The Best of the 411Mania Era: The Tag Teams Part 3

Posted by James Thomlison on 06.18.2008

Who fills the single digits?

Welcome to Part 3 of the Best of the 411mania.com Era: Tag Teams. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2!


REVIEW: Before we get to it, let's take a look at the winners we've already announced to this point:

#15: The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus) – 62 points

#14: Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto – 67 points

#13: The British Bulldog Davey Smith & Owen Hart – 68 points

#12: Latin American Exchange (Homicide & Hernandez, Konnan) – 76 points

#11: The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott) – 79 points

#10: Los Guerreros de Infierno (Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero) – 92 points






For your consideration…

3-time AJPW World Tag Team Champions

120 points (Average Vote: 4.4)

Michael Campbell: The date was April 12, 1993. After wrestling to a thirty minute draw in the annual Champions Carnival Tournament, Toshiaki Kawada shook the hand of former rival Akira Taue, and so was born one of the best and most successful tag teams in the history of this great sport. "Dangerous K" and "Dynamic T" The Holy Demon Army. Their unparalleled success, excellent teamwork, and longevity are more than enough to warrant their placement among the top 15 tag teams of the 411 era.

Like so many great tag teams, before they were partners Kawada and Taue were rivals, and very bitter rivals at that. In 1990 they were both part of Mitsuharu Misawa's army of younger wrestlers and embroiled in a feud with the longtime top man in All Japan, Jumbo Tsuruta and his army of veterans. When Kabuki left All Japan in mid 1990, Akira Taue made the switch from being Misawa's #3 to Tsuruta's #2. Kawada and Misawa naturally took exception and from then until that fateful day in April '93, Kawada and Taue were bitter rivals, not unlike Misawa and Tsuruta. Both Kawada and Taue would have success during this time period, each enjoying reigns as AJPW World Tag Team Champions. They also both made their first challenge for the prestigious All Japan Triple Crown Championship.

In late 1992, Jumbo Tsuruta would come down with hepatitis and Taue would be trust into the role of leader. With only about five years under his belt, Taue didn't have the same success that his partner would have had. In September, Kawada had defeated Taue to earn the right to be the first challenger to the new champion Mitsuharu Misawa. With Tsuruta on the shelf, Misawa was unquestionably the #1 native in the company, and Kawada's win cemented him as #2. Taue was paired with rookie Jun Akiyama in the annual Real World Tag League and they placed fifth, far behind Misawa and Kawada who'd won the tournament.

Things didn't get much better for Taue as 1993 started. He finally challenged Misawa for the Triple Crown in February and came up short. Tsuruta showed no signs of returning anytime soon, and nobody was buying Akira Taue as the top rival to Misawa. On the flip side of the coin was Kawada, unable to be #1 because he was too busy being #2. The fans didn't want to see a series of Misawa/Taue matches, the way they'd flocked for Jumbo/Misawa, but they were aching for another Misawa/Kawada match. So when the bell rang on 4/12/93, and the former rivals shook hands everything magically fell into place. It was just like 1987 when Kawada's former mentor Genichiro Tenryu grew tired of being #2 to Misawa's former mentor Jumbo Tsuruta and they began to feud. Which was ironically what brought Misawa (then wrestling as Tiger Mask) and Kawada initially into more prominent roles within All Japan.

A big part of what made the Kawada/Taue duo so effective was Taue's ability to follow along. When he was part of Misawa's gang, he was just another youngster trying to earn respect. When he joined Jumbo, he was helping defend tradition, alongside one of the very foundations of All Japan. And when he joined forces with Kawada, he was right alongside him kicking and chopping and doing anything that he could to ascend that final rung on the ladder to the top of All Japan.

And reach of the top of All Japan they did. Kawada and Taue enjoyed an unprecedented six reigns as All Japan World Tag Team Champions. Their first reign started on 5/20/93 when they defeated Terry Gordy and Steve Williams. Their last reign ended in June of 2000 when Taue, along with most of the roster left All Japan to form Pro Wrestling NOAH, while Kawada stayed behind. In their six reigns as champions they beat the best of the best, including Misawa and Kenta Kobashi, Misawa and Akiyama, Kobashi and Akiyama, Gordy and Williams, Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas, Kobashi and Johnny Ace, Williams and Gary Albright, Albright and Yoshihiro Takayama, among many others. In addition to their tag team success, they also both enjoyed reigns with the Triple Crown and both were able to win the annual champions carnival tournament.

