Most underrated tag teams of all-time?

[LODemolition]

I've been a wrestling fan since the mid 80's and my favorite matches always have and will be the early 90's tag team of WWE, headlined by teams like Legion of Doom, Demolition, and the Hart Foundation. In fact, one of my ultimate pet peeves is that the card for WrestleMania VII didn't give us the great matches that were available to us at the time (LOD vs. Demolition and Hart Foundation vs. The Rockers). But who are the most underrated teams in WWE history in your opinion? They don't have to necessarily be teams who never won the gold, just teams who were underappreciated or maybe not used to their full potential. Here is my list of the top 5 underrated WWE tag teams (in no particular order) ever:

Honorable mention: The Brain Busters

If their stay had been longer than just a year, I have no doubt that they wouldn't be on this list because they'd be considered one of the greatest teams in history. They're the team that was chosen to end Demolition's 478-day title reign for a reason. Blanchard and Anderson were a great addition to the tag team division in 1988 and had a terrific finisher in the spike piledriver, but unfortunately they only remained with WWE until Survivor Series '89.

1. Power & Glory

Speaking of terrific finishing moves, Hercules and Paul Roma had one of their own in the power-plex. When they became a team in the summer of 1990, they looked like they already had years under their belt as a duo. With Slick as their manager, their first feud was with The Rockers, where they'd score the victory in their Summerslam matchup. They never won the championship and lost in a quick squash to the LOD at WrestleMania VIII, which was unfortunate but I understand it. Their run as a team also only lasted about a year, as they'd part ways after their Summerslam '91 loss, where they'd team with The Warlord to face Ricky Steamboat, British Bulldog and Texas Tornado.

2. Powers of Pain

The Warlord and Barbarian are probably at the top of the list of greatest teams to have never won the championship. They were a team for nearly 2 years, from June 1988 to March 1990, and in my opinion they should have remained a team. They became more or less jobbers after going into singles competition. They has a long-running feud with Demolition for over a year, which saw a double turn at Survivor Series '88 in which the Powers of Pain became heels and aligned themselves with Mr. Fuji. The feud even continued after their WrestleMania V loss to Ax and Smash. They were of course created as an answer to the Road Warriors at the time with similar face paint and haircuts, but they held their own and proved to be a formidable opponent

3. The British Bulldogs

A lot of people forget all about Davey Boy Smith's early wrestling career where he paired with the high flying Dynamite Kid. They made their way to WWE from Stampede Wrestling and won their first and only championship from the Dream Team at WrestleMania II. With a terrible back injury to the Dynamite Kid, the championship run only lasted about 9 months as they would go on to lose to the Hart Foundation. The rematch should've unquestionably taken place at WrestleMania III, but instead they chose to make it a six-man tag, with the Harts teaming up with "Dangerous" Danny Davis to face the Bulldogs and Tito Santana. The Bulldogs were thrown in a six-man tag at WrestleMania IV as well, instead of giving them the spotlight to themselves like they deserved. Who knows what could have been if they had been utilized to their full potential.

4. The Natural Disasters

As is the case with many tag teams, Earthquake and Typhoon were paired together when their singles careers had lost momentum. Typhoon had been previously known as Tugboat, and his name and ring attire would keep him from being taken seriously. Luckily, they got the jumpstart they were looking for when teamed up in the summer of 1991. They would feud with the Legion of Doom and challenge them for the tag team championship at the 1992 Royal Rumble, and would win but only by count-out. They would later turn face by splitting from manager Jimmy Hart and challenge again for the championship at WrestleMania VIII, beating Money Inc, but once again by count-out. They would finally win the championship belts in July and successfully defend them against the Beverly Brothers at Summerslam, but eventually lost them back to Money Inc that fall. Though they would both leave WWE the following year, they left their mark in tag team history as easily one of, if not the biggest team to ever step foot in a WWE ring.

