10 WORST WWE Tag Team Break Ups

[@benespinosa6725]

The Dudley Boyz breaking up in TNA in 2010 was 10X Better than their break-up in 2002 especially when bubba attacked D-Von during their retirement speech best part of that was the fact that their music was still playing and Taz's delayed reaction.

[@FatherJacksBrick]

Dude that feud was so good! Especially when they got D-Vons kids involved to make it feel more personal. I want to say it was before they both joined Aces & Eights if I’m not mistaken.

[@Beavie]

Yeah, it's insane to think how much the break-up did good for them where even if Devon obviously had a ceiling as a singles star and his TV title reigns were unremarkable due to TNA's neglect of the title, he still did decent. Then Brother Ray became Bully Ray and he eventually became a main eventer where it actually felt kind of earned.

[@FatherJacksBrick]

@@Beavie they made him a world champion during the peak of the Aces & Eights sergeancy. D-Von would at the same time be the Television champion. Shame how that faction didnt last as long as it did, I remember watching as a teen thinking they were awesome lol.

[@terrancecarmichael619]

@@FatherJacksBrickI just remembered they involved his twin sons, as a kid I thought him and Bubba were really feuding 😂

[@FatherJacksBrick]

@@terrancecarmichael619 it was a hella good storyline, and showed them off as singles stars and they ran with it! That feud was so good.

[@FatherJacksBrick]

The fact that Cryme Tyme didn’t make this list yet Y2AJ did is beyond me.😂

[@iWillHumbleYou]

For someone who wasn't watching at the time..what was the break up story between the two?

[@FatherJacksBrick]

@@iWillHumbleYou I can’t remember what had happened fully, I believe they went on some losses in 2010, and I think WWE saw that as an opportunity to turn Shad against JTG. If I’m not mistaken they were supposed to be/ did put into a tag team championship match, I can’t remember as it was round about that point I lost interest in WWE.

[@papercup7006]

Pretty much beat for beat what happend with the prime time players

[@FatherJacksBrick]

@@papercup7006 it was PTP before PTP was even thought of. Plus Cryme Tyme were popular up until their tag team demise. Which is less than can be said about PTP, they had 2 goes at it and still flopped.🙂

[@gingeta5961]

Could use a part 2 lol

[@joeywrestling9536]

I swear Mizdow was one of the MOST underrated gimmicks EVER.

[@v1ct0r326]

I got to see them at Smackdown at the height of their popularity, it was great. It was the Smackdown when Reigns returned after hernia surgery. I was right in the corner at the entrance stage and Sandow was mostly on the opposite side of the ring so I had to keep rubbernecking between watching Miz in the ring and Sandow on the screen. Of the entire show, they are the parts that I remember most. Them and Paige spanking Emma.

[@jliller]

I think the Dudleyz breakup could have actually been a pretty good feel-good angle. 1. Dudleyz unintentionally anger one or both GMs. 2. Petty GM(s) split the team onto separate brands out of spite. 3. Bubba and D-Von try to make the most of their split. 4. Bubba and D-Von eventually campaign to be reunited. 5. GMs are persuaded to let them reunite...if they can overcome various challenges placed in their way. 6. Bubba and D-Von triumph over adversity and are reunited. Dudleyz rejoice, fans rejoice.

[@Jhakri_]

I will always go back and enjoy compilations of Otis's "Tucky!" calls.

[@DeadManDownunder]

I love how The Hurricane and Rosey's break up was so bad it couldn't even make this list.

[@specialedday090]

I appreciate you for not hating on Enzo & Cass, they were very entertaining.

[@bobthekow7547]

Heavy Machinery should’ve never broken up. Otis should’ve used the briefcase to get the tag titles with Tucker. It’s better than the Miz taking it because of JBL. It could’ve been a heartwarming moment

[@tonyreimer6804]

Could’ve had Otis do that then Tucker turn on him, if you really wanted Otis as a single. Would’ve been a great angle to get sympathy for him. This guy used his opportunity to help he and his best friend get an opportunity together only to have his best friend turn on him

[@KulkRogan]

100% agree, Tucker had been a really loyal friend to Otis and this would've been a great way for Otis to repay him for it

[@derrickhaggard]

Agreed.

