One of the most important staples of professional wrestling is tag team wrestling, and the WWE is no exception. Tag team competition is distinguished from singles competition as a concept under two-on-two rules. Two opponents start the match and whenever one party gets exhausted, they can tag in their partner to pick up where they left off, until the match reaches a pinfall or submission victory.
Next to a basic one-on-one wrestling contest, tag team competition is the simplest concept of the wrestling industry, but wrestlers have found ways to entertain and innovate the concept over the years. Although most main events are reserved for singles matches, usually for the World Heavyweight Championship, tag team matches often steal the show as the best match on the card due to their high-speed action. That's largely thanks to tag teams who have paved the way for the concept and deservedly hold a place among the best in history.
The Rockers are an honorable mention, since their influence on tag team wrestling can’t be denied. They just lose points for never winning titles under the WWE brand together (at least not officially, their unaired Saturday Night's Main Event controversy doesn’t count). Plus, their tag team run nowadays is more defined by their breakup than their actual run. Still, they remain important pioneers of tag team wrestling that introduced a new style to the division.
10 Paul London and Brian Kendrick
Unsung Pioneers of Modern Tag Team Wrestling
In the same way that The Rockers changed the game for what tag team wrestling could be, Londrick helped define what modern tag team wrestling looks like. Their high-flying, quick fast tandem offense took the model that The Rockers created and elevated it, setting a whole new bar. The same can be said for the Motor City Machine Guns who can be cited as modern pioneers for the same reasons, but they made their impact outside of WWE, not g until recently.
London and Kendrick took the energetic style that made WWE's Cruiserweight division must-see and brought it to WWE’s tag team division. Their run was relatively short, but they accomplished a lot in two years, including holding the record for longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions during the Ruthless Aggression Era. Without Londrick, tag team wrestling would look much different than it does today.
9 Legion of Doom / Road Warriors
What a Rush They Gave to the Tag Division!
Whether they called themselves the Legion of Doom in WWE or the Road Warriors elsewhere, Animal and Hawk made an impact wherever they went. If teams like The Rockers and Londrick wrote new chapters in the tag team wrestling book, LOD authored the text. They innovated moves like the Doomsday Device while finding success across the territories thanks to their imposing physicality and connection to audiences.
The only thing keeping them from being ranked higher in their status as a WWE tag team is that the tail-end of their run left a sour taste in everyone’s mouths. Exploiting Hawk’s real-life drug addiction is considered one of the low points of the Attitude Era. Credit where credit is due though, WWE would redeem LOD with a respectable mid-2000s run honoring the late Hawk, with Heidenreich making a suitable fill-in for one last tag title reign.
8 The Hart Foundation
Executing Excellent Tag Team Matches
Many teams took the textbook originated by pioneers like LOD and found ways to perfect it. Speaking of books, Bret "The Hitman" Hart recalled in his own that he hated the thought of taking a Doomsday Device, convinced it held no regard for the opponent receiving the move safely. Thus, he and brother-in-law Jim Neidhart conspired to make a safe version of the Doomsday Device, which would become the Hart Attack.
That sort of mindfulness and creativity is what helped The Hart Foundation make an impression in people's minds years after disbanding. Bret's creative mind mixed with The Anvil serving as a solid muscle made for a great combination. They're also a rare instance of a tag team never having a formal breakup. They parted ways so Bret would pursue singles success, but would reunite to form a bigger Hart Foundation stable in the late 90s, adding Owen, British Bulldog, and Brian Pillman to the mix.
7 Laycool
A Standout Women's Tag Team
Michelle McCool and Layla stood out as a tag team at a time when a WWE women's tag team no longer existed. In fact, the work these two delivered in the ring and on the mic was enough to peak fan interest in the idea of WWE potentially reviving their long-dormant women's tag team division. Some can even argue that the reason there is currently a women's tag team division in WWE is because of the stellar work performed by Laycool. One of the few bright spots of a watered-down PG Era, Laycool walked so the likes of Pure Fusion Collective and Damage CTRL could run today.
Instead, they dominated the singles women's division as a duo, going as far as to become co-holders of the sole Women's Championship at one point. If one thing holds them down, it's that their superficial characters are often pegged as a ripoff of TNA's Beautiful People tag team (who themselves ushered a TNA women's tag team division and titles)
6 Demolition
An Overdue Hall of Fame Spot
To think that Ax and Smash of Demolition are still not in the WWE Hall of Fame as of this writing feels criminal. For the longest time, they held the longest reign of all time for any World Tag Team Championship under the WWE brand. Demolition took the L.O.D. formula and perfected it, proving to be insanely popular as the dominant, face-painted juggernauts of the ring.
