10 WWE Tag Team Champions Less Worthy Than Nicholas

6. Heidenreich

Spirit Squad Nicholas
WWE.com

Far from just being disrespectful to the already-tarnished legacy of the Road Warriors, Heidenreich's substitute appearance alongside Animal in 2005 sucked the gimmick further into the gutter.

Brought into the company as a variety oddball, Heidenreich was useless both as a buffoon babyface and heinous heel. The last gasp push for Paul Heyman's former charge saw him don the famous spiked shoulder pads and somehow score a tag team title run alongside the legendary Legion Of Doom performer.

The company booking them to beat up-and-coming stars MNM was rancid in the extreme, despite the fact they'd drop the belts back in relatively short order. Heidenreich got no less useless than he'd ever been, whilst Animal understandably wore the physical strain of 20 years in the industry. His Hawk replacement looking so f*cking ridiculous in the role can't have boosted his mental strength either.

Though tricky to work out exactly what the facepaint was supposed to represent, it broadly resembled a skull in place of his wild-eyed face. For a tired retread with such little meat on the bone, it was rather appropriate.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett