Aug 29, 2021 15:45:22 GMT Shootist said:

Aug 29, 2021 14:01:38 GMT 🤯 said:

Road Warriors were the only tag team that ever felt like they could've been legitimately booked as a tag team version of Hulk Hogan in Hogan's heyday. At the peak of their powers they were like Hogan, Warrior, Austin, and Goldberg combined. I guess a push like that relies somewhat on the opposition that could be fed to them, but still.

I genuinely don't feel like the same sentiment could apply to any other tag team in history. Some might come close, but none would ever really work in that same role.

And to boot, I could see them working at that level in either a face or heel capacity. Seeing Hogan forming a tenuous alliance with Warrior or Savage (or say if perhaps the Blade Runners were more of a thing) to try to topple the unstoppable Road Warriors. All the money. Guess closest we ever came was Lex & Sting vs. Warriors?

Dream matches for me are Warriors vs. APA, BOD, and Masters of the Powerbomb. I assume they wrestled Hansen & Brody, Steiners, and Miracle Violence Connection? Are those matches as insane as I'd assume?

Watch the 3/11/96 Nitro match between the Road Warriors and The Steiners that UT had listed, you won't be disappointed. I was thinking of reviewing that match as I hadn't seen it in a while but I'll leave it up to you. If you feel like it watch the 1989 Starrcade Iron Team tourney match with the Steiners as well, though I don't find that one nearly as hard hitting. They never did face Brody and Hansen or MVC though. They came close in 1985 as they faced Hansen and Harley Race ( a late replacement for Brody who had travel issues I think) at a Florida Battle Of The Belts card.

12. The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and D-Von)- 135 points

I should have clarified in my other post "besides the New Day" most overrated. The WWE narrative worked once again though as the push for most decorated team in history won over a lot of folks and that's fine, but a greatest list goes beyond titles won as will be shown in my criteria breakdown below. That being said overrated does not equate to being a terrible team, far from it. As UT mentioned they were great at being heels or faces, and getting over as true heels in ECW is no small feat. They transitioned seamlessly to WWE and became a hugely popular act as faces with the table gimmick being put on steroids and the catchphrases being a hit with the crowd. They did kind of get stale and Bubba Ray had to split from D-Von and reinvent himself as Bully Ray to get interesting again, a real underappreciated heel run I may add. Overall they maxed out in longevity and obviously kayfabe success, but they just don't have the legacy and impact of other teams, maybe another 20 years of looking back will be kinder to them.

1. The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)- 175 points

The only answer for number 1, as 🤯 said they were on a Hulk Hogan level of popularity when it came to tag teams. Their moniker even transcends to other sports like the 90's Philadelphia Flyers Legion Of Doom or the Seahawks Legion Of Boom. There was nothing like them when they came on the scene and inspired countless imitators from The Nasty Boys, to Demolition, to Sting and Ultimate Warrior, the Powers Of Pain and the list goes on. They were quite frightening when I first saw them during a special appearance on TBS  when they were still AWA tag team champs with Iron Man blaring and the mohawks and spikes. They were legendary squashers and these matches really made them feel invincible. They could work though and more than held help their end as rare faces in peril like in the Starrcade '87 match with the Horsemen, maybe the "best" match of their career. LOD went to nearly every territory as a travelling main event attraction so they were like the Andre The Giant of tag teams as well which no other team did. 

I could babble on and on but bottom line is they changed wrestling as a whole and started an entire genre of face painted babyfaces that also became big stars in their own right. Their name belongs right alongside the Hogans, Andres and Undertakers as one of the greatest attractions in the history of wrestling.

LOD is also, depending on the day my second or third favorite act in all of wrestling, no matter how much Baker changes the rules  .

