The Best Tag Team Rivalry In Wrestling History?

[CM Steel]

Tag teams play a big part in wrestling history. There's no one without the other. Something companies like the WWE forgot for the longest time up unti'l now. But my question is, what was the best tag team rivalrie in wrestling history?

My may get heat for this personal answer. But in my opinion, it would have to be the APA vs the Dudley Boyz. The Dudley Boyz debuted in the then-WWF feuding against the APA (Faarooq & Bradshaw). And from then on out for years they would feud with each other for the WWF tag team title's or over something else.

But in your own opinion, what was the best & greatest tag team rivalrie in wrestling history?

 

[BigThunder]

Even though I think the Rock N' Roll Express is overrated, it's still got to be RnR Express vs. the Midnight Express. The matches involving these four men (five counting Cornette) came as close as anyone has to writing a textbook on how to do a tag team match.

The other one that comes to mind, though it goes beyond a four man feud, is the Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs.

 

[matman8540]

I agree with the Rock & Roll Express vs the Midnight Express. They battled on TBS for almost 3 or 4 years. The best rivalry in the WWF/E was the Hardyz vs Edge & Christian vs the Dudleyz. Thanks to them, it helped bring a very innovative match to the forefront; TLC.

 

[wooooo]

The Dudleyz and the Acolytes, lol really?

I would probably say The Hardys vs E&C as they both rose up together and also went on to have big singles feuds with eachother over the next 10 years

 

[FlairFan2003]

I never got into Demolition, they were such a rip off of The Road Wariors, not as entertaining on the mic (Hawk was great in character during promos) or as athletic in the ring.

Midnight Express vs R&R Express were always great matches, back and forth, back when tag team wrestling really helped sell tickets and drive interest. The ME vs Road Warriors was also good because of the dramatic contrast in styles, the bad @#$ bikers and their super smart, deadly assasin like manager against the vintage chicken @#$& heels and their extremely wimpy, obnoxious manager. Both teams could go in the ring. The ME were legit enough that you didnt easily buy The LOD stomping them but at the same time you couldnt believe they were good enough to beat the LOD, it made you watch just to see how it would end.

R&R Express vs Tully Blanchard/Arn Anderson delivered some great matches, playing on the rivalry that existed a year earlier between the R&R guys and Ric Flair, Tully & Arn's co hort in The Horsemen. Tully & Arn had some excellent matches vs The Rockers in WWE although that feud was never as big a part of the show as what they did with R&R. Kind of funny in a way, WWE trying to replicate the dynamic between The Horsemen & R&R Express by having them wrestle essentially a R&R rip off team in The Rockers, the guys involved could flat out wrestle however, regardless of gimmicks

Hart Foundation vs British Bulldogs in the 80s was WWE's answer to Midnight Express vs Rock & Roll Express, with HF playing the skilled but cowardly heels, lead by their own obnoxious and extremely wimpy southern manager. In WWE this was pretty big circa 86 range, the matches were good, but not as intense as ME vs R&R. Some of that may have been limitations WWE had in general on performers back then, preferring a shorter, simpler, more power oriented match style over the more athletic, storytelling heavy style popular in the NWA. Certainly Brett Hart could wrestle as well as anyone in the US.

The Frrebirds vs Von Erichs and The Horsemen vs Dusty Rhodes/SuperPowers were more like gang warfare, 3 on 3, 4 on 4, etc matches that really were about the sum of the individuals and their rivalries more than a simple tag team feud. There were some big matches to be sure, and great moments, but this was not traditional tag team wrestling.

Although it was shortlived, The Mega Powers (Hogan & Savage) vs Million Dollar Team (DiBiase & Andre) certainly was big feud and big payoff match. I give it an honorable mention for how big the fued got at its height although it essentially served the purpose of furthering the eventual Savage heel turn and Hogan-Savage feud.