5. The Rockers

Perhaps the most obvious team on this list, The Rockers are regarded as one of the greatest teams of all-time, but still underrated in my opinion. As many know, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty did win the tag team championship from the Hart Foundation at a Saturday Night's Main Event taping in October 1990, but the match was never aired and the title change was never recognized by WWE due to the top rope breaking during the match. The Rockers are undoubtedly the most deserving of any team who had never been crowned champion, and their WrestleMania matches were mostly head scratchers as well. At V, it was a loss to the Twin Towers, and at VI it was a countout loss to the Orient Express. In their third and final WrestleMania as a team (at WM7), they would finally get their eluded win in the opening match...but against Haku and Barbarian? I just never could understand their booking. As I said above, the Hart Foundation, Demolition, Legion of Doom, and Nasty Boys were all on the roster at the time. Though they might not have had many memorable moments in the ring, there's no question they had the most memorable split of any tag team when Michaels gave Jannetty the superkick and sent him head first through the window of Brutus Beefecake's barber shop set in late 1991, ending The Rockers' 3 and a half year run, but beginning the singles career of arguably the greatest in-ring performer of all-time in Shawn Michaels.

Those are my top 5 underrated tag teams in history. Who are yours?

 

[Garak]

The Warlord and Barbarian are probably at the top of the list of greatest teams to have never won the championship.

I was always a big fan of them. You can't have this discussion, though, without tossing Studd and Bundy and Studd and Patera into the mix, incredibly imposing, but never really in the title picture.

 

[relentless1]

Id actually have to say the Outsiders were pretty underrated as a tag team. Overshadowed by the nWo vs WCW story they were involved with they made a pretty good team when they actually wrestled. Add Syxx in there and it was a damn good Freebird team IMO

 

[HBKperfect23]

Hollywood Blondes: they were my first favorite heel team. I was a WWF guy and casual WCW fan. The Hollywood blondes were a big part of why I made sure to catch the WCW shows in 93.

The Rockers: innovative and ahead of there time. The tag division was at its best of they would have certainly got a title run.

 

[OYDK]

I'd say Harlem Heat are a pretty underrated tag team all things considered. There are very few people who would consider them among the top tag teams of all time, and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that they spent their whole career as a team in WCW, unlike The Road Warriors and Steiner's who at least had some brief runs in the WWE.

Harlem Heat were basically WCW's early-mid 90s equivalent of WWE's late 90's-early 00's Dudley Boys. They were ten time WCW Tag Champions and were always considered among the top teams in a pretty stacked WCW tag division. They were one of the few teams who could stand toe-to-toe with guys like The Steiner Brothers, Luger/Sting, and the The Outsiders and not be completely overshadowed or outmatched.

For some reason, Harlem Heat always seem to be passed over when the greatest teams of all time are talked about and while they understandably wouldn't make most people's top 5's, I think they should at least be in the discussion.

 

[Spencesc11]

I think the tag team that was clearly under-rated was that of America's Most Wanted. With Storm moving on to Beer Money this group has been a little forgotten. But they were dominant for a long period of time in TNA and had a great gimmick as well.

 

[filthyanimalz]

I'd go with The British Bulldogs (my favourite tag team when I first started watching wrestling as a kid), Harlem Heat, Kronik, America's Most Wanted and The Wolves.

 

[Makaveli31]

2. Powers of Pain

The Warlord and Barbarian are probably at the top of the list of greatest teams to have never won the championship. They were a team for nearly 2 years, from June 1988 to March 1990, and in my opinion they should have remained a team. They became more or less jobbers after going into singles competition. They has a long-running feud with Demolition for over a year, which saw a double turn at Survivor Series '88 in which the Powers of Pain became heels and aligned themselves with Mr. Fuji. The feud even continued after their WrestleMania V loss to Ax and Smash. They were of course created as an answer to the Road Warriors at the time with similar face paint and haircuts, but they held their own and proved to be a formidable opponent

I concur with everything you wrote. They were truly one of the great teams of the late '80's into 1990. They had a look that was far superior to that of Demolition and could work better than other "Road Warrior' clones like the Blade Runners or Master Blasters. I would've loved to see a Powers of Pain vs LOD in the WWF but Vince wanted his creation (Demolition) to go over.

