Gimmicks have been an integral part of wrestling from its 'carny' origins in the late 1800s. Over the centuries, many common character tropes have become established - the plucky, heroic American underdog; the foreign heel; the inhuman monster heel - even occupation-based gimmicks like jolly farmers and villainous tax collectors.
Ultimately, however, there are only so many ideas to go around. While occasionally, a performer can 'have their finger on the pulse' of current pop culture trends or break previously-established taboos or other barriers, for most up-and-coming wrestlers trying to figure out how they want to present themselves, there are only so many templates to start with.
It should come as no surprise, then, many gimmicks in wrestling aren't exactly original. Tag teams are no exception, as copycats can seem to be even more prevalent. After all, if it's hard enough to find a gimmick that works for one performer, imagine how tough it can get for a duo looking to take on the wrestling world together. Without further ado, let's take a look at five tag teams whose gimmicks were not only clear rip-offs but unsuccessful ones at that - and five more which surprisingly worked.
10 The Powers of Pain - Failed
The first entry on our list should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. While the Road Warriors were probably the first - and undoubtedly the most successful - tag team to take cues from the Mad Max movie franchise, they were far from the only ones. Legions (no pun intended) of imitators would emerge as Hawk and Animal rose in popularity in each organization they chose to invade, be it the AWA, NWA, or WWE. While some of these imitators were successful, most paled in comparison to the originals, and the Powers of Pain - the Barbarian and the Warlord - were no exception.
When the PoP, with manager Paul Jones, joined Jim Crockett Promotions, they feuded with the original Road Warriors early in their career, as the Warriors had already been there since early 1986. They were unable to knock off the future LOD before moving on to the WWE as babyfaces in 1988, where they'd execute one of the first widely-seen examples of a double turn with Demolition, aligning themselves with Ax and Smash's now-former manager - the devious Mr. Fuji. Despite their high-profile start, they'd meander throughout the division for the next two years, mostly losing in feuds to the Federation's more popular teams before eventually being split. Believe it or not, The Powers of Pain still occasionally team on the independent circuit.
9 Legion of Doom 2005 - Failed
Another team that ripped off Hawk and Animal while achieving nowhere near the level of success as the original, this one's a bit different as it involved a member of the original team. Joe Laurinaitis could easily be forgiven for wanting to continue pursuing his extremely successful gimmick as Animal, one half of the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom, after his longtime original partner's death in 2003. However, his choice of Heidenreich as his new partner - and the storyline surrounding it - left quite a bit to be desired by fans. While Animal would win WWE tag team gold with the face-painted poet, the team would last for less than six months before breaking up when Heidenreich was released from his contract.
8 The Horsemen (Anderson and Roma) - Failed
The tag team of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard - known as half of The Four Horsemen in Jim Crockett Promotions and as the Brainbusters (with manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan) in WWE - is widely considered one of the greatest of all time by most measures. When WCW tried to recreate the magic with a full-time Horsemen reunion at Slamboree 1993, fans were wondering who the other members would be, as originals Ric Flair, 'Double A' and his on-screen brother Ole were already confirmed. Rumors swirled about it being Blanchard, who'd largely been inactive since his WWE run.
With negotiations with Tully supposedly breaking down at the last minute, PPV viewers were left with the Horsemen debut of 'Pretty' Paul Roma, a former amateur boxer who'd teamed with 'superstars' such as Jim Powers and Hercules in WWE. Although the duo would be given a run with the tag titles in an attempt to push this new, babyface rendition (which didn't even have four active members), Roma would eventually turn on the 'Enforcer' to find himself a better fit - and hold more WCW tag team gold - with "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff as Pretty Wonderful.
7 The Hart Dynasty - Failed
The Hart Dynasty of Harry/DH/David Hart Smith and TJ Wilson/Tyson Kidd - with Natalya as manager - had all the makings of a successful venture. Boasting a childhood of growing up surrounded by Canadian wrestling royalty in the Hart family, the three were pushed hard, first in Florida Championship Wrestling and later on the main roster. Each took major portions of their gimmicks from their respective famous kin - in Smith's case, his father 'British Bulldog' Davey Boy Smith and in Natalya and Kidd's case, from the Hart Foundation - and were frequently accompanied by their Uncle Bret after he returned to WWE. However, they never could replicate the incredible success of their ancestors and despite holding the Unified Tag Team Championship at one point, they broke up, resulting in a short feud between Kidd and Smith which received little interest from fans in 2010.
6 The New Rockers (and almost all 'New' teams) - Failed
The New Rockers are the choice here, but most 'New (Anything)' teams - the New Blackjacks, the New Midnight Express, the New Foundation, even the New Brood - have seemingly struggled for relevance. Some featured an original member of the team - in this case, Marty Jannetty, who'd returned from another firing and whose career was on quite a different trajectory than that of his original Rockers partner, Shawn Michaels. Others were simply unrelated wrestlers playing 'dress up' - here, it was Al Snow as Leif Cassidy, a tongue-in-cheek name which nobody under a certain age cared about, even in the mid-1990s. Either way, these not-so-'New' gimmicks seldom experience much success because fans usually see them for what they are - a cynical attempt to take the easy way out with an uncreative idea.
