The 5 Best Makeshift Tag Teams in WWE

WWE has thrown together some odd pairings to become tag teams and these are the best that the promotion has created so far.

The WWE tag team division catches some flack from certain wrestling fans for using random makeshift teams. Two talented performers who need to be better utilized are paired at random to pad a thin card. It can be perceived as a demotion for the talent or, worse, signify all of the current WWE tag teams are weaker than they should be.

While it is easy to criticize these teams if your favorite is involved, makeshift duos are sometimes needed to improve the tag team division, and many of these teams turn out just fine. Sometimes it furthers a singles angle to perfection, while other times, performers with a bad spot on the card improve their prospects immensely after being thrown together and told to make it work.

RK-Bro

Randy Orton is somewhat synonymous with WWE superstardom and, as such, has been linked up with other competitors to create a supergroup on more than one occasion. His time in Evolution, Rated-RKO, and even the Wyatt Family are (mostly) remembered fondly as pivotal moments in his and his partner’s careers. His most recent random pairing, though, is quite possibly his best. RK-Bro started forming in April of 2021 on RAW, with Riddle begging to be Ortons friend and partner. However, the duo wasn’t truly solidified until August of that year in the build to their first title victory at SummerSlam.

Although the team of Orton and Riddle was not active for very long, their impact was critical for WWE at the time. In the early days of Roman Reigns as part-time universal champion, RK-Bro added star power and stakes to television. The pairing even elevated Riddle to the main event for a moment and created a potential future star if and when he can return to WWE television.

The Mega Powers

The original makeshift tag team, the creation of the Mega Powers in 1987, merged the company’s two biggest stars to give each of them something new to excite the fans and eventually reignite a feud that already ran for most of 1986. Hogan and Savage were already massive stars and multiple-time singles champions when they came together, so it was not a paring of necessity for them. Instead, it allowed more teams of dastardly heels like The Mega Bucks and the Twin Towers to get some main-event experience instead of working one at a time.

The Mega Powers always felt credible as a team based purely on their names and incredible charisma, although they never challenged for the tag team titles. Instead, it was a way to give fans both of their favorites at the top of the card instead of one or the other. The team-up even lead to an epic Savage heel turn, the Mega Powers exploding, and a hot feud at WrestleMania V, one of the most significant moments in WWE history. Perhaps equally impressive is that the team reunited and exploded again in 1996 to bring another industry-changing angle to life; the formation of the NWO.

Team Hell No

Daniel Bryan (Currently AEW’s Bryan Danielson) is often described as one of the best in-ring workers in wrestling. However, his early heel character in WWE had been keeping him from being the mega-star he is today. Kane was the opposite around that same time. The WWE legend was all character but had slowed down quite a bit in the ring, so the two complimented one another well. In the summer of 2012, Kane and Bryan were forced into anger management classes, which resulted in the mandatory creation of Team Hell No.

The constant bickering between the pair backstage and even mid-match was legitimately funny for the most part, and their collective abilities rubbed off on one another quite a bit. Kane was more capable of playing his role in their matches. Bryan got even better at working for the crowd and developing his character, which led directly to his success in the “Yes! Movement” years later. The team was an entertaining act that ushered both men toward the Authority story that dominated WWE television for about three years.

Rock ‘N’ Sock Connection

While some makeshift teams are a meeting of the irresistible force and the immovable object, like John Cena and Shawn Micheals or Steve Austin and Triple H, the Rock and Mankind’s Rock ‘N’ Sock Connection don’t fit snuggly into that mold.

The two were equally as well known for their teaming together as for their vicious feuds for the world title, and in both scenarios, they never got along. The Rock’s open hostility and Mick Foley’s constant seeking of the star’s approval were always entertaining. The pairing even led to an all-time great Monday Night Raw moment with Rock’s “This is Your Life” celebration hosted by Mankind.

The first time the Rock ‘N’ Sock connection fought together, they won the tag team titles to the acclaim of the millions and millions of Rock fans (and dozens and dozens of Mankind fans) in attendance for Monday Night Raw on August 30th, 1999. From then on, the two went from teaming to feuding back and forth, picking up two more tag team titles until their final match in 2004 at WrestleMania 20.

The New Day

Perhaps the most popular WWE tag team ever, it is difficult to remember when New Day was a thrown-together idea to give three underutilized performers something to try. Kofi Kingston was already a former Intercontinental, United States, and WWE Tag Team champion when the team formed in 2014. Likewise, Big E was a former NXT intercontinental champion. However, New Day was created when they met fellow directionless superstar Xavier Woods.

The New Day team itself switched its identity over time, but the chemistry the three competitors shared made it seem nearly guaranteed that the trio would find a way to make it work. Of course, they did just that; the rest is wrestling history. Their accolades as WWE’s greatest team include two WWE championships, 12 tag team titles, a Money in the Bank briefcase, and winning the King of the Ring tournament. The makeshift pairing of three friends redefined all of their careers, and the bar future WWE tag teams will need to meet.