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This past week on SmackDown, Jimmy Uso returned to WWE television. Having been out of the ring since suffering a legitimate knee injury during last year's WrestleMania, Jimmy is now back as a full-time member of the SmackDown roster.
Jimmy didn't have much time to savor his comeback, though. He soon got into an argument with his cousin Roman Reigns over how The Tribal Chief had been treating his brother Jey Uso.
The issues between Roman and Jimmy left Jey Uso with divided loyalties between his two family members. At the end of SmackDown, the situation was definitely placing a strain on the relationship of the Uso brothers.
Usually, when WWE hints at cracks in a partnership, it eventually leads to a feud between the parties involved. Most of the time, this formula works well. However, there are some duos that fans simply don't want to see fighting one another - especially long-time tag team partners or family members.
If WWE is contemplating a rivalry between Jimmy and Jey Uso, it may want to think carefully about it. WWE history is full of examples of feuds between former tag team partners that just didn't click.
In these instances, WWE would have been far better served by keeping the original pairing as a team. Here are five examples of WWE tag teams who should never have split up.
#5 WWE should not have split up Heavy Machinery
The duo of Otis and Tucker, collectively known as Heavy Machinery, were a popular midcard tag team for WWE at the beginning of 2020.
The pair's connection with the WWE audience only increased when Otis began to take a romantic interest in Mandy Rose. Tucker proved to be the perfect wingman for his buddy as he tried to get to know Mandy better. Their friendship came across well on-screen and the storyline received a positive reaction.
Tucker was at Otis' side for much of his feud with Dolph Ziggler over the affections of Mandy. As the angle progressed, though, it was inevitable that Otis would become the more high-profile member of the Heavy Machinery tandem.
With that said, even after Otis won the 2020 Money In The Bank briefcase, Tucker showed no signs of jealousy towards his partner. There was even some speculation Otis might cash in the contract for a shot at the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, alongside Tucker.
As it turned out, Otis didn't receive a title shot of any description. He lost the briefcase to The Miz in a match at Hell in a Cell 2020, when Tucker betrayed him.
The turn - as well as the split of Heavy Machinery - made little sense. Otis and Tucker didn't even have a match after they parted ways. Tucker wasn't seen in a featured role in WWE again and was released by the company last month.
Otis remains a part of the SmackDown roster, but it is tough to argue that he is in a better spot now than when he was part of Heavy Machinery. Currently teaming up with Chad Gable as Alpha Academy, the big man has lost much of the momentum he had in the early part of last year.
Heavy Machinery had real potential. It is a shame WWE cut their run short without any sort of payoff.
#4 The New Age Outlaws were back together soon after their WWE split
While both men had success in other roles at times in WWE, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg Jesse James are best remembered as the New Age Outlaws.
Winning tag team gold in WWE on six occasions, Road Dogg and Gunn formed their partnership just as the Attitude Era was kicking off for the promotion in late 1997.
The New Age Outlaws were a huge part of that time period for WWE, particularly after they joined D-Generation X in 1998, Incredibly popular with the company's ever-growing audience, Road Dogg and Gunn reportedly had merchandise sales that could only be beaten at the time by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.
The team worked well because both Road Dogg and Gunn were far more comfortable as tag team wrestlers than they were as singles acts. Despite this, WWE wanted to push Gunn as a solo superstar in the summer of 1999
Before WWE could set Gunn on the path to what it believed would be singles stardom, though, it wanted to end the New Age Outlaws as an on-screen tandem.
Gunn turned on Road Dogg in late April, before the pair had an underwhelming pay-per-view match the following match. What could have been a long-term rivalry, though, was cut short when Gunn won the 1999 King of the Ring tournament.
Gunn's big push didn't last long. In the biggest bout of his heel run as Mr Ass, Gunn was defeated by The Rock at SummerSlam 1999. Gunn failed to connect as a top-tier heel. WWE fans liked his partnership with the ultra charismatic Road Dogg and weren't ready for it to end.
By the following month, WWE had seen the error of its ways, putting the New Age Outlaws back together as a face tag team. The promotion never attempted to have the pair feud again.
As part of DX, both Gunn and Road Dogg were inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2019.
#3 WWE fans didn't want to see D-Von and Bubba Ray Dudley as singles performers
The Dudley Boyz are one of the most successful tag teams in WWE history. The company officially recognizes D-Von and Bubba Ray as 18-time tag team titleholders - although other organizations have an even higher figure.
