Best WWE Tag Team Matches of ALL Time

[Victator]

Heavenly Bodies vs Steiners from Summerslam 93 is great. One of my favorite matches from 1993.

[Loss]

My vote goes for the Hardys vs MNM match that Dylan mentioned but I'll also mention Rock n Roll Express vs Heavenly Bodies from Survivor Series 1993. I understand people being put off by the atmosphere but when I watched it with a friend awhile back we were both convinced it was at least the best WWF tag of the 90s. The Boston crowd shits all over these guys that they don't know so both teams ignore them and just hit their best spots with perfect execution and timing. I'm sure both teams, and especially the RnRs, have better tags elsewhere but for it's era this is really fun.

This a million times. There are times when you can blame the wrestlers for a bland crowd, because they're not really involving the audience in the match. This is anything but one of those cases. All four guys (five, counting Cornette) know this is a big chance for them to show their stuff and really bust their asses. It's really hard to get over cold with a Northeast crowd, but they do their best. Tremendous match.

[El-P]

The dead crowd kinda ruins it for me. Super match in theory, but worked in a vacuum. I don't think "the crowds shit over them but they ignore it and hit their best spots" is the best definition of great work. I do blame the crowd a lot more in this case since it's clearly a WWF ignorant crowd, but still. Reminds me of the Benoit vs Malenko 30 minutes draw at Hogg Wild, which would have been probably awesome at Korakuen Hall but didn't work at all for this audience.

[Loss]

They didn't ignore the crowd at all. I agree that's not a definition of great work. It's also not what happened in this match.

 

(I know you're quoting Graham Crackers)

[El-P]

Agreed, they didn't blatantly ignored the crowd, but they played to a crowd who didn't want to play with them, resulting in working the match in a vacuum. Benoit vs Malenko was a total "ignore the crowd" deal though.

[Graham Crackers]

So "ignore" isn't the right word. There are parts where that crowd is shitting on the match, chanting that it's boring but it doesn't discourage the wrestlers. I took it as them working even harder to prove the crowd wrong or win them over which is a story I can enjoy, especially given that the show is in Boston. I grew up in New York, surrounded by a sports rivalry between the two cities so I'm pretty amused by an audience in Boston being unable to appreciate great wrestling.

[Matt D]

I really like Orndorff/Andre vs Piper/Orton

[NintendoLogic]

Nah, Benoit/Malenko would've been lousy anywhere in the world.

[Dylan Waco]

I know Bret/Davey v. New Foundation was a match I liked a lot during the SC polling. Not sure if this is the right one.

 

[Jingus]

I really like Orndorff/Andre vs Piper/Orton

Andre/Snuka vs Piper/Schultz is a lot of fun too.

[Big Rob]

Bret Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs Owen Hart & Bob Backlund - Action Zone 26/2/95

 

Something about Bulldog getting headbutted seems wrong, his head should be up there with Samoans' in my eyes. The tag to Bret early on was really well done, Bulldog sold his own suplex just enough to time the tag perfectly, that was actually superb in execution. The showdown between brothers may have come a little early, but it's not like they hadn't wrestled each other a whole bunch of times by this point.

 

Loved Owen's counter of a backbreaker by using an eye rake. So simple, but did the job nicely. Backlund running in constantly, only to get knocked on his arse was a fun section, I liked his participation in the match a whole lot when he was the illegal man. He didn't spend much time actually in the match, which at this stage was probably for the best, and it was mostly Owen vs Bret, which is hardly a bad thing. Backlund timed his interference really well, especially the false tag spot, and when Bret went to reverse the figure four.

 

Bret's selling was spot on, but my one issue with the match would be that Bret was almost always in a hold, and rarely made it to his feet. As such, he didn't really get to sell with his entire body, which would have put the match over the top in my eyes and really made it a great performance. He did show a brief moment of this when making the tag, however. I also wish that Backlund had got his comeuppance in the ring, rather than on the floor where it was missed by most of the crowd who were paying attention to the pin in the ring. Something like him eating a press slam leading to the finish would have made this just a little more special. Still, a good match, but I'm not sure it was quite as good as it could have been given the guys involved.