Now the breakdown:

Kayfabe Success- 10 points
Working Ability/Versatility-  15 points
Longevity- 25 points
Drawing Power- 30 points
Legacy and Impact- 100 points

The Final Tally:

1. The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)- 175.00
2. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes, Jimmy Garvin)- 157.50
3. The Midnight Express (Randy Rose, Dennis Condrey, Norvell Austin, Bobby Eaton, Stan Lane)- 154.70
4. The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott)- 153.20
5. The Rock N' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson)- 147.50
6. The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff)- 146.65
7. The Funk Brothers (Terry and Dory jr.)- 146.25
8. The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika)- 144.00
9. The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and and Jim Neidhart)- 143.75
10. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Gene and Ole Anderson)- 142.25
11. The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith)- 139.75
12. The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and D-Von)- 135.00
13. Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu- 135.00
14. Demolition (Ax, Smash and Crush)- 132.50
15. The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan)- 131.25
16. The Brisco Brothers (Jack and Jerry)- 129.00
17. Crusher and Dick The Bruiser- 127.25
18. Animal Combination (Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody)- 126.75
19. The Brainbusters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard)- 122.15
20. The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels)- 122.00
21. The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn)- 121.75
22. The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash)- 121.50
23. Edge and Christian- 120.50
24. Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka- 118.50
25. The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy, Johnny and Jerry)- 116.85
26. The High Flyers (Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell)- 116.75
27. The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg)- 115.00
28. Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens- 113.50
29. The Von Erichs (Kerry, Kevin and David)- 112.50
30. The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)- 111.25
31. The Golden Grahams (Eddie and Jerry)- 108.50
32. The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark)- 107.75
33. The Blonde Bombers (Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens)- 107.50
34. Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray)- 102.25
35. The Tolos Brothers (Chris and John)- 101.50
36. The Kiwis/Sheepherders/Bushwackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller)- 100.50
37. Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito- 99.25
38. The Fantastics (Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton)- 98.10
39. The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags)- 97.90
40. The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza)- 97.25
41. The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson)- 97.00
42. Team Wolf (Masa Chono and Hiroshi Tenzan)- 96.75
43. Burning (Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama)- 96.15
44. The Fabulous Fargo Brothers (Jackie and Don)- 95.50
45. The Hollywood Blonds (Steve Austin and Brian Pillman)- 94.50
46. The Miracle-Violence Connection (Terry Gordy and Steve Williams)- 94.25
47. The Samoan Swat Team/Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu)- 94.15
48. Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa- 89.00
49. Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood- 88.75
50. The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa Saed)- 87.00


Missed The Cut

Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge)
The Christy Brothers (Bobby and Jerry)
The US Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham)
The Dynamic Duo (Gino Hernandez and Chris Adams)
The Bullet Club (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson)
World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin)
Buddy Rose and Doug Somers
Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler
The Bastiens (Red and Lou)
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose)
The Vachons (Butcher and Mad Dog)
The East-West Connection (Jesse Ventura and Adrian Adonis)
The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn)
Money Inc. (IRS and Ted DiBiase)
The Moondogs (Rex, Spot and King)
Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel)
The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods)
Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith
The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)
Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams
Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed)
Kings Of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli)
The Powers Of Pain (Barbarian and Warlord)
The Hart Family (Bret and Keith)

Fun list once again UT, thanks for taking the plunge to do a true greatest countdown.

Got the match queued up. Thanks for the recommendation!

The Dudley Boyz I had at 18 which made them the highest of the Attitude Era tag teams. Obviously they played a role there but they were also fantastic promos in their own right. When I rewatched a lot of 1998/99 ECW they were the highlight and weren't strangers to the main event scene. Fans remember their WWE run getting long in the tooth but they were still one of the bigger acts in the company during 2003 when they were fighting Eric Bischoff's Corporation and they did get a main event match later on as Paul Heyman's cronies taking on the Undertaker. I feel what really put them above the others was their run in TNA as Team-3D where they were having dream matches and were a really consistent act on any card. Going back, I think you could argue their TNA stuff holds up even better than their WWE stuff - they didn't just half-ass it like a lot of other ex-WWE talent did.

I had them 18 overall but I don't have an issue and if you've never shoved somebody in the chest so they could go grab a table, have you ever truly lived as a proud American/Canadian?

The AWA was a hot-bed for tag team wrestling and I felt I had to represent a lot of their teams on my list. The Road Warriors were no exception, taking that Mad Max aesthetic combined with that Rock n Roll entrance and they just had this larger than life business has just picked up appeal to them. It's more a case as to why they're not #1 than anything else because really only one other tag team was a bigger headliner (Rocca/Perez) and it just comes down to their matches being fairly limited. Not bad by any means they played their roles well but compared to others at the tippy top they just paled in comparison. However an obvious #1 and PW deserve a round of applause there.

My list:

1. Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens
2. Antonio Rocca & Miguel Perez
3. The Fabulous Kangaroos
4. The Fabulous Fargos
5. The Crusher and Dick The Bruiser
6. The Road Warriors
7. La Pareja Atomica (El Santo & Gory Guerrero)
8. The Von Brauners
9. The Golden Grahams
10. The Funk Brothers
11. Roy and Herb Welch
12. The Sheepherders
13. Los Hermanos Shadow (Black Shadow & Blue Demon)
14. The Vachons
15. The Assassins
16. The Holy Demon Army
17. The Crush Gals
18. The Dudley Boyz
19. The Rock N Roll Express
20. The Steiner Bros
21. The Fabulous Freebirds
22. The British Bulldogs
23. The Hart Foundation
24. The Midnight Express
25. The Beauty Pair
26. The Kalmikoffs
27. The Young Bucks
28. The Hardy Boyz
29. The Outsiders
30. New Age Outlaws
31. Demolition
32. The Fields
33. Los Rebeldes (Rene Guajardo & Karloss Lagarde)
34. The Corsicans
35. The Tolos Brothers
36. Edge & Christian
37. The Blond Bombers
38. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew
39. The Von Erichs
40. The Rockers
41. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
42. The Valiant Brothers
43. The Wild Samoans
44. Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch
45. The Miracle Violence Connection
46. Los Villanos
47. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
48. The Golden Lovers
49. The Flying Scotts
50. Jumping Bomb Angels

The Von Brauners and the Welches? somebody's been listening to too much Jim Cornette .   Great list though, Perez and Rocca were huge in the pre WWWF days, I just couldn't get a feel of where to place them since they are kind of the Megapowers of their time as big singles stars teaming up on occasion. We both had the Tolos brothers on the list, they were huge money on the west coast in the 50's and 60's. Also the Golden Grahams were Vince Sr.'s top babyface team at the beginning of the WWWF, another nice pick. You really went deep on the with the older teams, well done.

1. The Dudley Boyz
2. The Fabulous Freebirds
3. The Young Bucks
4. The New Day
5. The Hardy Boyz
6. The Rock n' Roll Express
7. The Legion of Doom
8. The Midnight Express
9. Edge & Christian
10. The Hart Foundation
11. The Wild Samoans
12. The Von Erichs
13. The Briscoes
14. The British Bulldogs
15. The New Age Outlaws
16. The Brainbusters
17. The Steiner Brothers
18. Harlem Heat
19. America's Most Wanted
20. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew
21. The Motor City Machine Guns
22. The Revival
23. Demolition
24. The Usos
25. Guerillas of Destiny
26. The Hollywood Blonds
27. The Outsiders
28. The World's Greatest Tag Team
29. Tencozy
30. The Bushwhackers
31. The Good Brothers
32. The Holy Demon Army
33. Acolyte Protection Agency
34. The Rockers
35. SCU/Bad Influence/The Addiction
36. The Eliminators
37. The Miracle Violence Connection
38. The Headbangers
39. American Wolves
40. ReDragon
41. The Crusher & Dick The Bruiser
42. Brothers of Destruction
43. The Funks
44. Lucha Bros
45. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
46. The Rock n' Sock Connection
47. Kings of Wrestling
48. The IIconics
49. Beer Money
50. Enzo & Cass

...

When I have more time I'll do a write up on the Dudleyz but I can't be mad at finishing #2. Fun countdown! Thanks UT!

I wish E&C had a THE in their title to make RT 's list look great up front. The Team That Totally Reeked of Awesomeness. Shit 1-17 they fucked it up.

The Road Warriors were the only correct choice for #1. How many other tag teams you know headlined house shows? And did it in multiple promotions.

