Tag Teams Where Both Members Did Well

Tag Teams Where Both Members Did Well
March 7, 2018
By Ryan Porzl

When it comes to tag teams in wrestling, there seems to be two kinds of teams. One are teams that are life long tag team wrestlers who will always be known for tag teams like The Road Warriors while other teams are those where members eventually break up and move on. In the case of the latter, the best examples are The Hart Foundation & The Rockers. With Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels not only going on to superstardom, their partners Jim Neidhart & Marty Jannetty didn't do much after that. As a result, when teams break up, people always wonder which will be the Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels of the team and which will be the Jim Neidhart/Marty Jannetty and even wrestling promotions have had wrestlers even bring it up on promos. However, not all teams are like that. There have been teams out there where there was someone who achieved big success but the partner also did very well themselves. With that, we'll take a look at the teams where both members ended up doing well. Please note, I will only bring up teams where people looked at a team and clearly saw someone as a future superstar so teams like the Blade Runners (Sting & The Ultimate Warrior) won't be on here since nobody viewed one as having the most potential when they teamed up and they didn't last long.
                

Billy and Bart Gunn

                                   
The Smoking Gunns
Background: Consisted of fictional brothers Billy & Bart Gunn who had a cowboy gimmick. Originally forming around 1992 in the International Wrestling Federation where they won the tag team titles twice, they teamed in the WWF from 1993-1996 where they held the WWF World Tag Team Championships on three occasions between January 1995-September 1996 and the RAW Bowl on the New Years Day 1996 edition of Monday Night RAW while feuding with teams like Owen Hart & Yokozuna, The Bodydonnas, and The Godwinns. After the team broke up in October 1996, they briefly feuded with Bart as the babyface and Billy as the heel with the feud peaking on the Free-For-All pre-show at Survivor Series 1996 as the two captained teams against each other with Bart winning. The two would later compete against each other for the WWF World Tag Team Titles at the 1998 King of the Ring with Billy as part of the defending New Age Outlaws while Bart was part of the New Midnight Express.

Billy: Billy was the one considered to have the most potential of the two and he ultimately became the breakout star of the two. After originally struggling as Rockabilly, Billy formed the legendary tag team The New Age Outlaws in 1997 with "Road Dogg" Jesse James while he became "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn. As part of the Outlaws, Billy won five more Tag Titles from 1997-1999 while being the top tag team of The WWF during most of The Attitude Era. Billy would later enjoy singles success by winning the Intercontinental Championship once, the Hardcore Championship twice, and the 1999 King of the Ring while being in the final four of the 2001 Royal Rumble. Billy would later form another successful tag team with Chuck Palumbo and won two more tag titles in 2002 while later reuniting with James to win the WWE Tag Team Championships in 2014. Outside of WWE, Billy has enjoyed success in Maryland Championship Wrestling by winning their Tag Titles with James and their Rage TV Title while competing for New Japan's IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

Bart: After struggling in 1997, Bart formed the New Midnight Express in 1998 with Hardcore Holly with Bart becoming "Bodacious Bart" while Holly became "Bombastic Bob". The team enjoyed decent success as Bart got a run with the NWA World Tag Team Championship while challenging The New Age Outlaws for the WWF World Tag Team Championship and was runner up in the Wrestlemania XIV 15 team battle royal. Towards the end of his WWF run, Bart won the Brawl For All in a big upset while knocking out favorite "Dr. Death" Steve Williams along the way. After the WWF, Bart worked in All Japan Pro Wrestling from 1999-2002 and New Japan Pro Wrestling from 2002-2004 during which time he continued using the Bart Gunn name before changing it to "Mike Barton". During this time, Bart won the AJPW World Tag Team Championship with Johnny Ace (John Laurinatis) and then formed a team with Jim Steele where he won the Stan Hansen cup, a #1 contenders tournament for New Japan's IWGP Tag Team Championship, was a runner up in New Japan's 2001 G1 Tag League, and was a challenger for both the AJPW World Tag Team Championship and New Japan's IWGP Tag Team Championship. Though mostly known for his tag team success, Bart did have success in singles competition as he won All Japan's yearly January 2nd Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal in 2001 and made it to the finals of All Japan's Champion Carnival (All Japan's top singles tournament) in 2002 where he got a win over the legend Genichiro Tenryu in the semifinals while losing to Keiji "The Great Muta" Mutoh in the finals.

Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham

The US Express
Background: Consisting of brothers-in-law Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda, The US Express formed in 1984 in Championship Wrestling from Florida where they became 3 time NWA United States Tag Team Champions. They then went to the WWF at the end of 1984 under the US Express name and managed by Captain Lou Albano. The team held the WWF World Tag Team Championship two times while feuding with The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff and The Dream Team (Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake). Their title loss at Wrestlemania to Sheik & Volkoff was the first title change in Wrestlemania history. After Windham left in late 1985, the team broke up and only reunited a few times including a win over The Fabulous Ones at AWA's Wrestlerock event in April 1986, a loss in a six man tag teaming with Curt Hennig against Johnny Smith, Jim Steele, & George Hines at AJPW's Kings Road New Century 2001 in January 2001, and a no contest against Sheik & Volkoff on a WWE Monday Night Raw in March 2008.

Barry Windham: After the US Express broke up, Windham had a highly successful run in Jim Crockett Promotions/NWA from 1986-1989 where he won the NWA United States Championship and was the first NWA Western States Heritage Champion. He would also form successful tag teams with Ron Garvin who he won the NWA United States Tag Team Championship with and Lex Luger who he won the NWA World Tag Team Championship with. Windham also had two runs as a member of the prestigious Four Horsemen including the classic 1988 line up which most consider the best version of the stable. From 1991-1994 and again from 1998-1999, he competed in WCW where he won the WCW World Television Championship, the NWA World Tag Team Championship, three WCW World Tag Team Championships with Dustin Rhodes, Curt Hennig, and brother Kendall, and he also became a world champion at long last when he defeated The Great Muta at Superbrawl III to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1993. Windham would also win the WWC Tag Team Championship with Kendall in 2000 and toured All Japan Pro Wrestling where he challenged Jumbo Tsuruta for All Japan's top prize: the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 1990.

Mike Rotunda: Rotunda also achieved big success in JCP as he held two more NWA World Television Championships with his second title reign (his first was in 1982) lasted 335 days which is the third longest NWA/WCW World Television Championship reign. He also held the NWA World Tag Team Championships with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as part of the Varsity Club while also earning two more NWA Florida Heavyweight Championships in Championship Wrestling from Florida. From 1991-1995, Rotunda enjoyed a second run in the WWF as evil tax man Irwin R. Shyster where he formed Money Inc. with "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase that won three more WWF World Tag Team Championships from February 1992-June 1993 while feuding with The Road Warriors, The Natural Disasters, The Megamaniacs, and The Steiner Brothers. As a single wrestler, he feuded with Razor Ramon over the WWF Intercontinental Championship while also feuding with Big Boss Man & The Undertaker. He later became a member of both the nWo and nWo Japan while finishing his career in All Japan where he reunited with Steve Williams to win All Japan's yearly World's Strongest Tag Determination League in 2000 while challenging for the World Tag Team Championship in 2001.

Scott and Rick Steiner

The Steiner Brothers
Background: As The Steiner Brothers, Rick & Scott became one of wrestling's greatest teams combining good amateur technical wrestling with powerful suplexes variations, great athleticism, and Scott pulling off the frankensteiner. During their prime from 1989-1998, the team dominated in NWA/WCW, NJPW, & WWF where they became 7 time NWA/WCW World Tag Team Champions, 1 time NWA United States Tag Team Champions, 2 time New Japan IWGP Tag Team Champions, 2 time WWF World Tag Team Champions, & the 1990 Pat O'Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament while having classic rivalries and matches with Doom, Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki, Money Inc., Harlem Heat, & The Outsiders. The team broke up at WCW Superbrawl VIII in February 1998 after Scott turned on Rick during their title defense against The Outsiders and joined the nWo.

Scott: As Big Poppa Pump, Scott became one of WCW's top stars during their last three years as he won the WCW World Television Championship, two WCW United States Championships, and briefly led nWo: Hollywood from November 1998-January 1999. By 2000, Scott hit his prime as he became the second to last WCW World Heavyweight Champion before losing the title in the final Nitro to Booker T, main evented the final Starrcade in 2000 against Sid Vicious, & was considered one of the hottest acts in the business. Following WCW, Scott enjoyed success in various promotions as he competed for WWA in 2002 where he won the WWA World Heavyweight Championship & in WWC in 2010 where he won the WWC Universal Championship (the promotion's top prize). He also competed on and off for TNA/Impact Wrestling since 2006 where he got the World Tag Team Championship with old rival Booker T and challenged Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Sacrifice 2008. Even his disastrous 2002-2004 WWE run saw him feud with Triple H over the World Heavyweight Championship.

