5 Best And 5 Worst Reluctant WWE Tag Team Champions

The WWE writers’ relationship with the tag team division over the past 25 years has been testy at best. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, tag teams held their own niche in the hearts of wrestling fans. Tag teams have also fostered Hall of Fame singles careers, including those of Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and Edge, among others. However, lately WWE has forgotten the fact that the teams have to be successful before the second part can happen, and have broken teams up. As a result, the tag team championships have been used as more of a prop for a bigger storyline, rather than a way of elevating the tag team division, as well as the tag team champions.

No more is this evident than the booking of “the reluctant tag team champions.” Two singles wrestlers who either are feuding or don’t really like each other get paired up, and somehow they manage to win the tag team championships. There are a few occasions where this idea ends up working nicely, producing entertaining television. 

However, for every success, there is always a failure, as WWE loves going to the well with the reluctant tag team champions storyline. This article takes a look at both sides of the coin, and presents the five worst and five best reluctant tag team champions of all time.

One of the problems of the WWE Brand Extension in 2002 after Wrestlemania X8 was the writers’ decision to completely demolish the tag team division. At the time, there were only four real tag teams of note: The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, The APA, and the tag team champions, Billy and Chuck. With the Brand Extension, two teams were split between shows (The Dudleys and the APA), and the other two teams were on two different shows (and unlike the Undisputed WWE Championship, the tag team titles were Smackdown-exclusive). That left the tag team division to be made up of loose alliances (teaming up Al Snow with Maven because they were both on Tough Enough) and reluctant tag team partners.

At Judgment Day, Billy and Chuck defended the belts against Rikishi and a partner of their choosing. Seemingly trying to stack the deck against Rikishi, the champs chose their manager, Rico. Of course, the plans backfired and Rikishi and Rico became the new tag team champions. The reign didn’t last long. It was indicative of how poor the tag team division was, barely more than a year removed from the glory days of the tag team division in 2000.