In an era where tag teams are lucky to last for a year before breaking up and going their separate ways, Kawada and Taue enjoyed seven good years together. The end of their team wasn't due to an argument or jealousy. But rather to some irony, Misawa, Kawada, and Taue had all come together when Genichiro Tenryu had left All Japan, and Misawa had stepped up to challenge Tsuruta. Now, then years later, it was Misawa leaving All Japan and taking the bulk of the roster, including Taue, with him. It was the end of an era, not just of All Japan as we knew, but one of the best tag teams to ever grace the squared circle. Eight years later, 411 is proud to honor "Dangerous K" and "Dynamic T" as one of the top tag teams of the 411 era.

Stuart James: Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue are widely regarded as one of the all time greatest tag teams of All Japan Pro Wrestling. Despite being a dream team for Puro fanatics, they also gelled together perfectly to give the fans fluent and intense title defences. They are admired by the most avid Japanese wrestling fans, and together they've been given an unbelievable amount of five star matches from several high-profile wrestling pundits. The best analogy of Taue and Kawada is that they basically did for AJPW what the Hardys did for WWE: revolutionised tag team wrestling as the fans view it today. Primarily, they wrestled an adapted version of the traditional Japanese wrestling style (slow submission work to start with, stiff shots and then high spots), but performed it in various ways to truly engage the fans into the match, making them enjoy the match even more. This style has, since then, been emulated by several other famous Japanese tag teams and even some American ones as well.

Their in-ring abilities were second to nobody, not even icons such as Kenta Kobashi could put on such wonderful tag team matches as Taue and Kawada. For any fan that has not seen them before, it is highly recommended that you find some videos, because some have to be seen to be believed, and they put on classic match after classic match. Their constant effort within the ring to provide the fans with the best Japanese style wrestling matches possible made the Holy Demon Army one of the more popular acts with the Japanese public and even across the globe. Their popularity escalated so much that it set the two wrestler's careers for life, as they continued to have huge success in single's competition - even after splitting up in 2000.

For their efforts in the ring, they were awarded with the All Japan Pro Wrestling Tag Team titles a record six times, which is higher than any other team in history. In the process, they beat the likes of Johnny Ace and Kenta Kobashi; Kenta Kobashi and Mitshuru Misawa; and even Terry Gordy and Stan Hansen, who previously held the record number of tag team title reigns: holding them for approximately 31 months over the nine years between their first reign in 1991 and last reign in 2000.

Subsequently, their performances in the ring also affected the box-office ticket sales, as any wrestling card with the Holy Demon Army on it would almost always sell out, as the fans would be guaranteed a great match. Outside of Kobashi and Misawa, they were the biggest draw in Japanese wrestling for many years, and easily the highest drawing tag team in the world of Puro ever seen.

The team abruptly split in 2000, when Akira Taue would leave All Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH, leaving Toshiaki Kawada by himself. Despite this, the team is renowned by critics as one of the finest teams to ever grace a professional wrestling ring, and probably the best Japanese tag team in history.

Jake Chambers: In the mid-nineties, the most intense, exciting, critically acclaimed, and popular pro-wrestling tag team matches were setting records and blowing minds, yet it was all relatively unknown to the casual pro-wrestling fans in North America at the time. Toshiaka Kawada and Akira Taue were one of the flagship teams of the unbelievably hot All Japan wrestling scene of the nineties. Taue, a snarling athletic giant and Kawada, the stocky, kick happy soldier, were singles stars in the traditional sense, yet in Japan at the time, glory in tag team wrestling was equal to any solo achievement.

Since I am not a native Japanese pro-wrestling fan, it's difficult to truly know the sense of the scene in that country back then, but the culture of the tapes that circulated in the States can tell a separate story. Shoddy VHS tapes of All Japan matches were the great mid-nineties fanboy treasure, next to Jackie Chan, Jet Li and other assorted Hong Kong action movies. Those tapes, often in grainy SLP with pure Japanese commentary, were able to transport fans into another universe of wrestling. Strangely clean-cut Japanese fans sat quietly during the beginning of matches, applauded kindly during the feeling out process and literally stomped and shook the walls as the exhausting near falls sequences tornado-ed out of control. The daring in the ring had been unseen even by greats like Ric Flair, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, and going to a WWF house show at the time seemed like a rustic carnival in comparison. The moves these Japanese stars used were ferocious and innovative, and their effort was griping and exhausting. The sophistication of the fans and the pure athletic gifts of the wrestlers made watching those All Japan tapes a transcendent experience for any who grew up with the cartoonish WWF, matured with some exposure to the NWA, but maybe couldn't come to grips with the wackiness of the genre yet never outgrew their passion for pro-wrestling. All Japan was a gift for patient wrestling fans, and Taue and Kawada were the bow on top of the tag team scene.

