10. The Outsiders/New World Order (N.W.O)/Kings of Wrestling

(Scott Hall & Kevin Nash)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJWhe_aINXY

-WCW: 1996 - 1999, WWE: 2002, TNA: 2004 - 2005

-WCW World Tag Team Champions (6)

Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were two top stars in the WWF under the names Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) and Diesel (Kevin Nash). The two feuded with each other and had numerous battles during their rivalry. In 1996, Hall’s and Nash’s contracts were up and they opted to not resign and jump ship to rival, WCW. Scott Hall made his first appearance in the company announcing that he was invading the WCW and taking over. Hall had insisted that he was still under contract with WWF and he was taking orders from them and would soon be joined by other wrestlers in the effort to take over WCW. Nash sooned joined him in the angle, calling themselves “The Outsiders” and they had claimed for weeks they had another person waiting to join them at the Bash at the Beach. The mystery person was unvaled to be none other than, Hulk Hogan. The three went on to form the new faction known as the “New World Order”. The tag team of Hall and Nash dominated the tag team division while Hogan was on top as the World Champion of WCW. The Outsiders captured their first tag team gold defeating Harlem Heat. During their run, they would also feud with multiple teams that consisted of The Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat, and Lex Luger & The Giant. They went on to exchange the title on a number of occasions with the Steiners until the Scott Steiner eventually turned on Rick and alligned himself with the N.W.O. and awarded the titles to The Outsiders. During this time, Syxx (Sean Waltman) filled in for Kevin Nash during a period of time while Nash was injured. The team split up in 1998 only to join forces again for one last WCW title reign in 1999. The two re-united in the WWE in 2002 but Nash was injured most of the time and Hall was released shortly after arriving in the WWE. Hall and Nash re-united shortly in TNA with Jeff Jarrett to form the Kings of Wrestling stable but that was short lived with Hall no showing for TNA events. Their last appearance as a tag team was at a Juggalo Championship Wrestling show.  Their longevity as a tag team really hurt their prestige more than anything and didnt have natural chemistry that most great tag teams do. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were a big time heel tag team that were on top of the WCW and the leaders of the biggest stable in WCW history. They were two huge single stars who came together to create almost a dream tag team.

9. The Hardy Boyz/Team Xtreme/The Hardys

(Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyNx2oZezO0

-WWF/WWE: 1998 - Present

-WWE World Tag Team Champions (6), WCW World Tag Team Champions

-Finishing Manuever: Omega Event

Matt and Jeff are real life brothers who began wrestling in the mid 90’s as a tag team working for small promotions and on the independent circuit, mostly in their homestate of North Carolina. The Hardys inked WWE deals in 1998. They started off as jobbers as both singles and tag team competitors. The two then started to gain some momentum as a cult favorite among fans with many matches on WWE Sunday Night Heat in which they displayed their unique high flying  ability they used. The two soon changed their gimmicks upon entering serious title contention. They went from a gimmick similiar to the old “Rockers” tag team of Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels into more of a new age punk style. While working mostly as heels, they also got the managerial services of a former major tag team star, Michael “P.S.” Hayes. Hayes was very successful apart of the tag team, “The Fabolous Freebirds”. Under his managerial services, The Hardys won their first tag team championship defeating “The Acolytes”. They soon dropped the titles back to the APA. The team soon engaged in a feud with Gangrel and his stable The Brood which also featured Edge and Christian. The Hardys soon dumped Michael Hayes and joined forces with Gangrel who recently turned on E & C. The three formed the faction known as “The New Brood”. However this did not last long with Matt & Jeff turning face and E & C turning heel after the “Terri Invitational Tournament”. The Hardys would then exchange the tag team titles on numerous occasions with E & C and The Dudley Boyz over the next few years. After feuding with Brock Lesnar and his manager Paul Heyman, the duo split. Matt Hardy had some success as a singles competitor but was injured a lot and Jeff Hardy moved on to TNA after being released from the WWE for drug issues. Jeff has since made his comeback to the WWE and has been a sensation with the fans ever since. Matt Hardy has really gotten over also as a singles competitor and they are both extremely heralded by the fans. One problem was that they might be more successful as single competitors than they were as a tag team, they lacked originality in their gimmicks, and were never really that great on the mic in my opinion. The Hardys came up in WWE from the very bottom and worked their way up. They were key figures in taking the tag team division to another level. They may be over with the fans more than any tag team in recent memory. They have a unique high flying style that is exciting to watch. When you combine all those factors, you have to put them on this list.