[@Christiantheforestdweller]

What makes that particular break up worse is that tucker was sent to the 24/7 division then released and Otis was put straight into another tag team.

[@FrostWazowski]

Jobbers aren't supposed to win championships ... or MITB.

[@NickolasJMcKee]

The storyline of always turning on each other is classically never the same…

[@MichaelTaylor-qp2xf]

I had a goddamn Rusev Day calendar that WWE sold. They sold a million Happy Rusev Day shirts. They knew that they had something, but had no idea what to do with it because it wasn't supposed to get as over like it did.

[@davidparkes7741]

Yep, if Vince doesn't have a direct hand in getting a team over & they instead get over organically (ie with fan support) they rarely get that same support backstage. Oh & yes I know there are exceptions to this rule.

[@Mark_of_Tread]

0:12 obligatory “WILL YOU STOP”

[@JitteryJackanape]

The worst part about the Dudleyz breakup was how the draft literally allowed tag teams to be drafted. It was so frustrating. Even the show before that they made it a point to show Bubba and Dvon didn't want to do it. Bubba was backstage screaming you know it's over. We're being split up.

[@loboneiner1034]

You missed the one that angered me the most. American Alpha.

[@AdamSMessinger]

I'm not a Rusev/Miro fan and I never have been but even I could see how over that duo was. They could have made a TON of money with Rusev.

[@jahjr92aka187]

It was kinda mid to me .

[@AdamSMessinger]

@@jahjr92aka187 Yeah, I wasn't into Rusev Day but I remember watching Smackdown and seeing the crowd SUPER into it and a lot of my friends dug it a lot. I woulda been just as happy not seeing him on my screen tho.

[@TheRealAhoy]

Fact is there's a portion of the fanbase who think they should be on creative and they try to influence which things get pushed and dropped and they did that with Rusev day, so he dropped it. Because the entire idea goes down the pan when it becomes embroiled in a "The people v Vince saga". It becomes inauthentic when a bunch of non employed people try and control the narrative.

[@TricksterBloom]

I absolutely agree splitting the Dudleys wasn't great...but that Reverend D-Von music though!!!

[@derrickhaggard]

The Dudley Boyz breakup in TNA was storytelling at it's finest as it led to the birth of Bully Ray one of Bubba Ray's best heel/anti-hero gimmicks ever.

[@JM1993951]

“So, we’ve got arguably the best team of the last 5 years, boss. What do we do, keep booking them strong?” “No, damn it! Split ‘em up. Put one in a division for a title we’re gonna get rid of in a few months and make the other one a reverend, damn it!”

[@daltonpinell6251]

Adam must've been irked by all the entries on this list, because he sounds a lot more sarcastic and sharp tongued than he usually does

[@creamreviews1607]

Y2AJ was my favorite thing during that era. This was right after returning to the product after AJ debuted at Royal Rumble. Should've bought one of those shirts!!! 😭

[@Zelgrax]

Was berry surprised not to see Goldust and Stardust on this list. The match they had at Double or Nothing shows exactly what WWE wasted with that split. Never mind that Stardust was a terrible gimmick, there was potential for amazing storytelling on a PPV card and they absolutely blew it.

[@jodawa2504]

It's fascinating that the tag team breakups of Edge & Christian, The Hardys, Los Guerreros(Eddie & Chavo), Team Angle/The World's Greatest Tag Team(Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas), Paul London & Billy Kidman, Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio, Legacy(Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase, Jr.), Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly, Goldust & Stardust, Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan, Matt Hardy & M.V.P, LayCool(Layla & Michelle McCool), Kane & X-Pac or even Road Dogg & K-Kwik(the future R-Truth) aren't mentioned. Then again, if I wrote what was in the video, this video would be a lot longer than it was. As far as the Prime Time Players are concerned, the two of them forming a team was straight up random. They were literally feuding on NXT the game show competition just before the NXT renovation in June 2012 as a brand, with Titus O'neil winning a No Disqualification match on NXT against Darren Young, ending their feud. They would team up a week or two later & from that point forward would regularly compete as a team.

