'%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)
When done right, tag team wrestling can not only be incredibly entertaining, but it can steal a show. Just take a look at the recent series of matches between The New Day and The Usos. Great tag wrestling can be a hard thing to master because you not only need chemistry with your opponent, but you also need it with your partner.
The aforementioned New Day and Usos undoubtedly have chemistry between all five of them. There are countless great tag teams throughout history that have had it too. The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz. The Rock N Roll Express and The Midnight Express. The list goes on and on.
Listing off some of the best tag teams in history would be easy. What's a little trickier is casting your mind back and trying to remember some of the more forgettable pairings. Here are 10 tag teams from the archives of WWE that you probably never realised existed.
#10 Kofi Kingston and CM Punk
You would be hard pushed to find two professional wrestlers who are more well-liked by the fans than Kofi Kingston and CM Punk. Did you know there was a point during the two real-life friends' careers that they tagged together?
Their on-screen partnership began when Kofi came to the aid of Punk when the former WWE Champion was attacked by the faction, Legacy, headed up by Randy Orton. Fellow Legacy members Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes were World Tag Team Champions at the time, titles that Kofi and Punk would later win from them.
It was a pretty short-lived tag team, hence why most fans probably don't remember it existing. Punk and Kingston held the Tag Team Titles for a little more than a month and after they lost them to The Miz and John Morrison, they returned to being singles stars.
#9 Triple H and Stone Cold
Stone Cold Steve Austin spent the majority of his career in WWE as a maverick and a lone wolf who didn't need allies to run rough shot on the business. However, there were brief occurrences when The Texas Rattlesnake felt the need to form an alliance.
One of those times came after WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001. Austin turned heel by siding with Vince McMahon at The Showcase of the Immortals, and with that, he earned himself a powerful tag team partner in Triple H.
At one point The Two Man Power Trip held the Tag Team, Intercontinental, and WWE Championships all at the same time. Unfortunately, The Game tearing his quad brought a premature end to the pair's time together.
#8 Heidenreich and Animal
Whether you knew them as The Road Warriors or The Legion of Doom, the pairing of Animal and Hawk was considered one of the very best tag teams in pro wrestling history. To this day, a loud cheer from the crowd during an entrance is known as a 'Road Warrior Pop'.
In 2005, WWE did the unthinkable. They brought back The Legion of Doom but instead of Hawk, who had passed away two years prior, the unsuccessful Heidenreich became an honorary member of the legendary tag team, with Animal.
The teams stayed together for a few months and even enjoyed a run with the Tag Team Championships in that time. Unfortunately, it would be the last thing of note that Heidenreich did in WWE as he was released early in 2006.
#7 Edge and Hulk Hogan
There really is no argument to be made against Edge being one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time. The WWE Hall of Famer has won the WWE Tag Team Titles a record 12 times, most of which were with his real-life best friend, Christian.
Well, did you know that one of those reigns was with the immortal Hulk Hogan? During the summer of 2002 before Edge had won any of his seven World Championships, "The Rated R Superstar" partnered up with The Hulkster and the odd couple became the company's Tag Team Champions.
Funnily enough, that reign was brought to an end by Christian a short while later with the help of fellow Canadian, Lance Storm. Nevertheless, the title reign will remain in the history books forever and that is something Edge is probably still incredibly proud of.
#6 Batista and D-Von Dudley
Another man who was synonymous with tag team wrestling is D-Von Dudley. He and his kayfabe brother Bubba Ray were multiple time Tag Team Champions, but in 2002 they were split up by WWE's first ever draft.
D-Von quickly found himself a new ally, Batista. At the time he was known as Deacon Batista and acted as the former Dudley's enforcer. Most of their time together revolved around them beating a young Randy Orton time and time again, regardless of his partner.
The odd pairing finally reached its demise after D-Von inadvertently caused Batista to suffer his first loss on the main roster. After that, "The Animal" was drafted to Raw and began his path to becoming a member of the iconic faction, Evolution.
#5 Ultimate Warrior and Sting
The Ultimate Warrior and Sting are two of the most iconic wrestlers to ever step inside the squared circle. For the most part though the two Superstars' careers were kept separate. Sting flew the flag at WCW while Warrior made a name for himself in WWE.
Well before either man went on to become the huge singles stars, they were a tag team in some of pro wrestling's now defunct, smaller territories. They weren't known as Sting or Ultimate Warrior back then, and as a team were simply known as The Blade Runners.
They began their life as a tag team in Memphis and would also wrestle for the Universal Wrestling Federation. Apparently, some believed that they were just meant to be a parody of The Road Warriors. Either way by 1986 they had disbanded when Warrior left UWF.
#4 The Rock and The Undertaker
Once upon a time, two of the biggest names in the history of WWE were not only on the same page, but they actually teamed together. It came at the heights of their careers too, not before they were famous like Ultimate Warrior and Sting.
In December 2000, just one night after they had both competed inside a six-man Hell In A Cell match, "The People's Champ" and "The Deadman" had a match for the Tag Team Championships against Edge and Christian and they won!
Fast forward another 24 hours though and they had already lost them. The former champions were granted their rematch and they won them straight back, thus bringing the curtain down on Rock and Taker's 48 hour run as a team together.
#3 John Cena and Shawn Michaels
The Rock and The Undertaker aren't the only WWE megastars who have managed to capture tag team gold together. In 2007, Shawn Michaels and John Cena did exactly that, but their time together was even more unique than Rock and Taker's.
When Cena and Shawn won the Tag Team Titles, John was WWE Champion at the time. What made matters worse for their teaming together was that HBK wanted the WWE Championship. In fact, the pair of them fought for it at WrestleMania 23 while they were still Tag Team Champions.
Cena retained his title at The Show of Shows and by that point tension between the two was at an all-time high. One night later, they would lose their tag team gold when Michaels dumped Cena out of a battle royal, thereby handing the titles to The Hardy Boyz.
#2 Bret Hart and Goldberg
This entry on the list is the only one that didn't happen under the watchful eye of WWE, and might very well be the most shocking. Goldberg and Bret Hart, two men who basically hate each other, were once WCW's Tag Team Champions together.
Goldberg would infamously misplace a superkick on "The Hitman" which would begin Bret's slippery slope to retirement. Before that though, while Hart was WCW Champion, he and Goldberg set their differences aside in order to become Tag Team Champions.
While it wasn't the shortest on this list, their reign didn't last long. Just a week after they won the belts they lost them to the team of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. No surprise there and another couple of WCW guys that Hart wasn't too fond of.
#1 Stone Cold and Dude Love
Despite Austin not working well with others, he has actually found himself at the centre of one or two unique tag teams. Triple H isn't the only man "The Texas Rattlesnake" has won tag team gold with, and he actually held the belts with Shawn Michaels too.
Austin and HBK were due to defend the belts against Owen Hart and British Bulldog but Michaels got injured. Mankind offered his services to Steve but the champ opted to defend the championships alone.
Foley didn't take no for an answer though. During the match, he came to the ring as Dude Love instead of Mankind and together he and Stone Cold successfully defended the Tag Team Titles. With that, Dude Love took Shawn Michaels' place as one-half of the champions.
