Underrated WWE Tag Teams More Fans Should Appreciate

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WWE may not be known for its tag team wrestling in the same way All Elite Wrestling currently is or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was in its heyday, but there have always been a small handful of teams in the company at any given time capable of entertaining the masses. Given the company's lack of focus and attention to the tag team division under Vince McMahon, great teams would often fall through the cracks or go under-appreciated by the higher-ups. In many cases, such teams would even win one of the company's world tag team championships only to be cast to the side in favor of the inevitable break-up between partners.

That said, WWE is still home to some of the world's greatest tag teams. However, for every team like the Usos and The New Day, there are tons more who have gotten lost to time and do not get the respect they deserve for being an excellent unit. Some are bound by blood or a real-life bond, while others came together as a happy accident that ultimately paid dividends for the tag team division as a whole.

Here are 12 underrated WWE tag teams that more fans should appreciate.

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd made for a natural tag team, but they unfortunately saw their run come to an end before it could build the necessary momentum. Like many great teams before them, the pairing blended power (Cesaro) with speed (Kidd), though both competitors could more than hold their own and had an instant chemistry. The team formed in 2014, but hit its stride in 2015 as a much-needed opponent for The New Day, a team that is generally considered one of the greatest in company history. When the WWE decided to keep the team together heading into the new year, they became tentatively known as "Masters of the Universe," a name used at house shows that never quite caught on on television.

Kidd and Cesaro peaked at Fastlane 2015, when they defeated The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championship and proceeded to hold the belts for 63 days. The team continued on through the middle part of the year until Kidd sustained an injury to his upper spine/neck region against Samoa Joe after taking Joe's patented Muscle Buster move. The injury kept Kidd out of action throughout the rest of the year and ultimately ended his career. With Kidd indefinitely sidelined, Cesaro embarked on a babyface run before recapturing tag team magic with a new partner, Sheamus, in a team collectively known as "The Bar." As successful of a team as The Bar became (six-time tag team champions), it is fair to wonder what Kidd and Cesaro could have accomplished had it not been for Kidd's injury.

The pairing of Chris Jericho and The Big Show took on a life of its own as "Jeri-Show." The team came together on the heels of the company unifying the World Tag Team Championship from the "Raw" brand and the WWE Tag Team Championship from the "SmackDown" brand. Jericho had just won the unified titles with Edge at The Bash in 2009, but after Edge tore his Achilles tendon, Jericho -– in storyline –- used a contractual loophole to pick a new partner. Jericho introduced The Big Show as his new teammate at Night of Champions the following month and together defeated Legacy to retain the belts. The pairing worked better than anybody could have imagined and carried the tag team division on both brands, while elevating challengers such as Cryme Tyme, MVP and Mark Henry, and Rey Mysterio and Batista. As a result, Jeri-Show dominated the WWE throughout the summer of 2009, and became focal points of the show for their natural star power on both brands as well as a dynamic that towed a fine line between serious and comedic.

When Bragging Rights came around later in the month, The Big Show, still technically a member of the "Raw" roster, turned on his teammates during a battle of the brads so he could be granted a World Heavyweight Championship match against The Undertaker. Jericho also got involved to make it a triple-threat match. The match with The Undertaker took place at Survivor Series. However, the desire of both men to become the world champion created a rift between them, and both Jericho and The Big Show carried that mutual animosity back into their next program with D-Generation X. With D-X ending Jeri-Show's reign, Jericho reverted to the "SmackDown" brand to feud with a returning Edge while The Big Show carried on the spirit of Jeri-Show through a new tag team with The Miz known as ShowMiz. 

Two singles stars forming a successful tag team is nothing new on WWE programming, but Jeri-Show might be the best example of two thrown-together singles stars that made for a natural partnership.

The Heavenly Bodies have existed in several incarnations throughout the years, but are perhaps best known for the combination that competed in the WWF: Dr. Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray. With Jim Cornette managing them, The Heavenly Bodies quickly became a legitimate heel tag team in the promotion, even if they were not official members of the WWF roster. Rather, the Bodies wrestled on major WWF events due to a working agreement with Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

The Heavenly Bodies went on to produce one of the most technically proficient WWF tag team matches of the '90s when they met the Steiner Brothers at SummerSlam 1993. The Steiners beat the Bodies in just under 10 minutes that night, in a textbook tag team match for the amount of time and build (or lack thereof) the match received. "We had made our first TV taping four weeks before this and the Bodies, I think, had two television matches," Cornette said on his podcast, "The Jim Cornette Experience." "We cut some promos and dusted the Steiners up on television, but we took the people on the ride where they thought it was just going to be a bull**** match, and then they weren't sure, then they thought, 'you know they might actually beat these f*****g guys and then the Steiners go over. That's what you're supposed to do." Had the WWF signed the Bodies after their match at SummerSlam 1993, it is anybody's guess as to what they could have become.