Aug 29, 2021 20:45:31 GMT @ness said:

I wish E&C had a THE in their title to make RT 's list look great up front. The Team That Totally Reeked of Awesomeness. Shit 1-17 they fucked it up.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that.

I think the Road Warriors/LOD is a great #1. There's not much they didn't accomplish across various promotions.

I put The Dudleys on my list simply because they deserve a spot, but I've never been a fan. I defintely do not think they deserve a #2 spot, but I know I am in the miniorty.

Now, since I have effectively trashed my long standing friendship with RT, I present to you my list:


I tried to included some female teams to be all inclusive, but I forgot The IIconics and Bellas (don't give me grief they have promoted the hell out of themselves and are super well known outside of wrestling circles). Like Kid said in the Reboots Top 10 thread: when you rush a list, you fuck it up.

1. Hart Foundation
2. Edge & Christian
3. Road Warriors/Legion of Doom
4. NAO
5. British Bulldogs
6. Fabulous Freebirds
7. Demolition
8. DX
9. Harlem Heat
10. New Day
11. Jumping Bomb Angels
12. The Blond Bombers (Ray Stevens & Pat Patterson)
13. The Blackjacks
14. The Fabulous Rougeaus
15. The Revival
16. Midnight Express
17. The Rockers
18. Minnesota Wrecking Crew – Gene and Ole Anderson/Ole & Arn
19. Tully & Arn - – Brain Busters
20. Beer Money Inc
21. Team Hell No
22. Von Erichs
23. Motor City Machine Guns
24. Wild Samoans
25. Young Bucks
26. America’s Most Wanted
27. Rock n Roll Express
28. APA
29. MNM
30. Hardy Boyz
31. Undisputed Era
32. The Beautiful People
33. Brothers of Destruction
34. Rated RKO
35. Bushwackers
36. Killer Bees
37. Foreign Legion (Volkoff & Iron Shiek)
38. Divas of Destruction (Natalya & Beth)
39. Dudleys
40. LayCool

Thanks for running another fun countdown UT . Took a last minute trip this weekend so let me play catch up real quick...

1. Road Warriors- I was never a big Road Warriors guy. Sacrilege, I know. But 25 years of Apter Mags and the internet telling me they're the GOAT sank in. Famously the first team to win the WWF, NWA, and AWA tag titles. Were a big draw. Had their own type of pop. Main evented multiple territories. Influenced all those muscular face painted wrestlers to come. Were also big in Japan. Score well in longevity. Had a great finisher.

7. Dudley Boys- Agree that they grew stale, but they were amazing in ECW and ruled for that first year or so in WWF. There will never be another heel act like the Dudleys in ECW. Had a great finisher. Earn major longevity points. Probably the most decorated team of all times in regards to championships. Were part of the influential TLC trio. For what it's worth I also had them at #7 on my Favorite Tag Team list.

8. Freebirds- I'm with Shootist when it comes to hating the Freebirds growing up. And not even in the good "boo the heel" way. I just thought they sucked. It wasn't until the early 2000s that I grew to appreciate them via Watts UWF tapes. Big time draw in the territories. Their feud with the Von Erichs made World Class the hottest territory in the business for a while. Each guy had their role in the group- Gordy was the big badass. Hayes was the troublemaking loudmouth. And Buddy was the X-Pac. Gordy & Hayes grew on me big time in tape form. Also earn longevity points through the Hayes/Garvin version which won the NWA tag titles.
================
1. Road Warriors (#1)
2. Midnight Express (#5)
3. Rock & Roll Express (#6)
4. Demolition (#12)
5. Steiners (#8)
6. Hardy Boys (#7)
7. Dudley Boys (#2)
8. Freebirds (#3)
9. Hart Foundation (#4)
10. Brainbusters (#13)

11. Outsiders (#18)
12. New Age Outlaws (#14)
13. Edge & Christian (#10)
14. Young Bucks (#19)
15. Holy Demon Army (#20)
16. Crush Girls
17. British Bulldogs (#9)
18. New Day (#11)
19. Usos (#30)
20. Hollywood Blondes (#23)

