Key WrestleMania Tag Team Matches Throughout The Years
The Rock and Roman Reigns against Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes Will be a Marquee Match at WrestleMania. What Other Tag Matches Have Been Key to WrestleMania?
One of the marquee matches on Night 1 of WrestleMania 40 will see The Rock and Roman Reigns team up to take on Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes. This match will have implications for Night 2 of the event as Cody will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. With this historic matchup taking place on the “Grandest Stage of Them All”, let’s look back at some other key tag team matches that have taken place at the “Showcase of the Immortals”.
Key WrestleMania Tag Team Matches
WrestleMania I: Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper with Muhammad Ali and Pat Patterson as Guest Referees
WrestleMania has long been known to have a celebrity aspect to it. The tradition started early in the event’s history as WrestleMania I featured Muhammad Ali, Cyndi Lauper, Mr., and Billy Martin. Celebrities were incorporated into the show in a variety of fashions.
The main event of the first-ever WrestleMania saw Mr. T team with the WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan against Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper with Muhammad Ali and Pat Patterson serving as guest referees. Ali would get involved when all four exchanged blows in the ring with a shot at Piper. In the end, Hogan pinned Orndorff to get the win in the first WrestleMania main event.
WrestleMania III: Danny Davis and The Hart Foundation vs. Tito Santana and The British Bulldogs
Two of the best-known tag teams in wrestling history squared off at WrestleMania III. This revenge match saw The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) tagged with former referee Danny Davis who allowed the Hart Foundation a lot of leniencies in a Tag Team Title match between the two teams previously.
They took on The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) along with Tito Santana. Santana also had a bone to pick with Davis as he refereed a match between Santana and The Macho Man Randy Savage in which he allowed Savage to use a weapon to get the win. There is also family link here as The British Bulldogs were trained by Stu Hart, the father of Bret Hart.
The match ended in controversy as The Bulldogs came close to victory many times, but the match eventually broke down into a full-blown brawl which allowed Davis to hit Davey Boy Smith with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone to pick up the pinfall victory.
WrestleMania 2000: Triangle Ladder Match: Edge and Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz
This match was the precursor to the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (more on that later). Heading into WrestleMania 2000 Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley), and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) had attacked one another with a variety of objects (mainly tables) and cost each other matches. It all came to a head in this tag team ladder match that saw the Dudley Boyz put their WWF Tag Team Championships on the line in a high-stakes match.
The match was fast-paced and had plenty of offense that involved the ladders. All six men put their bodies on the line in a match that stole the show at WrestleMania. The match ended with Edge and Christian becoming WWF Tag Team Champions for the first time in their careers.
WrestleMania X7: TLC II: Edge and Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz
How did they top the last WrestleMania match? Add Lita, Rhyno, and Spike Dudley as outside interference, and add ladders and chairs to the mix. The result was the second-ever Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) match in WWE history.
This match had many memorable moments that are still revisited to this day. From Jeff Hardy leaping off of a ladder and crashing through Rhyno and Spike Dudley through tables, to Lita taking a 3-D, to the famous shot of Edge spearing Jeff Hardy in mid-air while Jeff attempted to take the belts off of the hook, to Rhyno sending Bubba Ray and Matt Hardy off of the top of a ladder through stacked tables on the arena floor. In the end Edge and Christian captured the WWF Tag Team Championships in a brutal match that is still rewatched today.
WrestleMania 31: AJ Lee and Paige vs. The Bella Twins
About a month before this match, Paige and Emma held a 26-second match against The Bella Twins on Monday Night Raw to protest how the Divas Division was being treated. Shortly after on Twitter, #GiveDivasAChance started to trend. This coincided with the Women’s movement in NXT as Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Charlotte were changing the perspective of what the WWE Women’s Division could be.
AJ Lee and Paige picked up the win in the tag team bout. Although the match only lasted about six minutes, having a match on the main card of WrestleMania was a step in the right direction for the movement. The match is also significant as it was the final WrestleMania match for AJ Lee who retired the next night on Monday Night Raw.
WrestleMania 34: Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
The seeds for this match were planted at WrestleMania 31 when The Rock involved Ronda Rousey in an attack on The Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon). Rousey made sporadic appearances following WrestleMania 31 and eventually signed with WWE. Then Raw General Manager Kurt Angle tossed a wrench into the contract signing by claiming The Authority only signed Rousey to get revenge on her.
This led to a match between the four at WrestleMania. This was the first official WWE match for Rousey and Stephanie’s first match since 2014. Rousey locked Stephanie into her signature armbar maneuver forcing her to tap, to win in her WWE debut.
WrestleMania 36: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. The Kabuki Warriors
WrestleMania 36 was planned to be at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay Flordia. COVID-19 had other plans and the event was held without a crowd inside the WWE Performance Center. The setting of this WrestleMania became the norm for a while as wrestling shows couldn’t take place in front of a live crowd.
That did not stop Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross from becoming the first ever two-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions as they defeated The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane). Not only did they open one of the most unique WrestleMania’s in history, they made championship history at the same time.
WrestleMania 39: Undisputed WWE WWE Tag Team Championship: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. The Usos WM 39
A roller coaster storyline came to a head as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn took on The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 39. Sami Zayn had joined The Bloodline which had been feuding with Kevin Owens. Kevin and Sami have a deep history of friendship inside and outside of WWE but have also been heated rivals at times.
Things heated up when Sami stopped Bloodline leader Roman Reigns from hitting Owens with a chair. When Reigns ordered Sami to do it instead, he refused. Sami was then attacked and kicked out of the group.
The best friends reunited and de-throned The Usos, getting payback on The Bloodline in one of the most memorable tag team matches in WrestleMania history.
Did we miss any matches? Which of these matches stands out the most to you? Sound off in the comments.