Tag team wrestling is born out of synchronicity, and it’s no different in WWE. Men and women pair together for years, working their way up the ranks to build the chemistry necessary for success.
We have seen this chemistry with greats such as The Hardy Boyz, The Rockers, and The Hart Foundation, which are great examples of how this strong relationship can be built.
These friendships have produced great tag teams, and that is usually the case for most of the tag team greats, but not always. There have been times when rivals have been thrown together and created gold.
There have been times when wrestlers who hated each other were paired, and it has created some special moments. Below are some examples of these times.
The Brothers of Destruction
Kane had one of the more shocking and dominant debuts in WWE history. His entrance at Bad Blood, bathed in red light, was awesome. The Undertaker’s brother had made his way to WWE and was now standing in the path of his older sibling.
The debut of Kane led to a long-standing rivalry between the two brothers. They tore the house down wherever they went and provided some classic moments in company history. This storied rivalry was the highlight of the Attitude Era, but it also turned into a partnership.
When the brothers decided to join forces, a terrifying duo was created. Separately, both men intimidated everyone on the roster, but together, that was amped up to 11. There wasn’t a single tag team that could stand toe-to-toe with The Deadman and Kane.
They were the favorites in every match they were in and always had the fans chanting for the Brothers of Destruction.
The Rock N’ Sock Connection
The Rock and Mankind had one of the most intense feuds during the Attitude Era. It began with The Rock cheating his way to a Deadly Games tournament victory, and what followed was a string of more violent matches than the last.
Iconic matches such as the I Quit, Half-time Heat, and Ladder littered the feud between the men. Then there was also the WWE Championship match, which was a huge reason for the turn in the Monday Night Wars.
As good as they were as rivals, The Rock and Mankind were even better as a team. The reluctant pairing of The Rock N’ Sock Connection was incredibly entertaining. Their “This is your life” segment remains one of the highest-rated in WWE Monday Night Raw history.
The chemistry between the two was undeniable. They had great matches and a partnership that was revisited multiple times throughout the years.
The Bar
WWE has a history of throwing together men/women who creative have nothing for. It usually doesn’t work, but in the case of Sheamus and Cesaro, they struck gold. Hey, even a broken clock is correct twice a day.
Sheamus and Cesaro started as hard-hitting rivals. Finding themselves on the same brand, the two men were booked in a best-of-seven series. Predictably, the series ended in a draw, but the seeds were already sown.
The men had similar styles and tremendous chemistry, and soon, they were put together, forming The Bar.
The Bar was a fantastic tag team. During their run, they amassed five tag title reigns and memorable programs opposite The New Day, The Shield, and The Hardy Boys. It was a happy accident for WWE that produced one of the best of an era.
Team Hell No
Kane and Daniel Bryan were as oddball a pairing as any could get. They were polar opposites, and they started as rivals for the WWE Championship.
After failing, on multiple occasions, to capture the strap Raw General Manager AJ Lee decided to put them together. It was seen as a punishment, but it ended up being the best for both men’s careers.
Team Hell No refused to work together. They despised one another but were forced to team together. This produced some hilarious matches as they continued to thwart one another even while winning their matches.
The support for the team increased week-by-week until the rafters of every arena blew off when the team made their entrance. It was such an organic thing that no one could have ever predicted.
Matt Hardy & MVP
Matt Hardy and MVP were an incredibly underrated pairing.
In the beginning, they engaged in a great feud over the United States Championship. SmackDown was in dire need of a strong mid-card, and these two men were up to the task. They had a great professional rivalry that soon had their egos coming into play.
MVP believed that he could win the WWE Tag Championships with anyone, given that his talent was greater than the entire roster. This prompted the powers that be to put him and his rival Hardy together to go after the straps.
The tag championships were soon around the waist of the former rivals.
WWE has used this ploy many times, but it has not worked as well as this one. MVP and Hardy were naturals, as both rivals and teammates. They provided great entertainment, whether against each other or on the same side. It was a blueprint for how rivals should team up.
Rated RKO
Randy Orton had a stranglehold on the mid-card in 2003/2004. His run with the IC Championship was fantastic, and it was getting to the point where it was unsure who would unseat him. That is when another young buck entered the picture: Edge.
Edge and Orton had a great mini-program in the summer of 2004, which ended up with Edge winning the championship. It was an underrated rivalry that could have lasted longer than it did.
Flash forward a handful of years, and both men were top heels in the company. They gravitated towards each other, and when common enemies reared their heads, Orton and Edge joined forces to create Rated RKO, a team that held tag championship gold and enjoyed a great rivalry with D-Generation X.
They were big-time names who bonded together to create a big-time tag team.
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