Just to piggy back on that thought I'd have to go with Faces of Fear. They were a consistent top tier tag team in WCW in the mid-90's although they never won a championship. Legit tough guys. I enjoyed their bruising hard hitting matches with the Steiners, Harlem Heat, Public Enemy, Nasty Boys, and all of the top teams in WCW back in the day. I found them to be even more intimidating than the Powers of Pain maybe because of Meng's reputation as one of the legit bad asses in pro wrestling. Even when they lost, the other team knew they were in a fight and it was going to be a hard fought match. Everything I've heard or read about Barb and Meng everyone in the business seems to have major respect for them.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Funny thing about Power and Glory, before they were an official team called Power and Glory, Roma and Hercules were jobbing to The Orient Express every second event. The only difference was they had an actual name with a manager and suddenly they ruled. Plus that tag finisher is still one of my all time favorites, perfectly timed and executed. Looked real good.

 

[Makaveli31]

Speaking of underrated tag teams I was just thinking of the Fantastics and lo and behold on the main page is a great interview with Bobby Fulton!! I would be remiss if I didn't mention them in this thread. The Fantastics are the definition of underrated because they were so under the radar in the shadows of teams like the Rock N Roll and Midnight Express, The Fabulous Ones and of course the Rockers but they had an unbelievable feud with the Midnights that spanned several territories and of course their legendary violent feud with the Sheepherders (another underrated tag team) PLEASE if you don't know about the Fantastics read up on them!

 

[fallensaviour]

Public Enemy was always a favorite team of mine that I don't usually see listed on best teams list. But then again I might have nostalgia goggles on.

 

[FromGlasgow]

Out of your list I would say the Bulldogs, Maybe if Dymanite had taken care of himself better and didn't create so many problems backstage they could have easily been talked about as the greatest team of all time, In my opinion they still are but they get over looked too often when the greatest tag teams are discussed.

Outside your list I would say the Hayes and Garvin version of the Freebirds, The original Freebirds with Hayes, Roberts and Gordy were great but I think Hayes and Garvin version was equal and the most entertaining part of the old NWA/WCW shows from that era but they never seemed to get a main run or reached the same success level as the original version and mainly seemed to be on the losing end in their matches.

 

[FoleyIsGod]

I'm going to throw one out there and say Mankind and Vader in the wwf.

As a kid, I loved the vader/cactus feud in wcw, which probably made me into the foley mark I am today.

When Vader finally went to the wwf, he was pretty much underused and not played to his full monster status. The team of vader/Mankind kinda touched on their past, with them always seemingly just waiting to turn, he'll, it even was on a mania. But it just never went anywhere and that's a damp shame as Vader would have fit right into the attitude era if he just started to destroy people again.

 

[Makaveli31]

Outside your list I would say the Hayes and Garvin version of the Freebirds, The original Freebirds with Hayes, Roberts and Gordy were great but I think Hayes and Garvin version was equal and the most entertaining part of the old NWA/WCW shows from that era but they never seemed to get a main run or reached the same success level as the original version and mainly seemed to be on the losing end in their matches.

Definitely agree on the Freebirds. They changed the business in so many ways in the '80's. Their look, their music, the creativity. Great feuds with the Von Erichs and Road Warriors. If you listen to some of the greatest and most creative minds of the sport they always give credit to the Freebirds especially Micheal Hayes. Unfortunately, their partying doomed them from ever getting "that run" in either major promotion or with any major championship.

 

[tdmoon]

In my mind, The Bicentennial Kings-Phil Hickerson and Dennis Condrey-may very well be the most underrated team of all-time. Hickerson was a big brute with surprising speed and also a terrific interview. He was one of the best around at riling fans into a fever pitch. Condrey was very solid in the ring and one of the finest tag team wrestlers in history.

