10 tag teams we want to see return

10 tag teams we want to see return

Ever since The Ascension started calling out classic tag teams, WWE.com editors have been in feverish debates about what duos we’d like to see comeback. And thanks to WWE Network, each editor has been presented with a library of evidence to further his case.

Watch legendary tag teams on WWE Network | 50 Greatest WWE tag teams

For the purpose of this feature, we looked at teams that could conceivably make one more run, whether it is for one night only or a lengthy run as WWE Tag Team Champions. Our choices ran the gamut from pairs that stole the show on The Grandest Stage of Them All to duos that only shined in the tiny halls of ECW. But each team had one thing in common — we want to see them one more time.

Rob Van Dam & Sabu

10 tag teams we want to see return

I’m not asking for an extended reunion between Rob Van Dam & Sabu. But, say one night in the middle of another RVD return run, he gets backed into a corner by The Ascension. He’s a sitting duck with nowhere to turn when, all of a sudden, the lights go out and that heavy bass and boozy, vaguely Middle Eastern horn of Sabu’s entrance theme begins to play. The Human Highlight Reel returns with his MC Hammer pants and a torso like Freddy Krueger’s face to save his friend and battle Konnor & Viktor for one night only.

Watch ECW on WWE Network | Rob Van Dam's Superstar profile | Sabu's Alumni profile

It’s the kind of comeback that would bring about the same nostalgia as The New Age Outlaws. Two Superstars who helped define an era getting one last hurrah for their influence (every time a team like The Usos uses a partner as a springboard, they’re taking a cue from RVD & Sabu) and, most importantly, their sacrifice — not just because I want to see it, but because they deserve it. — RYAN MURPHY

London & Kendrick

10 tag teams we want to see return

Daniel Bryan wasn’t the first  Shawn Michaels protégé to make a mark on WWE. Before there was The Beard, there were Paul London & Brian Kendrick, two trainees of HBK who owned SmackDown’s tag team division for the better part of a year. The impressionable young cruiserweights — whose spaced-out charm landed them next to Bill & Ted in the all-time Dude Pantheon — held the WWE Tag Team Titles from May 2006 to April 2007, during which time they routinely stole shows with their groundbreaking tag team offense. 

Watch London & Kendrick win the WWE Tag Team Titles at Judgment Day 2006 on WWE Network

From their matching ring gear to their convoluted pre-match handshake to their tandem maneuvers, there was nothing slapdash or disingenuous about London & Kendrick’s partnership. There’s also reason to believe the team would fit right in with WWE’s current division: London & Kendrick would make stellar opposition for fellow fliers like The Usos, an intriguing stylistic contrast to powerhouses like The Ascension, and their pedigree — an education from Michaels, complemented by worldly experience — would make for a riveting matchup against Gold & Stardust. — JOHN CLAPP

The Dudleys

10 tag teams we want to see return

The tag team I would most like to see return to WWE is the greatest tag team of all time, The Dudley Boyz.

Watch The Dudleys battle The Hardys and Edge & Christian in WrestleMania X-Seven's epic TLC Match on WWE Network

Sorry Road Warriors fans, but Bubba & D-Von won three times as many World Tag Team Titles as Hawk & Animal. Most importantly, nearly two decades after they became a team in ECW in 1996, and years since they dominated WWE, my friends Bubba and D-Von are inexplicably stronger, leaner and faster than ever.

Watch The Dudleys vs. The Hardys in a Steel Cage Match to unify the WWE and WCW Tag Team Championships at Survivor Series 2001

If Bubba and D-Von were to reunite in WWE, no tag team would be safe from the 3D. No current WWE Tag Team — including The Ascension, Tyson Kidd & Cesaro and even The Usos — could keep The Dudleys from winning their 10th WWE Tag Team Title 10 years after their last reign. Now hurry up and get the tables! — JOEY STYLES

APA

10 tag teams we want to see return

True story: The best lesson I ever got in supply and demand came from The Acolyte Protection Agency.

Well, not really. But I’ll admit it.  Faarooq Bradshaw went completely over my head as The Undertaker’s Acolytes until they broke from the cult and started dishing out beatings for exorbitantly unreasonable prices. From then on, it was a walking, talking lesson in basic American consumerism. You demand enforcement? Supply the Benjamins.

Watch The Acolytes battle The Hardys at Fully Loaded 1999 on WWE Network | Watch the birth of The APA

In all seriousness, there’s something that’s really irresistible about a pair of good old-fashioned goons, and The Acolyte Protection Agency were among the more entertaining meatheads in sports-entertainment history. They were great in the ring, to be sure, but the best thing about these guys was the nonsense they got up to backstage: the poker table, the disembodied “Twilight Zone” door that clients HAD to walk through — you wouldn’t be acknowledged otherwise — and the cigars. This iteration of Faarooq & Bradshaw was easy to like, funny to watch, and their gig was simple — you pay them, and they’ll beat people up for you. — ANTHONY BENIGNO

Hardy Boyz

10 tag teams we want to see return

Without a doubt, the tag team that I would like to see return to WWE is The Hardys. The fast-moving, high-flying, daredevil style of brothers Jeff and Matt helped create some of the most explosive matches in WWE history, especially their epic Tables, Ladders & Chairs showdown against Edge & Christian and The Dudleys at WrestleMania X-Seven.

Watch WrestleMania X-Seven on WWE Network | Where do The Dudleys, Hardys and Edge & Christian rank?

