Best Tag Team

Award Description:

To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year.  This
includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews,
charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion, etc. In 1994, this award
was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 
1998, it was recombined into one.

Previous Winners:

  1990: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
  1991: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
  1992: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
  1993: The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin
  1994: (overall/non-NA) The Steiners: Rick & Scott
  1994: (NA)             Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine
  1995: (overall/NA)     Public Enemy: Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge
  1995: (non-NA)         Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi
  1996: (overall/NA)     Harlem Heat: Booker T & Stevie Ray
  1996: (non-NA)         Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
  1997: (overall/NA)     The Eliminators: John Kronus & Perry Saturn
  1997: (non-NA)         NWO: Masahiro Chono & Great Muta
  1998: New Age Outlaws: Road Dogg Jesse James & Badd Ass Billy Gunn

**1999**: Hardy Boyz: Matt & Jeff

350 first place votes
348 second place votes
335 third place votes

144 71 34 1001   Hardy Boyz - Matt & Jeff (New Brood)
 35 70 42  469   Edge & Christian
 31 35 26  312   Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko
 24 22 22  230   Dudley Boyz - Buh Buh Ray & D-Von
 21 24 19  215   Acolytes - Bradshaw & Faarooq
 14 17 23  167   Rock & Sock Connection - Rock & Mankind
 14  7 26  143   Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett
 16  8 14  132   New Age Outlaws - Road Dogg & Mr. Ass
  5  9 18   88   Hollys - Hardcore & Crash
  5 10 10   75   Kidman & Rey Mysterio Jr.
  3  8  8   55   Kane & X-Pac
  3  9  6   54   Impact Players - Justin Credible & Lance Storm
  6  7  1   53   Burning - Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi
  4  2 12   50   West Hollywood Blondes - Lenny & Lodi
  3  6  4   41   Chris Benoit & Perry Saturn
  3  4  4   35   Harlem Heat - Stevie Ray & Booker T.
  1  4  9   35   Raven & Perry Saturn
  3  4  2   31   Crazy Max - Shima Nobunaga & Judo Suwa & Sumo Fuji
  0  4  7   26   Triad - Diamond Dallas Page & Bam Bam Bigelow & Kanyon
  2  5  0   25   Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa
  0  3  4   17   Rob Van Dam & Sabu
  0  1  7   17   Too Cool - Scottie Too Hottie & Grandmaster Sexy
  2  2  0   16   Las Cachorras Orientales - Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda
  1  1  2   12   Outsiders - Scott Hall & Kevin Nash
  0  1  4   11   Tommy Dreamer & Raven
  2  0  0   10   Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa
  0  0  5   10   Tatsuhito Takaiawa & Shinjiro Ohtani
  1  0  2    9   Bret Hart & Chris Benoit
  1  0  2    9   Angry Amish Roadkill & Danny Doring
  1  1  0    8   Mankind & Al Snow
  0  1  2    7   Revolution - Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn
  0  1  2    7   Nova & Chris Chetti
  0  2  0    6   Fit Finlay & Dave Taylor
  0  0  3    6   Jushin Liger & Great Sasuke
  1  0  0    5   Obnoxious Frat Boys (LWF)
  1  0  0    5   Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada
  1  0  0    5   Double Inoue - Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue
  1  0  0    5   Danny Doring & Amish Roadkill
  1  0  0    5   Blonde Bombers - Dynamite Debbie & Stunning Stephanie
  0  1  1    5   Los Nuevos Infernales - Ultimo Guerrero & Satanico & Rey Bucanero
  0  1  1    5   Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio Jr.
  0  1  0    3   Steve Regal & Dave Taylor
  0  1  0    3   Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco
  0  1  0    3   Jushin Liger & El Samurai
  0  1  0    3   Edge & Gangrel
  0  1  0    3   Balls Mahoney & Axl Rotten
  0  0  1    2   Toxic Insanity
  0  0  1    2   Susan Green & Traci Richards
  0  0  1    2   New South -- Ashley Hudson & Cory Williams
  0  0  1    2   Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato
  0  0  1    2   Mean Street Posse - Rodney & Pete "Gas" & Joey Abs
  0  0  1    2   Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta
  0  0  1    2   Kaientai - Taka Michinoku & Sho Funaki
  0  0  1    2   Frank Parker & Roger Anderson
  0  0  1    2   Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato

REJECTED

  0  0  1        Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara
  0  0  1        Tie votes

CHRIS BIRD: If we'd been able to nominate "Chris Benoit and miscellaneous
partner" then he'd win, because Benoit has been the single greatest tag
wrestler in years thanks to his superb work with Dean Malenko, Perry
Saturn, and Bret Hart. However, we can't, so that means the Malenko/Benoit
team (the longest and best of the three) takes second behind the Hardy
Boyz, who finally came into their own this year with lots of great matches
(including a MOTY candidate) and a likewise push. Third goes to Edge and
Christian, who improved by leaps and bounds and feuded with that thar #1
team.