Arguably their greatest rivals, Mitsuhara Misawa and Jun Akiyama, were criminally left of this list, but as for having a token All Japan team, Taue and Kawada are an exemplary choice. Competitive camaraderie rather than flash and flair, was the way Taue and Kawda established their legacy and set a standard of excellence among the constantly changing landscape of Japanese wrestling in the nineties. When Taue slapped an opponent in the face, or Kawada hit a big boot, the impact of such simple moves literally shocked the American wrestling fans into a new hardcore reality. Unlike the filmmakers Chan, Li or John Woo, incredible wrestlers like Akira Taue and Toshiaka Kawada were not given a lucrative North American cash-in opportunity, which is sad since their work could have exposed teams, like Harlem Heat or the Outsiders, the same way the Hong Kong stars eventually exposed American action stars as phonies.

These All Japan tag classics are not to be likened to the tag team scene as is popular in American wrestling, since it is more like two accomplished singles stars assisting each other to get one pinfall on their opponents; logical wrestling and intelligent strategy often turned into desperation as these epics climaxed. Whereas most popular theme-styled American teams from the 411-era needed the ‘extreme' gimmick to establish their tentative midcard legacy, the All Japan tag team main eventers came out in simple trunks and used pure wrestling to captivate the audience at a level comparable only to play-off period professional sports, and along the way cemented themselves as national headlining superstars. Akira Taue and Toshiaka Kawada, for their role in this legendary scene, deserve to be acknowledged as one of the best tag teams in the 411-era.



For your consideration…

4-time WCW World Tag Team Champions

158 points (Average Vote: 5.9)

Jeremy Thomas: The Outsiders are, in North American wrestling at least, the original road map for the current trend of two singles superstars being put into tag teams. Obviously, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had found plenty of singles success in the WWF prior to their departure in 1996, at the beginning of the 411 Era. Nash had one the WWE Championship and Intercontinental Championship…and in a perhaps precursor to his later success, two Tag Team reigns with Shawn Michaels. Hall, for his part, had enjoyed four Intercontinental Title reigns. So when they both split and signed with WCW for better money, I think it was safe for everyone to assume that they would be shooting for more singles runs. Of course, this was not to be, as they proceeded to kick off the biggest wrestling angle of the 411 Era, the New World Order. While Hogan was out front, posturing himself as new and cool and bad, it was Hall and Nash who actually WERE new and cool and bad. They absolutely dominated the tag team scene upon coming in, winning the belts six times for a combined reign of 475 days, including a 231 day reign from February to October of 1997 where they just completely crushed everyone that stood in their way. These were two big, tough singles guys who had formed an alliance within an alliance, and just tore through WCW like Godzilla stomping through Tokyo…except there was no Mothra to stop them. Hogan was the leader, sure…but the Outsiders were the heart and soul of a stable that captured wrestling's imagination, and kicked off the Monday Night Wars, which is by far the most memorable era of the time period we're discussing. They were the PWI Tag Team of the Year in 1997, blowing everyone else away…the next runner-up was the Steiners, a team that Hall and Nash made their semi-official whipping boys for the majority of the year. One of the few things that holds them back as being higher up on this list, I think, is that they're less thought-of as a tag team then they are as a part of the nWo, but that's really unfair to them. Look at "tag teams" that been won championship gold since, such as John Cena & Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan and Edge, Angle and Benoit, Eddie and Rey, Rock n' Sock…the list goes on. All of this singles stars who became tag champions together, albeit for brief times, owe their title reigns, in some part, to Nash and Hall. Sure, they broke up ignominiously, and their careers became jokes with the fall of WCW and their failed WWE run after, but that doesn't take away from the fact that, in 1996 to 1997, there was no tag team more popular, more hated, and a bigger draw then the Outsiders. And they'll be remembered, in the end, for being largely responsible for the rise (and fall) of WCW and the Monday Night Wars. For that, if for nothing else (and there is plenty else), there is no doubt whatsoever that they deserve their spot on this list.