[@mfdixon1985]

I replied to another comment with this. But worth mentioning... -- While other members of tag teams were drafted individually, Vince made a point of saying that he pulled strings to ensure that the NWO would be drafted as one. The only other exception would have been Billy and Chuck, the champions. -- One owner (I think Flair) took one Dudley (I think Bubba). The other realized what he was doing and took the other Dudley out of spite. I'm not going to say it was great storytelling, especially Vince pulling the strings for the NWO. But they at least tried to make that one make sense.

[@M9AX]

VINCE: "we don't know what to do with you. here's a random tag team partner. get over by yourself or you're out!" VINCE, FOUR MONTHS LATER: "grrr how dare you get over by yourself! we're breaking you up!"

[@daviddalrymple2284]

Sometimes even sadder are the tag teams that split with little or no animosity, like Demolition and the Hart Foundation. There's no question that the teams had run their course (Crush was a poor substitute for Ax, and Bret was overdue for singles gold) but it would have been nice to see them explode rather than scatter.

[@glennb6020]

Rybaxel genuinely have the best tag break up. I don’t get why they don’t do that more often

[@terrancecarmichael619]

How did they break up again I don’t even remember

[@andrewsd.r.7180]

@@terrancecarmichael619 They just talked about wanting to go for singles success, and split peacefully.

[@terrancecarmichael619]

@@andrewsd.r.7180 Ahh ok now I think I do remember that because something told me I didn’t recall seeing either turn on the other.

[@KingTruffles]

@@andrewsd.r.7180I wish they did this more often. Breaking up and feuding usually only helps the guy that wins the feud. If they ever split, the Street Profits should do this because I really don’t want to see Dawkins not being used

[@andrewsd.r.7180]

@@KingTruffles Agreed, dude has put in the work to impprove his skill, it would feel like a waste if they split them and only pushed Montez

[@Extension-vr4oo]

Y2AJ was formed with the explicit purpose of creating that feud. I don’t think it should count in this list.

[@alyssamuckway4663]

I have 3 Y2AJ T-shirts, one for me & my son, and one for my dad 😵‍💫

[@evrbody]

Heavy Machinery were my boys and I'd love to see them back together.

[@pepito2847]

So far I’d argue that the Jimmy Uso heel turn/Uso breakup was worse and more poorly executed than Nikki’s heel turn and Bellas breakup At least when Nikki turned on Brie, Nikki went on to become a major heel and went on to become champion Jimmy Uso doesn’t seem like he’s gonna have anything benefit him and the turn was just a plot device used to keep the titles on Roman

[@stingrey1571]

If you pay attention to the whole Y2AJ angle. Aj didn’t speak. Jericho would speak for him or to him. Styles really didn’t start talking until his feud with reigns. The reason being Vince didn’t think he could cut a decent promo based on his thick southern accent.

[@sirekumasutra7022]

The Jerry Jarrett reference lol

[@ryanklotz309]

Wasn't Chris Jericho a "litmus test" though for new talent just coming into WWE? That's why it was him vs AJ. Now it seems that the new litmus test is "The Miz", right?

[@charlesoliviera]

I watch every video yall put out. Appreciate the hard-work, gentlemen.

[@holyhibachi]

The Dudley breakup did make sense in story. Flair took Bubba with the intent of getting the Dudleys on Raw and Vince picked D-Von to spite him. You weren't able to draft teams back then. Except the nWo, who they said was the only exception

[@abelardions7600]

1:52 this team was only put together so they could have a match at Wrestlemania. Lackluster of a match BTW.

