Top 10 Tag Team Betrayals in the WWE

The iconic betrayal

WWE’s tag team division is having a solid run these days. With a list of some strong teams at their disposal, and some entertaining angles, tag team wrestling in the WWE is flourishing. While it is good to see all the tag teams hanging out together, there still is a huge scope for betrayal angles that could make the whole thing a lot more interesting.

One tag team partner betraying the other and kick-starting a feud has always worked for WWE in the past and they could deliver something similar in the near future as well. Before that, we are going to take some time out and look at some of the success stories that WWE has had in the past with such betrayals.


#1 Eddie Guerrero betrays Rey Mysterio

Fre-nemies?

The rivalry between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio produced some of the best work from both these men. Eddie and Rey had a run with the WWE tag team championship after they won it from the Basham Brothers. While they were reigning champions, Rey and Eddie decided to have a friendly match at WrestleMania to know who the better man was.

When they fought, it was a friendly outing, but once the match got over, things started falling apart between these two. Eventually, Eddie betrayed Rey during a title match against MNM and kick-started a long feud between these two.

#2 Chavo Guerrero betrays Eddie Guerrero

Family trouble

The Guerrero family has made a lot of contribution to the wrestling business and will always be respected. This is why a team made up of two Guerreros was treated legitimately by the fans.

Eddie and Chavo did have a strong bond during the tag team matches that they appeared in, but thanks to the problems within the family, the relationship became strained.

After a match against the Basham Brothers, Chavo refused to help Eddie from an assault to mark his turn. After the Basham Brothers did their work, Chavo went in and gave Eddie some beating of his own.

#3 Randy Savage splits up with Hulk Hogan

Savage turned on Hogan on account of Miss.Elizabeth

This is not technically a betrayal, but it did kick start a mammoth feud so this one deserves to be in the list. WWE teamed up Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan and named them aptly as The Mega Powers. They had Miss. Elizabeth as their manager but it was her presence that burned the bridge.

She was the on-screen valet and real life wife of Savage so when Hogan took care of her after a bump and left Savage alone, it initiated the process of a rift.

Savage completed the split when he hit Hogan with the belt backstage and this marked an end to one of the most celebrated tag teams in wrestling history.

#4 Matt Hardy betrays Jeff Hardy

All has not been well in the Hardy household

Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy are making a lot of waves in the wrestling business thanks to their whole Broken Matt vs. Brother Nero feud that is going on in TNA. Before all these theatrics, these two were part of a great betrayal. The incident happened at Royal Rumble 2009 when Jeff Hardy was going to face Edge.

Matt turned against Jeff resulting in a win for Edge and this sparked off a brother vs. brother feud between these two. Although Matt and Jeff were not very active as a tag team during this time frame, the betrayal deserves this spot in the list due to the impressive tag team run that they have in their resume.

#5 X-Pac betrays Kane

Opposites attract, but apparently not for long

X-Pac and Kane was kind of like Team Hell No before WWE came up with the real Team Hell No with Daniel Bryan and Kane. It was a really odd pairing but for some reason, it worked wonders on different levels. The small man and big man combination was good and X-Pac seemed like the first friend of Kane, the demon like character that everybody else was afraid of.

All this sunshine and rainbow came to an end when X-Pac decided to betray Kane during an episode of SmackDown in 1999. X-Pac then went on to have a run with D-Generation X while Kane went on an entirely different path as well.

#6 Rock and Sock go their separate ways

Entertaining while it lasted, but it was bound to come undone

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Mankind managed to come up with an extremely entertaining tag team that everyone called the Rock ‘n’ sock Connection. The immense amount of positive chemistry that existed between these two made the fans love them and they went on to hold the WWE tag team championship on three separate occasions.

The tension between these two started when Mankind found the gift he gave to Rock in the trash. He started a verbal attack against Rock and then took matters to the next level by sitting out of a championship match against The Holly Cousins. The team thus lost the gold and it was the end of a great team.

#7 Kane takes out Rob Van Dam

Kane apparently isn’t the most stable of tag team partners it would seem...

Just like the X-Pac-Kane alliance, the Rob Van Dam – Kane alliance was also a weird one. Both characters were exactly opposite to each other and this resulted in a struggle to co-exist. They did find their footing as a tag team after some time but it would not last long. They had a tag team title run in between the spell but soon, the fury of Kane played spoilsport.

He was forced to remove his mask after his loss to Triple H and Kane took out his anger on Rob Van Dam, who was apparently out there to support his tag team partner. This marked the end of this great tag team.

#8 Christian betrays Edge

Was their separation a blessing in disguise for Edge?

Just like the Hardys, the team of Edge and Christian was an integral part of the Attitude Era. Towards the later part of their run, Edge and Christian joined hands with Rhyno and Kurt Angle. Soon, things fell apart and when Edge went on to win the 2001 King of the Ring tournament by overcoming his team members, things worsened.

Christian grew jealous of Edge and eventually settled the score by delivering some vicious chair shots to the head of Edge to complete the betrayal. This rivalry between Christian and Edge became an instant hit but they will always be remembered for their contributions as a tag team in the Attitude Era.

#9 Road Warriors explode

The Road Warriors are considered to be a legendary tag team

The Road Warriors have their own place in history as one of the greatest tag teams of all time. They hung around the business for a long time and set themselves apart from all their counterparts in a distinguished manner. Hawk and Animal were then repackaged as the Legion of Doom during their time and they also added a new member to the mix in the form of Droz.

But when Animal felt that Droz was ready to replace the unfit Hawk, the friction started between these legends. Animal and Hawk blew off their tag team and Hawk was on the receiving end of the ire, much to the surprise of the fans.

#10 Shawn Michaels betrays Michael Jannetty

That fateful kick that led to one of the greatest in-ring careers in the WWE

This is perhaps the most iconic betrayal in this list. Shawn Michaels first came under the limelight as a tag team wrestler alongside Michael Jannetty. However, WWE soon realized the potential that Shawn had as a singles performer and decided to split the team apart. And they did it in the best possible way.

Michaels and Jannetty appeared in a scene that featured a barber shop and Jannetty was apparently asking Michaels to keep their bond strong. Michaels agreed, hugged Jannetty and then kicked him through the glass window. Simple as that, Michaels propelled his singles career whereas Jannetty failed to recover from that kick.