Despite WWE’s lackadaisical treatment over its tag-team division over the years, fans have always and will forever love tag-team wrestling.
Tag-team wrestling brings a different dynamic to that part of the show, providing fast-paced action and a plethora of different combinations and possibilities. From the WWE’s inception the tag-team division has made countless starts, many of whom have later transitioned into very successful careers.
Tag-team wrestling is all about the chemistry between the partners and how their styles complement each other. Together they team has to be a cohesive unit, but individually each member has to bring something different to the table.
One of the most popular types of tag-team combinations is the big guy-little guy dynamic. Historically, they always tend to work well together. The small guy does the legwork at the beginning and takes the punishment while the big guy gets the hot-tag and comes in to clear house.
Over the years there have been quite a few great big guy-little guy teams. In this article I check out the best of the best over the years.
5: X-Pac and Kane
Before I begin I just have to say that it’s a testament to Kane’s diversity that he’s the only one to appear on this list twice. Oh, spoiler alert.
During the boom period of the Attitude Era, X-Pac and Kane were monstrously over, no pun intended, with fans. They regularly came out to thunderous ovations from attending fans and managed to capture the Tag-Team Championships on two occasions. Their chemistry was unique, with the athletic little degenerate X-Pac being complemented by the monstrous Kane.
Kane and X-Pac won their first Championship together when they defeated Jeff Jarrett and the late Owen Hart in 1999. Later the same year, they defeated the APA to become two time Tag-Team Champions. Their tag-team imploded when X-Pac turned on Kane to rejoin DX.
4: The Hart Foundation
The Hart Foundation were one of the most technically sound teams to ever enter the squared circle together. Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart and Bret Hart rocked packed houses all over North America succeeding as both faces and heels. Even though Bret Hart was the star of the duo, the hard-hitting ‘Anvil’ definitely played his part. His hot-tags have become something of legend over the years.
The Hart Foundation won their first Tag-Team Championship in a 1987 episode of Superstars when they defeated the reigning champions, The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) and went on to become two-time champions before they split up after Wrestlemania VII when Bret left to focus on his singles career.
Although they were never the most flamboyant team, The Hart Foundation have claimed their place in history due to their relentless goal of achieving perfection. They had a very good understanding of ring psychology and crafted together matches that left the audience on the edge of their seats. As with Bret Hart’s as a singles wrestler, they were not only great at what they did, they also helped the other team stand out and look good.
3: Mega Powers
The worlds collided when Hulk Hogan ran out to save Randy Savage at the behest of Miss Elizabeth from a savage beating at the hands of the the Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation, who were heels at the time. After this, Savage extended his hand out in friendship to Hogan in the middle of the ring, who accepted, to thunderous applause.
Their debut together as The Mega Powers came at SummerSlam 1988 against Ted DiBiasie and Andre The Giant. The Mega Powers got the win when Elizabeth distracted the heels. However, jealously had been eating away at the Macho Man, who deemed that Hogan had celebrated too intimately with Miss Elizabeth after the match at SummerSlam. The build was slow in the beginning but accelerated in 1989. The animosity between them led to the breakup of the Mega Powers which led to Hogan vs Savage at Wrestlemania 5
Even though their run together as The Mega Powers was short, they were one of the most popular tag teams in WWE history.
2: Team Hell No!
Leading up to SummerSlam 2012 things weren’t very looking very good for Daniel Bryan. He’d lost the the WWE Championship at Money In The Bank and AJ Lee had just left him at the altar.
Enter Kane.
After defeating Kane at SummerSlam, Bryan became increasingly violent at fans relentless chants of “Yes!” at him. Following this they were both entered in Anger Management by Bryan’s former fiancé. This led to a series of some of the best backstage segments WWE has ever done.
Bryan and Kane would go on to win the Tag-Team Championships. Fights would start between the two during matches but in the end, the somehow managed to pull of the win. In retrospect, Team Hell No managed to catapult Daniel Bryan to the main event scene and eventually the main event of WrestleMania 30.
1: Jeri-Show
I have fond memories of Chris Jericho and Big Show together as a tag team. They complemented each other perfectly. Chris Jericho was the snide, smug, asinine jackass who got under opponent’s skin’s before hiding behind Show who cleaned house.
Jericho had originally won the Tag-Team title with Edge before the latter went down with a nasty injury which left him sidelined for the better part of a year. Who did Jericho turn to in this time of need? Who other than the giant Big Show. The selection was perfect when you thought about it. Who else would a cowardly, sniveling Jericho run to in order to protect his championship?
The duo had great in ring chemistry. The smaller Jericho would do the cowardly heel shtick, getting himself into spots of bother, before the Show came in and rescued him. They won the WWE Tag-Team Championship and the World Tag-Team Championship once each before disbanding in 2010.
Even though their run together didn’t last very long, they’re one of the greatest big guy-little guy teams of all time. Their TLC match with DX in the TLC pay-per-view in 2009 is an all-time classic.
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