Shawn S. Lealos: There is one moment I can pinpoint as my return to being a fan of professional wrestling. I had watched very little wrestling since the late eighties until one night I flipped over to WCW Nitro to see how my old sport was faring. I could not have picked a better time to flip the channel than that fateful Monday night. Sitting in the stands was Scott Hall. While I had not been watching televised wrestling regularly for years, I still knew who some of these people were. I knew Scott Hall from his days in the AWA when he teamed with Curt Hennig to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship. I also knew he was recently working under the Razor Ramon gimmick in the WWF.

However, when he climbed over the rail and challenged any WCW wrestler to face him and his "big surprise partner", I was completely sold. WCW Monday Night Nitro became my show of preference from that point until the day they finally closed their doors. The reason was the breaking down of the walls that separated WCW from the WWF. When Kevin Nash walked out the next week these two outsiders challenged my all-time favorite wrestler Sting and my love affair with professional wrestling began once again. This was Degeneration X before there was a Degeneration X.

The nWo was formed when these two wrestlers, who would become known as The Outsiders, invaded WCW. It would be the main reason WCW would go on to win the ratings war for 84-continuous weeks. While many people would join the nWo, I argue the two men most responsible for the rise of the super group, as well as the rise in popularity of WCW, was the duo of Hall and Nash. It was The Outsiders that would draw the perennial fan favorite Hulk Hogan to the dark side. It would be The Outsiders that would draw the head of WCW, Eric Bischoff, to the side of evil. This was years before Mr. McMahan would do the same. The Outsiders were cutting edge and fresh, and the best thing going in professional wrestling at the time.

Forget what you have seen of Hall and Nash over the last couple of years. Hall was ripped and jacked and could carry on a great match with just about anyone at the time. Nash was the perfect big man. Who can forget the time he threw Rey Mysterio Jr. like a dart into the side of a trailer? Together, they were a perfect tag team, dominating the smaller, quicker teams and able to go toe-to-toe with bigger guys like the Steiner brothers and Harlem Heat. They would go on to capture the WCW World Tag Team Championship six times beating such teams as Harlem Heat, the Steiner brothers and the makeshift team of Bret Hart and Bill Goldberg. Their title reigns were mired in controversy throughout the years, as they would lose the titles to both the Steiners and the team of Lex Luger and The Giant, only to have the titles returned due to technicalities by buddy Eric Bischoff.

The Outsiders will ultimately be known as the beginning of the cancer that would eat away at WCW. Kevin Nash was always the master manipulator, learning from the best in Shawn Michaels. The Clique ran roughshod through the locker room in the WWF and with Hogan, the three men would rule the roost behind the scenes in WCW as well. They would later return to the WWE as the nWo but, thanks to Hall's alcohol problems and Nash's body breaking down, would never reach the level they once enjoyed in WCW. They also returned together to TNA, but that only lasted a short time, once again thanks to Hall's inner demons.

Stuart James: The Outsiders were first introduced as a tag team in 1996 by WCW, straight after Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left the WWF. Together, they helped create one of the biggest money making angles in the history of wrestling, initiating the New World Order and being a pivotal role in the heel turn of fan favourite Hulk Hogan.

They were once one of the most popular heel teams in history, and were headlining show after show, and every respective week saw WCW defeating WWF in the ratings war for around 80 weeks. Their rise in popularity as the biggest heel team in wrestling (almost immediately) saw them win the WCW Tag Team Titles from Harlem Heat in October of 1996, and continued to hold it for several months with Eric Bischoff famously reversing the decision of a loss at WCW Souled Out in January 1997 and later on against Lex Luger and The Giant.

Their run of popularity and string of continued tag team success progressed until spring of 1998, with the team winning the WCW Tag Team Championships six times, with only the Steiner Brothers and Harlem Heat holding it more times, although they were a team for longer periods of time. The Outsiders would continue to defeat highly acclaimed tag teams such as the Steiner Brothers, Lex Luger and The Giant, and even Bret Hart and Goldberg in 1999.

The team disbanded in 1998, but their influence was blatant for anybody to see. They helped begin the New World Order angle, which featured some of the most exciting parts of WCW back in its prime. Their segments' ratings speak for themselves, as they were in some of the highest rated segments in WCW history, and helped turn the tide of the Monday Night Wars in the way of World Championship Wrestling.

