14 WWE Tag Teams Vince McMahon Loved & Then Gave Up On

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• Vince McMahon shocked the world when he retired from WWE and left the company that he built into a powerhouse. It will remain to be seen whether the new regime of Stephanie McMahon, Nick Kahn, and Triple H will make overwhelming changes. However, one thing that many fans are hoping to see is more reliance on great in-ring action, and that includes the area of tag team wrestling. Outside of teams like The Usos and New Day, no tag team has really had time to shine long-term in a very long time, as there are many teams that seemed like they were the next big thing, only to see the previous management under McMahon either break them up or release them just when they hit their stride.

Vince McMahon was never a big fan of tag team wrestling, but that doesn’t mean he didn't believe in certain tag acts. Various duos have won over the boss during their time in WWE getting pushed in the tag division. However, the teams in question would lose that faith for the rest of their run.

Many acts in WWE’s tag division start off hot or get a major push that doesn’t pan out in the long term. McMahon giving up or losing interest in making the teams a priority can lead to them either breaking up or falling apart. Each team had the support of Vince before he gave up on them and changed their trajectories.

UPDATE: 2022/08/10 15:30 EST BY SHAWN S. LEALOS

Vince McMahon shocked the world when he retired from WWE and left the company that he built into a powerhouse. It will remain to be seen whether the new regime of Stephanie McMahon, Nick Kahn, and Triple H will make overwhelming changes. However, one thing that many fans are hoping to see is more reliance on great in-ring action, and that includes the area of tag team wrestling. Outside of teams like The Usos and New Day, no tag team has really had time to shine long-term in a very long time, as there are many teams that seemed like they were the next big thing, only to see the previous management under McMahon either break them up or release them just when they hit their stride.

14 Chad Gable & Bobby Roode

Chad Gable was part of one of the biggest missed opportunities in WWE's tag team scene. He was part of American Alpha in NXT and that tag team's feud with The Revival was old-school tag team wrestling at its best. This generation's Rock 'n' Roll Express seemed can't miss, and then they flopped on the main roster thanks to a lackluster push.

RELATED: The Best Tag Team From Each Year Of The 2010sHowever, Vince McMahon saw something in Gable and put him with another tag team specialist in Shelton Benjamin before moving him on to a team with Bobby Roode. That team quickly won the tag team titles, which was no surprise considering they were both great tag team masters. Then, McMahon broke them up less than one year later in the 2019 WWE Superstar Shakeup. Gable is now with his fourth tag team partner with Otis.

13 MNM, Johnny Nitro & Joey Mercury

In 2005, WWE had a hit on their hands with an unexpected tag team. Johnny Nitro had floated around the roster with no real direction and Joey Mercury was a developmental talent. When WWE called up Mercury and paired him with Nitro and Melina, they became the hottest tag team in the world.

MNM won the tag titles from Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero in their debut match on SmackDown. No matter how popular they were, McMahon split them up one year later when he had Nitro turn on Mercury after their third title reign ended. It wasn't even to push him as a single star, as Nitro eventually teamed up with The Miz to form another tag team.

12 The New Age Outlaws, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn

Billy Gunn was a tag team champion once before with his on-screen brother Bart Gunn, while Road Dogg was a lackey for Jeff Jarrett when he debuted. However, when WWE put them together as the New Age Outlaws, they struck gold. When they joined DX, they were at the top of the food chain in WWE for tag teams.

Then, McMahon did the inexplicable. He broke up the New Age Outlaws, and had them go for singles titles. Gunn turned on Dogg, and they fought for different titles, each winning singles' gold, but their singles' careers never worked out long-term. When they finally reunited, the magic was gone.

11 The World's Greatest Tag Team, Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas

WWE found something special on SmackDown in the early 2000s when it came to the tag team scene. One of these teams was known as Team Angle at the time and consisted of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. While Shelton signed with his friend Brock Lesnar, Charlie was once a developmental tag team star with his brother Russ before his death.

Once they hit the main roster, they joined Kurt Angle and quickly won the tag team titles just two months later. However, while they were putting on the best tag team matches in WWE at the time, they only lasted for one year before McMahon split them up in the 2004 Draft Lottery.

10 The Steiner Brothers

WWE inducting the Steiner Brothers into the Hall of Fame was long overdue for the all-time great duo. After starting off with Crockett Promotions, Rick and Scott Steiner made a huge career shift, leaving WCW for WWE in the early ‘90s.

Vince McMahon pushed the Steiners as the top face team in the tag division for most of the run, but it wore out towards the end. Rick and Scott felt Vince didn't value them as important members of the roster when their push slowed down, and they went back to WCW.

