WWE’s “50 Greatest Tag Teams” series on Peacock named The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) the greatest tag team of all time. Lists like this often conjure up a divisive reaction. Everyone has an opinion, as is the case here. Some feel the colorful unicorn trio is worthy of such an honor, while others, not so much.
Here is the full list:
50. The Bushwhackers
49. Too Cool
48. The Quebecers
47. Smoking Gunns
46. Strike Force
45. The Headshrinkers
44. Kane & X-PAC
43. Batista & Ric Flair
42. MNM
41. Nasty Boys
40. Rated RKO
39. Paul London and Brian Kendrick
38. DIY
37. World’s Greatest Tag Team
36. Money Inc.
35. Chris Jericho and The Big Show
34. Natural Disasters
33. The Street Profits
32. Jack and Gerald Brisco
31. The Bludgeon Brothers/Luke Harper and Erick Rowan
30. British Bulldog and Owen Hart
29. John Morrison and The Miz
28. The Bar
27. Team Hell No
26. Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik
25. Los Guerreros
24. The APA
23. The Blackjacks
22. The Shield
21. DX (Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
20. The Undisputed Era
19. Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas
18. Professor Toru Tanaka and Mr. Fuji
17. The Steiner Brothers
16. The Rock N’ Sock Connection
15. The Wild Samoans
14. The Rockers
13. The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage)
12. The Valiant Brothers
11. Demolition
10. The British Bulldogs
9. The Brothers of Destruction
8. The New Age Outlaws
7. The Usos
6. The Legion of Doom
5. The Dudley Boyz
4. Edge & Christian
3. Hart Foundation
2. The Hardy Boyz
1. The New Day
When such lists are created, you must read between the lines. First, this is strictly a WWE list. The tally would look a lot different if teams such as The Rock’ n’ Roll Express and The Midnight Express were included, encompassing all tag teams.
Second, there are two political omissions, The Revival and more noticeably absent, The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard). They can thank their current employer, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), for being snubbed.
Another issue with this list is the inclusion of The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage). They are a tag team by definition. However, their partnership was born out of necessity to combat The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase & Andre The Giant) and The Twin Towers (The Big Boss Man & Akeem) rather than the purist of tag team gold.
People will always find a problem with such a list. Those who grew up in one era will call The Wild Samoans the GOAT. Others who followed wrestling during the Attitude Era will proclaim The Dudley Boys or The Hardy Boyz as the best tag team ever.
My only knock against The New Day is they’re a three-person tag team instead of the traditional two-person pairing. If wrestling was real and all things were fair, The New Day should be disqualified from such consideration.
E, Kingston, and Woods, however, turned a stipulation normally reserved from a heel tag team into a babyface routine that was so entertaining no one ever complained about their unfair advantage. Now, many who didn’t bat an eye at such a stipulation are calling foul for the team’s prized distinction.
Honestly, I don’t even think WWE takes things like this seriously. They’re a wrestling promotion. Hence the word, promotion. Their goal is to make money. The New Day is currently one of the top acts in the company.
WWE calling The New Day their best tag team of all-time is another means of promotion designed to help the trio make money for the company. It’s a tool. Nothing less. Nothing more.
However, the purist in me will have some fun and weigh in on the merits of the list. Regardless of the incarnation, The New Day has been the top tag team for over seven years. They’ve won the tag titles a record-breaking 11 times and the longest single reign as champions at 483 days.
In the realm of great matches, whether it was with AJ Styles and Chris Jericho on Raw, The Usos inside Hell in a Cell, or toppling The Wyatt Family, The New Day, like all great teams. has several classic matches on their resume.
Take away recency bias and replace subjectivity with objectivity. The New Day still belongs in the discussion. While I wouldn’t crown them as the GOAT, I wouldn’t argue with anyone who does. The New Day have earned their seat at the table, regardless of position.
Ringside Logic 