WWE is a company where reality and storyline often merge into each other, making it difficult for anyone to understand what is real, and what is fake.
One of the issues that have confused fans for a long time is understanding which of the WWE 'brothers' they see on-screen are actually brothers, and which have been crafted up by WWE to make for a good tag team or a good storyline.
Coming from a company where the 'illegitimate son' storyline has been overplayed as well, with Kurt Angle and Jason Jordan on WWE Raw being the most recent example of this, fake brothers are not really the most unexpected thing in the world.
However, sometimes, there have been real brothers who have teamed up in WWE, and whose chemistry has left the audience looking on in awe. Similarly, there have been brothers on WWE, who never teamed up together, and very few people realised that they were not actually real siblings.
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On the other hand, sometimes two wrestlers have come together who are no relation to each other, but such was their chemistry, that WWE sold them as brothers, and it left the fans believing that they had a real family tag team on their hand.
With Crown Jewel coming up, the 'Brothers of Destruction' are just one such team, which has been a source of confusion to casual fans tuning in over the years, as they never realised whether or not Glenn 'Kane' Jacobs and Mark 'The Undertaker' Calloway were actually related in real life.
In this article, we will be taking a look at four teams of brothers in WWE who are actually related, and four others who have no relation to each other at all, but managed to convince the fans otherwise through their excellent in-ring chemistry.
An honourable mention goes to Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt, but since the two brothers have never teamed on the main roster they are not a part of the list.
Real Brothers - #1. The Usos:
The first team in WWE we will talk about, are The Usos. Jimmy and Jey Uso have achieved more success than they could have dreamt of when they were first joining WWE.
The pairing used to work installing office furniture. They used to work for an uncle in Pensacola, and used to get up early by 6:00 am. They hated their job before another one of their uncles, Umaga, gave them a one-time offer to come to Houston with him for a tryout for WWE. They accepted the offer, and haven't looked back since.
Being a part of the Anoa'i family, they had help gaining their first step inside WWE, but they did not need any further help to convince the fans or the management that they were indeed the real deal while welcoming the other members of the tag team division into the 'Uso Penitentiary'.
The duo has dominated inside the ring as a tag team and has been one of the best in the division over the past decade.
Coming from a humble background of being furniture installers, the two have been WWE tag team champions 5 times since starting their career at Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009.
Not Real Brothers - #1. Edge and Christian:
A tag team which helped in creating history in the first-ever Tag Team Triple Threat TLC match, Edge and Christian were sold as brothers by the WWE.
The two were believable as siblings, and the chemistry they shared was off the charts. Be it as part of the Brood, or later as Edge and Christian, the team brought with them a viciousness, which could turn into comedy at a moment's notice.
Despite not really being brothers, the two Canadian wrestlers knew each other long before their WWE days, as they were childhood friends who shared a passion and dream to become wrestlers.
While both wrestlers have now retired from in-ring competition, they continue to work together on the Edge and Christian podcast, showcasing their friendship for the world to see.
Real Brothers - #2. The Wild Samoans:
Another two wrestlers from the distinguished Anoa'i family, The Wild Samoans were two brothers who made their name wrestling for and outside WWE.
The two brothers won the NWA Tag Team Championships a total of nine times while being managed by the ever-effervescent Captain Lou Albano. They won Championships all across the continent of North America, before they came to WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation.
Their run on the Independent Scene was nothing to be frowned upon, as when they came to WWE, they repeated their achievement again. They managed to win the WWF World Wrestling Tag Team Championships a total of three times in their career before they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.
Not Real Brothers - #2. The Dudley Boyz:
Another tag team from the Attitude Era, the Dudley Boyz were right alongside with Edge and Christian in pioneering the way people looked at Tag Team matches.
Having made their name in ECW before making their way to the WWE, the Dudley Boyz were possibly one of the most dominant tag teams back in the day. Bubbah Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley have gone down in both legend and the WWE Hall of Fame as one of the best tag teams of all time, with 10 separate Tag Team Championship reigns.
They were immensely popular, with the two wearing their trademark glasses and break table after table with whichever team was unfortunate enough to be the ones who faced them.