EDC: Hardys shocked everyone by getting over in the WWF without cutting a
single promo or interview. Sheer insanity and great natural ability.
Benoit and Malenko are THE Tagteam in WCW. Especially when they wrestle as
heels they can take people apart systematically. CRAZY MAX is like the
Triad, except cooler, better, younger, faster, and more talented then the
Jersey boys. Eric Bishoff *should* have been fired for letting these guys
go.

CYBERAL33: This was a surprisingly strong year for tag teams. The Hardy
Boyz, Edge/Christian, The Triad, The Hollys, Misawa/Ogawa, The Acolytes,
Raven/Saturn, and The Filthy Animals all had good to great years, but the
award has to go to Kobashi and Akiyama. These two had a couple of match of
the year canidates, plus had a tremendous tag tournament in December.
Which only figures since you're putting together two of the best singles
wrestlers in the world. Second goes to Benoit and Malenko if not only for
their awesome display of double team moves in the handicap match against
Saturn on a Nitro.  These two are great! Third would go to Satomura and
Kato who have been involved in a good percentage of the great women's
matches this year. Each month, their timing as a team got better and they
also showed they could work the disgruntled partner angle as well.

K. CANZANELLA: Jun Akiyama and Kenta Kobashi are the best heavyweight tag
team in the world this year. Their timing and spots are perfect and they
took my MOTY vote, so that's gotta count for something. CRAZY MAX is KDX
raised from the ashes of McMoron's faults and born anew. These guys have
great attitudes and team spots and are so young that it's scary what an
injury-less career ahead will lead for them. Los Nuevos Infernales took my
third spot for being great rudos with lots of fun team spots,
unfortunately they didn't have as many of the great matches under their
belt due to EMLL formulaic booking.

MR. JF: If the Benoit & Malenko combo had stayed together longer, they'd
have been a lock for # 1.

GENE MOORE: Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boys may have given us the match
of the year at No Mercy, but the Rock and Sock Connection kept the viewers
interested for a longer stretch of time, and in doing so thrusted the tag
titles back into the main event spotlight.

SVEN MASCARENHAS: In tag team situations, Benoit does get best wrestler,
as his brief stint as Dean Malenko's permanent partner was great,
especially the image of the two of them carrying the belts to the ring
being led by Arn. The Terri Tournament combatants are the obvious choices
for the second and third slots, with the Hardyz barely edging (npi) out
the Blondz.

FALCONARROW: The Hardy Boys just rule. How bout putting the Tag Team
titles on them instead of the Outlaws.

AARON: Owen/Jarrett were the most dominant team of the first half of the
year, whilst the Hardyz get over more and more with the marks every day.
And Roadkill and Doring are the team of the future, baby!

OCTAVIAN:  Since WCW ignored the tag ranks for much of the year this is a
WWF dominated field for me.  I chose teams that have a distinct
ring-identity and chemistry.  Acolytes are the big tough power brawlers,
Hardyz are the ariel technicians, and Kane & X-pac very effectively meshed
the two.

DON BECKER: Same as Best Wrestler, this isn't necessarily about who the
best workers are, but who had the best year.  Of course, in this case, the
two meet, as I'd easily give that award to Ohtani and Takaiwa, who've been
dominant in their division over in New Japan.  Second would have to go to
the Hardy Boys, rather than Edge & Christian, based on the WWF title run.  
And cruel fate is the determining factor in putting Owen Hart and Jeff
Jarrett no higher than third.

SHAWN MULLIN: Chris and Dean were the best this year.  Best workers by a
mile, and they made it work as faces, while being the biggest dicks this
side of the ocean when they turned heel.  Owen and Jeff were a good old
school team who carried the tag division for half a year.  The last spot
was down to Brood/Hardies, and the Brood was just far more over.