[@Arntor-kf9hi]

Enzo and Cass were like an Oreo. Neither part could function as a serviceable product on its own, but combined they make gold. They were pure money and I cannot fathom why wwe never rode that to the bank, same with Rusev

[@Rakmandra]

'wwe having all the tact of an elephant being dropped from a plane' I just went into 'yes' chants at home

[@MarkieDood]

I shouldn't complain too much about it, because Alpha Academy has been one of my favorite acts on WWE television over the past couple years. But part of me is still a little grumpy over the Heavy Machinery breakup and subsequent non-feud.

[@MarcoGarcia-ni9bx]

The IIconics should have made this list

[@SpadesWicked]

Big Cass since his release has done nothing but improve in ring

[@fortcastellan1730]

The most infuriating thing about the Rusev Day story was that they teased a break-up (I think when Lana first came back) but then backed away from that idea for months (presumably because someone in the writer's room saw the trainwreck that was coming) but then eventually pulled the trigger on the break-up anyway. So dumb. There was no way Aiden English was ever going to be a threat, or even a big deal, on his own. Even if they wanted to use Rusev as a singles star, just keep English with him as a hype-man...

[@davidparkes7741]

All these teams that had underwhelming break-ups have only ONE person to blame.... Vince McMahon.

[@RApollos107]

When the only good thing about a tag team break up was the introduction of a new wrestler 2 months later, it’s absolutely not a good breakup.

[@dreamermj]

I would have added American Alpha to this list as they were a very promising tag team that WWE split up for one of the dumbest angles of the decade.

[@PirateDrive]

Thought Cryme Tyme would be on here.

[@joshualewis7692]

There wasn't anything devastating about the Prime Time Players breaking up. They were exasperating. Bella Twins was annoying as well. Their split was predictable.

[@MsTree1234]

Rusev day was flaming hot

[@markharrelson9926]

Y’all may have my favorite top 10 lists on KZbin. Informative, creative, entertaining. Way to go Adam

[@eddherring4972]

Can I just say: “Deeeeevoooon!” “WHAT?” “Get the tables.” Never got tired loved the Dudleys for that alone. The Dudleys, the Hardy’s, The Acolytes (DAMN!), Edge and Christian, Too Cool, The Radicalz, DX even The Right To Censor there were some awesome tag teams and stables back in the Attitude era.

[@โทนี่นะค่ะพร่อง]

Morrison never learned too. The Miz turns on him twice. XD.

[@jodawa2504]

The Miz had more success in WWE's tag team division with John Morrison than he's ever had in his entire WWE career(Miz is a 3 time WWE Tag Team Champion with John Morrison, but Miz is an overall 6 time WWE Tag Team Champion). It's fascinating that John Morrison was the breakout star of the tag team MNM as Johnny Nitro(Mercury, Nitro & Melina), while The Miz became the breakout star between himself & John Morrison, despite many people saying that John is guaranteed to have more success in WWE than The Miz. After the 2009 WWE Draft, it looked to be that way, BUT when Miz returned to WWE after getting fired, Miz turned all of that around & SHOCKINGLY surpassed John Morrison's WWE successes. He's definitely living proof of a true success story & the '90s hip hop song "Hate Me Now" by Sean "Puffy" Combs & Nas is perfect not only for The Miz's 2010-2011 WWE Championship run & title defense at WM 27 against John Cena, but for The Miz's entire WWE career. W Miz.

[@dylanogg347]

And if t wasn't for Enzo and Cass' breakup, Enzo would have never held the Cruiserweight Championship, and the entire wrestling world would be better off for it!

[@KindredFenrir]

Any Dudley or Hardy split up was always a colossal failure. Side note damn do I miss Damien Sandow...

[@crazychristopherfromzoukon101]

That depends when it comes to The Hardys. Both brothers actually had decent singles careers during their initial split with Matt bring Cruiserweight Champion and Jeff being Intercontinental Champion.

[@projektnine]

What killed me during the draft, when the Dudley's were split, is that 2 full teams were drafted before them. Meaning that taking the team was an option. The NWO and Billy & Chuck...