21. Fabulous Ones (#37)
22. Andersons (#24)
23. Rockers (#17)
24. The Shield (#27)
25. Von Erichs (#16)
26. Funks (#22)
27. Harlem Heat (#15)
28. Fantastics (#44)
29. Briscoes (Jay & Mark) (#40)
30. Miracle Violence Connection (#26)

31. America's Most Wanted
32. Acolytes/APA (#25)
33. Wild Samoans (#21)
34. FABULOUS KANGAROOS (#31)
35. Eliminators (#49)
36. Nasty Boys (#38)
37. Doom (#32)
38. Quebecers   
39. Money Inc (#35)
40. Smoking Gunns

41. Public Enemy
42. Heavenly Bodies
43. Guerreros (#50)
44. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi
45. World's Greatest Tag Team (#43)
46. MNM (#46)
47. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (#41)
48. Furnas & LaFon
49. RVD & Sabu
50. Moondogs

Crush Girls are a contender for most over tag team of all time. Kickstarted the 80s Joshi boom. Had a legendary feud with Dump Matsumoto & Friends.
AMW, along with AJ, were the most consistently good act in early TNA. One of the top two teams in TNA history also rounds out my Top 10 favorites list. 
Quebecers were robbed! Really only had the one good run, but they were awesome in 93-94 WWF. 
Gunns were also robbed. About as influential as Mario Mancini, but they score well in kayfabe success by being the top team during a weak period.
Public Enemy sucked, but they did get over as dancing, slightly flippy Great Value Nasty Boys. The Dudleys may not exist with PE paving the way.
Heavenly Bodies were SMW's top heel act. Their feud with the Rock & Roll Express carried the promotion for years.
Misawa & Kobashi were a super babyface team who had a bunch of legendary matches with Kawada & Taue.
Furnas & LaFon were basically Steiners lite in All Japan. There are far worse things to be. 
RVD & Sabu were a mix of superteam and oddball partners who have trouble getting along. Meh. Should have put Sting/Luger in their spot.
Moondogs is such an odd choice in hindsight lol. Had a good run in Memphis, but I probably should have went with the stupid Bushwhackers in that spot.

Never even gave Kobashi/Misawa a shot at my list, damn. Recent events may have influenced me as I didn't want to see the Gangstas bumped off the list. I really should have seen where APA ended up in the wash even though they probably wouldn't have made my list anyway. Joshi and Lucha are still my blind spots, good job trying to fill those gaps Big Pete and Baker.

Aug 22, 2021 15:23:58 GMT KING KID said:

The British Bulldogs are overrated. I think many have been brainwashed to rank them high because of the internet telling them how great Dynamite Kid was.

Aug 29, 2021 16:57:13 GMT Big Pete said:

My list:

1. Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens
2. Antonio Rocca & Miguel Perez
3. The Fabulous Kangaroos
4. The Fabulous Fargos
5. The Crusher and Dick The Bruiser
6. The Road Warriors
7. La Pareja Atomica (El Santo & Gory Guerrero)
8. The Von Brauners
9. The Golden Grahams
10. The Funk Brothers
11. Roy and Herb Welch
12. The Sheepherders
13. Los Hermanos Shadow (Black Shadow & Blue Demon)
14. The Vachons
15. The Assassins
16. The Holy Demon Army
17. The Crush Gals
18. The Dudley Boyz
19. The Rock N Roll Express
20. The Steiner Bros
21. The Fabulous Freebirds
22. The British Bulldogs
23. The Hart Foundation
24. The Midnight Express
25. The Beauty Pair
26. The Kalmikoffs
27. The Young Bucks
28. The Hardy Boyz
29. The Outsiders
30. New Age Outlaws
31. Demolition
32. The Fields
33. Los Rebeldes (Rene Guajardo & Karloss Lagarde)
34. The Corsicans
35. The Tolos Brothers
36. Edge & Christian
37. The Blond Bombers
38. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew
39. The Von Erichs
40. The Rockers
41. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
42. The Valiant Brothers
43. The Wild Samoans
44. Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch
45. The Miracle Violence Connection
46. Los Villanos
47. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
48. The Golden Lovers
49. The Flying Scotts
50. Jumping Bomb Angels

This is a pretty incredible list and has a few teams I've never heard of.

