Compiled by Jamie Greer; rankings voted on by full LWOPW staff.
Last year we began our first annual event here at Last Word on Pro Wrestling, The Hot Tag 100, that ranks the top 100 tag teams who had the best overall year. We continue that tradition with the Hot Tag 100 ’18, looking once again at the best tag teams of the past year in wrestling around the world, from major to indie. Last year, The Young Bucks finished #1 on the list – will the Jackson brothers repeat? We’ll have to find out! The Hot Tag 100 is a four-part series, with each part focusing on 25 of the entries, counting down. This part looks at #100 down through #75.
For the purpose of context, the dates are from November 1, 2017 through November 1, 2018. We then took the last month to tabulate our rankings internally and do the write up. The criteria we used was as follows: Kayfabe narrative (so winning championships will offer more strength to those who never won, although strong feuds and showings will also count), strength of booking/visibility (so larger promotions will get a bit more prestige in the rankings), skill level, and overall “buzz” throughout that year. We realize that no one will agree completely with this ranking – and nor should they. After all, wrestling is a form of entertainment and should be entirely subjective by the beholder. But we had a blast compiling this list and look forward to seeing how 2019’s list looks!
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This list incorporates traditional two-person tag teams, including men’s, women’s, and intergender; it does not include 6-man tag teams, although trios that employ the Freebird Rule, where rotating 2-person units compete, are included. Number in parenthesis next to name indicates ranking the previous year (DNR indicates ‘Did Not Rank’. To check out many of our entrants, check out how to watch other indies in North & South America and the rest of the world)
#100. PPRAy (Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas) (DNR)
Titles Held: AWS Tag Team (387 days)
A pairing of two West Coast indie veterans. Also wrestlers as HATE. Won the Alternative Wrestling Show (AWS) titles in December 2017 and have held them over a year. Former vets from Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, they’re also regulars with Bar Wrestling.
“Accomplished singles wrestlers form one of the top teams in California.What they lack in size is made up for with intellect, experience, and ring savvy. Would love to see these guys take their skills higher in 2019. Step out of their comfort zone in SoCal.” Brian Ronovech (LWOPW West Coast correspondent)
#99. Double Platinum (Chris Bey & Suede Thompson) (DNR)
Titles Held: FSW Tag Team (49 days)
Two rising stars of the West Coast indie scene, Double Platinum (also known as The Bag Boyz) features two stars on the verge of breaking out. Chris Bey has taken the biggest leap so far, having just won the Future Stars of Wrestling (FSW) Heavyweight title. Is facing his tag partner Suede Thompson for the title on December 29, so Double Platinum may not be around for next year’s edition of the Hot Tag 100.
“Came together late summer and won FSW Tag Team straps. The pair receives a shot at Vacant UWN Titles in January.” Brian Ronovech (LWOPW West Coast correspondent)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80N1ZUi_g5Q&t=103s
#98. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch (DNR)
In 2017, NXT paired these two underrated indie stars (Lorcan as Biff Busick in Beyond and Burch as Martin Stone, former 3x IPW World Champion) together in a smashmouth bar fighting duo of badasses and they instantly had a connection with the Full Sail crowd. They got a shot at the NXT Tag Titles in a great match at NXT TakeOver: Chicago and have been on a winning streak of late, with the most recent against The Mighty.
#97. Z & E (DJZ & Andrew Everett) (DNR)
Titles Held: IMPACT Tag Team (30 days)
A seemingly random pairing turned into a highly entertaining unit of two vastly underappreciated high flyers. The quickly won over the crowd and captured the IMPACT Tag Team titles early. Short run though, as Andrew Everett has since departed IMPACT and DJ Z is spending more time on the indies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUxyHHFSShY
#96. Space Pirates (Shane Sabre & Space Monkey) (DNR)
Titles Held: Alpha-1 Tag Team (148+ days)
An emerging team from the Canadian indies, pairing rising stars Shane Sabre and Space Monkey. The two hold the A1 Tag Team titles out of Ontario’s Alpha-1 and are starting to work in the US indies with Black Label Pro, Glory Pro and Freelance Wrestling.
#95. Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) (73)
Heavy Machinery exploded onto the NXT tag team scene as a punchline to a backstage joke but quickly became fan favorites. While they’re more popular than ever, that love from the fans hasn’t lead to any series feuds or advancement for Heavy Machinery in NXT. Despite that, they’re heading to the main roster, where they’ll probably still be a popular duo.