[@mfdixon1985]

I remember Vince making some point that he'd pulled some strings and gone to the board of directors and arranged for the NWO to be drafted collectively. And Billy and Chuck were the champions so I think they were inherently protected from a breakup. And I do remember one of the guys (I think Flair) taking one Dudley, then Vince realizing what he was doing and drafting the other for spite. Not necessarily the best storytelling in the world (especially the NWO part) but they actually did try to make some sense of that.

[@troyfew2373]

Bart, getting in the ring with Butterbean, ruined his career.....

[@itsrobert2742]

It was sad when when the dudlys boys split up during wwf draft 2002

[@KevinPayton-fq8gd]

The same thing happened to The World's Greatest Tag Team: Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. They were so good together and when the draft split them up, I was upset.

[@Mdogg-w1n]

If the smoking guns never broke up we would of never gotten THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS....THE ROAD DOGG JESSE JAMES THE BAD ASS BILLY GUNN....THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS

[@jeremywilliams5141]

American Alpha is another team who I felt broke up too soon. They were red-hot in NXT winning the tag team titles and when they debuted on Smackdown, they won the tag titles there. But then the damn company decided to split thembup for a biological son angle that went nowhere. Poor Jason Jordan suffered a neck injury that ended his career and Chad Gable was rechristened Shorty G.

[@kennethvega7242]

The Rev Dvon role was more of a managerial gimmick he could of stacked up a stable an took over smackdown

[@Sunprism]

I personally thought Deacon Batista was hilarious. I knew he’d do some big things after seeing the dedication he had to that character in the ring

[@welovecalvin_]

OH MY GOD ITS DEUCE AND DOMINO TIME

[@Wynneception]

I will literally never forgive WWE for randomly breaking up the IIconics on a random weekly TV show under the guise that they were going to push them as single’s wrestlers only to like fire both of them out of nowhere shortly after having done nothing with either them since the breakup

[@AshleySpradling-d9p]

How about when Matt and Jeff Hardy

[@RobertGreenwald]

It’s amazing how many tag teams are split up (in the eternal pursuit of the next HBK) only for both members to form new crappier tag teams because nobody know what to do with them as singles stars.

[@smokeherrin]

I don't see why Otis lost the briefcase to miz who lost the title after 2 weeks of winning it . They could have just left it with otis

[@jrsmith1998]

The Smoking Guns look like they could actually be brothers.

[@FretzlemaniaPod]

I saw a Y2AJ shirt at ComicCon in 2018 and almost bought it. What I did instead....Marty Scurll...oops.

[@jaimereupert4247]

For the "Rusev Day", another example of wrestlers getting shafted because they got over on their own. I.e. Zack Ryder.

[@HaHaHaYouFool9439]

Damien, Miz. Loved that team and the feud was good. Definitely not something that could last long term. It was a very good short term story though. Fun and they both can go, so the matches were good too.

[@killingragethrowback]

I still have this theory that Vince was determined to end Miro's marriage because he wanted Lana for himself. It's why he was so obsessed with making Miro look stupid, to cuckold the guy and try anything to make them separate.

[@ShinRyojin]

That sounds incredibly ridiculous, petty, and stupid. Which is exactly on brand for Vince.

[@williammills6060]

With exception of the new day wwe has never been known for keeping tag teams together long term

[@abelardions7600]

3:20 I know how much of a nice human being is Titus O'Neil, but WWE trying to turn him into Ezekiel Jackson 2.0.... Jeez....🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@abelardions7600]

4:00 their acting during this feud was even worse than Stephanie McMahon's heel wannabe personna

[@unholyperiodza5442]

You forgot the Nexus. Having them lose at Summerslam not to mention all the lineup changes including CM Punk recasting Wade Barrett it pretty much killed the team.

[@kennyking9347]

You forgot Cryme Tyme

[@thaheartbreaker]

Enzo could’ve just been cass’s manager

[@aaronhurst4379]

Maaaan, I clearly remember the Prime Time Players being my favourite wrestling tag team when they were in full swing... not that there were many other teams to choose from, or indeed other promotions I had access to then. But still 🤷

[@JuanGonzalez-xv7zw]

What about the Iconics?

