8 Tag Teams That Broke Up Off-Screen
The stories of tag team breakups usually play out on television. Fans have memories of Shawn Michaels throwing Marty Jannetty through a barbershop glass window, Scott Steiner betraying Rick Steiner to join the New World Order or the Usos recently going their separate ways after Jimmy cost Jey the Universal Championship. However, not every single breakup for a tag team played out in that manner.
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Quite a few teams actually broke up off-screen in various ways to end their runs together. Some came due to falling outs that saw the tag teams no longer wanting to work together. Others just had things outside of their control separating them. The common theme is that fans could have easily missed these teams ending due to their breakups coming off-screen instead of a big breakup.
8 Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson
Rocky Johnson started the family legacy that saw his son The Rock following suit. Tony Atlas was a star after fans instantly loved his impressive physique. WWE used both talented wrestlers together to become an underrated popular tag team of the Golden Era in the 1980s as the Soul Patrol.
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Johnson and Atlas didn’t get along too well towards the end of their tag team run. Atlas missing shows due to personal issues led to WWE giving up on him. The duo having such bad blood just grew worse here since they stopped teaming to focus on their own careers.
7 The Eliminators
ECW witnessed The Eliminators becoming one of the most popular tag teams in company history. Perry Saturn and John Kronus had exciting matches that saw them coming up with some of the coolest tandem moves at the time. Fans expected them to have a long-term tag team after breaking out together.
However, Saturn flat out didn’t want to continue teaming with Kronus when he was offered a WCW contract to leave on his own. WCW signed Saturn without Kronus to work in Raven’s Flock and focus on his eventual singles career. The Eliminators never worked together again while going their separate ways.
6 Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb
New Japan started to book more international talents after the United States presence grew. Michael Elgin joined NJPW after his run in Ring of Honor, and Jeff Cobb got a chance after standing out in Lucha Underground and PWG. NJPW decided to place them in a tag team as two power wrestlers with all-around skills.
Elgin ended up getting backstage heat yet again when text messages leaked of him trashing Cobb for being a bad tag team partner while they were still working together. NJPW grew sick of Elgin altogether to end his run and the tag team without anything on-screen dictating it.
5 Road Dogg & K-Kwik
WWE tried to place Road Dogg in a new tag team when struggling after the New Age Outlaws ended. R-Truth got his WWE start all the way back in the Attitude Era as K-Kwik. The rapping gimmick saw K-Kwik becoming the new tag partner of Road Dogg as they performed their own entrance to the ring.
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Fans didn’t connect with the act as much as expected, and Road Dogg started to gain backstage heat. WWE suspended and eventually released Road Dogg to end the team. TNA tried reuniting them in the 3 Live Kru, but that act suffered the same fate of the partners all going their separate ways.
4 Matt Hardy & Tatanka
WWE booked one of the strangest makeshift tag teams they’ve ever had with Matt Hardy and Tatanka. Matt needed a partner during his feud with MNM, and WWE somehow decided the veteran Tatanka was the right option. The duo spent months together as a babyface act on the Smackdown roster.
However, they just ended the tag run when Tatanka took time off. WWE realized that they had more value in Matt doing literally anything else than forcing a pointless tag team with Tatanka. Both guys went their separate ways, and Tatanka would get released down the line with his age catching up to him.
3 Rikishi & Haku
The signing of Haku saw him leaving WCW to get one more run with WWE in the Attitude Era. Rikishi’s heel turn led to a feud with The Undertaker. Haku aligned with Rikishi to form their intimidating tag team in a feud against Undertaker and Kane as the Brothers of Destruction.
WWE kept Rikishi and Haku together for a few months before giving up on the act. Rikishi left television to rehab from an injury, and Haku unfortunately barely got any television time. WWE viewed Haku as being too old and ended the team without much of an explanation on-screen.
2 Santana & Ortiz
AEW witnessed Santana and Ortiz starting off as a popular tag team act in the early stages of the company. Everyone expected them to become future AEW Tag Team Champions after breaking out with Chris Jericho as valuable members of the Inner Circle faction. However, the duo started to drift apart in real life with different approaches to their careers.
Santana recently returning from injury saw both members wanting to end the tag team. AEW had them together in the Stadium Stampede match while distant from each other, and they moved into a feud right after referencing their beef. Time will tell if Santana and Ortiz stay apart for the rest of their careers.
1 The British Bulldogs
Many fans viewed the British Bulldogs tag team as the best of the 1980s since they had more exciting matches and many fun moments. Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid excelled at different areas of the industry, so it only made sense that they had chemistry as a team.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get along too well outside of the ring, especially since Dynamite was considered a jerk by most accounts. The British Bulldogs found success in WWE and tried to continue wrestling without the machine after they got released due to Dynamite’s heat. Health issues for Dynamite, and Davey Boy wanting to find success without him saw them splitting up off-screen for good.
