10 WWE Tag Team Wrestlers Who Held Their Partners Back

6. Dolph Ziggler (Drew McIntyre)

Seth Rollins holds back Dean Ambrose
WWE

WWE allowed fans to laughably frame Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler's 2018 pairing as the second coming of Diesel and Shawn Michaels when they first came together following WrestleMania 34, as if comparisons to 'The Showstopper' hadn't already damaged Dolph enough.

Cute physical cues between the pair - McIntyre playing endless protector, Ziggler having more of the singles matches to build to the tag main events, Drew literally carrying Dolph back to the dressing room on occasion - told the real story of who WWE hoped to have in their main events when the pair were separated, but a 'Dogs Of War' join-up with Braun Strowman clamped the 'Scottish Psychopath' to endless pantomime heel bullsh*t against The Shield that shattered the mystique of the former NXT Champion.

The two rather ponderously ploughed forward in spite of the obvious damage being done to Drew until WWE somehow managed to make the situation worse. Upon splitting, damaged goods Dolph got the better of his far superior partner in a 50/50 feud at the worst possible time of year for either. The defunct duo went into Royal Rumble and WrestleMania season ice cold - a far cry from their white hot summer series with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose just months earlier.

Contributor
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