[@brianfinnegan8947]

Was thinking the same thing

[@RonCorleone]

I want to throw Cryme Tyme on that list. Literally no point of breaking them up\. Still weird they never won the tag titles during a time where Raw had like three tagteams and WWE would just constantly make a heel makeshift tagteam to give the titles to over Cryme Tyme.

[@Greendragonranger671]

surprise u didn't mention American Alpha. Like the dudly that team shouldv'e never broken up or split. For some stupid reason they mad chad gable attack former parner Jason Jordon in the survior series raid

[@nikolassmith6252]

Big Cass & Enzo🤣

[@Merricat_likesu]

Wasn’t Y2-AJ always supposed to be a fake out? I didn’t think anybody took that as anything more than a misdirect.

[@PlusUltraAdrian]

Exactly. You could see the writing on the wall.

[@michaellombardi24]

The Iiconics left the chat

[@KingACE05]

What About Cryme Tyme?

[@jerranspearman3369]

good video

[@dlcdnl]

I'm still mad that they made Heavy Machinery split like that... before the pandemic they were sooo over

[@FlyBoyEnterprises]

Rusev Day, Enzo & Cass, American Alpha (cost Jason Jordan his career), Heavy Machinery, Vaudevillians, every woman's tag team, .... All terrible gutting the tag divisions. The common denominator, all were popular and got over organically with the fans & Vince HATES that...

[@jays447]

"How WWE didn't make a bigger deal out of Rusev Day is still baffling." Maybe it was Rusev that couldn't keep the character over and it was Aiden English that made it popular. Once Aiden English left, all Rusev did for 2 year his wave arms and dance his pecs to "Rusev Day" chants... that's it. That's more on Rusev than WWE.

[@daviddalrymple2284]

I can understand that Vince (and other people in his position) don't want to elevate a midcard fad into a major angle, only to have it fizzle. But he rarely gives those hot midcard angles enough time to breathe, to see if they are merely fads or if they could grow into something bigger. By doing all these premature breakups of hot tag teams, he thinks he's pouring gas on a fire, but he's really just pouring cold water.

[@sethputnamsghost]

Millions of dollars, millions of dollars!!🤘 Aiden English (sorry don’t know his new name) is married to Shaul Guerrero right?

[@crazychristopherfromzoukon101]

His real name is Matt Rehwoldt and yes he's married to Eddie's daughter.

[@RMGLUCK]

Cholera gets over really easily, which I believe is a big part of the problem.

[@asa2002]

Mizdow had two major stumbles....HE DIDN'T WIN THE ANDRE THE GIANT BATTLE ROYALE THAT YEAR DESPITE HOW MUCH HE WAS OVER WITH THE CROWD (he got to eliminate the Miz...that's it), and then the match got cobbled together on Raw cus creative FORGOT The Miz was taking time off for a movie

[@Dr_1212]

Break up the vince WWE relationship

[@grahamwebb1367]

pretty clear big vinny could never see rusev with lana... he's a handsome man vince

[@Mr.HootieHooRDK]

I wanted to buy the Y2AJ shirt so badly but it was so stupid and I'm like they're probably just going to break up soon anyways. If the t-shirt had a better design I totally would have bought it

[@stevenpagnani7005]

You forgot the hardy's edge & Christian

[@JMartNotKMart]

It’s still Rusev Day to me dammit!!!

[@cultureshock5000]

that iosnt what we mean by chicken salad over here ,... chicken mayo onion salt and pepper two pieces of toast thats what it means thats what jerry jarrets recipe is based on anyway

[@martinbrophy6898]

Could be worse you might have vince booking cultaholic news stories 😊

[@shachardahan1081]

No new day? I know you didn't want to do drafts but the stable that lasted for years without turning on each other only to split them for a big e push that ended up not happening

[@1788deon]

Tag teams that haven't and should've broke up

[@alzackcamberly3632]

The Iiconics and LayCool💔