5 Hollywood Blonds - Worked
Many of wrestling's most famous figures - Gorgeous George, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels, just to name a few - have been some variation of a vain, arrogant, blonde-haired heel, and tag teams like the Hollywood Blondes duo of Stunning Steve Austin and Flyin' Brian Pillman have been no exception. However, it might surprise some to know that long before the pair began making waves in WCW in the mid-1990s, several other teams had seen varying levels of success with not only a very similar gimmick but literally the same name!
In the 1970s, future 'Freebird' Buddy Roberts would team with Jerry Brown to form the original 'Blonds,' lasting most of the decade and winning championships throughout their native NWA Tri-State territory and Japan. Then, in 1984, Rip Rogers and Ted Oates would don the gimmick in NWA Mid-Atlantic, briefly winning the territory's tag belts before splitting later in the year. However, while Austin and Pillman would go on to much greater notoriety for other reasons, their natural fit as a tag team could be described as the beginning of a bigger spotlight on both men - even if it seemed unlikely at the time. For that reason alone, their partnership under the 'Blonds' gimmick has to be considered a success.
4 The (Midnight) Rockers - Worked
The team of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty were, by all accounts, true to their gimmick. The hard-partying youngsters saw early success - especially with the ladies - as the Midnight Rockers in the AWA, before joining the WWF in 1987.
So if a gimmick is based on reality - and Shawn and Marty were known for Rocking well-past Midnight in those days, how can it be deemed a rip-off? Well, if anyone saw Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson - the Rock 'N' Roll Express - in Memphis in the early 1980s, it was clear who the fresh-faced duo was imitating. The Rockers would even meet the 'RNRs' in the ring in Tennesse's CWA shortly after being fired from their first short stint in the WWF. While the Rockers' partnership in the WWF would be fairly short-lived - with one weird unofficial Tag Title win to speak of - their iconic breakup alone (featuring Jannetty's dive through Brutus Beefcake's Barber Shop window in a cowardly attempt to escape HBK's wrath) ensures their place in fans' minds, proving their success as a team.
3 Demolition - Worked
Demolition probably shouldn't have worked. Another Mad Max-inspired gimmick, suspicious fans could easily have interpreted the debut of Ax and Smash as the WWF's attempt to create their version of the AWA and NWA's Road Warriors, and they'd have a point. Despite the similarities in spiky clothes, red-and-black facepaint, and surly demeanors, Demolition would have a fairly long, successful stint in the WWF, with World Tag Team Championship runs both as babyfaces and heels. They'd also gain a third member in Crush for a brief period before their break-up in 1991. Interestingly, Smash (as the Repo Man) would lose to a babyface (Kona) Crush in a singles match at SummerSlam 1992, with no mention made of their past association. Shaka, brah!
2 Hell Raisers - Worked
\When Road Warrior Hawk left the WWF shortly after SummerSlam 1992, he left his partner Road Warrior Animal behind and quickly found work in New Japan. With Hawk taking up-and-comer Kensuke Sasaki under his wing, the newly-christened 'Power Warrior' donned the LOD's trademark facepaint and spikes. With Animal staying semi-retired due to back problems, the team of Hawk and Sasaki had a great deal of success in New Japan - where The Road Warriors were quite popular - winning the IWGP Tag Team Championship twice. By the time the team broke up, the association with Hawk even elevated Sasaki to singles main-event status and even a U.S. Championship reign in WCW. Notably, Animal would team with Sasaki in All-Japan as the 'Hell Warriors' in 2007, reprising the gimmick on-and-off for a few years before Sasaki's retirement in 2014.
1 American Alpha - Worked (Kind Of)
The team of Jason Jordan and Chad Gable - two former amateur wrestling standouts - was a no-brainer from the moment Gable (storyline) recruited Jordan to team with him in NXT in 2015. Inevitably, their gimmick was lifted almost directly from that of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, a.k.a. Team Angle/The World's Greatest Tag Team. Both teams relied on their no-nonsense approaches to win multiple championships, with each capturing SmackDown's tag titles during their respective runs.
The reason why American Alpha's run is only considered 'kind of' successful is because they fell victim to WWE creative's propensity for breaking tag teams up too soon to middling results. Gable would go on to have a very forgettable run as 'Shorty G' in singles competition and in 2021 has come full-circle in a team with Otis as the 'Alpha Academy.' Jordan, unfortunately, suffered a serious neck injury in 2018 and currently works behind the scenes as a lead producer at television tapings - which surely makes his father Kurt a very proud papa!