Top 5 tag team breakups of all time in WWE

Edge and Christian

Tag team wrestling has been an integral part of the WWE ever since its inception, and the company is at one of those high points where the tag teams are flourishing in an impressive division.

From the Usos to 3MB, though the division lacks that main event star power, the immense amount of potential and in ring skills in the tag teams have made the division stand out from the preceding eras.

However, all good things don’t last forever, and same goes with the tag teams. No matter how cohesive and successful a team might be a day will come when they will be eventually broken. The current division also seems to head in similar direction. The Prime Time Players have already broken and there are rumors of the Shield, Real Americans and Rhodes Brothers going the same path.

So as we brace ourselves for future breakups, let’s take a trip back in time and look at five tag team splits that literally shook the WWE universe.

5- The Hardy Boyz

The Hardy Boyz

The WWE fans who grew up watching the Attitude Era would go nostalgic over this chose as the Hardy Boyz were “the” most exciting team in the WWE during their prime. The chemistry of the brothers were unmatched and coupled with a sexy manager in the form of Lita made them the team that everyone wanted to watch.

However, the unimagined took place in the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view as Matt Hardy turned on his brother Jeff which laid the foundation for their feud which nearly lasted six months.

Matt claimed that he was responsible for the accident that Jeff had in the past which included an car accident and a pyro technics incident. The heat feud made its first stop at WrestleMania XXV where Matt defeated Jeff in an Extreme Rules match.

Matt got another win in a stretcher match in the SmackDown which followed. But Jeff got the upper hand in their last match as he defeated Matt in an I Quit match at Backlash. Matt broke his arm during the match and was taken out of action which ended the feud.

4- The Mega Powers

Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan

From the Attitude Era to the Golden Era, the Mega powers were one of the hottest teams in the last years of the 80s. The team was not known for the chemistry or tag team skills, instead they were famous for enclosing the number one and number two in the company, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.

That’s the same as Daniel Bryan teaming up with CM Punk or John Cena to make things simple. To add more spice Hogan has Miss Elizabeth as his manager which completed the pack. They had prominent feud with Andre the Giant and Ted DiBiase which presented the WWE Universe with an epic match which proved to be the main event of the first SummerSlam.

Savage’s jealousy of Hogan and his assumptions that Hogan and Miss Elizabeth were more than just friends started forming cracks in the team.

It was further fueled when Hogan eliminated Savage at the Royal Rumble. The dup eventually broke up at The Main Event when Savage slapped Hogan after colliding with Miss Elizabeth and knocking her out. The two then went on an intriguing feud which culminated at WrestleMania V where Hogan defeated Savage for the WWF Title.

3- Edge and Christian

Edge and Christian

Another pick from the Attitude Era, Edge and Christian along with the Dudleys and Hardy Boyz gave us TLC matches which made us rethink about the concept of gravity.

The triple threat tag matches that these three teams had are etched into the history as among the best and everyone was stunned when a team of such potential broke up.

The dream of singles success was the villains here. When Edge went on to win the King Of the Ring tournament in 2001 Christian grew jealous of his Kayfabe brother and attacked him which started their feud.

Captain Charisma then turned a major heel and joined the alliance. They both feuded over the Intercontinental championship which Christian won defeating Edge in a match at Unforgiven. But Edge retained the title in a ladder match in No Mercy which put an end to the storyline.

2- The Rockers

The Rockers

Shawn Michaels might be known for the great singles matches that he had with Bret Hart, Undertaker and Triple H. but the Heart Break Kid had a tag team career before that with the team named Rockers in which he teamed up with Marty Jannetty.

The team was so popular among the fans that the WWE creative decided to give them a title run with a win over the Hart Foundation. However, as the management changed that didn’t happen which left the duo without any tag titles.

Their famous breakup happened at the Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake’s televised Barber Shop talk show in which Michaels gave Jannetty sweet chin music. To add salt to the wound, Michaels then threw Jannetty into the glass window cementing him as a new top heel.

Jannetty went off from the WWF for almost a year after that an enjoyed moderate success after return while Michaels went on to become a main eventer whose legendary status still strikes the string.

1- The Outsiders

Outsiders with Hulk Hogan

Back in the days of Monday Night Wars, the NWO storyline was the one which held WCW together.

It all started with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall jumping ships from WWF and joining WCW while projecting them as WWF employees. Aided by the heel turn of Hulk Hogan the angle turned out to be one of the historic milestones in professional wrestling but the Outsiders also suffered the same faith of others in the list.

After winning the WCW tag team titles six times, Hall turned on Nash at the Slamboree PPV in-between a match against Sting and The Giant. The turn resulted in Hall moving to the Hollywood faction of NOW while Nash went with the Wolfpac.

The feud went so personal that both Nash and Hall came out and started cutting promos about the personal problems that each was suffering from. After many attacks both inside and outside the ring, the two faced off at Halloween Havoc which Hall won with a count out when Nash walked out without covering hall after two power bombs.

The two then patched up, and Hall even helped Nash win the World Title defeating Goldberg but the tag team never took off after that.