#94. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta) (63)
The Best Friends unit of Trent and Chuckie T has been a PWG staple since 2013, but in 2017 they took their act to ROH and NJPW. They’ve competed in the last two NJPW World Tag Leagues and had title shots for the ROH World Tag Team titles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvDbwm-Vi_g
#93. The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) (56)
One of the most promising tag teams to come out of NXT and one of the most underutilised Superstars on the WWE roster. A few pushes and starts, but a disappointing year for the former 2x NXT Tag Team Champions.
“Despite a lack of push from WWE management, this team remains over with fans due to their in-ring skills alone.” Brandi Wagner (LWOPW Writer)
#92. Jay-FK (Jay Skillet & Francis Kaspin) (DNR)
Titles Held: wXw Tag Team (76 days)
Two of wXw’s emerging young stars were paired together in August of 2017 and the soon became one of Germany’s most exciting young duos. Captured the wXw World Tag Team titles shortly into their existence.
#91. Sadkampf (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) (DNR)
Titles Held: PWF Tag Team (45+ days)
With the Southern indies experiencing a boom, Sadkampf has emerged as one of its top young teams. Featuring Southern star Kevin Ku and EVOLVE‘s Dominic Garrini of Catch Point, Sadkampf has been slowly building momentum throughout Black Label Pro, Pro Wrestling Freedom (PWF), NOVA Pro, Southern Underground Pro (SUP) and Beyond Wrestling, and are currently the reigning champs in PWF.
#90. Cheerleader Melissa & Mercedes Martinez (DNR)
Titles held: SHIMMER Tag Team (64+ days)
Two pioneers of women’s wrestling in the US indies banded together and won the SHIMMER gold in August. Mercedes Martinez and Cheerleader Melissa are legends of the US women’s indie scene and could be a dominant duo in 2019.
“This is a team of two industry legends and all-time greats and the potential that this newer team has is off the charts.” Brandi Wagner (LWOPW Writer)
#89. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Shingo Takagi) (DNR)
One of the newest teams on the list, Dragon Gate veteran Shingo Takagi made the jump to NJPW this year to join Los Ingobernables de Japon and pair with BUSHI in the NJPW Junior Tag League. They made it to the finals but despite the loss are still looking like a team to beat in 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw1pj7f1PHk
#88. To Infinity & Beyond (Colin Delaney & Cheech) (DNR)
Titles Held: AIW Tag Team
They lost their AIW titles at the end of 2017, but they’ve remained competitive in AIW since, fighting their way back into the title hunt, as well as working for CHIKARA, Empire State Wrestling (ESW) and Upstate Pro Wrestling (UPW).
#87. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Yano) (24)
While still a credible tag team, the re-emergence of Tomohiro Ishii as a dominant singles wrestler (he’s 2x RevPro British Heavyweight Champion in the past year) has put their team on the backburner for most tag team pursuits.
“One of the most beloved tag teams in all of Japan because they are friends outside the ring and share completely different mindsets to pro wrestling. Yano confuses the competition meanwhile Ishii likes to go full-tilt on offense.” Dan Niles (LWOPW NJPW correspondent)
#86. The Boss & Hug Connection (Sasha Banks & Bayley) (DNR)
The WWE has not so subtly been alluding to WWE Women’s Tag Team titles the past few months and the tandem of Sasha Banks and Bayley have been declaring their desire to be the first champions. They’ve been on a roll of late and are proving to be a formidable tag team unit.
#85. Deleters of Worlds (“Woken” Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt) (DNR)
Titles Held: WWE Raw Tag Team (79 days)
The “Woken One” rehabbed Bray Wyatt back to the light and the two captured the Raw Tag Team Championships, but their reign was disjointed and they lost momentum shortly after their defeat.
#84. Gym Nasty Boys (Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike) (DNR)
Titles Held: Resistance Tag Team (23+ days), IWA Mid South Tag Team (155 days), FEST Tag Team (161 days)
While still a new tag team in only their second year together, The Gym Nasty Boys exploded this year, capturing titles in The Resistance (formerly Resistance Pro), IWA Mid South and FEST Wrestling, while waging battles in Rockstar Pro, Glory Pro, CZW, Carolina Wrestling Federation (CWF) Mid Atlantic and others.