MAX CHITTISTER: Hardys won't have my vote until they learn how to hit
somebody and make it look like it hurts.

JBELL55146: The Ladder match made the careears of the Hardyz<1st> and Edge
and Christian.<3rd> The 2 teams will be the top of the game for a LONG
time.

BLOB: YIKES! This wasn't the greatest year for tag teams. I try to give
picks on teams that were together for most of the year, so unfortunately,
this rules out Benoit/Malenko and Saturn/Raven. I'm going to have to give
the nod to the Hardy Boys, who made WWF fans mark out everywhere. #2 goes
to the Impact Players, who were the top tag team in ECW for the entire
year. I'll give Edge/Christian #3 for their hard work as well.

BRUNO PULVER: Lenny&Lodi WHB angle is definitely the best thing in 99.

GEORGE CARTER: I remember the Hardys from a squash match on Superstars in
96. I think they wrestled Owen and the Bulldog or the New Rockers. Then in
Spring of 97, they wrestled the Head Bangers on a RAW in the Manhattan
Center, and once again they were awesome. They impressed me so much, and I
wondered why I never saw them again. Then when I heard last year that they
made some appearances on Shotgun, I hoped that they would hit it big in
99. I was right. Sure it seems like they wrestled Edge and Christian every
week but they continued to impress me. I regrettably state that I have yet
to see the ladder match, but I'm sure it lives up to the hype and that
will only make me choose them for this award even more.

JOHN C.:This was a tough call but I went with Hart & Jarrett cause they
teamed up to form a cohesive unit plus they had Debra with them so there's
a big plus right there. I picked Benoit & Malenko second because they put
on some terrific matches as a team as well as being a part of a decent
angle. The Hardy Boyz got my third place vote since their impact on the
tag team scene this year was huge with the exclamation point being the
ladder match at No Mercy.

MIKE SCHIRO:  It was a toss-up for me between CrazyMAX and the Hardyz, I
went with CrazyMAX because they are given the chance to wrestle for longer
lengths of time with better workers.  I wish the Hardyz were given more
time on TV.

JON RICHARDSON: In a year where tag teams seemed to form and break up on a
weekly basis it was absolutely shocking that the WWF would allow Jeff
Jarrett and Owen Hart to hold the tag team titles for almost 4 months
before losing them. Hart and Jarrett obviously loved working together and
played perfect heel foils to every babyface tag team out there.  Both the
Hardyz and Edge/Christian impressed the hell out of me, but they're going
to need to show that they can do more than just spectacular spots (and
work with more tag teams than just each other) before I could call either
of them number one.

RICHARD BEAUBIEN: Tag Team wrestling in NA is on life support right now,
mostly because the straps are being used as secondary titles or trophys
for singles stars (Rock and Sock connection) or are just plain on the
wrong teams (NAO, Harlem Heat). The future seems bright though, as the WWf
tag team mid card seems loaded with talent, the Hardy'z, the Holly's, Too
Cool, Kaientai. If only they got pushed...  Yet my list is topped by two
WCW teams, simply because they held my intrest while WCW rebuilt the
division. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko were an awesome heel team, getting
very legit heat before Bischoff broke them up and turned them face,
killing the heat. The Jersey Triad which fuded with the newly face Benoit
and Saturn though was a fine heel time and fun to watch. The Hardyz rule,
a should be the tag champs of the future...Unless they hurt themselves....

ELLIOT SPARKS:  Best tag team goes to Shinjiro Ohtani and Tatsuhito
Takaiwa. The brightest illuminations on the all-star Junior tag team
parade, these two are a perfect mix. Ohtani's overall greatness combined
with Takaiwa's ability to pop the crowd (and bones, if his lariat is half
as stiff as it looks), and the end result was the most reliable team of
the year. Check out the match with Liger and Sasuke, if you will. Shiima
Nobunaga and Sumo Fuji get the number two spot for being psycho Jap-lucha
indie fratboy fatboys, and Kane and X-Pac get the three for being decent
in the ring, not to mention having a good storyline throughout their
association. Which was nice.

TOXICENEMA: Hardyz elevated themselves from Dark Match fodder into
Upper-Mid Card of WWF PPV's. A deserved push from two kids who have been
wowing us for years.

