. And Dawkins has more than become a star as well. I’m always happy to see them show up, and their current feud with the Vision has been fun. And while I am predicting this will be the end of the Profits, their time as a team and as champions has given fans a lot of great memories. Two reigns and 430 days as champions, while I think it should have been more, that is enough to get them on this list.

6: The Bar

Full disclosure, I am probably the biggest fangirl of The Bar. I love both Cesaro and Sheamus and putting them together just worked. Becoming a team after beating respect into each other was great storytelling. Cesaro playing straight man to Sheamus was also always entertaining outside the ring. And inside the ring, you had two of the toughest guys going in there and just wrecking shop.

Cesaro proved he was one of the toughest guys when he took the head into the top of the ring post, pushing his teeth up into his gums. And then kept the match going for several more minutes. Like most guys would have bowed out after that. But Cesaro was like, “No, let’s keep going!” While I normally would feel uncomfortable with a wrestler pushing through an injury. I don’t think busted teeth are going to lead to permanent quality-of-life issues.

Anyway, as The Bar so frequently said, they didn’t raise the bar; they are The Bar. And to an extent, I think they still are the bar when it comes to great Tag Team Champions. If you aren’t working on their level, then you don’t get on the list. Their smashmouth style also reminded me of the great tag teams of the 1980s and early ’90s. Teams like Arn & Tully, The Hart Foundation, and the Steiner Brothers. If you put The Bar against any of those teams, you’d be almost guaranteeing a great match.

5: Team Angle/The World’s Greatest Tag Team

Haas and Benjamin found magic when they were paired together as Kurt Angle’s lackeys. Two college wrestlers, with Shelton being a two-time All-American for the University of Minnesota. Ranking fifth in the heavyweight division, and then third the following year. He would also be the assistant coach for the University of Minnesota when Brock Lesnar was on the team.

The amateur credentials of both men made them a perfect pairing for each other and Angle. Haas and Benjamin could out-wrestle most opponents, and due to their smaller size, they were able to sell the other team’s offense as well. I remember digging their style from the moment they showed up. But it was their series of matches with Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman that really sold them to me.

I remember watching their SmackDown match and being blown away. Everything was just so smooth; it was one of those matches that was chaotic in ways only tag team matches can be. Haas and Benjamin would trade the titles with Los Guerreros and Eddie and Tajiri a few times before eventually being separated in the annual draft. They would reform in 2006 but never achieved the same success as their first run.

While their time together in the WWE was short, it was great and gave us a lot of amazing matches. The team would also reform in ROH and win Tag Team gold there twice. Much like The Bar, The World’s Greatest Tag Team would fit in perfectly during the 1980s and ’90s. And honestly, shift their debut a few years prior, and they would have been an amazing addition to The Hardy Boyz/Dudley Boyz/Edge & Christian feuds.

4: MNM

Before Miz and Morrison, John Morrison was Johnny Nitro, teaming up with Joey Mercury and manager Melina to make MNM. The team would debut on SmackDown in April of 2005 and quickly win the Tag Team Championships from Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio. The team would go on to hold the title two more times during their time as a team. Nitro really came into his own during this time; the gimmick allowed the group to be a bit goofy and still get taken seriously. And the in-ring talents of both Nitro and Mercury made them one of the top teams of their era.

MNM was a lot of fun, both in the ring and out of it. I had just turned 18 when the team showed up, and we were in the era of the SmackDown Six. It was a great time to be alive and for wrestling (well, SmackDown was great, Raw was just coming out of Triple H’s reign of terror).

Unfortunately, the team would end after Mercury was suspended due to failing a Wellness test. They would reunite after Mercury returned, and that’s when they started feuding with The Hardy Boyz, and it was during this feud that the Ladder match, in which Joey Mercury had his face caved in, took place. After losing the feud with the Hardy Boyz, the team would end. Nitro and Melina would move to Raw while Mercury stayed on SmackDown.

