ThunderStruck: Top 25 Tag Teams 1990-2012, Part 2 Of 2

Welcome to part two of April’s column! Outside of having been a tag team during this twenty two year span, my only requirement for this list was that the tag team had to hold a set of World Tag Titles AT LEAST three times. I hope you enjoy the flashbacks!

25. La Resistance
24. MNM
23. Brothers of Destruction
22. Quebecers
21. Smoking Gunns
20. The Naturals
19. The Acolytes Protection Agency(APA)
18. The Eliminators
17. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team
16. Money Inc.
15. Harris Brothers
14. Nasty Boys
13. Public Enemy

12. The Outsiders – Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left the World Wrestling Federation in early 1996 and jumped ship to World Championship Wrestling. Upon doing this, they formed the New World Order with Hulk Hogan after being known as the outsiders for the two months prior. They continued to be known as the Outsiders whenever they teamed together in matches. During their run as a team, they captured the WCW Tag Titles on six occasions, and captured the TNA World Tag Titles as the Band in TNA during their brief reunion in 2010(Eric Young defended the titles with them under the freebird rule). Nash and Hall worked well together as a team, and dominated the competition while in WCW. They rivaled with the team of the Giant and Lex Luger, Harlem Heat, and the Steiner Brothers before Scott’s heel turn.

11. The Hardys – Matt and Jeff competed as jobber in WWF for several years before achieving success. They held the World Tag Titles on six occasions and the WCW World Tag Titles(under WWF ownership) on one occasion. They first became tag title contenders when they had Michael Hayes as their manager, and then Terri Runnels, They are probably best known for their revolutionizing of the ladder match during the attitude era when they took major high flying risks in the first ever triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000, and then followed it up in two TLC matches at Summerslam at WrestleMania 17 with incredible spots and bumps. The duo was later referred to as Team Xtreme for their high flying, high risk tactics in the ring. They will forever be known as one of the best brother tag teams in WWE history.

10. Beer Money, Inc – Robert Roode and James Storm are two originals that were in TNA during it’s early days. Roode was apart of Team Canada while Storm teamed with Chris Harris as America’s most wanted. Roode and Storm eventually teamed up and won the TNA Tag Titles on four occasions and became known as one of the most dominant tag teams in TNA history. They feuded with teams like Team 3D, the British Invasion, and the team of Booker T and Scott Steiner. They are now embroiled in a feud with one another that is expected to resume later in 2012 when Storm returns from some time off.

9. Road Warriors – Hawk and Animal defined tag team wrestling in the 1980s, and then continued their success throughout the 1990s and into the new millenium. Together they captured tag titles in various promotions all over the world and even held the WWE World Tag Titles on two occasions. They feuded with the Rock N Roll Express, the Skyscrapers, and the Samoan Swat Team in their early days of teaming together, and feuded with the Godwinns, Headbangers, and New Age Outlaws during their final major run together as a team in WWE.

8. Briscoe Brothers – Jay and Mark Briscoe began teaming together while still in high school for the local East Coast Wrestling Association in 2000. Outside of Ring of Honor where they currently compete, they have had nine tag team title reigns combined in various independent promotions. During their two runs in Ring of Honor, they have held the ROH World Tag Titles on seven occasions and are the current title holders. Mark and Jay have feuded with teams such as AJ Styles and Amazing Red, the Second City Saints(CM Punk and Colt Cabana) and are now in a major ongoing rivalry with Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team.

7. America’s Most Wanted – James Storm and Chris Harris teamed together in the early days of TNA and captured the NWA World Tag Titles on six occasions. They dominated the earliest tag team division of TNA and feuded with the Naturals, Team 3D, Triple X, and LAX. Harris and Storm are widely considered to be the most dominant and successful tag team in TNA to date, but some argue that Beer Money was a better team for having the longest tag title reign in TNA history. For me, watching AMW’s matches as compared to Beer Money, Inc is where you can see the better chemistry and tag team effort all around from AMW.

6. Harlem Heat – Booker T and Stevie Ray teamed together in WCW and held the WCW World Tag Titles a record ten times together. They feuded with teams like Public Enemy, the American Males, Luger and Sting, and the Steiner Brothers. Booker T went on to have much more success as a singles star than Stevie Ray, but the two will always best be remembered for their time as arguably the most successful tag team in WCW history.

5. Rock N Roll Express – Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson have teamed up since the 80s and have had more than twenty combined tag title reigns together in various promotions such as the NWA, Continental Wrestling Association, and Jim Crockett Promotions(WCW). After they accomplished of their NWA success in the 80s, the team of Morton and Gibson held the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Titles ten times during the mid 90s. Morton and Gibson feuded with all the classic tag teams back in the day such as the Road Warriors, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, and also feuded with teams like the Heavenly Bodies and the Harris Brothers. Morton and Gibson define tag team wrestling and are easily considered one of the greatest tag teams of all time.

4. New Age Outlaws – Billy Gunn could probably have made the top of this list on his own for the success he had as a tag team star, but his time teaming with Road Dogg as the New Age Outlaws is perhaps the best partnership of his career. The Outlaws held the world tag titles five times in WWE and feuded with Kane and Mankind, Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, the Road Warriors, and Ken Shamrock and the Big Bossman. The Outlaws would break up and leave WWE in 2001 and 2004, individually. They would reform as the James Gang and the Voodoo Kin Mafia in TNA, but they never saw the same success as they did in their few years together in WWE.

3. Steiner Brothers – Rick and Scott teamed together for ten years straight before Scott’s heel turn when he joined the nWo. They would reunite from 2006-2008 in the UWF and TNA. The Steiners held the NWA/WCW Tag Titles seven times and held the WWE World Tag Titles twice during their run with the company from 1992 to 1994. The Steiner’s biggest rivals in WWE were Money, Inc and the Quebecers(they dropped the titles via DQ in a Province of Quebec rules match). Rick and Scott feuded with the Road Warriors, the Freebirds, and Doom in their early WCW years.

2. Edge and Christian – E and C teamed together from 1998 to 2001 after growing up together and breaking into the business around the same time. The duo held the World Tag Titles on seven occasions and won the first ever triangle tag team ladder match at WM 2000. They also went on to win the first and second ever TLC triangle tag matches at Summerslam 2000 and WM 17, respectively. Edge and Christian were famous for acting ridiculous and doing various five second poses for “the benefit of those with flash photography.” Edge and Christian accomplished a lot during a short period of time, and for that they come in as the runner’s up on my greatest tag teams list.

1. The Dudley Boys(Team 3D) – Brother Ray and Brother Devon teamed together for thirteen years while competing for ECW, WWE, and now TNA. Between those three promotions, the Dudley’s have a combined twenty one world tag title reigns. Ray and Devon feuded with the Eliminators, the Impact Players, the FBI, and the Gangstas during their eight tag title reigns in ECW. While in WWE, the Dudley’s feuded with the likes of the Holly cousins, the Hardys, and the team of Edge and Christian. Ray and Devon feuded with first AMW, and then with Beer Money while teaming in TNA. The duo has been split since 2010 and now compete in singles action on the show. Because of their dominance, tag team chemistry, and amazingly executed gimmick as an ass kicking team that can work as face or heels, the Dudleys come in at the top spot on this top 25 tag team list.

Unless you’ve attempted to do this with ground rules, I don’t imagine many can fully grasp how hard it can be to come up with a well justified final list. There’s a lot of things to take into consideration, but certain things stand out more than others and I think most will agree with the top team on this list if nothing else. There you have it. Thanks for reading, and let the arguments begin!

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