Tag team wrestling has always been great, whether talking about the early days of the Road Warriors in the 1980s or Edge & Christian in the early 2000s. As enjoyable as most companies’ tag team divisions have been for the past three decades, it’s fair to say that tag team wrestling has only improved in recent years, largely thanks to the growing number of noteworthy teams competing against one another.

With longstanding companies only continuing to grow into the new decade, several new promotions opened their doors in the 2010s, like Lucha Underground, the revived MLW, and AEW. In many cases, these programs and shows extensively used celebrated tag team performers, delivering stellar tag team bouts on a predominantly regular basis.

From veteran Tag Teams working in the independent circuit to some of WWE’s most popular duos, here are the absolute best tag teams of the 2010s, ranked from best to worst.

1 – The Young Bucks

The Young Bucks are the only tag team to start a major wrestling organization in the form of AEW, but it’s important to note how incredible Matt and Nick Jackson are inside the ring first and foremost. Possessing fantastic chemistry from their earlier days as Generation Me in TNA, the Young Bucks managed to rebuild themselves from the ground up upon signing with NJPW in 2013. Quickly joining Bullet Club side by side with future Elite stablemate Kenny Omega, the trio were the core members of the fan-favorite faction for most of the decade.

As great as their time with Bullet Club and in The Elite have been, the Young Bucks have also consistently remained a high-performing tag team in their own right. Their matches with the Motor City Machine Guns were some of the best tag matches in TNA’s history, with their bouts seemingly getting better with time, as seen from their celebrated matches with the Golden Lovers in NJPW and the Lucha Brothers in AEW.

2 – The New Day

The New Day is that rare faction that was able to spin water into wine, taking what was initially a horrendous (and potentially racist) gimmick handed to them by Vince McMahon and adding their own flair to it. In time, what was at first a gospel choir group became a quirky, fun, and hilarious team that won fans over with their infectiously energetic presence alone.

One of the most popular trios in WWE’s recent history, there’s no doubt The New Day will go on to join the Hall of Fame at some point in the future. With Kofi Kingston as the high-flier, Big E as the strong man, and Xavier Woods as their trumpet-blowing mascot, the three demonstrated unbelievable comedic chemistry together not seen since the days of Edge & Christian. From their humorous antics and promos to their strange obsession with pancakes, unicorns, and “the power of positivity,” they made WWE’s tag team division worth watching during a notable lull in the mid-2010s.

3 – The Shield

Along with The New Day, it’s almost guaranteed that The Shield will one day be inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame, if only because all three of its members achieved breakout success after their faction’s dissolution in 2014. Even before their dramatic break-up and sporadic reunions, though, The Shield was one of the best things WWE had going in the early 2010s, boasting three exceptional wrestlers who would rise to stardom in the succeeding years.

Initially portrayed as a band of mercenaries hired by CM Punk and, later, The Authority, The Shield were – like The New Day – a perfect trifecta of pure wrestling talent. With Dean Ambrose as the chaotic mouthpiece pursuing singles success and Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins as the Tag Team Champs, the trio was unstoppable in WWE’s midcard for the better part of two years. Between Reigns’s strength and Rollins’ speed and agility, they were virtually unstoppable in the ring, beating down everyone from The Usos to Team Hell No.

4 – The Usos

It’s fascinating to see just how far The Usos have come since their debut with WWE in 2009. For the next 14 years, they’ve been embroiled in rivalries against practically every major WWE tag team at one point or another, be it the Hart Dynasty, the New Age Outlaws, The O.C., or The Revival.

While The Usos are undoubtedly doing their best work yet in their Bloodline storyline with Roman Reigns, they’ve been one of the best tag teams in WWE for over a decade. Their various championship reigns on Raw and Smackdown are just minor illustrations of how extraordinary they are in the ring, utilizing a mixture of devastating moves that rely on their immense strength and high-flying agility. Whether they present themselves as faces or heels, they will continue having stellar matches well into the future (at 37 years old, they’re still very much in their prime).

5 – Lucha Brothers

In the mid-2010s, real-life brothers Fénix and Pentagón Jr. competed as a tag team under their Lucha Brothers moniker on an on-again, off-again basis. Upon joining AEW in 2019, however, the two siblings began to team with one another more regularly, leading to some inspired tag team bouts against the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Adam Page, and Jurassic Express.