[Ricky Jackson]

I'll also second the Adonis/Murdoch vs. the Briscos match from 12/84 at MSG.

Finally watched this, and yes, it is awesome. The final ten minutes in particular are great and Murdoch really shines as the star of the match, selling, bumping, using a freakin ringside telephone as a weapon. My only complaint is the ref (short old guy I've never seen before) sucks ass, and for once Gorilla's criticism is warranted. The ending leaves you wanting to see a cage match or street fight type rematch, but, as far as I know, this was it for the two teams, and I think Jack called it a career only a few days later.

 

Fantastic.

 

Edit: OK, so according to Cawthon, Jack Brisco wrestled for the WWF until at least 2/28/85, and the Brisco's wrestled Adonis and Murdoch in several cities after this match (including 1/12/85 in Philly. Has anybody seen this one?) but never again at MSG. In fact, the night of the next MSG show, 1/21/85, was the same night Adonis and Murdoch dropped the straps to Windham and Rotundo in Hartford.

[cm funk]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Austin/HHH v. Benoit/Jericho (5/21/01) yet

[Mad Dog]

I mentioned it on the first page.

[NintendoLogic]

The Angle/Benoit vs. Edge/Rey match that won WON MOTY is also worth a look.

[Big Rob]

A couple of fine matches here, will watch some more of the recommendations soon.

 

 

I loved the team of Regal and Taylor at the time, and Londrick had good matches with everyone, so I was quite looking forward to rewatching this one, and it didn't disappoint. Started with London and Kendrick jumping the Brits before the bell to continue their fued, and have a pretty nice brawl in the opening minute. Regal is a king at selling small things like a wristlock being cranked on.

 

Taylor is pretty damn good in his own right, loved his really casual kick that he throws at London whilst he's attempting to skin the cat back into the ring. Late on in the match, he has a great spot where he just LEAPS at London to stop a tag, and then slaps on an armlock/neckwrench combo just because he happened to fall in that position. Regal throws a super 3/4 nelson suplex during the heat section as well, he does that pretty damn well.

 

What I like about the match most is that the crowd really didn't care that much for it at the start, but by the time the hot tag comes around, they're buzzing, and really want to see Londrick get the win. Bit of an angle finish which hurts it somewhat, but Taylor gets his swanky suplex in to cap it off, so that's fine by me.

 

---------------

 

Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs William Regal and Dave Taylor - Smackdown 22nd Jan 07

 

So that last match lead not to a title match between the two teams, but to a four way ladder match where Joey Mercury got his face exploded. So here we get the rematch, this time with the titles on the line. The match instantle gets a million stars from me since Taylor does a proper headlock takedown, trapping the arm whilst he takes Kendrick over. More people need to do it correctly like that. I like how Regal and Taylor are sold as a threat here, with Londrick constantly going back to a headlock or a front facelock to keep their opponants from doing pretty much anything. We get a tad more flashy offence here compared to the earlier match, with London landing on his feet out of a backdrop, and then proceeding to 'rana Regal with barely a chance to think about it.

 

We know Regal is great, but Taylor is underrated as fuck. He really brings it here with the wacky facial expressions as only an old Northerner can, and looks to be ripping London's shoulder out of it's correct position in relation to the rest of his body. That's some great working of a hold there, and I'd say that Taylor outworks Regal here, which is saying something.

 

The match totally picks up when London gets a rollup in for a near fall. Once that happens, the villains pick up the aggression tenfold, beating the crap out of the tag champ. A subtle move, but it totally makes sense that the Brits would recognise that London still has enough in him to possibly get the win, and as such decide to up it several notches. The hot tag was great, as it looked like it could easily have been an accident, and Kendrick is going crazy hitting everyone that moves. Finishing stretch is really exciting stuff, and a couple more minutes worth would have probably seen this get a really high rating. As it stands, still very good stuff, with Taylor just being great.