Their gimmick of wanting to dominate the whole company has been such an influence that it was often emulated by many companies, especially WCW itself, who rehashed the nWo gimmick several times to try and boost ratings. Some people claim that D-Generation X was influenced greatly by the New World Order, and the Outsiders, so the influence they have had on professional wrestling has been incredibly large.

The Outsiders have also reunited several times outside WCW, most notably in the WWE, where they were part of lacklustre storylines, and in TNA, where they were dubbed The Kings of Wrestling. However their careers may have turned out, Hall and Nash's powerhouse style, amazing drawing power and influence on wrestling as a whole is undeniable.



For your consideration…

6-time WCW World Tag Team Champions

186 points (Average Vote: 6.9)

Jarrod Westerfeld: Though they would start out as the Huffman Brothers in Ivan Putski's Western Wrestling Alliance in 1991 the team that would later become known as Harlem Heat would leave a lasting impression into the tag team scene of American wrestling and become one of the most decorated teams of the past decade and a half. Though we are only considering the 411mania years (1996 to current), this team would find success through 10 WCW World Tag Team Championship reigns that would have begun on December 8, 1994, and would see 6 title reigns from June 24, 1996 until their final reign, one that began on October 24, 1999 and would last only a day. Their style was eye catching and appealing, as was proven when Putski's WWA closed down, leaving Booker T and Stevie Ray to wander about the Texas independent scene before being picked up by Skandor Akbar's Global Wrestling Federation in 1992 to form the Ebony Experience. The duo didn't only catch promoters attentions they also maintained the fans attentions through their natural charisma and impressive physiques. But despite their size, they also had a good mix of power and speed, which captured the fans attention and made them so popular with the crowds. Maintaining a fan base isn't only about how well you work out in the ring, but rather how you can maintain the crowd when you're not featured on the card and just placed in front of a camera and a microphone. Though WCW would saddle them with Sheri Martel, Col. Rob Parker and Jacqueline throughout their tenure to help with their appeal, it wasn't entirely necessary as both men were capable of keeping the fans interests with their ability to cut promos. What also added to their popularity were the crop of teams they would battle along their eight year tenure in WCW, starting with their battle against Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes and The Shockmaster at Fall Brawl (September 19, 1993). Battling teams such as Sting and Lex Luger, the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner), Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge), the Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash), along with various other, but not as popular tandems until clashing with Filthy Animals members Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr. Battling these teams for the WCW World Tag Team Titles would only add to their legacy as one of the most decorated tag teams in the industry. Add to this they were the most cohesive unit of the industry with their many double team moves, most of which have become staples for the tag teams to follow, such as the Towering Inferno (a backbreaker into a diving leg drop) a move that would see many variations throughout the tag team scene, or their Big Apple Blast (elevated bear hug into a Harlem sidekick) which is more commonly varied into a clothesline takedown from the elevated bear hug position. Their presence will not be shaken from the industry, and their dominance as the most decorated team in WCW will forever be noted as Harlem Heat is recognized as one of the many teams who represented great things in tag team wrestling before and during the 411mania era.

Gavin Napier: Putting a finger on where Harlem Heat stands historically is tough for me. When I started watching wrestling, it was the golden era of tag team wrestling. It was the Midnight Express and the Road Warriors. It was the Rock n Roll Express and the British Bulldogs. It was the Von Erichs and the Freebirds and the Fantastics and the Sheepherders and the Mulkeys. Harlem Heat definitely had the potential and the talent to earn a place alongside those teams, but they just seem to be chronologically misplaced.

Harlem Heat amassed an eye-popping, record-setting ten WCW title reigns. By comparison, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson only held the NWA tag team titles twice. The Road Warriors only got their hands on the titles once. Why, then, isn't Harlem Heat regarded more highly in the historical tag team ran Probably the same reason Jeff Jarrett isn't going to be regarded as one of the great all time World Champions in the sport. Far too many hot-shot title reigns in an era that saw belts passed around like those embarrassing pictures of your girlfriend when she was drunk. And just like those pictures, the titles ended up in the hands of people that had no business with them, didn't deserve them, and didn't really know how to use them to their greatest benefit.

Harlem Heat's 10 title reigns combined for a total of 470 days, including 2 "reigns" of 1 day, a reign of 9 days, and 26 and 28 day reigns. That means half of their title runs were less than a month in duration. Their first stint with the titles was by far their most successful, carrying the WCW Tag Team titles for nearly 5 months. It's hard to think that in the mid to late 1980's that Harlem Heat wouldn't have been given two to four quality title reigns that would have helped to establish them more in a historical sense.