Like all the best tag teams, each member of the Lucha Brothers is a gifted wrestler in their own right – Pentagón employing a more hard-hitting plethora of chops and kicks, Fénix flying off the ropes and hitting moves only the most graceful of wrestlers could even dream about performing. Separately, they could be huge singles stars (something that happened to be the case when they were in Impact and Lucha Underground), but as it is, they make for a delightful tag team together wherever they wind up.

6 – The Revival

FTR is currently living it up in AEW, taking part in some of the greatest tag team matches of the past several decades (on an almost weekly basis, no less). However, even before they wound up with WWE’s foremost rival, FTR was redefining tag team wrestling in NXT. Personally created by the legendary Dusty Rhodes, The Revival was established as a throwback act modeled after the burlier tag teams of the 1980s (especially The Enforcers and The Brain Busters).

Far from having a clever gimmick alone, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson had the talent to back up their on-screen personas, relying on a mat-based wrestling style that lived up to their name. Their gimmicks allowed for a more natural juxtaposition against the predominantly high-flying wrestling acts popular in the mid-2010s, paving the way to standout matches against #DIY and American Alpha.

7 – #DIY

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa’s career-defining rivalry in NXT tends to overshadow their earlier partnership together in #DIY, one of the black and yellow brand’s best tag teams in the mid-2010s. Veteran indie performers prior to their signing with WWE, Gargano and Ciampa had the kind of chemistry that most other tag teams could only dream about (although it also doesn’t hurt that they had some fantastic rivals against teams The Revival).

Alternating between speed, technical wrestling, and raw offense, #DIY became unexpected successes in NXT, winning the Tag Team Championship from The Revival in 2016. Their initial stint together may have been short-lived, but like other brief tag teams such as Rated RKO, the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection, or the Hollywood Blonds, it left quite an impression on audiences at the time.

8 – The Undisputed Era

Whether you refer to them as The Undisputed Era or reDRagon, the joint combination of Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly was a sight to behold in the ring. Utilizing a more technical offensive style, the two were like the second coming of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, dishing out hard-hitting chops and kicks to their opponents and locking in a slew of MMA-inspired submission holds.

Achieving notoriety in Ring of Honor and NJPW before venturing to NXT, Fish and O’Reilly were vital members of The Undisputed Era from the faction’s very formation. Joined by the equally formidable technical wrestler Roderick Strong, the three men became NXT's most exciting tag team since the glory days of The Revival, #DIY, and American Alpha.

9 – Briscoe Brothers

No two wrestlers exhibited the same overarching loyalty to ROH as Jay and Mark Briscoe, two of the finest wrestlers to ever compete in an ROH ring. Building a name for themselves in the indie circuit throughout the 2000s, the Briscoes had become seasoned veterans by the 2010s, serving as ROH’s dependable workhorses throughout the decade.

Known for their 18-year-long tenure with the promotion, the Briscoes’ accomplishments in ROH speak for themselves, with Jay managing to win the World Championship on two separate occasions and the brothers holding the record for the most tag team title victories a whopping 13 times. Their bouts with the Young Bucks and, in more recent years, FTR, are all modern classics, showing just how timeless a tag team they were regardless of the decade.

10 – SoCal Uncensored

You can call them SoCal Uncensored. You can call them Bad Influence. You can call them The Addiction – you can even call them by their brief parodic name, The Legion of Boom. Whatever designation you choose to bestow on them, the joint pairing of Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels was always a joy to see. It didn’t matter whether they were feuding with their close friend A.J. Styles in Impact or battling Bullet Club in ROH; the duo was a match made in heaven for one another.

Never afraid to employ comedy in their act, S.C.U. was a breath of fresh air in Impact and ROH’s tag team divisions, setting themselves apart by their humorous presentation and mischievous antics (in many ways, they were almost like the villainous version of The New Day). Their storyline with Adam Cole and the Bullet Club in 2017 was perhaps the highlight of their run in ROH at the time, culminating in Daniels’ emotional victory over Cole and his first (and so far only) run as the company’s world champion.