DAVID HANNA:  What do you mean by best anyway?  Do you mean most over?  
Not a great year for tag teams.  The WWF has a lot of strong ones, but no
real consistent ones.  NAO certainly are over still and get my vote from
being there in the begining of the year and at the end.  The Alcolytes
started out in the shadow of the Undertaker but have been slowly winning
the fans over. Owen and Jarret get my vote for 3rd.  A strong team that
was on top for awhile.  May not have been over, but they won titles and
that counts for something.

JAMES GOWDEY: I was SO GLAD that the Hardyz finally got a push. I'd always
loved them, even back in the days when they were just as popular as Too
Much. Wait a minute, they still are...

SEAN FLYNN: Have to go with the skill people in this one and give workrate
its due.

MARK SMITH:  I wish Mankind and Al Snow had been nominated.  I don't
remember if they were with the voting period, but they were easily the
best team for my money.

BEN MILLER:  American tag teams that can talk are so bad in the ring that
I just cannot name them here.  Give me Kobashi & Akiyama, Misawa & Ogawa
and Otani & Takaiwa for great matches all year.

KEVIN WONG: I suppose I could have put a WCW tag team out there...  oh
wait, that's right - there weren't any tag teams in WCW worth mentioning.  
Not that it would've mattered - The Hardyz and the Suicide Blondes ruled
it this year.

B. SZPAKOWICZ: Unlike last year, there was no real dominant team in either
of the Big Three. So, instead I'll give this to the best team of the
year--the Hardy Boyz. They had pretty much everything--memorable matches,
good moves, high spots... and the belts. Rock and Mankind get #2, albeit
purely based on the gimmick and because I think "The Rock and Sock
Connection" to be a damn cool name. Lenny and Lodi get #3 by being about
the only interesting thing about WCW. Kane and X-Pac would get fourth.

RYAN GRANT:  For the first time in a long time, this was a loaded
catagory. The highlight of the year, though, was The Acolytes running
roughshod over everyone who stood in their way.  It was great watching
Farooq and Bradshaw re-invent themselves after the end of the gawdawful
Ministry of Darkness angle.  Kane and X-Pac were underappreciated; two
good workers who had genuine chemistry and didn't suck.  Finally, Benoit
and Malenko--workrate can also be good TV.  I hate to leave off the West
Hollywood Blondes, the Hardcore Hollys, the Hardy Boys, and Edge and
Christian, but like I said, loaded year for tag teams.....

BERT SNOOVEN: It's a damn shame WCW could not keep Benoit & Malenko
together. Had they kept them together, this could have been the best tag
team of the 2000s, much like the Steiners in the 1990s pre-deterioration.

COLIN MACKINNON: The Hardyz and Edge/Christian deserve to be on there for
sure, thanks to their phenomenal match at No Mercy.  Sure, you could
classify it as a spotfest, but the two worked their asses off, and the
fans loved it.  Misterio and Kidman also put on some great matches,
especially against Raven/Saturn on Nitro.

RICK SCAIA:  In a year in which tag team wrestling has come back in style,
the New Age Outlaws were the only constants.  They started the year as the
signature tag team in the WWF, and they're closing out the year as the
champs once again.  Lots of other teams cycled in and out, but getting a
special nod from me this year will be the Hardys in second place (for
breaking through as credible challengers, and even champs for a while,
while having some of the WWF's best matches every week) and the Dudley
Boyz (who dominated the competitive ECW ranks till their very last night
in the company, and are under-rated in-ring performers) in third.

JEREMY SORIA: The one big thing as far as "best" goes isn't necessarily
who's got the best wrestling ability. I think that their ability to keep
the heat going, to keep the crowd entertained and busy while watching them
wrestle, is very, very important. All three teams have been able to do
that, and very well, I must add.

JASON BALDWIN: Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett were the perfect tag team -
talented workers with better than average mic work, and they constantly
amazed me.

HEATM:  Last year I said that when the Hardys are pushed, they will win
this category easily.  The Hardy Boyz are the only "real" tag team (as
opposed to two singles wrestlers thrown together) that have gotten over
without the help of any recycled catchphrases or bizarre sports
entertainment angles.

MDB: Benoit/Malenko could have been legendary if given the chance.  
Imgine if they'd been around during the MidnightXpress/Tully&Arn days.  
Hardyz get second and third is a draw among three or four quality teams
that simply didn't get a chance at doing good work for more than a month
or two out of the year, making it impossible to fairly choose one over the
others.