Tag team wrestling is one of those things that can’t be forced. Too often, two wrestlers who look terrific as a pair just can’t gel in the ring. Yet scores of times, two random guys tossed together turn out to be an amazing pair. Some guys can be amazing going from one team to another, while a few are proven to be poor without the right partner.
In some cases, you can forgive a guy for a downgrade in partners. After all, Road Warrior Animal pairing with Heidenreich was understandable, given Hawk was no longer around. Yet it’s remarkable how a guy can go from a terrific tag team to a much worse one. Even if that new team can hold gold, it can pale in comparison to the team that came before both in longevity and skill. These ten wrestlers went from one good tag team to a much poorer one to prove once more you can never force a good partnership.
10 Peyton Royce
The recent release of the Iiconics is a reminder of just how fun Peyton Royce and Billie Kay were as the arrogant heel divas. The longtime friends clicked wonderfully as Women’s tag team champions and showed off well.
They had promise for a singles run, but it didn’t work with Billie hanging out with the Riott Squad while Peyton was put into a team with Lacey Evans that went nowhere. It’s possible the Iiconics reunite elsewhere as this poor pairing didn’t aid Peyton.
9 Bart Gunn
Overlooked today, the Smoking Gunns were a top tag team in the mid-1990s, with Billy and Bart holding the tag team titles a few times. They split with Billy eventually falling into the New Age Outlaws.
Bart became infamous for the Brawl For All, which did little to elevate him. In 1998, he and Bob Holly were paired as the New Midnight Express and NWA tag team champions. Like many a “new” team, they were a pale shadow of the original and splitting fast. Bart’s post-Gunns career was a misfire.
8 Stevie Ray
Harlem Heat was seen as just another random team when they started in WCW in 1993. Within three years, they had held the tag team titles ten times and one of the best teams around. When Stevie Ray was injured in 1998, Booker T began his sensational singles career.
They had a reunion only for Stevie to turn on his brother. He then paired with Big T (aka Ahmed Johnson) to feud with Booker. The team was a mess that was among the worst in WCW and didn’t last long. Stevie could never escape his brother’s amazing shadow.
7 Jim Neidhart
It was always evident that Bret Hart was the star of the Hart Foundation. Jim Neidhart was good as a powerhouse, but his singles work was terrible compared to Bret. Still needing some push, Neidhart was paired with Bret’s brother Owen as the New Foundation.
It wasn’t a bad team with Owen’s high-flying, but those awful suspender outfits didn’t help them get over. While good, Owen lacked the experience of Bret, while Neidhart was clearly on the downside of his career. They split with Owen turning to Koko B. Ware for High Energy and a sad second act for the Anvil.
6 Road Dogg
When the New Age Outlaws split in 2000, Billy Gunn didn’t end up too badly with he and Chuck becoming tag team champions. Road Dogg wasn’t so lucky. He first worked with X-Pac but didn’t get much mileage.
Then he and K-Kwik (better known today as R-Truth) were a bad team before Dogg left WWE. They reunited in TNA as 3 Live Kru for mostly comedy stuff. The Outlaws reunion as VKM showed they were stronger together as Road Dogg couldn’t work with other partners as well.
5 Christian
Edge & Christian were a truly fantastic team, working from the lower rungs to the heights of success as tag team champions and making TLC matches a major event. Their split in 2001 was expected, with Edge beginning his rise to solo stardom. Christian tried it a bit, then entered into a team with Lance Storm.
On paper, it was good with Storm’s skills but lacked the spark of Edge. Worse was the “Un-Americans” angle that led to some terrible stuff like threatening to burn the U.S. flag. It wasn’t as bad as other teams but still a big drop from Chrisitan’s work with Edge.
4 Bobby Eaton
Bobby Eaton was one-half of one of the most iconic tag teams ever. He and Dennis Condrey were terrific as the Midnight Express in Mid-South and Jim Crockett. When Condrey left, Eaton and Stan Lane became an even better Express.
Eaton held tag titles with Arn Anderson as well, but in 1996, he and Steve Regal were paired as the Blue Bloods. Transforming Eaton into an “aristocrat” character never worked, and he and Regal didn’t click as a team. It showed even Eaton couldn’t fit into any team seamlessly.
3 Charlie Haas
Going from “The World’s Greatest Tag Team” to pairing up with a hairdresser is a pretty big comedown. Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin were terrific working with Kurt Angle and holding the SmackDown tag titles a couple of times amid terrific battles.
Benjamin had a good singles career, but Haas suffered when they split. He and Rico were put together as a wacky tag team that did have a stint as champions. But it was mostly comedy angles rather than great matches, and Haa’s later reunion with Benjamin proved they were always the better team.
2 Chad Gable
Among the many great NXT workers to suffer on the main roster, Chad Gable was terrific working with Jason Jordan as American Alpha. They held the NXT tag titles and got a good push on the main roster as SmackDown champs. After they split, Gable began bouncing around, he and Shelton Benjamin an okay team but lacking real chemistry.
It looked like Gable was working with Bobby Roode as RAW tag champs, but they likewise lacked the great appeal American Alpha had with Roode turning on Gable after losing the titles. That led to the awful “Shorty G” gimmick, with Gable suffering badly after Alpha’s split.
1 Marty Jannetty
It’s accepted the Rockers are the best team of their time never to be WWE tag team champions. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty were genius in the ring together, but it became obvious who was the winner when they split. While Shawn reached the heights of success in WWE, Jannetty slumped.
He and the 1-2-3 Kid had a one-week reign as champs before splitting. Jannetty then joined Leif Cassidy (better known as Al Snow) as a “New Rockers” who were a disaster. Marty just couldn’t match Shawn’s amazing success in wrestling.