10 of the best "Odd Couple" Tag Teams

When it comes to tag teams in wrestling, it is often advantageous for the creative staff and management to make certain the two components complement each other.

For example, the Road Warriors were both huge, face-painted muscular bikers, the Sheep Herders were so similar many thought they were legitimately related, and even the WWE rebranded two singles stars as brothers when they were nothing of the sort.

Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder were billed as brothers when they first debuted on Smackdown.

However, these steps are not always necessary. Sometimes, taking the exact opposite approach can yield entertainment gold.

As it turns out, fans enjoy seeing a clash of personalities--which is what separates pro wrestling from all other sports; the dramatic element. In the simplest terms, conflict=drama, so having two men who might be at much as odds with each other with other teams can lead to interesting angles and storylines.

Here are ten 'odd couple' tag teams that still worked.

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#1 The Super Powers--Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes

The Super Powers with the Jim Crockett Sr. cup.

Dusty Rhodes: Blue collar all American, apple pie and hush your mouth southerner with a penchant for breaking into dance and as loquacious and eloquent as they come.

Nikita Koloff: Largely grunting and savage machine from the Soviet Union. Power and anger and precision personified, and possessed of a chiselled physique.

At first, the two were enemies, but after Koloff turned face they became unlikely allies, and then an even more unlikely tag team. The Super Powers never captured the elusive NWA world tag team titles, but they did win the Jim Crockett Sr. memorial tag tournament.

#2 Dude Love and Stone Cold Steve Austin

For a good guy, Stone Cold sure did some heelish things during his Attitude Era run. One of those things was beating up an earnest Mankind, who desperately wanted to be Austin's tag team partner. Stone Cold said "You'll never be my partner--never! Cuz you're an ugly freak!"

But this is Mick Foley, and he has three personas--four if you count plain old Mick Foley. Austin may have turned down Mankind, but there's no possible way he could ever turn down the coolest cat to ever wrestle--Dude Love! This team had a brief but highly successful run, capturing the WWE tag team championships.

#3 Manny Fernandez and Rick Rude

One was a fiery Latino with plenty of toughness and experience. The other exuded laid back coolness and was an impressive young lion. Together, Manny Fernandez and Rick Rude were one of the most ballyhooed teams of the early to mid-1980s. They tasted championship gold and were often thought of as the team to beat right after the Andersons.

Despite their different backgrounds, Fernandez and Rude got along famously for some reason and were the staunchest allies--at least until WWE called Rude but not Fernandez. Poor Manny was left out in the cold, while Rick Rude went on to become Ravishing.

#4 Rob Van Dam and Sabu

Sabu is the Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal Arabian nightmare. RVD is a laid-back, somewhat arrogant man who really loves to indulge in cannabis. Together, they were one of the greatest ECW tag team champion teams of all time.

The pair were high flyers and known to take risks to dazzle the crowd, which made them perfectly complimentary even if their personas weren't the least bit similar. One thin they had in common was winning matches, and they did that quite well until they disbanded when Sabu left the company briefly.

#5 Owen Hart and Yokozuna

The mammoth sumo champion and the mat wrestling Canadian made for one of the oddest, yet oddly compelling tag teams of all time.

Owen Hart had been bullied out of the main event picture by brother Bret and was being portrayed as the snotty little brother who's a bit of a brat and just won't quit being annoying. In order to find some championship success, he revealed a new tag team partner; Yokozuna, the former WWE world champion and the last man to cleanly pin his brother Bret, which had to sting a bit.

The pair won the tag titles on their very first match as a team and went on to dominate the WWE tag division for most of the year.

#6 Steven Regal and Bobby Eaton--The Blue Bloods

Bobby Eaton was a tag team legend, being part of the most successful incarnations of the Midnight Express and holding the championships multiple times. He was even one of the men to hold both the NWA Us and World tag team titles simultaneously.

Unfortunately, when his mouthpiece manager Jim Cornette left the NWA and Stan Lane retired, Eaton was left rudderless. He did capture the NWA World television title but always felt a pullback to tag team wrestling.

The solution was to pair him with Lord Steven Regal, and there were numerous vignettes of the two clashing because Eaton's hillbilly antics offended the British blue blood's sensibilities. However, Eaton was repackaged into 'the Earl of Eaton' after being given culture and manners lessons by Regal. The team wasn't the most successful but they certainly turned a lot of heads.

#7 The Rock and Sock Connection

Yes, Mick Foley makes this list TWICE, but as two different personas so it's totally legit.

In a relationship so unlikely it HAD to happen, the smooth-talking good looking Rock became best friends with the awkward and plain looking Mankind. It took many weeks of cajoling by Mankind to convince the Rock that they were going to be the best of friends and allies, but convince him he did.

The Rock and Sock Connection are best known for their hilarious skits, but they did manage to capture the tag team titles together.

#8 Rhyno and Heath Slater

Can we all take a moment to acknowledge what a trooper and good sport Heath Slater is? From enduring 3MB's ludicrous antics to being pinned by a midget wrestler on live TV, Heath Slater always does what's in the script and doesn't complain.

Perhaps that's why we all love seeing him taste success with Rhyno as tag team champion. The man beast's grunts and growls hardly go with Slater's exultant redneck diatribes, but together they manage to mesh well as a great tag team.

#9 Tommy Dreamer and Raven

To understand why this team was so unusual you have to look at the history of the men involved. Tommy Dreamer was the sole 'white meat babyface' in ECW. He was just as extreme as the rest of the roster, but he was the quintessential 'good guy.'

Raven was a maniacal cult leader and supervillain who tormented Dreamer for nearly three years. During that time, Tommy Dreamer never got a clean win over Raven, who always seemed to get the upper hand. Finally, Dreamer got his receipt and defeated Raven, who was leaving for WCW.

Flash forward several years, and the Dudley Boys are gleefully telling the ECW crowd that they are going to take the ECW tag team titles with them to the WWE and "lay them at the feet of Vince McMahon."

Tommy Dreamer was determined to prevent this, taking on the Dudleys alone for the tag team championships. But then, his former enemy arrived to save the day, and keep the ECW titles in ECW where they belonged. It was a surreal moment for longtime viewers of ECW, and a spectacular one.

#10 Team Hell No--Kane and Daniel Bryan

It would be hard to find two wrestlers who are as light years apart as Bryan and Kane.

Kane is a towering, sadistic masked monster. Bryan is the do-gooder babyface and ring technician. Yet, they not only clicked as a tag team, they thrived.

Team Hell No provided months of entertainment and managed to capture the tag team titles. Recently they re-teamed on Smackdown Live, celebrating a union that many fans have been anticipating.

Ten of the oddest couples....and ten of the best tag teams! What do you say?

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