11 – The Hardy Boyz

It’s incredible to think that Matt and Jeff Hardy have been delighting audiences with their death-defying antics for not one, not two, not three, but four decades now. Making their way to WWE in the mid-1990s while they were just teenagers, the Hardy Boyz have achieved practically everything there is to achieve in the world of wrestling, winning titles everywhere they go and routinely performing in some of the most dangerous spots that very few people would have the nerve even to contemplate – nevermind actually perform.

Though somewhat slowed down by age in the 2010s, Matt and Jeff retained audience interest throughout the new decade, thanks largely to their new identities under the “Broken Hardys” moniker. Initially pioneered by Matt, this new gimmick saw the Hardys speaking in strange accents, participating in surreal cinematic matches, and once even boxing a kangaroo. This abrupt creative direction helped breathe new life into the Hardys’ matches, leading to tag team success in Impact, ROH, and WWE.

12 – The Bar

No matter how often it happens in professional wrestling, seeing former rivals tag together always makes for an entertaining affair – whether it’s Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold, Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle, or Sheamus and Cesaro. Battling each other in a best-of-seven series throughout the summer of 2016, the Celtic Warrior and the Swiss Superman ultimately came into a tentative alliance by order of general manager Mick Foley.

From there, what was at first a begrudging partnership slowly evolved into an expert tag team, helping the two obtain championship gold at Roadblock: End of the Line. As Raw Tag Team Champions, they competed in routinely decent matches against The New Day, the Hardy Boyz, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins. Who knows how much further they could’ve gone if they had been together longer. 

13 – Santana and Ortiz

Working together for five years before their eventual contract with Impact in 2017, Santana and Ortiz rapidly became two of the most exciting wrestlers in tag team wrestling at the time. Originally aligning themselves with Hernandez, Homicide, and Konnan, they were the lifeblood of the revived Latin American Xchange for nearly a year. After a factional split, they became the backbone of the new L.A.X. with Konnan in their war against The OGz (Eddie Kingston, Hernandez, and Homicide), a feud that was a highlight of their run in Impact.

Departing Impact for the greener pastures of AEW, Santana and Ortiz found themselves feuding with the Young Bucks and the Lucha Brothers, immediately making a name for themselves in the then-fledgling wrestling promotion. Joining Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle, the two became the de facto tag team specialists in Y2J’s faction, enjoying excellent matches for the remainder of the decade in AEW.

14 – Guerrillas of Destiny

Nowadays, the Young Bucks are often seen as the best tag team ever attached to Bullet Club. As complimentary as that statement is, it undercuts just how phenomenal some of the other tag teams allied with Bullet Club were at one time or another, starting with two of the faction’s earliest members, Tama Tonga and his brother Tanga Loa, collectively known as the Guerrillas of Destiny (or G.O.D. for short).

The “bad boys” of Bullet Club for most of their time in the faction, the Guerrillas of Destiny were also possibly the most underrated members of the stable. Demonstrating unmatched charisma on the mic, they had the inherent talent to back up each one of their heated (often hilarious) promos. As the key members of Bullet Club’s Firing Squad, they were the chief instigators of the Bullet Club civil war, initiating a massive factional split that pitted its new and founding members against The Elite. Their matches against the Briscoes, Chaos, War Machine, the Young Bucks, and Los Ingobernables de Japón were always entertaining, with the G.O.D. holding the record number of IWGP Tag Team Championship reigns seven different times (equal to a combined reign of 755 days).

15 – The Motor City Machine Guns

The Motor City Machine Guns may have reached their peak as a tag team in 2010, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have a successful run together in the years that followed. Hampered by injuries, contract disputes, and simply poor booking, M.C.M.G. had an initially great run at the start of the decade, winning TNA’s World Tag Team Championship from Beer Money in a stellar best-of-five series. After losing their belts back to their arch-rivals, though, the team quietly disbanded once Alex Shelley departed from the company.

Reuniting in 2016, the Machine Guns quickly made up for lost time, renewing their TNA feuds with other teams like Bad Influence and the Young Bucks and competing in several standout matches in ROH and NJPW. Fortunately, they seem to have bounced back exponentially in more recent years, winning the Impact World Tag Team Championship twice more in the early 2020s. Even before then, they were a terrific tag team together.