5 tag team specialists who became major solo superstars in WWE

WWE currently has a selection of fantastic tag teams across its rosters. The Usos and The New Day are the highlights of the division, and they showed their capabilities with yet another excellent match in the latest episode of SmackDown.

Despite a lack of main event opportunities, many tag teams in the history of the company have regularly received the loudest cheers from the audience. The Road Warriors became synonymous with massive pop during their entrance, leading to the origin of the term "road warrior pop."

However, certain tag team superstars have left their partnership to become major solo superstars in WWE. They have reached the main event status and won major championships in the process.

Here is a list of five tag team specialists who became major solo superstars in WWE.

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#5 WWE Hall of Famer Edge

Edge's resurgence as a WWE Superstar saw battle the likes of Randy Orton and Seth Rollins in violent, outstanding matches. He is a Hall of Famer with 11-time World Championship reigns.

However, The Ultimate Opportunist also held the tag title 14 times in his WWE career. His career in the company saw him as a part of The Brood. Later, Edge became a household name for his partnership with Christian, delivering incredible matches against the likes of The Hardy Boyz.

Christian went on to become a world champion as well, but Edge topped him in fame and charisma and became successful as a main eventer.

#4 WWE Hall of Famer John "Bradshaw" Layfield

While Bradshaw debuted in WWE as a singles competitor, he was soon put into a tag team with Barry Windham. He rose to prominence as a member of the APA, a tag team with him and former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Farooq.

The cigar-smoking, beer-drinking APA was popular during the Attitude Era, but no one expected Bradshaw, a career mid-carder, to achieve major solo success in the company. At the time, the company was plagued with injuries, and under the new gimmick of John 'Bradshaw' Layfield, he emerged as a prominent main event star.

JBL won the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero and held it for 280 days. He remained a major superstar until his retirement.

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#3 Former WWE Champion Jeff Hardy

Both members of The Hardy Boyz have achieved tremendous solo success. Additionally, Matt Hardy reinvented himself to pioneer cinematic matches in professional wrestling.

But Jeff is certainly the more successful Hardy brother in WWE. The tag team specialist of the Attitude Era became a major singles star in the Ruthless Aggression Era.

Hardy has won three world championships in WWE and is still unbelievably popular among the audience. After the draft, fans are hoping for his push on SmackDown Live.

#2 WWE Hall of Famer Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

Widely considered an all-time great of WWE, Bret Hart debuted by dominating the tag team division as part of The Hart Foundation. Managed by Jimmy Hart, the team became an integral element of the promotion in the '80s.

He gradually transformed into a famous singles competitor in the early '90s, with a match against brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith proving his capability.

Hart won multiple world championships and became one of the most popular personalities in his native Canada before leaving the company under less than desirable circumstances. Since his retirement, he has regularly been promoted as a legend.

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#1 'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels

The above-mentioned "less than desirable situation" also concerned Shawn Michaels, who became a true main eventer in the second half of the '90s.

Before his main event success, he was part of the wildly popular tag team called The Rockers, where he wrestled alongside his partner Marty Janetty. The break-up of the tag team transpired in a "barbershop moment" memorable to this day.

Although Shawn Michaels retired in the late '90s, he eventually returned to the ring. Upon his return, he further solidified himself as a legend before his second retirement.