The Wrestling Curmudgeon’s Ten Favorite Tag-Teams

                    By The Wrestling Curmudgeon

Tag-Team matches are my favorite aspect of Pro Wrestling. I like the simple story of this type of match. The hero or face team is usually undersized, go against the heel team who usually cheats or they are up against a powerhouse team that overwhelms the smaller hero team.

     Of course, they are variations of this story that has played out over the decades in rings across the world. But the basic model remains the same. The heroes battle the odds and hope to get a victory over the villains.

I just love this story and enjoy it over and over again. As of course many teams have stood out for me to enjoy, and I can’t get enough of them. Most of these teams on this list are legendary teams while a few would send you to You Tube to find out just how good they were.

     Debate me, tell me if I’m wrong and why did I exclude this team or that team from my list. Debates are the fun part of being a fan of Pro Wrestling.

                        The List

10. (tie) Southern Comfort, Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas

     Southern Comfort was Tracy Smothers and Chris Hamrick, two veterans of the mat wars who came together on the Indy scene in 2002. Smothers had been a mainstay of the territories and was in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation. A proven gizzard vet Smothers, found a partner in the high-flying vet Hamrick who completed in ECW and XPW and the team captured titles in IWC and IWA on the Indy scene. Heel or face, these guys just did a great job bringing in the crowd to the match.

     Today the late Rocky Johnson is known for being Dwayne “The Rock’ Johnson’s dad, but trust me, he was a good solid hand in his day and had a nice boxing/wrestling hybrid style. Tony Atlas was a bodybuilder turned wrestler and together they captured the WWF tag-team championship from The Wild Samoans, in 1983, in a classic match. It was a great payoff because Johnson had come up short in several single’s title matches. And Atlas was a popular choice to be his partner. Too bad they only had the one world title run. They have been retconned to be called The Soul Patrol today.

9. The Hollywood Blonds, Flyin’ Brian Pillman and Stunning Steve Austin.

     Many teams have been called The Hollywood Blonds, but this last version was the one that have been called the best and believe me, any team that had a feud with The Four Horseman is awesome in my book. Going nowhere fast in World Championship Wrestling Pillman and Austin decided to do something about it and try to come up with a concept for their fledgling team. Scott (Raven) Levy helped out and thus the name was dusted off and used one more time to glorious effect. Defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Dougles for the NWA/WCW World Title in 1993 and retaining the titles in a great 2 out of 3 falls against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson proved they could go with anyone. Too bad they only had the brief run in WCW. But Austin would go on to do great things later in his career, even the two would have a reunion in the WWE.  Pillman’s son is Lexus King in NXT.

8. The Great Goliath and Black Gordman

     One of the overlooked teams of NWA Hollywood’s 70’s heyday, The Red Devils as they were sometimes called terrorized territories in The Southwest US and Mexico and even each other if it was called for. Goliath was a powerhouse for a luchador while Gordman was wily skillful worker. Capturing NWA Hollywood’s America’s Tag-Team Tile almost 20 times together and the Georgia Tag Team Titles and the WCCW Texas Tag Team Championship. This team also claimed to be from New Mexico, not their actual home country of Mexico, this always raised the ire of the crowd.

7. The Fantastics, Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers

     A quick and flashy team from the 1980’s who came the ring with ZZ Top’s ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ on the loudspeaker. Fulton was the quick battler who always gave a good account of himself, and Rogers delivered one of the best dropkicks of all time. They proved themselves in battles with Jim Cornette’s Midnight Express and The Sheepherders and captured championships in World Class, NWA and UWF. But somehow a World Tag-Team championship eluded them, that was a shame. They always fought as the brave underdogs and the crowd was always with them.