The Bicentennial Kings were all over the top of the card in Memphis and the Continental area for about three years. They were a part of some memorable feuds and won a slew of championships. Jim Cornette says they're the best non-Midnight Express team he's ever seen, and that includes the Rock & Rolls and Heavenly Bodies. There are even some people who watched them who say it's the best tag team Dennis Condrey has been a part of-they were that good.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

The Orient Express. Managed by Mr. Fugi, these guys put on great matches when given time. Only problem was, they were used as an upper echelon heel Jobber team. Never given any serious run even though they were super talented. They were part of one of the better tag team matches in Wrestlemania vs The Rockers that had all four connecting for a very cool finale at the time. Punch to the gut then the clothesline activating the catapult that launched the sunset flip for the win.

 

[tdmoon]

The Orient Express. Managed by Mr. Fugi, these guys put on great matches when given time. Only problem was, they were used as an upper echelon heel Jobber team. Never given any serious run even though they were super talented. They were part of one of the better tag team matches in Wrestlemania vs The Rockers that had all four connecting for a very cool finale at the time. Punch to the gut then the clothesline activating the catapult that launched the sunset flip for the win.

Pat Tanaka was an excellent tag wrestler. I think Badd Company is another very underrated team. Tanaka always looked sharp and quick in the ring and Diamond(who later re-united with Tanaka as the New Orient Express, ofc) had good power and also moved well. These two had a great chemistry together and had some really cool double-team moves. I believe they are hurt by the weak AWA tag division of the time but this team was very good in both the AWA and CWA.

Another underrated team that was repackaged in the WWF was The Destruction Crew. I thought they showed a lot of promise but they were also victims of the weak AWA tag ranks and then became jobbers in the WWF. Destruction Crew>Beverly Brothers, imo.

 

[ServantofTwilight]

When I came across this thread I was pumped. I really enjoyed tag team wrestling when I was watching wrestling and felt this was a good topic and a good way to mention teams from when I was younger and grew up watching. Then I noticed it was only for WWE teams. While I respect the OP for starting this thread I was somewhat disapointed as I feel the WWF gets all the attention it needs on these boards. I almost decided not to post. Then I read the responces, found no one really just stuck with the WWF and decided...what the hell.

Honorable mention 1a- Dennis Condry and Bobby Eaton, The Midnight Express.

I know, The Midnight Express are a well revered team. I must not know what I am talking about. This is stupid. What a waste. What a...

Hold it now. I bet if I asked anybody about the Midnight Express they would reply ' Yeah, they were great. Lane and Eaton were really good.'. See, most people really know the Midnights as Eaton and Lane. It makes sense. They were together when TBS was on every cable company and wrestled together during the start of PPVs. However it is my contention that Condry and Eaton are not only overlooked but were the better team. Lets look.

During their time together Condry and Eaton traveled together thru MidSouth, WCCW and JCPs NWA, feuding with top teams and winning titles everywhere, including the NWA World Tag Team Championship. During this time they fueded with the likes of Magnum TA and Mr Wrestling 2, The Fantastics, Jimmy Valient and Ronny Garvin( sometimes in drag), The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA, Barry Windham and Ronny Garvin and, of course, the Rock and Roll Express. For about 4 years they were one of the best teams in the sport. They should be remembered better.

And by the way I know that the Midnight Express started as Condry, Randy Rose and Norvell Austin.

Honorable mention 2a- Ole and Arn Anderson.

Again, I know. The Andersons were great. However, most generally remember Ole with Gene and Arn with Tully. However Ole and Arn for my money were a great team who together never rose to the heights they would with others. Original members of the Four Horsemen, Arn and Ole for about 2 years would feud with the likes of Dick Slater and Buzz Sawyer, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA, Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Kololf, The Road Warriors and The Rock and Roll Express. While they never won World tag gold I think they are unfairly overlooked. Watch a match with them vs jobbers and see how good and convincingly brutal they were.