Andre the Giant’s 10 Most Iconic Moments & Matches
Andre the Giant is considered one of the most iconic professional wrestlers to ever work for the WWE. These are the moments that immortalized him.
Demolition weren't just a flashy gimmick on a combined 580 lbs. They were genuinely good in the ring, having entertaining matches with the likes of the Hart Foundation and The Rockers. Maybe it's just a testament to their chemistry as a unit, but contrary to what most people would expect out of two big hoss wrestlers from that era of wrestling, Demolition could go in the ring. It's hard to bring up tag teams or tag team championship reigns without mentioning Demolition in that conversation.
5 The Dudley Boyz
Heads of the Tag Team Table
The Dudleys were always bound to at least make the top five, but a strong argument can still be made for them being the greatest tag team of all time, not just WWE. While The New Day holds the record for most WWE-branded tag team championship reigns at 12, The Dudley Boyz are recognized for having the most tag team reigns ever, including reigns in ECW, NJPW, TNA, and countless other promotions.
There is not a single company that Bubba (a.k.a. Bully) Ray Dudley and D-Von have shared where they did not win gold. Their solitary work was influential in the wrestling industry, while their feud with Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz helped change the game when it comes to tag team competition. To say they are a trailblazing tag team would be an understatement.
4 Edge and Christian
A Reign That Totally Reeked of Awesomeness
During that era-defining trios tag team feud, Edge and Christian would miraculously come out on top every time. Their initial Triangle Ladder Match and their first two TLC matches saw them victorious, despite The Dudleys and Hardys usually being the fan favorites. Even when Edge and Christian couldn't match those teams in of in-ring ability, their dude-bro personas stood out to audiences and helped them get over through character work as the Canadians continued to improve in the ring. It's why they held the Tag Titles seven times, which was record-breaking back in the day.
At the time especially, there was a stereotype that suggested that after every tag team break-up, there's always one Superstar who goes on to achieve critical acclaim and success, while the other fails to achieve the same success. While the post-breakup many of the tag teams on this list suggest that to be true, Edge and Christian break the stereotype as two incredibly popular former World Champions in and out of WWE.
3 The Hardy Boyz
Human Highlight Reels
Matt and Jeff Hardy are another rare exception of a team that found as much singles success as they did tag team success. What's most impressive about this one is that despite suffering multiple breakups, they always seem to trail back to each other's side and not only reunite as a tag team, but continue to find success. Through their evolution, both men have managed to win gold in four different decades, most recently winning the TNA Tag Team Titles in October 2024.
Tag teams don't usually achieve that level of success, especially in multiple eras, but The Hardys found a way to do so time and time again. They managed to continually evolve their characters with the times whilst maintaining the human highlight reel quality that always made them an exciting team.
2 The Usos
Among the Best Since Day One Ish
The Usos are a tag team best defined as undeniable. Even when their characters were at their most bland and when paired with an ice-cold Roman Reigns circa 2016, their in-ring ability justified always being at the center of the tag team division. It wasn’t until the brothers washed away the face paint and brought a new edge to their promos that the WWE Universe was ready to give The Usos the time of day. Once they were finally to be taken seriously once the Uso Penitentiary opened, it was off to the races.
Their career-defining feature came in their feud with the New Day, which included one tremendous bout after another, including what is hands down the best tag team Hell in a Cell match. Soon, The Usos ed conversations regarding the best tag teams not only in WWE, but in the world. Their record-setting 622-day reign helps back up that claim.
1 The New Day
A Decade of Greatness
Even after being usurped for the longest tag team title reign by The Usos, The New Day remains the most decorated tag team in WWE history largely thanks to holding the most tag team reigns. For a tag team that struggled to connect with audiences upon their original debut, crowds have become obsessed with everything the trio is involved in. That level of investment includes their ventures outside of WWE, like a Netflix crossover with The Undertaker and an official Booty-Os cereal release by FYE.
A decade after debuting, they haven’t lost a step, as teases for a breakup have proven to be Raw’s most captivating storyline at the tail end of 2024. On the matter, The New Day also presents a happy exception as a team that never needed to break up to achieve singles success, carrying their tag popularity into individual achievements. Versatile and entertaining with unheard-of longevity, The New Day is unquestionably the greatest tag team to step inside a WWE ring.
