10 WWE Tag Teams That Never Feuded
Sometimes friendship wins!
What’s the point of a two on two wrestling?
Is it to allow performers to stage a different kind of match with a more frantic pace, and the chance for double teaming, heel tactics, and dramatic hot tags? Well, if you’re a WWE booker, the end goal is probably to break the team up for the sake of a feud.
Sometimes the break up of a tag team can lead to unforgettable moments - The Rockers, Owens and Jericho - and the birth of at least one solo star. Other times, it results only in one fewer tag team (an issue when the roster is already slim).
But then there are those rare duos that never feel the wrath of Vince McMahon’s anti-tag team agenda. Pairs of performers whose unity continues unabated, who have each other’s backs through thick and thin, who never let pettiness or jealousy get in the way of their connection.
Some of these teams rank among the most legendary in WWE history; others only stuck around the company for a cup of coffee (or more accurately, two cups) before departing, or were comedic acts that probably weren’t worthwhile splitting. It’s rare for WWE to resist imploding a tag team (indeed they’re yet to do so with their women’s roster), but these teams prove that the power of friendship can survive even the most fraught of environments.
10. APA
Ron Simmons and John Layfield had rattled around WWE’s lower card for a while before finally coming together as The Acolytes, and as soon as their real-life friendship was transitioned to TV, it was gold from the off. As Farooq and Bradshaw, their chemistry was built on the simplest of premises: they were two burly southern boys who loved fighting and drinking and would do both in equal measure on a weekly basis.
They had reasonable success as The Acolytes and later the hugely fun Acolytes Protection Agency, but tag gold wasn’t the point. They were muscle for hire, working first for The Undertaker’s ministry and later for anyone who’d pay them, and relished the chance to storm to the ring and dish out a kicking to whoever had it coming.
Indeed WWE used the pair as something of a proving ground, sending new teams their way to see if they could take their lumps. Sometimes it worked (The Dudleyz sucked it up and prevailed); sometimes it got pretty ugly, like their infamous battering of Public Enemy on a 1999 episode of Heat.
The two did lock horns once, but it was simply to find out which was toughest. After a wild brawl, the match was thrown out, and they went back to the business of drinking beer, smoking cigars, and stomping on folk.