5 WWE Tag Team Reunions That Ruled (And 5 That Sucked)
And 5 That Sucked...
5. The World's Greatest Tag Team (2006)
Amateur wrestling standouts Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin were one of the best things about what was arguably Smackdown's greatest ever era. Debuting as members of Kurt Angle's 'Team Angle' in late 2002, they had a series of thrilling matches with teams such as Chris Benoit & Edge, Los Guerreros and Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman, and seemed to improve with every performance.
They were a great team on a serious roll and there was mileage left in them yet when WWE decided to break them up during the 2004 Draft. Haas stayed on Smackdown while Benjamin - who WWE saw as having singles star potential - moved to Raw. Charlie would form decent teams with Rico and then Hardcore Holly before getting released in July 2005. Benjamin, on the other hand, was given clean wins over Triple H and a lengthy Intercontinental Title reign.
Haas returned in April 2006 (defeating Benjamin in his comeback match) and began teaming with Viscera, which came about due to a love triangle situation with Lilian Garcia. Don't ask. Eventually, WWE saw that 'Angry Black Man Benjamin' was struggling to get over on his own and that the Haas/Viscera combination was one of the weakest in memory and did the sensible thing and put the World's Greatest Tag Team back together again.
Unfortunately, their second run just wasn't very good. It wasn't terrible, but matches against The Highlanders, Cryme Tyme, Jim Duggan & Super Crazy and Ric Flair & Carlito just weren't up to the standard they had set on the blue brand a few years earlier. Despite winning the World Tag Team Titles and having some good matches with The Hardys and Paul London & Brian Kendrick, on the whole their run was a massive disappointment.
Towards the end of it, they were reduced to wrestling in dark matches and matches for Sunday Night Heat. They were soon split up again, drafted to separate shows and only periodically teaming from then on. It took a post-WWE run in Ring of Honor to remind the world what they were truly capable of between the ropes.