There are a lot of other feuds from way back when that were entertaining, that was just a period when tag teams and their feuds got equal time with singles feuds, when The Harts vs Bulldogs was getting top billing many times underneath Hogan in WWE, when R&R Express vs Midnight Express was amost equal to Ric Flair's matches in the NWA, a time when the wrestling shows in general typically had as many 4 major, top level fueds at a time, all promoted and pushed in a way that made them almost equal to what the two "Top Guys" were doing at the time. It helped make the product more entertaining, and quite frankly gave you something to be interested in when Hogan wasnt around.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

For fued I have to go with Hardy's/Dudley's/Edge and Christian. It seemed as though these teams worked together in some fashion for about a year and a half and they always produced some of the best hardcore tag team matches I can remember.

Looking at it from a different perspective, I would say that the team that had the best rise out of nothing to tag team dominance was the New Age Outlaws. I remember watching them on shows like Shotgun Saturday Night in early to mid 97. These guys wrestled in South Park shirts and were so innovative and entertaining for the time. By the end of 97 they were regularly going over on LOD and beginning to cement themselves as the top team. They had a interesting relationship with the original DX and seemed as though they would have fit the team perfectly. Fast forward a few months and the day after WrestleMania XIV and they become apart of DX along with X-Pac. Now as faces, they still remained entertaining and continued to be a top team throughout 98 until they started going their own ways in 99.

That two year span in 97-98, I don't think I ever saw a team be so new, fresh, innovative and entertaining as the Outlaws.

 

[justtxyank]

I'm sure Midnights vs Rock and Roll was great but my exposure to it was limited so I'm not going to list it.

Here are ones I put up for consideration:

1) Steiners vs Outsiders: This was awesome in WCW. Matches were main eventing Nitro, Steiners were mega over, Outsiders were mega over, screwjobs, etc. Just a well done tag team feud.

2) Hart Foundation vs Rockers: On quality of matches alone

3) Edge and Christian vs Hardys: The epic tag feud of this century thus far for sure. Dudleys and APA were in there at various points as well. Probably safe to call it the WWF Attitude Tag Title Series. Even had great moments with Kane & Taker, Taker & Big Show (loved them!) and New Age Outlaws and Rock & Sock at various points.

 

[Foshinzo]

Speaking of the Midnight Express, if wasn't much of a feud, but their match with Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard was one of the best pops I've ever heard. I've only ever seen it on tape, but it is still an amazing pop, especially for non-WWF shows, at that time.

As for recent memory, I really liked the WGTT v Kings of Wrestling feud from 2010. Those matches had that physicality that I miss from older wrestling, and both were two of the best teams in the business. If there's one thing Jim Cornette knows how to draw money with, it's tag teams. This feud is the most recent great one that I can think of.

 

[crippler]

The Best Tag Team Feud was The Hart Foundation vs The British Bulldogs. This feud really took off after The Hart Foundation won the Tag team championship and Danny Davis screwed the Bulldog as the referee.

 

[pkrebel]

I agree with the Rock & Roll Express vs the Midnight Express. They battled on TBS for almost 3 or 4 years. The best rivalry in the WWF/E was the Hardyz vs Edge & Christian vs the Dudleyz. Thanks to them, it helped bring a very innovative match to the forefront; TLC.

I was about to say the same thing, when I think of my early memories of Wrestling this fued always sticks out in my mind. I personally never forget Ladder Match between 3 when Edge and Christian walked away with the Titles.

 

[HBsam31]

I started watching around the tim the R and R express were feuding with the Midnight Express, and I have to agree with the poster that said they wrote the book on tag team wrestling. The Von Erichs and The Freebirds is another good one to mention. For modern day the Hardy's EandC and the Dudleys was a great one. One of my favorite in hidsight was The Rockers vs The Hart Foundation. I say hindsight becasue it was the early early start of the HBK Bret Hart rivarly. We are seeing signs of tag team wrestling coming back, and I really hope it does because some of these feuds realy made the overall product more fun to watch.

 

[kaoscage]

Beer Money vs The Motor City Machine Guns. Awhile back when they had the best of series for the belts... woah those matches were fn amazing. Really a shame Beer Money broke up, you could have built rating just off of these two teams wrestling each other.

