'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The one night of the year where Raw and SmackDown Live collides for brand supremacy is almost upon us.
Survivor Series 2017 will see Team Red face off with Team Blue, champions take on fellow champions, and Superstars team up with unlikely allies in a bid to take down the opposing brand.
Will Finn Balor and Samoa Joe co-exist on the Raw side? How about John Cena and Randy Orton on the SmackDown side? Which General Manager will lead their team to victory?
With some one-off alliances set to be formed at the event, we take a trip down memory lane to see how some of WWE’s elite – specifically those who have been WWE champion – started out with the company and who they initially teamed with.
#1 Roman Reigns & Donny Marlow
When it comes to Roman Reigns and tag partners, you immediately think of his fellow Shield members Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. But back in 2011, a year before making it to WWE, Reigns was going by the name of Leakee and was given Donny Marlow as his first regular FCW tag partner.
The two unsuccessfuly challenged Titus O’Neil and Damien Sandow for the FCW Florida Tag Team titles, though Reigns would later win the championships with Mike Dalton, who we now know as Tyler Breeze.
Marlow, known as Tanga Loa these days, went on to become Camacho on WWE’s main roster and can now be found wrestling all over the world as part of the Bullet Club.
#2 John Cena & Rico Constantino
Way before the days of WrestleMania main events and Hollywood movies, John Cena held the OVW Southern Tag Team titles with Rico Constantino.
Former WWE producer Bruce Prichard said on his ‘Something to Wrestle With’ podcast earlier this year that Rico had “superstar” written all over him in 2001 and was even rated higher than Cena.
The only thing that held the Italian-American back was his age – he was 40 at the time – so instead of receiving a mega push on the main roster, he was given a flamboyant stylist gimmick to help with the Billy & Chuck storyline.
#3 AJ Styles & Chris Jericho
If WWE gives a new tag team their very own shirt, you’d expect the duo to last at least a few months together – but that wasn’t the case when AJ Styles and Chris Jericho teamed up.
Known as Y2AJ, they were unsuccessful in their one and only attempt to win the Tag Team titles from New Day on an episode of Raw in 2016, and Jericho reacted by hitting Styles with his Codebreaker finisher.
This led to a WrestleMania 32 match between the two, which was won by Y2J and is still talked about to this day by fans who were convinced AJ would be victorious on his WrestleMania debut.
#4 Seth Rollins & Richie Steamboat
As part of The Shield, Seth Rollins is one of the most successful tag-team performers in modern-day WWE, but he was teaming with a very different partner to Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns during his time in FCW.
Rollins’ first partner under WWE contract was Richie Steamboat, the son of Hall of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and together they won the FCW Florida Tag Team titles from Titus O’Neil and Damien Sandow in March 2011.
Eighteen months later, Seth debuted on the main roster with The Shield, while Steamboat, who has since retired due to back injuries, defeated Kassius Ohno in his last televised match.
#5 The Miz & John Morrison
Of all the tag teams on this list, The Miz and John Morrison had the most success. The duo held the WWE Tag Team titles and World Tag Team titles during their 18 months together and were named Tag Team of the Year at the 2008 Slammy Awards.
Morrison’s WWE contract expired in 2011 but he has since forged a successful career for himself elsewhere with Lucha Underground, AAA and Impact, and he appeared in Netflix series GLOW earlier in 2017.
As for The Miz, he hasn’t been involved in the WWE Championship picture since 2011 but, with seven Intercontinental titles and six Tag Team titles in his locker, he could well be a future Hall of Famer.
#6 CM Punk & Kofi Kingston
CM Punk teamed with various Superstars during his time in OVW and ECW – from Seth Skyfire and Rob Van Dam to Kane and The Boogeyman – but his first regular WWE partner was Kofi Kingston.
The real-life friends defeated Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase on an episode of Monday Night Raw in October 2008 to win the Tag Team titles, which they lost two months later to The Miz & John Morrison.
Punk told Colt Cobana on the infamous November 2014 episode of his ‘Art of Wrestling’ podcast that Kofi was the person who unfortunately gave him a concussion during his final match in WWE, the 2014 Royal Rumble.
#7 Randy Orton & Val Venis
You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Randy Orton was teaming with Val Venis way before he was a member of the legendary Evolution faction with Triple H, Ric Flair and Batista.
In May 2002, “The Big Valbowski” came to Orton’s rescue during a two-on-one attack from Hardcore Holly and Lance Storm on an episode of SmackDown. This led to a tag match the following week, which “The Viper” and Venis won.
The unlikely duo only tagged together on one more occasion, two months later against Reverend D-Von and Orton's future Evolution teammate Batista, but they were unsuccessful.
#8 Jinder Mahal & Jacob Novak
Years before he was “The Modern Day Maharajah”, Jinder Mahal was simply trying to make a name for himself in FCW.
He was involved in a tag team with Jacob Novak – a two-time contestant on NXT during the programme’s gameshow days – but they unsuccessfully challenged for the FCW Florida Tag Team titles on two occasions.
While Jinder has gone on to become one of the most unexpected WWE champions of all time, Novak hasn’t wrestled on TV since 2011.
#9 Brock Lesnar & Shelton Benjamin
If there’s any performer in WWE right now who doesn’t need a tag partner, it’s Brock Lesnar. However, back in the year 2000, he was teaming with his real-life friend Shelton Benjamin during their early days in OVW.
The duo held the OVW Southern Tag Team titles for a short spell before both were promoted to WWE’s main roster, where they later feuded as part of the Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle storyline.
Nowadays, "The Beast" can be found destroying anyone and everyone when he makes his rare appearances as Universal champion, while Benjamin has found himself a new tag partner in Chad Gable.
#10 Big Show & Ric Flair
The Big Show has had more tag partners than heel turns throughout his illustrious wrestling career. Including his time in WCW, the man formerly known as The Giant has won titles with Lex Luger, Sting, Scott Hall, Chris Jericho (x2), The Miz (x2), Kane (x2), and The Undertaker (x2).
However, excluding a one-off match where he teamed with Arn Anderson in 1995, the 11-time Tag Team champion’s first regular partner actually was the legendary Ric Flair.
The two teamed up for four matches in the early months of 1996 and unsuccessfully challenged Sting & Luger for the gold on an episode of Nitro in April. The following week, The Giant defeated Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