5. The Destruction Crew, Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos.

The 1989 PWI Rookies of the year, the only tag team to ever win, Bloom and Enos wrestled in the AWA and won their World Tag Championships. Carrying sledgehammers, sorry Triple H you were not first, they were probably the best heels in the AWA at the time and maybe the best young talent they had, behind The Trooper I guess. They feuded with most of the faces in the AWA at the time. They eventually dropped the titles to leave the AWA as it was folding and left with what some consider the best w/l record for a tag team in AWA history. They did wrestle for the NWA/WCW and WWF later but is for their work in the AWA that they should be remembered as I believe they were the only thing worth watching there at the end.

4. Buddy Rose and Doug Somers.

Often criticized by fans and magazines alike back in 1986 I do not believe Rose and Somers then or now get the credit they deserve. Rose was a better then average ring technition and Somers was the perfect match. Together they were the perfect foil, along with Sherri Martel, for all faces in the AWA at the time. They took the titles off of Henning and Hall and had epic feud with the Midnight Rockers that lasted about a year and was the greatest feud in the AWA, and maybe wrestling as a whole, for that time. They beat, battered and bloodied each other over the titles. In my opinion Rose and Somers helped make the Midnight Rockers and were one of the best heel teams of 1986.

3. Badd Company, Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond.

It is my belief that at its end the AWA survived by its tag team wrestlers. Tanaka and Diamond fit this description perfectly. They really dominated the Midnight Rockers during their feud and for the time they were their they were the best the AWA had to offer. They were the perfect combination of size and speed, power and technique. I belief the WWF made a huge mistake putting Diamond under a mask as The Orient Express instead of reuniting them as Badd Company and going after the Rockers.

2. The Fantastics- Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton.

The only team on my top 5 never to win a world title, The Fantastics were a great journyman team who wrestled all thru out the south. They wrestled and won titles in Florida, Midsouth, WCCW, Memphis and for JCP. Thay had great feuds with The Midnight Express( both Eaton/Condry and Eaton/Lane ), The Rock and Roll RPMs, Eddie Gilbert and Sting, John Tatum and Jack Victory( very underrated feud ), and The Sheepherders. They had the speed and quickness of the Rock and Roll Express combined with the power and look of the Fabulous Ones. Very underrated team.

1. The High Flyers, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell.

I know, I know. Greg was Vern's son and that was why he was successful blah blah blah. Lets remember two things: Gagne never put the big belt on Greg and the AWA was doing great business while Gagne and Brunzell were near the top of the card. The High Flyers have one of the longest single reigns of a team anywhere, were over with the fans and performed with alot of top teams including Bockwinkel and Stevens, The East-West Connection, Duncam and Lanza, The Sheiks, The Longriders and The Road Warriors. Much like the Rock and Roll Express they showed how great two men could work as one performing moves in the ring that complimented each other, rather then just to guys working together. They were champs for a combined 1,185 days, each reign lasting over a year. And they are never mentioned.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Genuinely The Rockers are up there... that they never got the titles properly was bad enough, that they got them and it was taken is worse. Even worse is the "Jannetty" of the team stereotype. Which I think damages their legacy sadly. Marty DID have a strong singles career for a while till Shawn's backstage games got him fired... but together they were SO good.

The Rougeaus are up there and perhaps more underrated in that Shawn's future success means The Rockers get more credit. The Rougeaus were crisp in the ring and deserved a bit more of a run.

Of ALL TIME? I think you need to look at some of the WCW teams of the early/mid 90's. Douglas and Steamboat were a strong team... The Hollywood Blondes in particular were great and arguably the best "thrown together" team ever, even more so than the Outlaws. In truth though we're looking at one team.

The Freebirds - They pioneered the idea of the Freebird rule, ring music and the idea that teams were more than just two random thrown together guys but a stable. They don't get the credit they deserve mainly because they never made it in the WWF.