The Dudley Boyz were booked as brothers despite obviously not being so. When WWE added 'Cousin Spike' to their ranks it was a nice faction they had going. Altogether the Dudleys cannot be forgotten, and despite not being 'blood' brothers, they were siblings in every other sense of the word.
Real Brothers - #3. The Hardy Boyz:
The last of the three pioneering tag teams from the Attitude Era in this article, The Hardy Boyz have had a tumultuous run in the WWE with 8 WWE Tag Team Championship runs. Their careers were never anything except exciting, and although it appears as if Matt Hardy may soon be retiring, Jeff Hardy recently had an excellent feud against 'The Viper' Randy Orton.
The two brothers grew up wrestling together in their backyard. Possibly one of the most famous tag teams of all time, their high flying stunts, especially from Jeff has made their tag team run extremely memorable.
While Jeff brought a dash of charisma and high flying stunts to the team, Matt Hardy brought the stability, innovation and creativity, making sure that with each of their bouts they wowed the watching audiences. At no point did they stop to think about their own health, sacrificing their bodies year after year to entertain the fans they adore so much, and who adore them in return.
With the careers that these two real-life brothers have had, it is only a matter of time before they join the Hall of Fame.
Not Real Brothers - #3. The Bludgeon Brothers:
The addition of the Bludgeon Brothers to the SmackDown roster has been one which has helped the Tag Team division immensely. The team has been one of the best in WWE's history in the sense of chemistry between the two stars.
Erick Rowan and Luke Harper have worked together better than any other tag team of the current generation, doing something that is rare nowadays. Creating a sense of mystery around their team, they have been indomitable until they recently lost the tag team titles. One of the best monstrous tag team in WWE, they are sure to have more opportunities for the TItles.
However, this is not the first time that these two wrestlers have been put together as fake siblings, as the last time they were part of the Wyatt Family, led by Bray Wyatt.
Similarly built, the two do look as if they could be brothers, but they are not actual siblings, although going by their gimmicks it would surprise no one if they shared the same cult.
Real Brothers - #4. Cody Rhodes and Goldust:
Cody Rhodes and Goldust are two of the best wrestlers of all time, but both of them have been badly under-utilised in WWE, both as solo performers and as a tag team.
While Goldust, aka Dustin Rhodes, has had a long run in WWE, being around since the Attitude Era, and his team with Booker T was a successful one, he has not really managed to achieve that defining 'big' moment in his career.
Cody Rhodes had a similar problem during his run in WWE. Although he started off well enough as part of Priceless with Ted Dibiase Jr, and later Legacy, led by Randy Orton, he was unable to escape the mid-card during his time in WWE.
The sons of the legendary professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer, the late Dusty Rhodes, Cody and Dustin ended up finally teaming up in September of 2013. The two would have excellent tag team matches, their technique in the ring clearly reflecting their excellent wrestling pedigree and chemistry together.
Unfortunately, the two would only win the WWE Tag Team Championships two times, as the gimmick that Cody was saddled with by WWE Creative as 'Stardust' was one he hated. He ended up leaving the company amicably, due to creative differences and has since dominated the Independent Scene and become possibly the most successful wrestler outside WWE.
Not Real Brothers - #4. Brothers of Destruction:
One team that no one would ever want to confront in the WWE, is the team of the Brothers of Destruction, consisting of possibly the two most fearsome wrestlers of all time, The Undertaker and Kane.
The Undertaker debuted in 1990, but it would be 1997 before he would be joined by his 'brother', Kane. Kane's first action in WWE was to attack the Undertaker by ripping off the Hell in a Cell door from its hinges during the Phenom's match with Shawn Michaels.
The two clashed again and again in those early days, but since then, the two have teamed up over and over again, as they were sold as brothers by the WWE.
They have teamed up a number of times over the years, and each time they came together, they cleared any and all opposition that they were faced with. They were hardly ever concerned with the tag team titles, but they still won the titles on three separate occasions.
The gravitas of the Undertaker and the menace of Kane made for a combination that hardly anyone can forget.
The two are finally set to return once again in action at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view where they will face another team who is also making a return after 8 years, D-Generation X.
Who are your fake or real WWE brother teams? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!