Rick: Rick would achieve some success in tag team competition as he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship at Halloween Havoc 1998 alone and later picked jobber Kenny Kaos to be his partner but the team was forced to give the belts up due to an injury to Rick. Rick then would hold the WCW World Television Championship two times in 1999 and held the belt for half the year. In 2001, he won the WCW United States Championship and ironically not only became the second to last champion before WWF bought WCW but he lost his belt to Booker T. After WCW, Rick competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling where he entered a tournament in February 2002 for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship defeating then former 3 time champion Kensuke Sasaki in the first round before eventually falling in the semifinals to future champion & runner up Yuji Nagata and later was a runner up in the Teisen Hall Six Man Tag Team Tournament with Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi losing to Masahiro Chono, Giant Silva, and Giant Singh (Great Khali) in the finals. Rick also competed for Harley Race's WLW promotion where he won the WLW Heavyweight Championship twice and competed in NWA-TNA's Gauntlet for the Gold for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 2002.

Matt and Jeff Hardy

The Hardy Boyz
Background: The Hardy Boyz featured brothers Matt & Jeff who first came in as good looking white meat babyfaces before reinventing themselves first as The New Brood with Gangrel and then as exciting daredevils who had legendary matches against Edge & Christian and The Dudley Boyz which including the first Tables, Ladders, & Chairs matches. The team would break up and reunite countless times over the years where they reinvented themselves again in 2016 as The Broken Hardys. Overall, The team won the WWF/E Tag Team Championship 7 times, the WCW World Tag Team Championship 1 time, the TNA World Tag Team Championship 2 times, & the ROH World Tag Team Championship 1 time thus becoming the only team to hold the WWE, TNA, & ROH Tag Titles.

Jeff: Jeff enjoyed big runs in both WWE and TNA during which time he became a WWE Champion, a 2 time World Heavyweight Champion, a 4 time Intercontinental Champion, a European Champion, a Light Heavyweight Champion, a 3 time Hardcore Champion, the eighteenth Triple Crown Winner, and the ninth Grand Slam Winner. He also became the youngest Intercontinental Champion at 23 and main evented WWE's second biggest event of the year when he main evented Summerslam in 2009 against CM Punk in a TLC match for the World Heavyweight Championship. In TNA, Jeff became a 3 time TNA World Heavyweight Champion & the 2012 Bound For Glory Series winner while having main evented two Bound For Glorys in 2010 & 2012 along with the promotion's first three hour Pay-Per-View Victory Road 2004.

Matt: Matt would also win many titles including one run with the Hardcore Championship, one run with the European Championship (which was the second longest in the history of the title), one run with the Cruiserweight Championship, one run with the Tag Team Championship with MVP, one run with the United States Championship, and one run with the ECW Championship. In TNA, Matt enjoyed two reigns as TNA World Heavyweight Champion and also main evented Bound For Glory in 2015. He's also enjoyed critical acclaim for his Matt Hardy Version 1.0 and Broken Matt Hardy gimmicks.

Christian and Edge

Edge & Christian
Background: Edge & Christian began before their WWF/E runs as they were childhood friends and turned pro around the same time with Edge turning in 1992 while Christian turned in 1994. The two worked in their native Canada with Edge using the name "Sexton Hardcastle" while Christian used the name "Christian Cage" and were part of the stable "Thug Life" with Rhyno (as Rhino Richards) and Joe E. Legend (Just Joe in WWF & Legend in TNA). Both joined the WWF in 1998 with Edge coming in first while Christian followed and both were members of Gangrel's "Brood" stable before breaking off on their own. The team eventually had a career making match with The Hardy Boyz at No Mercy 1999 and then peaked in 2000 with their legendary three way feud between The Hardyz & The Dudley Boyz which featured the first ever TLC (Tables, Ladders, & Chairs) matches at Summerslam 2000 & Wrestlemania X-7. The team won The WWF World Tag Team Championship seven times from 2000-2001 while feuding with The Hardyz, The Dudleyz, The Right To Censor, Too Cool, The APA, & The Rock and The Undertaker. The team eventually broke up in late 2001 when Christian turned on Edge due to his jealousy of Edge's newfound singles success.