9 Enzo Amore & Big Cass

One huge instance of a tag team starting off with the support of Vince McMahon before wearing off saw the duo of Enzo Amore and Big Cass after getting called up from NXT. The duo had a lot of hype as an early NXT act to get over and have that momentum before their main roster debuts.

RELATED: 13 Thrown Together Tag Teams That Saved Wrestlers' Careers

WWE booked Enzo and Cass to win against the Dudley Boyz and have a short winning streak to start. Vince liked both of their talents, but he split them up in favor of singles pushes. Cass flopped in his upper card singles run, and Enzo was fired after becoming the face of the cruiserweight division.

8 Spirit Squad

WWE called up five of their top prospects from developmental to form the male cheerleading faction known as the Spirit Squad. The tag team division saw the Spirit Squad taking over for half of the year in 2006, while winning the tag titles from Big Show and Kane.

Vince McMahon trusted their act enough to team up with Vince and Shane and have huge matches against Shawn Michaels and Triple H, who reformed D-Generation X. The feud with DX ended, leading to McMahon giving up on them and sending four of the five back to OVW.

7 The Smoking Gunns

The New Generation Era featured a weaker list of tag teams than most other times in WWE. Bart and Billy Gunn were one of the more successful duos as the Smoking Gunns. Vince McMahon trusted them to win the WWE Tag Team Championship three times.

Billy and Bart had a cowboy gimmick and were positioned as the top team in both face and heel roles. However, their one-dimensional gimmick eventually grew stale and led to the breakup. Billy received pushes and new tag team runs while Bart treaded water, aside from his unexpected Brawl for All tournament win.

6 The Prime Time Players

WWE believed in the potential of Darren Young and Titus O’Neil as the Prime Time Players tag team. The act did help put them both in their greatest positions to succeed in their WWE careers. Their push came on multiple occasions and saw them winning the WWE Tag Team Championship.

O’Neil and Young winning the belts showed how much WWE believed in them as a centerpiece of the tag division until they lost to New Day. The title reign of New Day saw the Prime Time Players and other teams ending for not remaining credible contenders.

5 Authors Of Pain

The Authors of Pain had a recent interview with Renee Young that shared some insight on when their WWE run went downhill. Vince McMahon was high on Akam and Rezar in the early stages of their run and even kept them off television due to not wanting to spotlight them until placed in a good angle.

RELATED: 7 Best Tag Team Partners Of Bret Hart's Career (& The 6 Worst)

WWE did start using them more in roles with Drake Maverick and Seth Rollins doing the talking for them. The duo eventually lost momentum, suffered an injury, and became an afterthought of Vince McMahon. Akam and Rezar were released during one of the early waves to show how much WWE gave up on them.

4 Air Boom

One of the more interesting makeshift teams in WWE featured Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne forming Air Boom. Both wrestlers were relatively successful mid-card faces known for exciting action and having the fans behind them.

Kingston and Bourne worked well together and won the tag titles to become the class of the division. Multiple injuries and wellness policy suspensions for Bourne ended the tag run as Vince McMahon gave up on them by having Kofi move to other things.

3 The Bludgeon Brothers

Vince McMahon was high on the reformation of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan as the Bludgeon Brothers after their previous run in the Wyatt Family. Both big men worked well together and developed a new gimmick meant to intimidate others.

The late Harper/Brodie Lee revealed in post-WWE interviews that Vince wanted them to be a modern version of Demolition. Rowan and Harper even defeated the Usos and New Day at WrestleMania 35 to cement them as the top team. McMahon eventually lost faith and split them up to move into directionless singles roles.

2 The Hart Dynasty

The Hart Dynasty became Vince McMahon’s latest attempt of utilizing the Hart family legacy to get over new talent. Natalya, Harry Smith and Tyson Kidd represented the Harts with Jim Neidhart’s daughter, Davey Boy Smith’s son, and a family friend from childhood.

Bret Hart’s return to WWE ended up helping the new tag team associated with his family. The Hart Dynasty became the top faces of the tag division and had a strong run on top. McMahon eventually lost faith and split them up. Natalya was the only one of the three to have a solid singles career and is still employed today.

1 Allied Powers

Vince McMahon put together a makeshift tag team of two singles stars he believed in with Davey Boy Smith and Lex Luger. The Allied Powers name referenced their respective past gimmicks showing patriotism for their respective pride in the United Kingdom and United States.

Luger and Smith were even placed in the pivotal opening match of WrestleMania 11 to open the massive night with a win. McMahon pushed the Allied Powers for a short while before he slowed down in favor of another makeshift duo of Owen Hart and Yokozuna. The tag team split up with Smith turning heel and Luger heading back to WCW.