Given the storied career of the Dudleys, it is strange that WWE would choose to split them up. This, though, is exactly what the company did in the first-ever WWE Draft in 2002.
Bubba Ray was drafted to RAW by Ric Flair, while D-Von was picked by Mr McMahon for the SmackDown brand, ending their tag team unit.
Bubba Ray continued to portray a veteran brawler with a liking for tables on Monday nights, but D-Von went in a whole new direction over on the Blue Brand.
Serving as Mr McMahon's spiritual advisor, Reverend D-Von was born. The preacher gimmick did not last long, however, and is most remembered for being the starting point of Batista's WWE career. Playing the role of 'Deacon' Batista, the future world champion was paired up with Reverend D-Von for a short time.
Ultimately, though, both Bubba and D-Von failed to catch on as solo acts, and WWE decided to reunite the Dudley's just seven months after they parted ways.
Returning to his Dudley roots, D-Von appeared at Survivor Series 2002 to help Bubba Ray win a Tables match, much to the delight of the Madison Square Garden crowd.
The Dudley Boyz were back together again. Truthfully, the thunderous reaction to their reunion in New York was the only good thing to come out of their brief separation.
#2 WWE splitting up The IIconics last year proved to be a mistake
In the duo known as The IIconics, WWE had a fantastic tag team. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay have known each other since they were both teenagers in Australia, making the move over to the United States to join WWE at the same time.
Their real-life chemistry was clear to see whenever the pair were on-screen together. When WWE created its Women's Tag Team Championships in 2019, it seemed The IIconics were the perfect fit for the division.
WWE was on the same page as fans with that thought - at least initially. Royce and Kay won the titles at WrestleMania 35. Their reign lasted for almost four months until they lost the championships to Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. Despite that defeat, The IIconics looked destined to have many more runs with the gold left in them.
A team with great presence and comedic timing on the microphone, the Australian duo could be counted on to build feuds well - and were committed to improving their in-ring skills as well.
With so few established pairings in its women's tag scene, The IIconics should have been a valuable part of the division. Instead, with no proper build or story behind it, WWE decided to book a match between the Riott Squad and The IIconics, where the losing team would be forced to disband.
Royce and Kay did suffer defeat in that match, meaning WWE was breaking up one of its better women's duos. This choice would have been more understandable if the company had future plans in mind for either member of the team.
In reality, though, Royce and Kay drifted along in the months that followed, both linking up with new tag team partners along the way. The problem was that neither of these new teams were anywhere near as good as The IIconics.
Elsewhere in this article, there have been a number of examples where WWE realized it had made the wrong move in breaking up a tag team - and put the pairing in question back together.
Sadly, this won't be the case with The IIconics - as both Peyton Royce and Billie Kay were released from their WWE contracts last month.
#1 WWE splits up Matt and Jeff Hardy with poor results
As discussed, WWE fans typically don't like to see long-time tag teams broken up. However, when the team involved is a pair of real-life brothers, the audience tends to be even less enthusiastic about the rivalry.
WWE attempted to tell the story of Matt Hardy against Jeff Hardy on a number of occasions. After each had run its course, though, the Hardy Boyz ended up back together as a duo.
The company first promoted a big match between the eight-time tag team champions at the Vengeance pay-per-view in 2001. Jeff defeated Matt in a match refereed by fellow Team Xtreme member Lita. The bout was a flop - and the storyline was dropped. Within weeks, Matt and Jeff were back chasing tag team glory together.
Just over seven years later, though, WWE booked another feud between the two Hardy brothers - and this one was far more personal in nature.
Matt cost Jeff the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble 2009, leading to a rivalry which included an Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania 25, an "I Quit" match at Backlash 2009 and a Stretcher match on SmackDown.
This time around, the matches themselves were better, with several spectacular stunts in each. However, their battles never truly connected with the audience in the way WWE must have hoped. Fans struggled to get emotionally invested in the Hardy family feud. Shortly after the rivalry ended, Jeff left WWE, only returning in 2017.
When the Hardy Boyz made their 2017 comeback at WrestleMania 33, it was as a tag team. Matt and Jeff left the Show Of Shows with the RAW Tag Team Titles on their first night back in the company. Fans in attendance roared their approval, with their appetite to see the brothers as a tandem as strong as ever.
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