8. Edge & Christian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH94ex3UUFk

-WWF/WWE: 1998-2005

-WWE Tag Team Champions (7)

-Finishing Manuever:  Con-chair-to

Adam Copeland and Jason Reso were best friends who formed a tag team upon entering a career in pro wrestling. Edge and Christian wrestled in the independent circuit in Canada under numerous names. The two then signed a WWE contract in the summer of 1998. Edge debuted as a singles competitor in WWE and began a feud with a wrestler with a vampire gimmick, Gangrel. During a match with Owen Hart at a PPV, an unknown man distracted Edge during the match. It was then determined it was Edge’s brother, Christian. Christian had aligned himself with Gangrel and wore the same ring attire. During the next few weeks they had confrontations with each other until Edge was talked into joining forces with Gangrel and Christian. The three formed a stable known as The Brood. The group briefly joined The Undertaker’s stable, “The Ministry of Darkness”. After they were disbanded from the Ministry they went on to feud with them until Gangrel turned on Edge. He wanted Chrisitian to follow through and go along but Christian refused and allied himself with his brother, Edge. While they were in The Brood, they had a little rivalry going on with The Hardy Boyz. Gangrel eventually allied himself with the Hardys and formed the New Brood. Gangrel was soon out of the picture and the two would want to try and acquire Terri Runnels managerial services. A best of five match series was set up known as the Terri Invitational Tournament. Not only did the winner gain Terri’s managerial services but also would win $100,000. The two were split even after four which setup a rubber match between the teams at No Mercy. The match was a ladder match, which the Hardys went on to win. The two teams sooned switched with the Hardys turning face and Edge and Christian turning heel and dropping their gothic gimmick for more of a preppy surfer gimmick. Edge and Christian really shined in this role as both were really good on the mic and really got over with their new gimmick. They would do various comedy promos with catchy phrases and would often find ways to humiliate their opponents by making fun out of them. Along with their feud with the Hardys, another tag team joined the rivalry, the newcoming Dudley Boyz. The Dudleys came from ECW with plans on taking over the WWE tag team division. Along with feuding with the Dudleys and Hardys, they also feuded with the likes of DX, Too Cool, and T&A. Along with the Hardys and Dudleys, the three teams dominated the tag team division. They helped revolutionize the tag team division with new unique matches like the TLC match. In 2001, the team split up and began feuding with each other over the WWE Intercontinental title. From 2002 on, they had reniouns and teamed together on occasions but where mostly singles competitors. in 2005, Christian made the jump to TNA and became an immediate superstar who went on to capture the their championship on multiple occasions. Edge has also become one of the top stars in the WWE becoming the main champion on both Raw and SmackDown!. Much like the Hardys though, their singles career has overshadowed what they accomplished as a tag team. Both were great stars and had great chemistry. They worked extremely well together not only in the ring but also on the mic. They had some of the funniest and most entertaining promos in wrestling history and may be the best duo on the mic in recent history.

7. New Age Outlaws/The James Gang/Voodoo Kin Mafia

(”Road Dogg” Jesse James/B.G. James & “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn/”The Outlaw” Kip James)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptvL1hCqZWI

-WWF/WWE: 1998 - 2000, TNA: 2004 - 2007

-WWF Tag Team Champions (5)