#83. One Percent (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson) (DNR)
Titles Held: FSW Tag Team (x2)
Another West Coast tandem on the verge of breaking out in 2019, captured the FSW titles twice this year, as well as had an impressive showing on the reboot of Ring Warriors.
“The most consistent team in Las Vegas that continues to develop and improve. Bookings in bigger promotions could lead to shinier gold in 2019.” Brian Ronovech (LWOPW West Coast correspondent)
#82. The Closers (Rick Roland & Caprice Sloan) (DNR)
Titles Held: CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas (294 days)
Lengthy run for the CHIKARA tough guys, who evened worked CWF Mid Atlantic for the Kernodle Tag Team tournament, making it to the finals. Underrated, but needs to get out to other promotions for more challenge.
#81. The Well Oiled Machines (Pepper Parks & Psycho Mike Rollins) (100)
Titles Held: Smash Tag Team (252 days)
This Odd Couple tag team that won the fans over in 2017 turned it up this year to capture the inaugural Smash tag team titles. Defended multiple times in a feud with Super Smash Bros. Their time as a team may be coming to an end, as Pepper Parks (formerly IMPACT star Braxton Sutter) is working more with Andy Williams in The Butcher & The Blade.
#80. Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey) (34)
Titles Held: ICW Tag Team (63 days), SWA Tag Team, PWE Tag Team (287 days)
One of the Scottish indie scene’s tag team legends, the 4x Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) Tag Team Champions added their fourth this past year. They didn’t work as much together the past year, as Jackie Polo went for ICW World title gold and Mark Coffey reunited with his brother Joe Coffey in NXT UK to join together with Wolfgang in Gallus.
“Jackie Polo and Mark Coffey are easily one of the most recognisable teams in Scottish wrestling today, known for their trademark scoop slams. Despite Polo becoming Just Justice in April, they’ve remained a team in companies other than ICW and have continued to prove that the answer to ‘who bad?’ is still ‘we bad’.” Adam Morrison (LWOPW UK correspondent)
#79. El Sky Team (Valiente & Volador Jr) (DNR)
Titles Held: CMLL Tag Team (119 days)
Two of CMLL’s veterans paired together in El Sky Team and held CMLL World Tag Team gold this year, continuing CMLL’s tradition with classic lucha libre.
“Voldaor Jr. and Valiente embody what classical Lucha Libre is. The pair of CMLL loyalists brings highflying offense and great chemistry. Valiente can mix it up with anybody, winning the CMLL World Tag Titles with Volador and with Diamante Azul too.” Emmanuel Rosado (LWOPW Latin America correspondent)
#78. Team WhiteWolf (A-Kid & Carlos Romo) (DNR)
Titles Held: ATTACK! Tag Team (105 days)
A-Kid and Carlos Ramos are two of the best wrestlers out of Spain and the two representatives from White Wolf Wrestling (Triple W) have been showcasing their skills together, starting first with the UK indie scene. They’ve worked for RevPro, ATTACK!, PROGRESS, Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling and more, garnering acclaim worldwide.
“Carlos Romo and A-Kid spent the year working everywhere they could in Europe. A team of hungry wrestlers that are constantly getting better and will eventually be a top team in the UK and European wrestling scenes.” Alex Richards (LWOPW UK correspondent)
#77. Alpha Bad (Kip Sabian & Iestyn Rees) (DNR)
Titles Held: WOS Tag Team (21 days), NGW Tag Team (10+ days)
A generation vanguard, Alpha Bad pairs UK veteran pairs former IPW, Preston City Wrestling (PCW) and 2x Pro Wrestling Elite (PWE) Champion Iestyn Rees with young star former IPW World Champion (and reigning World of Sport Champion) Kip Sabian together. Recently debuted with Defiant Wrestling. The two captured WOS Tag Team gold and moved beyond and are the reigning New Generation Wrestling (NGW) tag champs as well.
“One of the shining lights of the World Of Sport return the super charismatic Kip Sabian won the tag titles backed up by the Alpha male Iestyn Rees.” Alex Richards (LWOPW UK correspondent)
#76. The Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) (68)
While it was a dry year for The Carnies in the tag team gold department, the popular indie tag team still competed in promotions and tournaments around the US indies, such as Bar Wrestling, AIW, Ring of Honor, PWF, NOVA Pro, and many more. It’s only a matter of time before they stop playing with the prey and start devouring them again.