 

[Goldie]

I'd give Davey Boy and Owen an honourable mention here.
2 very good singles wrestlers- each almost having the ingredients to be a top star but not quite made it.... thrown together as a team.

In the mid 90s the WWE tag division was in a bit of a rut with several lacklustre teams.
Even though they were heels at the time- Davey and Owen brought back credibility to the belts in terms of match quality.
They had a solid 8 month run the belts- quite a stable run considering how quickly title changes were booked in the years afterwards.

There was a teased fall out whilst they still had the belts- the newly created European title was won by Davey in a tournament, beating Owen in the final! and Owen eliminated Davey from the 1997 royal rumble..... but that all came to a head in that memorable moment when Bret Hart stopped their squabbling and reformed the new Hart Foundation- an awesome heel stable during the summer of '97.

 

[enviousdominous]

In no particular order;

Number 4: Doom

If you ask someone to name a tag team that just couldn't be fucked with in terms of raw power, the team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed isn't a likely answer. My memory of this team was that they were so tough, that the Steiner Brothers often had to cope with being out-gunned by utilizing finesse and trickery to be able to score a win.

Number 1: The Crush Gals

I recognize this team as being underrated because they deserve world wide appeal for their work. Few people know of Chigusa Nagayo and Lionesse Asuka outside of Japan, where they were insanely over. They evolved into the one of the most amazing tag teams in prowrestling history, essentially they were the female equivalent to Lex Luger and Sting.

Number 5: The Smoking Guns

They've been tag-team champions and such, but where I think they're underrated is in just how amazing their matches were. Check out their early work on RAW, back before they were in the running for the tag team championships. Bart and Billy's precision was absolutely uncanny. They were hitting the best dropkicks I've ever seen in tandem and they were making jobbers look phenomenal for working with them.

Number 3: The Gangstas

New Jack is often despised by prowrestling traditionalists, for good reason. I myself am the type of fan who gets amped when I know that two teams who generate hindenburg levels of heat are about to crash head on into each other. The Gangstas ruled prowrestling as the absolute baddest tag team out there. It could easily be assumed that a team didn't fight The Gangstas because they were terrified of them. Their matches weren't the type that could ever please a Dave Meltzer, but dammit they more than earned every penny I ever gave them.

Number 2: The Mounties/Quebecers

Sometimes, even though a team was given their due during their run, a team still isn't remembered as one of the greatest. This duo was phenomenal when it came to winning a damn match by any means necessary. I remember at one time Jacques was injured so Pierre had to defend the tag team titles solo against the team of Bob Holly and The 1-2-3 Kid, he took all they could give him and still powered through and won that match. As far as heel tag teams go, this duo was the absolute greatest in my opinion.

 

[BigSexyHBK]

 

[Azlan82]

The Rockers were the first tag team I loved as a kid...and Legion of Doom. The high flying stuff was what made you think 'wow'.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The Bushwhackers: i feel like that even through they were a comedy team, they could have gotten more of a push during their WWF run.

The fabulous Rougeau: Another team that i feel could have been so much more then they ended up being. I'm not just saying that because they're from my hometown but i feel like these guys we're really talented especially Raymond and just great heels and while they did get the title for a night, it was never acknowledge because it happened on a house show in montreal and it would have been fun to see what a tag title run would have been with these 2 has champ.

The Rockers: I get why they didn't get the championship run they deserve at the time but it's sad to see one of the most popular team of that era just being wasted away because of their size

 

[pbancroft32]

im glad someone mentioned the bushwackers as while i was reading down im thinking how have they been missed but i think the most underratted team of all time has to go to The World's Greatest Tag TeamShelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas these two where amazing in the ring had first class matches with anyone in a time when tag teams where almost ignored asif there had been a stronger divsion at the time i am sure these two would have been held in far higher esteem by people than they are.

honrable mentions have to got to the rockers obvisouly, powers of pain and another one everyone forgets legacy