6. Los Guerreros, Eddie and Chavo

      The Guerrero Family is one of the iconic families in Pro Wrestling. Father Gory was a mainstay in Mexico and his sons Chavo, Hector, Armando and Eddie did him proud. Throw in Chavo’s son Chavo, Jr and you got a powerful wrestling dynasty. But it was Eddie and Chavo, Jr’s antics that provided the spark the World Wrestling Entertainment needed on its championship scene. Capturing two World Championships, along with some funny ‘We lie, we cheat, we steal’ skits and innovative moves, Los Guerreros was a real treasure in Tag-Team wrestling. You are missed Eddie.

5. Jim Cornette’s Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton, Dennis Condrey and Stan Lane.

     Many teams used the name Midnight Express though the years but it’s the team managed by mama’s-boy, motormouth Jim Cornette that caught my attention in the 80’s and 90’s. Thrown together Beautiful Bobby and Loverboy Dennis were told that young Jim Cornette would be their manager and a legend was born. They could work heel or face, but it was their heel work that made them so loathed. Capturing titles in Mid-South, World Class and the NWA/WCW made them legends. Sweet Stan would join the team when Condrey suddenly left but they endured just the same. Now if they can only get in a Hall of Fame somewhere.

4. The Steiner Brothers, Rick and Scott

     Take two muscle head college graduates with real life wrestling skills and you got Rick and Scott Steiner. Their ability to deliver clotheslines and an innovative move the Frankensteiner no team hit harder than these Michigan brothers. They would win titles in NCW/WCW, seven-time tag champions, WWE, two-time champions and Japan, IWGP champions, the Steiner’s also would have colorful ring attire too. Both brothers would go on to successful singles runs too. Today Rick’s son Bron Breakker is tearing it up in the WWE.

3.The Von Erich’s, David, Kevin, Kerry and Mike

     In the 80’s Texas’ World Class Championship Wrestling was ignited by four handsome brothers. The sons of the great heel Fritz Von Erich he morphed into a defender of God and Texas and brought his boys in to carry his promotion. They found the perfect rivals in the Fabulous Freebirds a trio of wild Georgia boys and battled all over the territory. A pair of Von Erich’s would win World Class Tag Team titles seven times. They would also win the World Six-Man Titles Ten times. Kerry would famously win the NWA World Title from Ric Flair in 1984. Of course, this family was followed by a series of tragedies. But their hard-hitting matches would never be forgotten.

2. The Hart Foundation. Bret Hart and Jim Neidhardt

     One of the coolest tag-teams ever was Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart and Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhardt, both wrestlers had been working for a while with they found themselves in the WWF. With no direction they asked to team with each other and found a manager in Jimmy ‘The Mouth of the South’ Hart. The play on words ‘H-A-R-T’ was a no brainer. Winning the WWF Tag-Team titles twice, once with Jimmy Hart and once without him. The Foundation were a sunglass wearing hard hitting, technical precise team. Also wearing pink and black tights were also a fashion statement. The pink and black look would follow Bret Hart for the rest of his very distinguished career. The late Neidhardt is the father of WWE women’s wrestler Natayla.

First, kudos to The Road Warriors, The Motor City Machine Guns, Breezedango, Fly Def, The Southwest Dream Team and The Fabulous Freebirds, teams I liked but…

But guess what my favorite team is?????

THE ROCK ‘n’ ROLL EXPRESS !!!

     Yes, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson my favorite tag team of all time. At the time with were youthful veterans of the mat game but brought together by Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler to put on ‘b’ shows to support ‘The Fabulous Ones’ Steve Kiren and Stan Lane. The rest is history. Still teaming as late of 2023 and making appearances in 2025, Morton and Gibson won titles all major and minor promotions they worked in including winning the NWA Tag Team Titles nine times, the last in 2019. No one took a beating like Morton, and no one made a hot tag like Gibson. Also, their matches with Cornette’s Midnight Express are classics, either they were in the ring or high above on a scaffold. The Express are well loved and maybe ‘The Greatest Tag-Team that ever lived.’

Well, that’s all folks, let the debate continue.