Edge: Prior to the break up, Edge won the Intercontinental Title for the first time in July 1999 at a live event before dropping it a day later back to Jeff Jarrett at Fully Loaded 1999 and in the months before the break up, he won the 2001 King of the Ring & a second Intercontinental Title at Summerslam 2001. Following the break up, Edge won seven more tag titles with Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, & Rey Mysterio along with three more Intercontinental Titles and the first Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania 21 in 2005. From 2006-2011, Edge would be one of the WWE's main stars as he shined under his "Rated R Superstar" persona while he won eleven world titles including four WWE Championships and seven World Heavyweight Championships as well as win the 2010 Royal Rumble and main evented Wrestlemania XXIV against The Undertaker in 2008. Edge would also be a Triple Crown Champion and a Grand Slam Champion while also being the featured inductee in the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame.

Christian: Despite not doing as good as Edge, Christian did beat Edge to a championship as he won the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in his debut match at In Your House XXV: Judgment Day in October 1998. After the team broke up, Christian enjoyed success as an upper midcard wrestler winning the Intercontinental Championship four times, the European Championship once, the Hardcore Championship once, and two more Tag Team Championships with Lance Storm & Chris Jericho. During his second run from 2009-2014, he became a four time World Champion by winning the World Heavyweight Championship two times and the ECW Championship two times. He also enjoyed a very successful run in TNA from 2005-2008 where he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship two times, a gauntlet for the gold, and went unpinned & unsubmitted for nearly two years. He also became a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion.

Bobby Roode and James Storm

Beer Money Inc
Background: Consisting of then up and comers Bobby Roode & James Storm, Beer Money was a team largely thrown together as both men had great potential but weren't going far in singles. Despite that, they almost immediately gelled as a team and became TNA's top team from 2008-2011 where they captured the TNA World Tag Team Championship four times with their fourth reign lasting a current record of 212 days. During their peak, they had big matches and rivalries with Team 3D and The Motor City Machine Guns. After breaking up in 2011 due to Roode turning on Storm, they eventually had a small reunion in early 2016 where they won a fifth World Tag Team Title from The Wolves who, ironically enough, they tie for most title reigns as a team.

Bobby Roode: Roode went on to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship two times with his first reign being the longest in the history of the belt to date at 256 days. He also held the King of the Mountain Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship with Austin Aries. Prior to the team's break up, Roode also won the Bound for Glory Series in 2011 and main evented Bound for Glory in 2011. After leaving TNA in 2016, Roode jumped to the WWE where he competed in developmental NXT where he captured the NXT Championship. After moving up to the main roster in 2017, Roode eventually won a tournament for the vacant WWE United States Championship in January 2018.

James Storm: Ironically enough, Storm would beat Roode to the World title when he squashed Kurt Angle in October 2011 to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship after Angle was coming off successfully defending against Roode at Bound for Glory 2011. After the break up, Storm won two more tag titles with Gunner & Abyss, was the second to last King of the Mountain Champion, & won the first Joker's Wild in 2013. Storm also main evented Bound for Glory in 2014 teaming with The Great Sanada against The Great Muta & Tajiri. Since leaving Impact, Storm has made appearances for the Scottish based Insane Championship Wrestling where he challenged for their World Heavyweight Championship and Zero G Championship.

Chris Jericho and Lance Storm

The Thrillseekers
Background: Chris Jericho & Lance Storm both got their start training with The Hart Family and started working in Canada as Sudden Impact in 1991 where they competed in Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling where they won the North American Tag Team Championships twice. They would compete in FMW in Japan in 1991 and Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1994 feuding with Well Dunn & The Heavenly Bodies before they broke up due to Jericho suffering an arm injury and departing shortly after. The team would reunite for a few matches including a TV taping for the International Wrestling Alliance in Canada and for three matches in the WWE in 2002 and 2003.