With specialty matches like TLC and Money in the Bank now commanding their own pay-per-views, imagine the battles that Team Extreme could have against the likes of The Usos or Tyson Kidd & Cesaro. It may just twist the very fate of the WWE Universe into a whole new stratosphere. — MIKE BURDICK

Mikey Whipwreck & Tajiri

10 tag teams we want to see return

By the turn of the millennium, many of ECW’s top stars had jumped to WCW or WWE, giving supporting players an opportunity to shine. And during The Land of Extreme’s dying days, the unlikely tag team of boy wonder Mikey Whipwreck and Far East firecracker Yoshihiro Tajiri emerged. These two found a kinship thanks to the team’s secret weapon: The Sinister Minister.

Watch Tajiri & Whipwreck reunite at ECW One Night Stand 2005 on WWE Network | Tajiri's Alumni profile

This colorful trio was packed full of personality and became one of the ECW's hottest attractions during its final months, defeating teams like Tommy Dreamer & Jerry Lynn, Kid Kash & Super Crazy and The F.B.I. Their backstage interviews were comical, bizarre and sometimes frightening — all qualities that would be a welcome addition to the current roster. But with his bright red suit, long fingernails and mind-bending cadence, the real treat would be seeing The Sinister Minister on our television screens each and every week. — ZACH LINDER

Jeri-Show

10 tag teams we want to see return

After capturing the Unified Tag Team Championships with Edge at The Bash in 2009, Chris Jericho took advantage of a contractual loophole and replaced the injured Rated-R Superstar as his tag team partner with Big Show at Night of Champions.

Watch Jeri-Show's formation at Night of Champions 2009 on WWE Network 

The pairing of Y2J & The World’s Largest Athlete was an inspired one, combining Jericho’s athleticism, technical prowess and motor mouth with Show’s size, strength and numbing right cross. The team that came to be known as “Jeri-Show” carved out an impressive 140 day reign as Unified Tag Team Champions, tangling with the likes of DX and The Legacy. They also picked up the Slammy Award for 2009 Tag Team of the Year before disbanding in early 2010.

The always dangerous Big Show and the inimitable Jericho — when he’s competing and not touring, writing or podcasting — are both still major players in WWE. In fact, Jeri-Show could be as great, if not more so, today in WWE’s reinvigorated tag team division. After all, how awesome would Jeri-Show versus Tyson Kidd & Cesaro be? — JAKE GRATE

The Steiner Brothers

10 tag teams we want to see return

The Steiner Brothers only teamed together in WWE for a little more than a year, but few duos could even come close to what they accomplished in that time. With their University of Michigan letterman jackets and checkerboard gear, the duo dominated the “New Generation’s” tag team scene in 1993, winning 83 percent of their matches and securing the World Tag Team Championships twice. Although it’s been 20 years since The Steiners’ dominance, their style would still be in a class of its own.

Relive The Steiner Brothers' WWE debut at Royal Rumble 1993 on WWE Network Where is Rick Steiner? 

The team split under less than amicable circumstances when Scott joined The nWo, but the bond between brothers lasts forever. Though Rick is retired and Scott still competes, The Steiners’ tag team legacy can’t end with Rick teaming alongside Judy Bagwell. Scott’s evolution into “Big Poppa Pump” made him a World Champion, but it would be great to see him put on his letterman jacket one more time and hit the Steinerline with The Dog-Faced Gremlin.  — JEFF LABOON

World's Greatest Tag Team

10 tag teams we want to see return

In 2002, Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin debuted as protégés of Kurt Angle. The two young Superstars were the perfect complement to the 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist, each bringing his impressive amateur background to WWE. Within three months, Haas & Benjamin became WWE Tag Team Champions by defeating Los Guerreros.

Watch past episode of SmackDown on WWE Network | Shelton Benjamin's Alumni profile

Out of Angle’s shadow, Haas & Benjamin reemerged as The World’s Greatest Tag Team. It was a boastful moniker, but the duo often lived up to it as they recaptured the WWE Tag Team Titles and battled serious competition like The APA, Too Cool and Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman. Although The World’s Greatest Tag Team exited WWE after a brief reconciliation in 2008, their in-ring gifts and solidarity made the duo one of WWE’s best of the past decade. — KEVIN POWERS

Head Cheese

10 tag teams we want to see return

When we think of the icons who have graced The Grandest Stage of Them All, the name Chester McCheeserton rarely comes up. Nevertheless, the cheeky little person dressed as a wedge of Swiss cheese represented all that we loved about the mismatched pairing of Al Snow & Steve Blackman, who strode to the ring with the little-known mascot at WrestleMania 2000. Things didn’t necessarily go well that night, with “Head Cheese” — a questionable moniker that made sense only in Snow’s mind — falling to the Trish Stratus-led tandem of Test & Albert. As for Mr. McCheeserton, let’s just say Snow & Blackman brought new meaning to the term “lactose intolerance” when they took out their frustrations on the dairy dud.

Watch Chester McCheeserton feel the wrath of Head Cheese at WrestleMania 2000 on WWE Network | Where is Steve Blackman?

Despite Snow’s ultimate failure to coexist with Blackman or force a goofy persona on the stoic Lethal Weapon, the team was immensely entertaining, with Blackman playing the perfect straight man to the erratic Snow. Ten years later, with such Attitude Era standard-bearers as The New Age Outlaws and Too Cool returning to WWE television, the WWE Universe and the tag team division might be craving a second helping of “Head Cheese” these days. — JAMES WORTMAN

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