According to the rumor mill, there’s a big possibility of Rey Mysterio showing up at Wrestlemania 34 as Braun Strowman’s mystery partner against The Bar. Mysterio has recently shot down these rumors, saying he’s going to be recovering from his torn bicep until May. It’s a damn shame too because watching Braun toss around Rey like Colossus tosses around Wolverine would have been a blast to watch.
As we here at Wrestletalk were mulling over the idea of seeing this ultimate David & Goliath combo step into the squared circle, it got us debating over some of our favorite mismatched tag teams in WWE history.
Here’s what we came up with:
5. Too Cool w/ Rikishi
Brian Christopher was an excellent heel when he arrived in the WWE. The son of WWE Legend Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, Christopher would cackle obnoxiously and really get under peoples’ skin. Then Scott Taylor joined him in 1998 to form the tag team Too Much and a year later, the duo would be re-branded as a hip-hop combo “Too Cool” (which at the time was anything but).
Then something happened – like the ironic hipness of Bob Saget, we just started to go with it. Scotty 2 Hotty would do “The Worm,” a move somehow more ridiculous than the People’s Elbow, and we all marked out.
That same year they’d recruit the former Headshrinker Rikishi Fatu to the stable. As a group, the team would capture multiple titles including the WWE Intercontinental Championship (Rikishi), the WWE Light Heavyweight Championship (Scotty 2 Hotty) and the WWE Tag Team Championships twice. Their second tag team title run was the Big Man/Little Man pairing of Rikishi and Scotty. The two won the championships from the Basham Brothers in 2004 while competing on the SmackDown brand.
The trio had personality and made something ridiculous into something endearing with substantial staying power.
4. Kane and X-Pac
After being kicked out of the Corporation, Kane began a relationship with Tori and started tagging with X-Pac. The team had a great run that saw them win the WWE Tag Team Championships and be named the PWI Tag Team of the Year in 1999. Watching X-Pac socialize with Kane was almost as fun as watching Kane military press the 1-2-3 Kid onto their opponents. At the time, it was genuinely exciting to hear Kane’s first unaided words, “suck it.” Okay, ‘Shakespeare’ it was not, but at the time it was a cool moment.
X-Pac would eventually turn on Kane and steal Tori in the most heartbreaking moment since John Lithgow told Harry to go away.
That’s hard to watch. Luckily though Kane would get his revenge at WrestleMania 2000 when he and Rikishi defeated X-Pac and Road Dogg. The team was relatively short-lived but gave us a compelling storyline that added depth to Kane and made for great TV.
3. Anderson and Gallows
Maybe these two haven’t had the best run in the WWE, but Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are by far one of the best tag teams in wrestling. Their time as members of the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling helped define them as the premier talents they are today. During their run in Japan, the team captured the IWGP Tag Team Championships three times. All this from a team that includes a guy who once played the most unconvincing Kane double ever.
Since joining WWE, they were able to capture the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships from The Bar at the Royal Rumble in 2017. After losing the titles to the returning Hardy Boyz at WrestleMania 33, the ‘Good Brothers’ have been treading water. Their recent pairing with Bullet Club founder Finn Bálor, however, could lead to a bigger push down the line, especially as the Raw Tag Team division desperately needs strong pairings to compete with The Bar.
2. Shawn Michaels and Diesel
Oh didn’t we just love to hate Shawn in the early 90s. As a kid, I loved the Rockers, and seeing Michaels put Marty Jannetty through the barbershop window was as upsetting as the Giant Gonzales’ career. Micheals was the perfect heel, strutting and preening while pulling off moves you couldn’t help but admire. Which only made you hate him more.
In 1993, Kevin Nash signed with WWE and was paired with Michaels under the ring name Diesel. Diesel initially acted as Shawn’s bodyguard and at some point, the pair were dubbed “Two Dudes with Attitudes.” Now, the ‘Heartbreak Kid’ had the muscle to back-up his mouth. It’s just too bad Nash wasn’t in that Syracuse bar when Michaels really needed him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dud9ty6TUdE
During their time together, Diesel captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon and the two defeated the Headbangers in 1994 for the WWE Tag Team Championships. They’d keep the titles until Shawn kicked Diesel’s face in during a match and didn’t seem too terribly nonplussed by the “accident.”
The tag team helped launch Nash’s career in WWE and solidified the Kliq backstage. Then it gave Nash the star-power to go back to WCW and form the most influential stable of all time: the NWO. It may have done more for Kevin’s career than Shawn’s but it put them both in the WWE Championship picture and had lasting effects on the industry.
1. Team Hell No
Not only was this one of the best Big Guy/Little Guy tag teams of the 21st century, it was one of the best odd couple pairings WWE has ever done. Originally forced to pair together after attending anger management, Bryan and Kane were portrayed as bitter enemies. The team would go on to win the WWE Tag Team Championships from Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (remember when R-Truth won matches?) at Night of Champions 2012. The constant bickering got over big with fans and the team would eventually transition into faces. Kane and Bryan would lose their titles to The Shield after an impressive 245-day reign.
The team would eventually split up when both men declared their desire to make a run at the WWE Championship, and the two would be embroiled in some great feuds down the line.
The ‘Odd Couple’ dynamic played heavier than the David and Goliath aspect, but the two were still so much fun to watch together. So much fun, in fact, many are rooting for Kane to replace Shane at WrestleMania. Mind, no one is wishing illness on Shane, but I’d rather Team Hell No than Team Bryan and Sweaty McFalls-Off-Crap.
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