Chris Jericho: Jericho originally saw success with the Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling promotion where he enjoyed a run with the CRMW Heavyweight Championship once and internationally as Corazon de Leon in Mexico's CMLL & as Lionheart in Japan's WAR. In CMLL, Jericho held the NWA World Middleweight Championship once while holding WAR's International Junior Heavyweight Championship and WAR's International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Gedo. Jericho would briefly compete in ECW in 1996 where he held the ECW World Television Championship. From 1996-1999, Jericho worked in WCW where he was a four time Cruiserweight Champion and former World Television Champion while having some of the most memorable feuds in the history of the cruiserweight division against Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, and Juventud Guerrera. Since 1999, Jericho has competed on and off in the WWF/E where he became a six time World Heavyweight Champion (two time WCW Champion, WWF Champion, & three time World Heavyweight Champion), a record setting nine time Intercontinental Champion, a European Champion, a Hardcore Champion, a two time United States Champion and seven time Tag Team Champion. Jericho also became a Grand Slam and Triple Crown winner & main evented Wrestlemania X-8 in 2002. Jericho then appeared for New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2017 where he began a feud with Kenny Omega which culminated in a critically acclaimed match at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome where he challenged for the IWGP United States Championship.

Lance Storm: Storm also enjoyed big success in CRMW as he held their Commonwealth Championship five times and the North American Championship. Storm also enjoyed success in the German based Catch Wrestling Association where he held their Junior Heavyweight Championship two times. After Jericho suffered an arm injury and left SMW, Storm worked as a singles competitor and won the Beat the Champ Television Championship. From 1995-1997, Storm worked in Japan's WAR where he won the International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship two times with Yuji Yasuraoka and the World Six-Man Tag Team Championship once with Kouki Kitahara & Nobutaka Araya. Storm then went to ECW where he enjoyed a three year run as a three time ECW World Tag Team Champion with Chris Candido and twice with Justin Credible as The Impact Players while briefly being a member of ECW's elite stable The Triple Threat while main eventing ECW's biggest show of the year November to Remember in 1999. Storm then achieved his biggest success when he signed with WCW in 2000 and was one of the top stars during their last year as he held the WCW United States Championship three times, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship once, and the WCW Hardcore Championship once while holding all three simultaneously at one point while being a World Title challenger. After WCW was bought by the WWF in 2001, Storm worked there for four years having a run with the Intercontinental Championship once and the World Tag Team Championship four times with Christian, two times with William Regal, & Val Venis. Storm also made some history as he was the first WCW wrestler to invade the WWF. Despite retiring in 2005, Storm has wrestled occasionally since then and has challenged for the ROH World Title a few times.

Takao Omori and Jun Akiyama

Wild Burning
Background: Both Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori trained in the All Japan dojo and turned pro in 1992. They eventually began teaming up by 1994 where they placed 8th in that years World's Strongest Tag Determination League. They became All Asia Tag Team Champions (All Japan's mid card tag title) in January 1995 after winning the vacant titles against The Fantastics and would hold the titles for three years until losing the titles in January 1998 to Johnny Smith & Wolf Hawkfield. The title reign is the longest in the 60 year history of the titles. After winning the Asunaro Cup in January 1998, the two went their own way until reuniting in 2014 as "Wild Burning" (a combination of Akiyama's various Burning tag teams & stables including team with Kenta Kobashi as well as stable with Go Shiozaki, Atsushi Aoki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Kotaro Suzuki & Omori's Get Wild tag team with Manabu Soya). They would go on to win All Japan's World Tag Team Championship three times and the 2014 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.

Jun Akiyama: Even before teaming, it became obvious that Akiyama was the one All Japan was high on as he appeared in his first World's Strongest Tag League in 1992, three months into his career, his first Champion's Carnival in early 1993, and the Asunaro Cup in 1993. During the three year All Asia Tag Title run, Akiyama continued to move up the ranks teaming with top star Mitsuharu Misawa to win the World Tag Team Championship in 1996 while reaching the finals of the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in 1996 & 1997. After the team broke up in 1998, Akiyama continued to move up the ranks as he began challenging for the Triple Crown Championship and the finals of the 1998 Champion's Carnival while teaming with Kenta Kobashi as Burning where they won the World Tag Team Championship twice and the World's Strongest Tag League in 1998 & 1999. After taking part in the NOAH exodus, Akiyama would be one of Pro Wrestling NOAH's stars for twelve years from 2000-2012 where he held the GHC Heavyweight Championship three times, the GHC Tag Team Championship three times, was the inaugural GHC Openweight Hardcore Champion, and the 2011 Global Tag League. Along with titles, Akiyama made history main eventing the first two NOAH shows on August 5 & 6, 2000, main evented the first Nippon Budokan show in 2001, and main evented the first Tokyo Dome show in 2004. While competing on NOAH, Akiyama returned to All Japan where he won the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 2011 and did shows for New Japan as he main evented the January 4th Tokyo Dome show in 2002 against Yuji Nagata and was runner up in the 2003 G1 Climax tournament. Returning to All Japan in 2013, Akiyama got another Triple Crown Title reign, a World Tag Team Title reign with Go Shiozaki, two runs with the All Asia Tag Team Titles with Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yuji Nagata, the GAORA TV Title once, and the 2013 Champion's Carnival. Behind the scenes, Akiyama has been All Japan's President since 2014.