-Finishing Manuever - Double Hotshot

Brian James (Jesse/B.G. James) entered the WWF as a manager/bodyguard for Jeff Jarrett. James was known as The Roadie and also competed in some matches as well as being Jeff’s protege. James then went on a hiatus until he returned to the WWF as a mid card performer known as “The Real Double J” Jesse James. Monty Sopp (Billy Gunn/Kip James) entered the WWF as apart of the tag team “The Smokin’ Gunns”. He teamed up with his kayfabe brother, Bart Gunn. The two were a very successful tag team themselves, capturing the tag titles on a numerous amount of times. After their continued losing streak after losing the titles to Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith, Billy turned on Bart. Billy became a singles competitor and began feuding with the returning Jesse James, with most of their matches taking place on “Shotgun Saturday Night”. The two then had a battle to see who would gain the managerial services of “The Honky Tonk Man”. Gunn won and was renamed “Rock-a-Billy”. Soon after Jesse came to “Rock-a-Billy” and suggested to him that they should team together because neither of their careers were going anywhere as singles competitors. Gunn agreed and turned on Honky, bashing him over the head with a guitar. They began calling themselves, “The Road Dogg” Jesse James and “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn, The New Age Outlaws. They had instant success as a top heel tag team that were instant contenders for the titles. They went on to feud with the legendary tag team, “The Legion of Doom”, whom they defeated for the tag team titles. During their feud with Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk), they aligned themselves with D-Generation X. They also went on to feud with the stable, The Nation of Domination and the team of Kane & Mankind. They eventually lost the titles to the team of Ken Shamrock & The Big Boss Man, who were members of the faction, The Corporation. In 1999, they went on to focus more on singles titles with each of them having championship success in the Hardcore and Intercontinental Championship division as faces. The two then began focusing back on the tag team division as heels feuding with “The Rock ‘N’ Sock Connection”, Edge & Christian, The Hollys, Mankind & Al Snow, and The Acolytes. During a heated rivalry with the newcoming Dudley Boyz, they dropped their titles to them and Gunn ended up tearing his rotator cuff, causing the rivalry to stall. Gunn came back later in the year as a singles competitor while James had formed a partnership with K-Kwik (Ron Killings). Road Dogg was released from the company while Billy had also moved on to another successful tag team with Chuck Palumbo. Ron Killings joined James in TNA and joined by Konnan, they formed the 3LiveKru. Gunn later joined James in TNA and after feuding with James, he wanted to join the 3LiveKru. Finally Gunn, now known as Kip James, joined the 3LiveKru. Konnan soon turned on the 3LiveKru and Ron Killings went on his own. B.G. and Kip then rechristened themselves “The James Gang”. They began to feud with Team 3-D and LAX. Soon they rechristend themselves VKM a.k.a Voodoo Kin Mafia. They began an angle where they promised a war between them and the WWE, most notably, D-Generation X. They continued their feud with LAX as well as feuding with The Heartbreakers, Damaja & Basham, Steiner Brothers, and the Motor City Machine Guns. Kip turned on B.G. in 2008, thus ending the long stable. The longevity of the tag team was pretty good but the longevity success wasnt very good. They seemed to burn out in TNA and never even came close to the level of success they reached in the WWE. Their TNA really hurt them in my eyes. If they were more successful in TNA, you could make the case for them to be higher but they never really reached that status. They had great chemistry together and were one of the biggest heels tandems in wrestling history. They were special in WWE. They had the ability to either make you love them or hate them with their ability to get over

6. The Hart Foundation

(Bret “The Hitman” Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bzUyuR9i0Q&feature=related

-WWF/WWE: 1985-1991

-WWE Tag Team Champions (2)

-Finishing Manuever: Hart Attack

Bret and Jim began as a low card heel tag team managed by Jimmy Hart. They usually jobbed to the top face tag teams most of the time. Their first sniff of success came during their long running feud with the face tag team, The Killer Bees. The rivalry helped propeled them into a championship feud. They began to feud with the current champions at that time, The British Bulldogs. The champs were huge fan favorites at the time. The Hart Foundation capitalized on the oppurtunity by capturing the tag team titles. They went on to have major feuds with Legion of Doom, The Rockers, and Demolition. They soon lost the titles to Strike Force during a long feud between the two. More success was to come after they turned face. They had one final run as tag team champs before dropping the titles to the Nasty Boys. The team split soon after with no explanation because the WWE saw Bret’s potential as a singles star which may have put a little tarnish on their success and overshadows them. The team had a good long run together. They worked well together and complimented each other tremendously with their contrasting styles.

 

Look forward to Part 2 coming soon everyone. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to email me at cdunfee1289@yahoo.com. Please comment on the bottom and let me know what you think.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Editorial Columns, Uncategorized, Wrestling News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.