 

[Manof1,004Holds]

Beer Money vs The Motor City Machine Guns. Awhile back when they had the best of series for the belts... woah those matches were fn amazing. Really a shame Beer Money broke up, you could have built rating just off of these two teams wrestling each other.

Gotta agree here, when these two teams had that best of 7 series for the TNA Tag Titles it was good television for awhile. I can't really think of the best one in my opinion, that I have seen since. I miss both of these teams, they produced really exciting matches. Hopefully Beer Money can return and MCMG but Shelley isn't in TNA anymore.

 

[#MrScissorsKick]

I agree with the Rock & Roll Express vs the Midnight Express. They battled on TBS for almost 3 or 4 years. The best rivalry in the WWF/E was the Hardyz vs Edge & Christian vs the Dudleyz. Thanks to them, it helped bring a very innovative match to the forefront; TLC.

^Boom. We have a winner. RnR express vs. Midnight Express was always entertaining and kept the fans entertained. Hardyz/Dudleyz were my favorite tag-teams because they always were in TLC type matches. My favorite match i saw was the Dudley Boyz vs. The Rock on Smackdown in Cleveland, Ohio. I forget the date of that match, but it was a TLC match i believe, and all 3 of those wrestlers worked real well together.

In my opinion, Booker T/RVD - La Resistance/Y2J-Christian/Cheif Morely-Val Venis was always intense. Booker T is my favorite wrestler and RVD in my top 5 they worked so well together, a dominant tag-team. But yeah overall since i can remember, Dudley Boyz - Hardys were the best rivals as i grew up.

 

[asiatic7]

Beer Money vs The Motor City Machine Guns. Awhile back when they had the best of series for the belts... woah those matches were fn amazing. Really a shame Beer Money broke up, you could have built rating just off of these two teams wrestling each other.

I don't know about All-Time, but I have to agree with this poster. The Beer Money/ MCMG feud was epic! It's definitely the greatest rivalry of recent memory. Their Best Of Five series with every match having a different stipulation was great! Every match delivered excitment, just fantastic!

 

[StingInWWE]

Tag team are nothing like they use to be.
The Steiners vs. The Nasty Boys were set up to be a great feud but the Nasty Boys left for WWE.
The Fantastics vs. The Midnight Express were some great entertaining matches even though their feud was more heated in the independants and The fantastics didn't stay long in the NWA/WCW.
The Road Warriors vs. Ivan/Nikita Koloff and Krusher Krushceve
Yes. The Rock n Roll Express vs The Midnight Express. I don't think fans today know how over or how popular The Rock n Roll Express was in the 80's.
But it was some great wrestling.

 

[xavyer]

To me some of the greatest rivalries in the history of wrestling, my first choice is the triple rivalry between Edge & Christian vs the Hardys vs the Duddleys, those matches were great, and those 3 teams inventes the TLC matches, and also in my opinion, another two rivalrys were The British Bulldogs vs. the Hart foundation, and The British Bulldogs vs the Islanders, i remember those rivalries when i was a kid, they were intense, with the hart foundation because they cheted to take the titles from them, and with the Islanders got intense that they even stole matilda from them, i remember those days, in my opinion, E&C, The Hardys, the Duddleys and the British Bulldogs reinvented tag team wrestling in their own way, and i almost forgot, even if they weren't a tag team persay, they had two intense rivalries when they were champions, Stone Cold and Triple H vs The Undertaker and Kane, that one was intense in every way posible, and also Stone Cold and Triple H against Benoit and Jericho, that one could have continued if Triple H didn't got injured........

 

[EastCoastFan]

Back in the mid-late 1980's, there was a lot of great tag team wrestling. The WWF had the Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, the Killer Bees, the Dream Team, Strike Force, the Rougeau brothers, and so on. Over in JCP/NWA, there was the Road Warriors, the Rock & Roll Express, the Midnight Express, the Koloffs, Ole & Arn Anderson (later Arn & Tully Blanchard) and so on. As for best rivalry, I'd go with Hart Foundation vs. British Bulldogs in WWF and Midnight Express vs. Rock & Roll Express in NWA.