Takao Omori: Unlike Akiyama, Omori wasn't pushed much as it took him two years longer to make the World's Strongest Tag League and Champion's Carnival. Even worse is that outside of winning the yearly January 2nd Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal in 1997, he did next to nothing outside of his team with Akiyama and was never giving title shots at either the Triple Crown and the World Tag Team Titles. With the death of All Japan boss Giant Baba in 1999, Omori's career finally moved upward as Misawa put Omori with Yoshihiro Takayama and the two became NO FEAR with Omori enjoying a second reign as All Asia Tag Team Champion and one reign as World Tag Team Champion along with holding both simultaneously for a brief period. Along with this, Omori was the runner up in the 2000 Champion's Carnival. Omori then went to Pro Wrestling NOAH where he competed from 2000-2002 and won the GHC Tag Team Championship with Takayama. After leaving NOAH, Omori wrestled in ROH and WLW where he held the WLW Heavyweight Championship before joining Pro Wrestling ZERO1 in 2004 where he became one of the promotion's top stars along with Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani. During his four year run, Omori held the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship (ZERO1's then top title but not to be confused with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship) three times, the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship three times, the NWA United National Championship once, and was the runner up in the 2004 Fire Festival (ZERO1's top singles tournament). Along with his work in ZERO1, Omori also briefly competed in New Japan where he teamed with Manabu Nakanishi as "Wild Child" with the two holding the IWGP Tag Team Championship once and the interim Tag Team Championship once. After leaving ZERO1 in 2008 and working part time until returning to All Japan in 2011. After returning, Omori would go on to form the very successful tag team GET WILD with Manabu Soya with the two holding the World Tag Team Championship three times and the 2012 & 2016 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. Omori also found singles success as he won two more Korakuen Hall Battle Royals in 2014 & 2017 while also winning the Champion's Carnival in 2014, and the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Like Akiyama, Omori also works behind the scenes as a member of the board of directors. Ironically enough, despite Akiyama doing better, Omori usually beat him in big matches including a seven second win in the first round of the 2000 Champion's Carnival, the finals of the 2014 Champion's Carnival, and for the vacant Triple Crown Championship.

Dick Murdoch and Dusty Rhodes

The Texas Outlaws
Background: The Texas Outlaws was a team that featured a young Dusty Rhodes and young Dick Murdoch early in their career where they were a rough n' tough texan tag team. The team competed mostly from 1968-1975 with the occasional reunion here and there. During their time, they enjoyed reigns as the Big Time Wrestling (Detroit) version of the NWA World Tag Team Champions, NWA American Tag Team Champions in Big Time Wrestling (predecessor to World Class Championship Wrestling), NWA Florida Tag Team Champions in Championship Wrestling from Florida, IWA Tag Team Champions in International Wrestling Alliance in Australia, NWA North American Tag Team Champions in Central States Wrestling, and NWF World Tag Team Champions in the National Wrestling Federation. Along with their success in those promotions, the two also competed in the AWA for years and were frequent contenders for the AWA World Tag Team Championship against Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens as well touring for All Japan Pro Wrestling where they challenged for the NWA International Tag Team Championship against Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta.