What was your general criteria here? Any sort of weighting between drawing, longevity, diversity, influence, ring work, promos? Or was it more on feel?

I'm curious how close the Sharpe Brothers were to making your list. And The Fabulous Ones. And The Fantastics. And The Brain Busters. Did you consider splitting the MX into the Condrey/Eaton and Eaton/Lane teams? Or was this just to make things easier, like with the Minnesota Wrecking Crew as well?

I knew I was forgetting something - I was away for a few weeks so I'm still slowly but surely catching up on everything.

So when I put that list together a few months ago I did some basic research and was surprised at just how relatively young tag team wrestling is. It didn't really become a staple of Pro Wrestling in North America until the mid to late 50s where it exploded in popularity. If I had one general rule it's did they past the name test. If I said the Young Bucks is everyone going to agree 100% they're the best tag team in Pro Wrestling?

So Shootist absolutely nailed me with the Cornette comment. That was my first port of call, I looked up a clip where Jim rattled off a list of the best tag teams and started there. The first tag team I looked into was Rocca and Perez since they're largely regarded as the only tag team that not only was the hottest team in the business but the hottest act period. In hindsight they wouldn't have remained as my #2 but they certainly boosted a few other teams like the Golden Grahams, The Tolos Brothers, The Fabulous Fargos, The Fabulous Kangaroos etc. since you're only as good as your opponents.

As I continued digging I found the AWA produced a lot of the greatest tag teams in the history of Pro Wrestling and in terms of the total package Bockwinkel and Stevens ticked all the boxes. Box office, in-ring, promos, personality and rivalries.

Then I started thinking about lucha libre and how significant tag team wrestling is over there. That's a topic I really ought to have done more research on but I wanted to represent them on my list so I went with Guerrero/Santo and Hermanos Shadow near the top since they were huge in that late 40s/early 50s period before it really went mainstream. Guajardo/Lagarde were a tag team I'd never heard of before but they were huge in the 60s to the point where Guajardo went over El Santo and they had a huge influence over the industry there. Honestly they should be higher than 33 but I'm just so unfamiliar that I didn't want to champion them too hard.

Similar deal with the Japanese tag teams, except they were a little late to the party and didn't really have much in the way of a tag team division until the 90s. There were a few exceptions with Baba & Tsuruta being one tag team I considered but from what I gathered tag teams were just a way to promote singles matches or to have carnivals and they weren't a traditional unit. The other exception was of course the women with the Beauty Pair and the Crush Gals getting over in mainstream Japan. This is where I wish gordi from PWO could verify some of this just to know the real extent but that 'bigger than wrestling' really helped push both their cases for me. Anyways I ended up going with Kawada/Taue with the idea that they got over during one of the hottest runs in AJPW, really added to their stocks and have some of the greatest matches put on tape. As great as those legacy teams are, it's difficult to appreciate them without the lack of footage or even context.

If I could be self-critical, I was harsh on a lot of modern teams. Take the Hardy Boyz for instance and while they got over huge in 1999-2000, I felt like they fell victim to the WWF's booking and by 2001 they were already looking to break them up and become singles. They never really had that one big run as tag team champions so they don't quite break into that Top 10 tag team for me.

To help generate some discussion I asked the question whether the Bucks should be #1 and made a case for them. In the end I didn't vote that way and outside of being polarising my biggest gripe is that they really haven't done a good job of building any memorable rivalries. Even their series of matches with Lucha Brothers which their fans love feel more like exhibitions than a classic rivalry. It's probably for the best in that regards because when they try and have serious rivalries it actively takes away from the match. The FTR match should have been one of the biggest deals in Pro Wrestling but it was so over-wrought and reeked of elementary school levels of acting. Same deal with the MJF/Jericho stuff with their dad getting an awful ketchup colour job. Compare that to Bockwinkel and Stevens having classic rivalries with The Bruiser and Crusher, Verne Gagne, The Vachons etc. and it's night and day.

Like a lot of these lists, I'm not married to the rankings and didn't go through weighing up each merit. It was more of a rough draft and what felt right and what tag teams made the cut.