The 20 Best WWE Tag Teams of All Time, Ranked

The Soul Patrol was the team of “Soul Man” Rocky Johnson and “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas. I feel like they have to make every best WWE tag teams list due to the sole accolade of them being the first-ever black WWF Tag Team Champions. Not only that but when they defeated The Wild Samoans in 1983, they were the first-ever black wrestlers to win championship gold in the WWF overall at that point in time. Although their run as a team wasn’t long and their title reign only lasted 154 days, the significance of their accomplishments will always be notable and groundbreaking.

If this was a list of the greatest tag teams of all time from all promotions, The Steiner Brothers would possibly be in the top ten. They began teaming up in 1989, stayed as a team until 1998, and then reunited randomly in the 2000s. They actually had a pretty decent run in the WWF from 1992 to 1994. They were popular from the moment they stepped onto the scene with a reputation that obviously preceded them. They won the tag titles on two occasions and left their impact after their short yet storied stint in the WWF.

Marty Janetty and Shawn Michaels first paired up as a tag team in 1986 and became the Midnight Rockers in the AWA. Although they got fired from their first stint in the WWF due to unprofessionalism, they got a second chance in 1988. Their style of wrestling was super unique at the time thanks to their high-flying, fast-paced style that was definitely ahead of its time. They became immensely popular with the fans during their historic run. Sadly, they never “officially” won the tag team titles as the one time they did, the decision was reversed and the match was never aired on TV. They broke up in 1992 when Michaels wanted to pursue a singles career, but older fans will always look back fondly at The Rockers.

The era in which Brian Kendrick and Paul London were on top was a period where I wasn’t really watching SmackDown every week. But I do remember them having a historic tag team title reign. They are two-time tag team champions - what's most impressive is when they held the WWE Tag Team Championship belts for 331 days from May 2006 to April 2007. Although they were smaller guys, they overcame all comers with their awesome mix of speed and unorthodox maneuvers. They would team up from 2005 to 2008.

There have been a lot of talks about the "Samoan Dynasty" while there’s a whole angle about The Bloodline in the WWE is going strong. It all goes back to The Wild Samoans, which were composed of Afa and Sika. They have claimed 21 tag team championships around the world and three of them were won while they were in the WWF. They were wild savages that rarely spoke and were paired up with legendary manager Captain Lou Albano. They paved the way for Samoans in professional wrestling with their children and grandchildren continuing their grand legacy in the current day. Big names such as Yokozuna, Roman Reigns, Rikishi, Samu, Umaga, and The Usos are directly derived from The Wild Samoans lineage.

The pairing of Owen Hart and "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith certainly wasn't a random one. They were brothers-in-law, had a common dislike for Bret Hart, and took on Jim Cornette as a manager to be part of Camp Cornette. Simply put, they complimented each other perfectly. Davey Boy was the powerhouse with strength and agility. Owen Hart was the more flamboyant and technical worker who brought more of an aerial assault element to the team. Together they would capture the WWF Tag Team Championships on one occasion and hold onto the titles for 246 days.

WE LIE! WE CHEAT! WE STEAL! Those Los Guerreros vignettes will never get old. The real-life uncle and nephew duo of Eddie and Chavo Guerrero Jr. just meshed so well together as a tag team. They were funny and never hesitated to take shortcuts to get the W. In their two years together as a team, they were able to win the WWE Tag Team titles on two occasions before Chavo would eventually turn on his uncle Eddie out of jealousy due to Eddie’s singles ascension up the card. It does make you wonder though if Eddie hadn’t passed away in 2005 if we’d ever see Chavo and Eddie get back together and embrace their old tactics once again. This high-flying, technical combination will always be a bonafide pick on any list of the best WWE tag teams.

Sheamus and Cesaro are two of the strongest and toughest guys in the WWE. They were quickly involved in a best-of-seven series after they were both drafted to Raw in 2016. The series ended with them becoming a team where the unlikely duo from Europe would dominate the tag team division for the next two years. They became record-setting four-time Raw Tag Team Champions and a one-time Smackdown Tag Team Champions. They definitely lived up to their motto of not setting the bar... BECAUSE THEY WERE THE BAR!

Although The Shield is technically a trio and they didn’t really abide by the "Freebird Rule" when they were tag team champions, when they were involved in the division they were extremely dominant. It wasn’t good news for anyone once they found out they had to deal with The Shield in a tag team environment. It didn’t matter the combination because they were dominant no matter the duo. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns first won the tag team titles in 2012 and proceeded to hold onto them for five months. In 2017 when The Shield reunited, Dean Ambrose would be the one to win the tag team titles with Rollins and they would do the same again in 2018 prior to Ambrose turning on Rollins.

"OH, WHAT A RUSH!" The Road Warriors may be considered one of the top five greatest tag teams of all time in the overall scheme of things. However, if we’re just living in the WWE bubble they’re a little higher on the list. It’s not that they weren’t as successful in the WWE as The Legion of Doom but their runs weren’t as spectacular as they were elsewhere. They would first appear in the WWF in 1990 and claim the tag team titles in 1991. But they would soon be gone by 1992 shortly after more unfortunate changes were made to their characters. They returned in 1997 still as popular as ever, winning the tag team titles again on one occasion. They certainly had some memorable moments during that second WWF run, but left again after a year of more unpopular changes made to their gimmicks.

The British Bulldogs Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith (who are real-life cousins) joined the WWF following Vince McMahon’s buyout of Stampede Wrestling. Right off the bat, they feuded with The Hart Foundation and produced a string of incredible matches in the process. They would win the tag team titles from The Dream Team, thereby cementing their place in WWF history as one of the very best tag teams. The best aspect of The Bulldogs was just how ahead of their time they were. They were both fast and agile for their sizes, but also could technically wrestle with the best of them. They influenced many tag teams of the future and are still talked about to this very day.