 

---------------

 

Eddie Guerrero and Booker T vs Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 30/12/04

 

Rey and Eddie start, and we get some good stuff, but just a teaser of what's to come, and Booker soon gets tagged. Crowd want RVD in, but that obviously wasn't when he was supposed to wrestle, so Rey stays in the match for the time being. Rey and Booker work really well together here, I don't recall how their World Title fued went mind you. Huge backdrop countered into a dropkick was a highlight here. Van Dam getting back suplexed out of a headlock, and then getting the headlock again straight away was something you don't see like, ever, these days.

 

Two hot tags here, which I'm normally not a big fan of, but this was really well paced that I had no problem with it, and the first set of heat was much shorter than the second. Always good to mix things up a bit from the classic formula anyway. All four men are great in the match, no weak link at all. I loved the spot where RVD forearms Booker a bunch of times to weaken him, and then when he turns to tag Rey, Booker just clotheslines the shit out of him. Eddie selling a Van Dam frog splash minutes after it happened was a lovely touch too. I wasn't a huge fan of the finish, classic Eddie stuff which is really funny like always, but it kind of took me out of the match a bit too much. The flash rollup by Rey was aces, though to be fair.

[Big Rob]

Shawn Michaels and Diesel vs 123 Kid and Razor Ramon - Action Zone 30th Oct 94

 

This was obviously a really good match, but the fact that Razor is face in peril rather than Kid, kind of bothers me. It shouldn't get in the way of a great match, but in the back of my mind, I can't help but think it would be even better were it Waltman taking the beatdown. That being said, this was good, good stuff. Razor has great punches, that should be clear to everyone, and both Shawn and Diesel sell them fantastically, with Michaels taking a hilarious spill on the apron at one point.

 

I loooooved the Razor's Edge being hit early, and didn't mind too much that it wasn't a huge factor in the match long term, since it was pretty much the first move Shawn was hit with, and realistically he wouldn't be selling it all match long. Great near fall for it, if you were watching the match for the first time, unaware of the hype then you could easily have bought that as the finish, especially on a throwaway show like Action Zone.

 

Hot tag was nice, and there was some cool as hell stuff going on when Kid got back in, especially the tandem SOS into a crossbody. Finishing stretch went on a bit long for my tastes, and Razor seemed to shake off his beatdown a little too easily. I sound kind of down on the match - I did really enjoy it, but I think a combination of knowing how good others have said it is, combined with my "what ifs" hurt it a little. Perhaps I should watch it again at a later date, but for now, it's kid of upper-middle of the road. If that makes any sense.

[flyonthewall2983]

Nm.

[Big Rob]

Hart Foundation vs US Express - Philly Spectrum, 20/9/86

 

Never seen a Dan Spivey match in the WWE before, save for the odd Waylon Mercy squash, so that's a facination fact for you right off of the bat. I also have never liked Jim Neidhart, and seen very little Rotundo outside of the IRS gimmick, so I'm quite pleased that this was recommended to me, as I likely wouldn't have gone out of my way to see it otherwise. That's not to say it was a great match, but it was a lot of fun, and I got to see some guys who I normally wouldn't pay much attention to, outside of Bret at least.

 

Rotundo's a really good babyface in peril. Once you get to the heat portion of the match, he's all sell sell sell, and does a damn fine job at it. Lovely desperation sunset flip too. I found it interesting that early on, there was a bit of light cheating going on by the US Express, deliberatly swapping positions behind the ref's back, without a tag. Seems out of character for babyfaces in 1986 WWF, but it was a fun spot regardless.

 

I actually liked Anvil quite a bit here, his execution of most moves didn't look great, but his character work was really good, definitely a believable character. Bret was also an entertaining chickenshit on the floor, getting his jabs in on Rotundo before running away from Spivey. Spivey I wasn't so hot on, for a big guy his offence didn't seem that credible.

 

Good match, with a great finish - it looked like Bret took Spivey's head off, and it says something that a guy the size of Hart could make what was essentially just a clothesline look a credible finish against big Dan. Spivey took a good bump for it too, in fairness.