The First-Ever PWI Tag Team 50
AFTER MORE THAN a decade of producing two annual lists celebrating the top wrestlers in the world, we’ve decided it’s high time to complete the trilogy. And what better way to do that than by acknowledging the contributions of tag team specialists? The PWI “Tag Team 50” is a gender-inclusive ranking that focuses not only on in-ring achievements, but on the overall presentation and cohesion of the top tandems in the industry.
As with this year’s “Women’s 100” list, the evaluation period for the “Tag Team 50” is October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020. The minimum activity requirements are 10 matches or four months of activity as a team. This means some tandems who have recently been successful—including WWE Women’s tag champs Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax and Impact Wrestling’s Motor City Machine Guns—do not appear on this list.
For the newly created “Tag Team 50,” we have come up with a new set of criteria:
• MOMENTUM
• WINS & LOSSES
• CHEMISTRY
• CREATIVITY
• ACTIVITY
• IT FACTOR
The “Tag Team 50” was open primarily to duos, although factions and trios did rank where tag team accomplishments were a significant part of a group’s story over the last 12 months. The list was compiled based on feedback from the PWI staff, and the biographical entries were written by Al Castle, Kristen Ashly, Brian Solomon, and Jason McVeigh. For the top five teams, additional “Words of Praise” were offered up by an assortment of modern tag team stars and tag legends. We are grateful to those individuals for their involvement in this project.
Now that the formalities are out of the way, everyone get into your respective corners, hold onto your designated tag ropes, and get ready for the first annual PWI “Tag Team 50.”
1 FTR
CASH WHEELER & DAX HARWOOD
YEARS TEAMING UP: 6
WORDS OF PRAISE:
“It took greatness to get me out of retirement. Dax and Cash are that greatness in tag team wrestling. The trip will be fun for everybody!” –Tully Blanchard, Tag Team Legend
“Congrats! Number 1 on PWI, but number 2 in real life.” –The Young Bucks
Nobody’s exactly sure what the letters stand for, but this much is for sure: FTR is the Fifty’s Top Ranked team … Twelve-month evaluation period saw the former “Revival” members hold tag team gold both in WWE and AEW, where they are the reigning champions … Picked up wins against the New Day and Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder before leaving WWE in March … Joined AEW in June, and, within three months, won the tag belts from Adam Page and Kenny Omega at All Out … Have since scored victories over Jurassic Express and SCU … Cerebral style is a throwback to some of the great tag teams of the Mid-Atlantic glory days, including The Midnight Express, whose members Wheeler and Harwood came to know coming up in the North Carolina independent scene … Managed in AEW by another tag team legend, Tully Blanchard … Admitted wrestling psychology junkies, FTR are less concerned with how flashy their move set is than they are with the timing, logic, and precision behind every punch they throw.
2 THE ELITE
KENNY OMEGA & ADAM PAGE
COMBINED WEIGHT: 431 LBS.
One is an alcohol-fueled, Southern butt-kicker. The other is a milk-swilling wrestling virtuoso … No, it’s not “Stone Cold” Steve Austin & Kurt Angle circa 2001. It’s The Elite … Or, at least, it was The Elite … The combustible union between Page and Omega was always expected to come to an ugly end. But while they were together, the duo elevated the art form in a stacked AEW tag team division … Won the AEW tag team championship from SCU in January aboard a cruise ship, and then went on to hold it for nearly eight months … Beat The Young Bucks at February’s Revolution pay-per-view in what some called the best American tag team match in modern history … Brewing tension grew out of Page feeling like the odd man out in the Elite stable, which includes AEW executive vice presidents Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Cody Rhodes, and Omega … “Hangman” was finally booted from the group in August, and he and Omega lost their championship shortly afterward to FTR.
WORDS OF PRAISE:
“I have to consider them the best tag team around at the time, because they defeated us. And being inaugural AEW tag team champions, we were THE team to beat. Kenny’s body of work previous to that match speaks for itself. He had already solidified himself as one of the best. And even though they were an unlikely duo, I think that Adam Page in particular carried them