Landing in the era of hot-shot title reigns wasn't their only problem, though. Harlem Heat was also a part of the giant booking mess that was 1990's WCW. They were paired with three different managers – Robert Parker, Sister Sherri, and Jacqueline – during their time in WCW. They were the sacrificial lambs for two of Marcus Bagwell's tag title reigns in an (failed) attempt to get Bagwell over as a clean cut face. They were jobbed to such legendary teams as Konnan and Billy Kidman, Barry and Kendall Windham, and Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. That's right; Harlem Heat jobbed actual titles away to Kendall Windham and Bunkhouse Buck. The team would dissipate when Stevie Ray was injured, forcing Booker into singles action. He would find success there while Stevie Ray would be relegated to n.W.o "b-team" status.

Unfortunately for them, Harlem Heat didn't really accomplish anything ground breaking, either. They were an all-African American tag team, which has been rare in professional wrestling. They weren't however, wildly popular faces in the mold of Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson. They weren't the uncomfortably militant type that the WWF's Nation of Domination personified, either. Their in ring work was good, but it wasn't groundbreaking like the British Bulldogs or Steiner Brothers. They always seemed to be just on the verge of something big.

If it seems like I've painted a bad picture of Harlem Heat because I wasn't a fan, that's untrue. I enjoyed them as a team, and feel that Booker and Stevie deserved better. They were competent, charismatic workers that understood tag team wrestling and could have made some money for WCW had things not been such a gigantic mess. But, that's what happens when you show up at the same time that Hulk Hogan is trying to get all of his old WWF buddies jobs. Then the n.Wo. showed up and overshadowed everyone, then WCW went to hell. Wrong place, wrong time for what could have been a great tag team. As it is they'll be fondly remembered by some "smarks" and purists and unfairly forgotten by a large part of wrestling fans.

Shawn S. Lealos: Before the nWo took over, the top two teams in WCW were Harlem Heat and the Steiner Brothers. Once the takeover was underway, it was Harlem Heat that took the biggest fall, as WCW bad guys were not deemed that dangerous anymore. However before Booker T would be known as the five time, five time, five time, five time, five time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he would hold the WCW World Tag Team Titles with his brother Stevie Ray ten times. Let that sink in. Ten World Tag Team Title Reigns. That's Dudley Boys level and no one ever really puts them up on the same pedestal as many of the teams on this list. That is a great shame.

Harlem Heat got their break in the Global Wrestling Federation, a Texas based fed that used many of Fritz Von Erich's old WCCW superstars, including the king of the "Butt Butt" Iceman King Parsons. While it did not last, and matches were held in a bar, it produced a number of men who would go on to prominence in The Big 2, including The Handsome Stranger (Buff Bagwell), The Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman), The Patriot (Del Wilkes), Cactus Jack and a young tag team called Ebony Experience. They would win three GWF Tag Team Titles before moving on to WCW, where they became Harlem Heat and in 1994 they would win their first WCW Tag Team titles over Stars and Stripes (Buff Bagwell and The Patriot) in a battle of GWF alums.

They would go on to defeat a who's who of tag teams including The Steiner brothers, The Nasty Boys, Sting & Lex Luger, and Public Enemy before Stevie Ray was shelved in 1997 with an injury. Booker T took this opportunity to prove he could be a single's star and would win the World Television title on numerous occasions including an amazing best of seven series against Chris Benoit, which Booker would win. Problems would arise when Stevie Ray returned and turned on his brother joining the nWo. In 1999, the two would reconcile and reform their successful team to win three more Tag Team Championships. They would finally break up for good in 1999, when Stevie Ray began a short lived tag team with Ahmed Johnson called Harlem Heat 2000 but would lose to Booker T and Billy Kidman at Uncensored 2000.

Stevie Ray would become an announcer for WCW Thunder while Booker T would go on to win his five WCW World Heavyweight Championships. It might be because they burned bright and then flamed out fast or it may be due to Booker T's very successful career and a single's wrestler, but Harlem Heat never seems to get the due they earned. They held ten World Tag Team Titles during a time that WCW was growing to become the most watched wrestling federation in the U.S. They are the highest ranked WCW tag team on this list and deserve all the recognition they get. Now, can you dig that? SUCKAAAAA!


Where we stand:





CONTINUE TO PART 4!