Tag team wrestling can be incredible, provided that the teams are balanced and the wrestlers have chemistry with each other. Partners without chemistry can lead to a match with too many separately moving parts and can cause the audience to lose interest. All this to say not all tag teams are meant to be.
Sometimes, a team is too lopsided, and one wrestler clearly is the star of the duo. Other times, things just don’t work out between the two, and they move on to greener pastures. Not every tag team break-up comes from a lack of chemistry. Some wrestlers are just meant to shine on their own. This list has a mix of partners who couldn’t keep up with their counterparts, or who, through no fault of their own, were paired up with someone meant for singles glory.
10 Davey Boy Smith Jr.
The son of The British Bulldog formed a formidable tag team of his own during his time in New Japan. He was one-half of the Killer Elite Squad alongside Lance Archer. Both represented the Suzuki-Gun stable. They bullied and manhandled their opponents with their size, often terrifying audiences along the way.
As great of a tag team as they were, Smith couldn’t match Lance Archer in terms of his charisma and well-roundedness. Since becoming a singles competitor, Archer has shown that he has way more potential than he ever could’ve fulfilled as a tag team member.
9 Jim Neidhart
Don’t get mad, just hear me out for a second. The Hart Foundation is one of the most iconic tag teams of all time, thanks to both their impeccable sense of fashion and their in-ring prowess. Bret Hart, though, could have never become the living legend he is if he remained part of a tag team. Jim Neidhart was by no means a bad tag team partner, it’s just that Bret Hart always belonged in the singles division.
8 Matt Hardy
Let’s face it: Jeff was always more popular, more charismatic, and more athletic than Matt. While The Hardy Boyz are undoubtedly one of the best tag teams in WWE history, you have to wonder who this is thanks to. Jeff was always more compelling of a character, and he predictably met more success than Matt did in WWE. While Matt was getting involved in uncomfortable romance angles, Jeff was wowing audiences and cementing his legacy as one of the most iconic wrestlers of the 2000s.
7 Nikki A.S.H.
The “Almost a Super Hero” gimmick was a brave experiment, but unfortunately, it failed. While Nikki was on her last legs as a babyface, WWE stuck her in a tag team with Rhea Ripley. The pairing was kind of cute at first, but it outlived its charm pretty quickly. After the two broke up, Rhea immediately found a partner she had much better chemistry with through Liv Morgan, though that partnership didn’t last long either. Still, Rhea Ripley is much better in the role of a dominant heel than some superhero’s sidekick.
6 Chavo Guerrero
There are quite a few family tag teams on this list. It makes sense why family members are paired up; they know each other very well and typically have some innate in-ring chemistry. Sometimes, though, one member of the family is simply meant for more. This was the case with Chavo and Eddie Guerrero. While Chavo is by no means untalented, Latino Heat needed his own spotlight.
5 Nia Jax
The WWE women’s tag team division has a lot of issues, to say the least. WWE treats the division as an afterthought; there are hardly any teams competing, and half of them are just singles stars thrown together. This was essentially the case with Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Nia Jax, to put it bluntly, is a bland and unsafe worker. Shayna Baszler has shown how incredible she can be during her NXT run and wasn’t getting the shine she deserved during her time as Nia’s tag team partner.
4 Chuck Palumbo
This isn’t really Chuck Palumbo's fault, but rather the result of the unfortunate situation he and Billy Gunn were thrown into. Billy Gunn is most known for his time in DX and his reputation as a lover of rear-ends. He wouldn’t have been able to make this name for himself as long as he was a part of this bizarre, homophobic gimmick.
3 Koko B. Ware
This isn’t targeted at Koko B. Ware himself, but rather the weird gimmick he and Owen Hart were given as a tag team. Owen Hart was best when he was with his brother, whether he was teaming up with Bret or facing him. His other gimmicks in WWE didn’t make use of his full potential.
2 John Morrison
The Miz has had the most mainstream crossovers of any current, full-time WWE star. This is for good reason; he’s naturally charismatic, charming, and carries himself very well. This makes him a good choice to represent WWE on shows like Dancing with the Stars. Unfortunately, The Miz likely wouldn’t have been able to establish himself as one of WWE’s MVPs if he was still seen as a tag team player.
1 Marty Jannetty
Marty Jannetty is, for better or worse, the epitome of what it means to be “the other guy.” After The Rockers broke up, Shawn Michaels went on to not only outshine Jannetty, but also proved himself to be one of the best pro wrestlers in history.
While The Rockers were a solid tag team, Shawn Michaels was simply meant for bigger and better things than his time as Jannetty’s tag team partner.