Dusty Rhodes: Rhodes would spend most his time in Championship Wrestling in Florida from around 1974-1984 where his popularity exploded after turning babyface and becoming "The American Dream". While in Florida, Rhodes held over 34 titles including twelve runs as NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion and ten as Southern Heavyweight Champion. Along with Florida, Rhodes traveled to Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA Tri-State, and Central States Wrestling winning titles in each promotion. Rhodes also competed in the WWWF/WWF on and off from 1977-1983 where he had a legendary feud with "Superstar" Billy Graham over the WWF Championship and toured New Japan where he challenged Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship as well as Antonio Inoki for the NWF Championship. From 1983-1989, Rhodes worked for Jim Crockett Promotions (later WCW) where he had a huge run with his feuds with Ric Flair & The Four Horsemen being one of the most legendary feuds in wrestling history. In Crockett, Rhodes won the NWA United States Championship once, the NWA World Television Championship three times, the NWA World Tag Team Championship two times with Dick Slater & Manny Fernandez, the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship two times with The Road Warriors, All four Bunkhouse Stampede Matches from 1985-1988, and the 1987 Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup with Nikita Koloff. Along with his wrestling career, Rhodes also served a booker for Crockett where he achieved success coming up with events like Starrcade & The Great American Bash, the concept of The Four Horsemen (though Arn Anderson coined the name), & the match WarGames: The Match Beyond. He later had a memorable run in the WWF from 1989-1991 where he feuded with The Honky Tonk Man, The Big Boss Man, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, & "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase. However, his biggest achievement was his three runs as NWA World Heavyweight Champion between 1979-1986 and taken the title from Harley Race & Ric Flair.

Dick Murdoch: During and after the team, Murdoch achieved big success in The Funk Family's Amarillo territory winning the Western States Tag Team Champion three times with Bobby Duncum Sr. & Blackjack Mulligan along with winning the Amarillo version of the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship three times, the Amarillo version of the NWA International Heavyweight Championship three times, and the Western States Heavyweight Championship once. After the team broke up, Murdoch mostly competed in Central States Wrestling, St. Louis Wrestling Club, and NWA Tri-State/Mid South/UWF. For the St. Louis Wrestling Club, he became a three time NWA Missouri Heavyweight Champion. For CSW, he became a two time NWA Central States Heavyweight Champion, a Central States Tag Team Champion, and earned two more of the Central States version of the NWA North American Tag Team Titles. For NWA Tri-State/Mid South/UWF, he won the North American Heavyweight Championship five times, the Mid South Tag Team Championship, the Tri-State Brass Knuckles Championship once, and the Tri-State version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. He also competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling where he held the NWA United National Championship which became one of the three belts that became the Triple Crown. From 1984-1985, Murdoch worked for WWF where achieved something his legendary partner never did which was win a title belt when he held the WWF World Tag Team Championship with Adrian Adonis as the North South Connection. He later competed in Jim Crockett Promotions where he held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship with Ivan Koloff, in New Japan where he challenged for both the IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Tag Team Championships, & in WWC in Puerto Rico where he held the top title the WWC Universal Championship once & the WWC Television Championship twice.

Ryusuke Taguchi and Prince Devitt

Apollo 55
Background: Apollo 55 consisted of native Japanese wrestler "Funky Weapon" Ryusuke Taguchi & Irishman Prince Devitt (Finn Balor). Teaming from 2009-2013, the team was usually New Japan's top junior tag team as were IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions on four occasions. Their four reigns tied with Gedo & Jado for most title reigns at the time (Roppongi Vice has since tied while The Young Bucks broke it with seven), they have the third longest combined days as champion, and their third reign holds the record for most successful title defenses at seven. The team also went on to win J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament in 2010 and 2011 with Hirooki Goto both times. The team broke up in early 2013 when Devitt turned heel and formed Bullet Club becoming their first leader.

Prince Devitt: Right from the get go, Devitt was the one who was looked at as the one who would go farther as he earned the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship three times with his first reign lasting 364 days and his third going 419 days which makes it the second longest reign behind Jushin Thunder Liger's sixth reign. Devitt also won the 2010 Best of the Super Juniors tournament while winning Revolution Pro Wrestling's British Cruiserweight Championship once and CMLL's NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship once. After the team broke up, Devitt would become one of the founding members and original leader of the highly successful Bullet Club faction. During this time, he also won the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors while having a perfect record in the tournament as he won every one of his round robin matches. After leaving New Japan, Devitt went to the WWE where he's competed as Finn Balor and from 2014-2016, competed in their developmental promotion NXT where he became the longest reigning NXT Champion and teamed with Samoa Joe to win the 2015 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Upon going to the main roster, Balor became the inaugural Universal Champion before vacating the title due to a shoulder injury.

Ryusuke Taguchi: Like Devitt, Taguchi enjoyed success during Apollo 55 as he won the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament and the CMLL World Welterweight Championship. After the team broke up, he enjoyed another reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion in 2014, another reign as IWGP Junior Tag Team Champion in 2017, and two reigns as NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion both in 2017 while being the runner up in the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors and 2017 Super Junior Tag Tournaments.