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Tag team wrestling in WWE has generally been treated with apathy, with no substantial interest going into the divisions on RAW and SmackDown. Recently, WWE has broken up several teams and has left both the brands' Tag Team Championships with a very limited set of challengers.
It would probably be best to unify the titles as soon as possible, although it is unlikely given the lazy decision for the Street Profits and the New Day to simply swap their belts upon being traded to different shows as Tag Team Champions. These days, tag teams in WWE are generally made up of two unsuccessful singles stars being teamed up together.
This has felt like the case for a while now, but quite a few tag team wrestlers over the past year have actually won singles Championships on the WWE main roster, without taking NXT into account. Some of them are still in their respective teams, while others have been separated from their teams or downright released.
Here are five tag-team wrestlers who you might not remember won singles titles on WWE RAW or SmackDown.
#5 Kalisto (WWE United States Championship)
He may have just become a singles Superstar again following the WWE Draft, but Kalisto has spent most of his career on RAW and SmackDown in a team with fellow luchadors. He made his WWE main roster debut as one half of the Lucha Dragons alongside Sin Cara, before recently being part of the Lucha House Party.
Before joining forces with Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, Kalisto spent a couple of years on his own. He was relatively successful, capturing the United States Championship soon after Sin Cara got injured at the end of 2015.
He showed some true potential with his in-ring skill, as WWE was in the hunt for the next Rey Mysterio. Kalisto is a 2-time US Champion and even successfully defended his title at WrestleMania 32. He continued to do some good work on the main roster, winning the Cruiserweight Championship on RAW in 2017.
With a stacked and diverse talent roster on SmackDown, Kalisto might find it difficult to replicate that singles success after being separated from Dorado and Metalik.
#4 Curtis Axel (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
He may not be with the company anymore, but Curtis Axel has usually been a part of a team of a group in WWE since the start of 2016. He and Bo Dallas were together in the Social Outcasts, The Miztourage, and the B-Team. They even won the RAW Tag Team Championship as the latter.
What may be even more surprising is the fact that both Dallas and Axel have won singles Championships under the WWE umbrella. While Bray Wyatt's younger brother won the NXT Championship, the son of Mr. Perfect followed in his father's footsteps and became the Intercontinental Champion in 2013.
Axel was subject to a brand new push as a Paul Heyman guy but was quickly forgotten by the legendary manager a few months later. Ever since he lost the IC Title, Axel was either a part of the tag team division or at the bottom of the card.
He got released in April this year, along with multiple WWE Superstars and producers. Curtis Axel could have had a much more fulfilling WWE career, but comparisons to his legendary father were not exactly helpful.
#3 Robert Roode (WWE United States Championship)
Possibly the biggest name on this list, Robert Roode has had a lot of success in the wrestling business. He even enjoyed a solid reign as the NXT Champion. But once he dropped the title, things weren't quite the same. Roode debuted on the WWE main roster as a babyface under the "Glorious" gimmick which had fetched him popularity in NXT.
His time on SmackDown and RAW hasn't been very memorable, with his partnerships with Chad Gable and Dolph Ziggler yielding RAW Tag Team Championship reigns. However, Roode has also won the United States Championship. This came at the start of 2018, less than six months after his SmackDown debut.
Roode won a tournament for the vacant title, defeating Jinder Mahal in the final. It wasn't the most glorious US Title reign and it came during a difficult period for the blue brand. Roode's main storyline against Mahal and Randy Orton focused on the short-lived SmackDown Top 10 List, something that very few people are likely to remember.
He lost the title in a decent match against Orton, but nothing from this time stood out. It is unlikely that Robert Roode will ever win singles gold again in WWE, with him and Dolph Ziggler currently pursuing the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
#2 Nia Jax (WWE RAW Women's Championship)
Currently one half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions with Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax's reaction to winning the titles at Payback was so over-the-top that one would forget that she is a former RAW Women's Champion. Another forgettable title reign from 2018, the best moments of Jax's time with the RAW Women's Title came when it began and when it ended.
The Irresistible Force defeated Alexa Bliss for the belt at WrestleMania 34, seemingly giving the dastardly heel her comeuppance for faking their friendship. However, Bliss would get the last laugh as she defeated Jax to win back the RAW Women's Championship at Money in the Bank.
The 'Goddess' won the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match and interrupted a compelling title match between Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey a few hours later, cashing in on her big rival. The rest of her reign was pretty forgettable, which may be why fans may not remember that she held the belt.
Over the past two years, there have been many memorable Women's title reigns, like Becky Lynch on RAW and Bayley on SmackDown. Thus, with the recent step up in quality and prestige, Nia Jax doesn't immediately come to mind when talking about former WWE Women's Champions.
#1 Cesaro (WWE United States Championship)
One of the most accomplished tag team Superstars in recent WWE history is Cesaro, who has teamed with a host of names. The Swiss Cyborg has won Tag Team Championships with Sheamus, Tyson Kidd, and most recently, Shinsuke Nakamura, who is currently Cesaro's partner.
With most of his highest-profile work coming in the tag team department, as well as his failed singles push in 2014, it may be easy to forget that Cesaro is a former United States Champion. In fact, he won the title within months of debuting on WWE's main roster.
He kept the US Title for close to eight months, defending it against a variety of undercard opponents like R-Truth and The Miz. Cesaro even retained his title over WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter at one point. While it was a decent reign, he hasn't seen any singles gold since.
Cesaro would be an excellent Intercontinental Champion today, mixing it up with the likes of Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan on a weekly basis. But for now, the United States Championship remains the only singles title he has held in WWE.