Lance Cade was a physically impressive wrestler the WWE was willing to invest in at a young age. Though he initially got a taste of the main roster while teaming with Mark Jindrak, Cade settled into his most recognized role as the tag team partner of Trevor Murdoch. Together, Cade and Murdoch became immediate heel fixtures on the "Raw" brand and won their first World Tag Team Championship at Unforgiven 2005 less than two weeks after making their in-ring debut. For the entirety of their run, the WWE portrayed Cade and Murdoch as a redneck tag team, though they had a unique take on the gimmick. Cade played a well-spoken cowboy while Murdoch portrayed a more modern redneck, seemingly in the mold of Larry the Cable Guy.

Despite the tag team's quick success on "Raw," Cade and Murdoch went their separate ways just two months later, a questionable decision given their status as the brand's top heel tag team. However, they would reunite the following year and embark on a second world tag team title reign when they took the belts off The Hardys in June 2007. They picked up a third title reign at the expense of Paul London and Brian Kendrick later that year. 

Murdoch has since gone on to achieve success outside of WWE, winning the NWA World Championship in 2021. Cade, meanwhile, tragically passed away in 2010 shortly after re-signing with the company. The team will be remembered for being booked strongly within their individual gimmicks in addition to as a tag team, as well as their no-nonsense style between the ropes.

The team of KC James and Aaron "Idol" Stevens, also known as The Teacher's Pets, had a brief albeit meaningful run on "SmackDown" between 2006 and 2007. James was a classically trained worker who cut his teeth in Puerto Rico, while Stevens, who could certainly hold his own between the ropes, had tons of untapped potential. Meanwhile, Michelle McCool served as the team's valet, whose status as a former school teacher became the whole basis of the tag team. James and Stevens immediately made their presence felt on the "Blue Brand," defeating reigning champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a non-title match in just their second week on the main roster.

Despite gaining a heap of early momentum, James and Stevens never managed to capture WWE gold together. Following the team's dissolution, James became an enhancement talent on the third brand, "ECW on SyFy." After leaving WWE, he retired from the business at the end of 2008. Stevens, who received his WWE release in August 2007, worked his way back to the company over the next three years, eventually returning as Damien Sandow, the "Intellectual Savior to the Masses." 

However, the ultimate fate of both tag team partners should take nothing away from the quality of their brief run on "SmackDown." The Teachers Pets showed an ability to mesh with any team on the roster, whether it meant working to the more finesse-based style of London & Kendrick or working a more physical style against the likes of the Pitbulls, Jamie Noble, and Kid Kash. With the ruler-wielding McCool drawing heat, James and Stevens will always be a team the old-school fans can appreciate.

Both underrated and influential, Paul London and Brian Kendrick carried the WWE tag team division for the better part of two years thanks to a high-octane yet fundamentally sound in-ring style. While Kendrick struggled to catch on during his first run in WWE between 2002 and 2004, he returned in 2005 to team with London, a good friend of his who had both tag team and cruiserweight success up to that point. After a tag team championship run with Billy Kidman ended in a feud between the two, London became the WWE Cruiserweight Champion. However, with "SmackDown" hurting for babyface tag teams, he reunited with Kendrick and embarked on one of the all-time great tag team runs in "SmackDown" history. The duo reworked their look, debuting new haircuts and matching colorful long shorts and vests. They also wore theatrical masks to the ring on most nights.

London and Kendrick defeated MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Judgment Day 2006 after weeks of MNM attempting to skirt ceding a title shot to the new team. The high-flying duo went on to hold the titles for 331 days, defending against the likes of MNM, KC James and Idol Stevens, William Regal and Dave Taylor, The Hardys, and Deuce and Domino, the last of whom eventually beat them for the titles. They even picked up London's then-real-life girlfriend, the late Ashley Massaro, as a manager to combat the outside interference of Michelle McCool during the feud with the Teacher's Pets. 

"I thought London and Kendrick were one of the best teams ever," WWE executive Bruce Prichard said on his podcast, "Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard." "Even in '06, to me, they were probably the most innovative tag we had in a long damn time. They were different, they were young and believable ... They were both great individually, but to me, they were better as a unit."