Whether they were really WWF’s answer to creating their own Road Warriors or not will always be up for debate. But it doesn’t take away from the success of Demolition in the 80s and 90s. Although there were different incarnations both before and after, the most popular version of this team consisted of veteran Bill Eadie as Ax and the talented Barry Darsow as Smash. They are still the longest reigning tag team champions of the original lineage of the WWF tag team titles after winning them in 1988 and holding them for 478 days. They are still the fourth-longest-reigning tag team champions in WWF history. They would win the titles on three occasions before separating in 1991. By that point, it was easy to see why they were noted by many as one of the best WWE tag teams of all time.

The Brothers of Destruction combination of The Undertaker and Kane could also be considered as two singles wrestlers coming together to create a super team. But in this case, they were different. They would tag together frequently over three different decades and they won the tag titles on three different occasions. Also, they had the connection of being family even if it was by kayfabe standards (which means even if they would have a falling out and reunite on multiple occasions, that was normal). When they were together, they were almost unstoppable and it put the entire tag division on notice. They’re the biggest exception to my rule that's clearly stated in the intro to this list full of goated WWE tag teams.

"OH, YOU DIDN’T KNOW!!!" The New Age Outlaws were a team that was born when two superstars who were lost due to some bad creative direction came together to rule the tag team division. In 1997, Billy Gunn had been trying to find himself as a solo superstar since leaving The Smokin’ Gunns by adopting the Rockabilly gimmick. Jesse James was still calling himself “The Real Double J" at the time, even though Jeff Jarrett had already left the company. Gunn became “Bad Ass” (eventually “Mr. Ass”) Billy Gunn while Jesse James would go on to become The Road Dogg based on his previous gimmick as The Roadie. They would eventually join DX, create a memorable schtick for their entrance that the fans loved to sing along with, and won the tag titles on six occasions (including one time during the second run in 2014.)

Edge and Christian have been friends since childhood, but were first seen together in the WWF as a tag team when they joined Gangrel to create The Brood in 1998. However, even after The Brood separated, the two would go on to reach higher levels of success, especially with their feuds against The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz. Although their careers would cross paths for the most part even up until today, they were only together as a focused unit from 1998 to 2001. In that time, they would become the tag team champions an unprecedented seven times. They helped usher in a new era of Ladder Matches, were comedic when necessary, and would both go on to have successful singles careers.

The Dudley Boyz might be the most decorated tag team (FTR is coming for that accolade, though!) of all time with over 30 tag team title reigns claimed across their legendary career. Although they got their break by being formed in ECW, their popularity reached a different level once they came over to the WWF. Their unique presentation, the fact that we were supposed to believe they were half-brothers from a place called "Dudleyville," and their infatuation with putting people through tables made it hard not to root for them. They popularized table matches in the WWF. They are the fathers of the TLC match with Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz. And they won the WWF Tag Team Titles nine times over their storied stints with the company.

When it’s all said and done or even just a few years from now, The Usos might end up topping this list of the best WWE tag teams. The twin brothers and sons of WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi have been with the WWE for over a decade, making their debut in 2010. They have been a staple in the tag division ever since having memorable feuds with countless teams during the historic run. They are currently on their eighth reign as tag team champions and played a major role in the three-year Bloodline storyline (2023). They evolved over the years and seem to have really found themselves these days by being more like their actual personalities in real life. I can only imagine them continuing to dominate for as long as they want to and might be the only team I never want to see turn on each other.

The "Pink and Black Attack" might have been the best tag team of the 80s and early 90s for the WWF. At first, The Hart Foundation mainly consisted of Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. Bret was a technician who would target a specific body part with precision and also emphasized his impressive sense of speed. The Anvil was a powerhouse who would intimidate and overpower his opponents. They complimented each other perfectly, thereby creating the perfect tag team. They only had two championship reigns during their partnership that lasted from 1985 to 1991, but they were always a staple of the WWF tag team division. They have influenced many modern-day tag teams and will go down in history as one of the very best.

The Hardy Boyz ARE brothers, incredibly unique, and above all else...XTREME! They worked as WWF enhancement talent until officially being signed and paired up with Michael Hayes in 1998. They immediately became popular for their high-flying tactics and daredevil-like antics. They had 0 fear, lived in the moment, and would take any risk just for the adrenaline rush they got from their in-ring exploits. Their feuds with The Dudleyz and Edge & Christian are simply unforgettable. They also helped popularize TLC matches along with those two teams. During all of their stints as a team, they enjoyed eight-tag team title runs in the WWF/E. The pop they got when they returned in 2017 was the perfect example of just how popular The Hardy Boyz were for an entire generation of wrestling fans.

"IT'S A NEW DAY! YES, IT IS!" Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods were three singles wrestlers with a ton of potential but no direction. They came together as a group in 2014, which people were expecting to be the second coming of The Nation of Domination. But instead, we got three super animated personalities preaching positivity and the rest was history.

They are now one of the most decorated and popular tag teams in WWE history that continued to evolve and stay over with the fans as a stable. Whether it was new props, new catchphrases, their ability to stay in tune with pop culture, or just flat-out being entertaining, you can’t deny that The New Day knows how to stay relevant. The three of them actually embrace the Freebird Rule (more so in their early days) when they are tag team champions, which means any combination of the two of them can defend the titles at any time. They have won tag team gold 11 times on the main roster and one time recently on NXT (in 2023).

It’s never a surprise if or when The New Day win the tag titles, especially considering the success they have reached both as a team and as single stars in the eight years they have been together.