There were also great teams outside of the big two. The Von Erichs vs. The Fabulous Freebirds feud put World Class on the map. The Rockers got their first taste of success challenging Playboy Buddy Rose and Doug Somers (with manager Sherri Martel) for the AWA tag team title.

During the Attitude Era, WWF had a big resurgence in tag team wrestling, with Edge & Chrstian, the Hardy Boyz, the New Age Outlaws, Too Cool, the Acolytes and later on, the Dudley Boyz coming in. During that era, Edge & Christian vs. the Hardys vs the Dudleys was the big rivalry.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I started watching around in 97, so I can't really choose any Oldschool Territory/Golden Era feuds, even though I'm sure my picks don't measure up to their level, so the following picks are more my favourites than what I actually consider the best.

New Age Outlaws vs. Legion Of Doom - Fabulous Rougeau summed this up the best. Here you had a tag team that was brash, vulgar, egotistical, loud-mouthed and spit in the face of tradition, the WWF hadn't had anything of the sort in the history of their tag team division and every week on RAW, they terrorized the greatest tag team in history to get themselves on top and rise to prominence - I remember crying the week the NAO put Animal through the announce table & shaved Hawk's mohawk off with help from DX. They even dedicated one episode of RAW in 97 to this feud, where they had the two teams headlining RAW and if the Road Warriors lost, they would have to retire; throughout the show, they were playing clips of classic moments from the LOD incase it was the last time we'd ever see them, but LOD eventually went onto defeat the NAO for the belts, saving themselves from being forced into retirement.

New Age Outlaws vs. Chainsaw Charlie & Cactus Jack - It was a short-lived feud but that angle on RAW where the NAO dumped Funk & Foley off the stage while they were locked inside a dumpster was just epic. They made the whole thing seem real & brought so much heat down on the NAO by having the whole WWF locker room (including the other heels) come out afterwards to check up on Foley & Funk and help them into the Ambulance. Sunny was in tears, Flash Funk tried to attack the NAO but was held back by some superstars, JR & King was selling it on commentary like somebody had just died with Lawler even blasting the NAO, saying they pushed it too far, and Vince yelled at them to the point where they broke character and started apologizing for their actions, only until they were confronted by Shawn & HHH backstage after it was all over and praised them for what they did, telling them they shouldn't regret it, which made them change their minds again - the whole angle just gave me goosebumps. Their Dumpster match at WM 14 and their Steel Cage rematch the next night on RAW which lead to them joining DX, were epic too. Originally their match at WM 14 was supposed to be a Barbed Wire Rope match where they replaced the ropes with barb wire, dunno why though they never went ahead with that, but the Dumpster match still worked out fine.

Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. The Two Man Power Trip - Most probably wouldn't consider this a real tag feud since HHH got injured and Austin was forced to go it alone against Benoit & Jericho for the majority of the feud, but still this was an excellent way to elevate Benoit and Jericho to main event status. They were just kind of hanging around the midcard forever, and the feud with Austin & HHH made them stars. Quad injury aside, that tag match on Raw was one of the best RAW main events ever. Then in the following weeks, after HHH was out, you had both Benoit & Jericho taking turns trying to dethrone Austin off the WWF Championship on RAW & SD's that took place in Canada, but they ended up getting screwed in their matches by Vince & Austin, which lead to Linda McMahon making the Triple Threat match between Benoit, Jericho & Austin at King Of The Ring, which drove Austin nuts on the week of the PPV. I loved the Crossface-Walls Of Jericho double submission victory on Austin in the match only for it to lead to a restart since the referee couldn't decide who won, and what made the match more intriguing was the rumor that if Benoit or Jericho won the title, they would defect to WCW with the belt.

Another pick of mine is The Brothers Of Destruction vs. The Two Man Power Trip but I don't have time to explain it right now cause I gotta head out.

 

[CrazyChicksDigger]

Von Erichs vs. Freebirds is #1, hands down.

