I told y’all it was ‘Best of 2017’ season, and starting today, we’re going to have lists popping up pretty regularly for the rest of the year. Specifically with the WWE content, because well….actually…it’s the only thing I keep a running notebook of all year long. We’ve got over 1,000 words to get through here, and I’m not going to waste anymore of your time. Let’s hit the honorable mentions first.
Honorable Mentions: Though American Alpha entered 2017 with the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, they did little to really stand out on the show. Part of that was on the bookers, but part of it was an inability to really connect with the audience like they did in NXT. DIY and The Revival both put on some of the best tag team wrestling matches I’ve seen in recent memory, but the volume of work just wasn’t there. DIY broke up early in the year, while injuries kept The Revival sidelined repeatedly. Finally, have to give a shout out to the fun-loving Heavy Machinery, who impressed and benefitted from a thing NXT tag team division. These two were overachievers given that context.
WWE’s Top 10 Tag Teams of 2017
10. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows – People seem to forget what a big deal Anderson and Gallows were when they first arrived in the WWE. Since they don’t seem to really do much with them lately, it’s easy to forget that they actually started the year atop the Raw tag team division. They won the Raw Tag Team Championships at the Royal Rumble and walked into Wrestlemania 33 with the straps. And, they’re still pretty damn good wrestlers, too. Let’s show them some love.
9. The Undisputed Era – Had Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly hit the scene earlier in the year, they’d probably be much higher on this list. But, they only have a body of work of a little less than half of the year. Still, you can’t argue with their credentials and the impact they’ve made on NXT alongside Adam Cole (bay bay).
8. Breezango – They have no championships on the year, though they did steal the show with The Usos at Backlash in a Smackdown Tag Team Championship match. But, Tyler Breeze and Fandango make this list because they’ve become one of the most entertaining teams in the entire WWE. Fashion Files is like peak Edge & Christian humor, but both guys are talented enough to put on excellent matches, too. I’d love to see them finally get a run with the belts in 2018.
7. Sanity – For over a year now, Sanity has been one of the most interesting acts on NXT. They’ve routinely put on excellent matches as individuals and as a team, but their run in NXT was validated when they defeated the Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championships in a fantastic match that was only the beginning of a fantastic program.
6. The Shield – How do you slot these guys here? I mean, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins won the Raw Tag Team Championship, but aren’t they The Shield? Does the Shield have to be all three of them? Well, then what about New Day? I don’t know – all I know is that these guys won the gold, and have been putting on some of the best tag team matches of the year.
5. The New Day – We thought this act would dissolve after their record-breaking run… PFFFFFFT. These guys are still mainstays in the tag team division, putting on great matches, and winning the belts. They’re going to hang around the top of this list as long as they’re a team.
4. The Authors of Pain – No one on this list has improved at the rate these guys have. They went from being clumsy, and downright hard to watch, to one of NXT’s featured attractions. The work they put in with teams like The Revival, DIY, and Sanity this year have been fantastic, and they deserve some recognition for becoming they force they have.
3. The Hardy Boyz – When Matt and Jeff returned to the WWE at Wrestlemania 33, it made for one of the most shocking moments of the year. The hype surrounding the BROKEN gimmick working in WWE was off the rails. “DELETE” chants echoed throughout arenas, but we’re only just now seeing Matt’s character evolve. Still, their return made for a nice little Tag Team Championship run throughout the Spring, and a fun program with Sheamus and Cesaro.
2. The Bar – Back in 2016, what seemed like a stale, recycled program between Sheamus and Cesaro induced a lot of groans when Mick Foley announced a seven-match series between the two. But, the matches were fantastic. When the series went to a draw, it was announced that they would challenge for the Raw Tag Team Championship. They won the gold, and have been on a tear of incredible programs and matches ever since. Neither man seems to have looked back, and they’ve become one of the WWE’s defining acts. They captured the Raw Tag Team Championship three times this year.
1. The Usos – At this point, you can’t deny that The Usos have cemented themselves as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, much less 2017 alone. But, Jimmy and Jey really reinvented themselves this year with a heel turn and subsequent string of excellent promos and show-stealing matches. They’ve shown an ability to adapt at a time when their act was growing stale. I don’t know that any other team in WWE has been as consistently good as The Usos over the last several years. They’re sitting atop the tag team ranks for 2017.
Sit tight, we have plenty more ‘Best of 2017’ shit on the way.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Buy our shirt. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube. Shop our store on Redbubble.