Like a few other teams on the list, MNM didn’t last a long time, but we got a lot of quality over quantity in the time we did have with them.

3: Los Guerreros

The history of Eddie and Chavo Jr. (in wrestling, at least) goes back to WCW. Uncle and nephew spent years feuding and teaming together. And their time as Los Guerreros helped to establish SmackDown as the wrestling brand of the WWE. They would only have two short reigns, and other teams had more or longer reigns; their time as a team and champions was so pivotal in setting the tone for what SmackDown was all about at the time.

I also have to stand by my own logic: “If Eddie Guerrero can be on a list of the greatest, he should be on the list.” Anytime Eddie was on screen or in an arena, it raised the quality of the show. And I feel that greatness has also put Chavo in his shadow, which really isn’t fair to Chavo. While Chavo never had the charisma of Eddie, he was no slouch in the ring. He kind of fits in the same mold as Dean Malenko, a guy ahead of his time who could have done more if he had shown up in the glory days of ROH and PWG. I think his current career as a wrestling trainer and coordinator for Hollywood speaks volumes to his talent and legacy.

Los Guerreros also gave birth to the “I lie, I cheat, I steal!” version of Eddie Guerrero, who would go on to beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship and put on a clinic against Kurt Angle at that year’s WrestleMania. Los Guerreros legacy can’t be understated. It may not have been a long time, but it was a hell of a time for fans at the time.

2: The New Day

The New Day climbed to the top of the tag team mountain 12 times. The New Day is the most decorated tag team in WWE history, and very few teams in wrestling have a better resume. They are up there with Harlem Heat, The Steiner Brothers, The Dudley Boyz, and The Briscoe Boys as one of the most decorated teams in wrestling ever. They were also the team to break Demolition’s record for longest reign. And they did it all while being one of the most entertaining parts of any show they were on.

Whether coming out of cereal boxes, throwing pancakes to the crowd, or dressing up like members of the Ginyu Force. The New Day entertained fans for over a decade. But it wasn’t just their antics that made them great. They were also amazing in the ring. They gave us so many classic matches, most of them with long-time rivals, The Usos.

The New Day also helped Kofi Kingston and Big E find singles success. Kofi won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. And Big E would use the success he found in the New Day to win the WWE Championship from Bobby Lashley. I strongly believe that if Big E weren’t forced to retire, he would be a multi-time World Champion.

The New Day also deserved more than being asked to take a pay cut. But this is the reality we live in, so the legacy of the New Day ends not with a bang but a whimper. I am excited to see where Woods and Kingston end up and how they can further add to their legacy before calling it a day. I just wish they received a better send-off than what we got.

1: The Usos

The longest reigning Tag Team Champions in history, the most days spent as champions, and part of the biggest faction in the modern era. The Usos are in the running for the greatest tag team of all time. And honestly, from what we’ve seen of both as singles wrestlers, they were made to be a team. And don’t get me wrong, I am not on the Jey Uso hate train. I understand why he had the rocket strapped to him last year. His story throughout his time in the Bloodline got the fans to buy into him.

He had the catchphrase, he had the merch sales, he had the pop. He unfortunately didn’t have the in-ring stamina or in-ring skills to maintain it, though. Had he stepped up his game, we could be having a different conversation. But as it stands, Jey is still one-half of one of the greatest teams of all time. And while Jimmy has never been given that singles ball, he can say the same regarding his time in the Usos.

The Usos also continue a line of great Samoan tag teams, going back to Afa & Sika, The Wild Samoans, and then their father’s team with Samu as the Samoan Swat Team/The Head Shrinkers, and The Islanders of Tama and Haku. The Usos have only added to that legacy, and with them still being an active team, there is still time for them to surpass The New Day and become the most decorated tag team in WWE history. They currently have 10, so they only need to win three more titles to cement their legacy as the greatest team in WWE history.

Preview:

Tune in next week when we look at the top eight WWE Women’s Champions! (I will be combining both current lineages as I did here.)