This is the only feud listed in this thread that was THE MAIN EVENT of the company, and a main event that lasted several years at that. All the other rivalries mentioned might have been great, but in terms of a rivalry/feud that actually carried the company it has to be Von Erichs vs. Freebirds because they were the headliners on every card they were part of.

 

[wrestling fan 666]

Even though I think the Rock N' Roll Express is overrated, it's still got to be RnR Express vs. the Midnight Express. The matches involving these four men (five counting Cornette) came as close as anyone has to writing a textbook on how to do a tag team match.

The other one that comes to mind, though it goes beyond a four man feud, is the Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs.

I can't agree more. The only thing I would do is change the order of this. The Von Erich Freebird feud was legendary. They had six-man, tag team, Texas Whipping matches, Penalty box matches, Strap matches, Steel cage, Texas Death matches-the list goes on and on. Never again was there so much hatred in two teams.

The Midnight Express and R&R Express was classic wrestling greatness. Those teams knew each other so well and worked off of each other. They were the most even teams athletically, their matches are a joy to watch even today!

 

[TheHorndogSays]

My vote goes to E&C vs Hardyz. The 4 of them basically grew through together and as they grew, their matches became better and better. They were innovative without being overly gimmicky in their matches (more on that in a second).

While Von Erichs/Freebirds and Midnight Express/Rock'N'Roll express were great feuds, the only reason I picked EC/Hardyz over them is they were too gimmicky. They didn't really "grow" in their matches, it was just a series of "ok, we need to have these 2 in a match so let's put them in a different gimmick than last month" It's kind of the same issue so many people have with the current wrestling product today.

Hart Foundation/British Bulldogs was too short of a feud and hurt by the unfortunate passing of Dynamite Kid. Demolition and LOD had all the makings of a classic feud with the top teams in different companies finally feuding for supremacy but it just never unfolded like most thought (a tag team version of Hogan/Flair if you will)

 

[JuviJuiceIsLoose]

Hart Foundation/British Bulldogs was too short of a feud and hurt by the unfortunate passing of Dynamite Kid. Demolition and LOD had all the makings of a classic feud with the top teams in different companies finally feuding for supremacy but it just never unfolded like most thought (a tag team version of Hogan/Flair if you will)

The Dynamite Kid is still alive, buddy. Also, the Hart Foundation and the Bulldogs feuded with each other off and on for 2 years.

That's not a long time when you think about feuds like the Rock N Roll Express and the Midnight Express, but it's still pretty damn good.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

For me it has to be the 3 team rivalry between The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian and The Dudley Boyz. The matches these 3 teams have blew the roof of the arena night after night and took tag-team wrestling to heights it had never been to before, or since for that matter.

The 3 teams feuded with each other for a long while, from the first ever tag-team ladder match between The Hardyz and Edge & Christian (which cemented them as superstars) to the first tag-team tables between The Dudleyz and Hardyz to the triangle ladder matches and finally the iconic TLC matches. The feud was fresh, exciting and gave us matches like we had never seen before in the WWF.

It was great that each team had their own style of wrestling, and their own signiture weapon (Hardyz = ladders, Dudleyz = tables and E&C = chairs), and from those teams came 3 multi-time World Champions in Edge, Christian and Jeff Hardy (4 if you count Matt's ECW title) and Bubba and D'Von have gone on to continue their great success across the world and are now big stars in TNA.

There were so many innovative, creative moves in these matches, with all 6 guys putting their careers on the line night after night with one crazy bump after another. Some of their matches remain some of my all-time favourites.

WWF tag team wrestling was in great shape at this time, with plenty of other teams including the APA, New Age Outlaws, Too Cool, Kaientai and several others, but no feud sticks in my mind like the this one.

 

[The Warlord]

Anything after 1990 shouldn't even be brought up.

Tag team wrestling was the biggest in the 80s with so many great teams and rivalries, many of which have already been named.

You could make a case for any of them, but as far as my favorite...gotta go Hart Foundation/Bulldogs. Not only did they have the storyline with Danny Davis but they had the excellent matches to go along with it.