2018 has been a weird year for tag wrestling. In WWE, tag wrestling has taken a massive backwards step but elsewhere teams have stepped it up, and a few super teams have formed. I have by no means watched everything the wrestling world has to offer so if I have missed a great team, let me know.
30. Killer Elite Squad
KES are by no means the best tag team you will find in the world of wrestling but they do find themselves in a consistently high spot in whatever promotion they are in. They started the year as IWGP tag champs but lost those four days in at Wrestle Kingdom. That would be their only title reign this year. They predominantly competed in NJPW, and while they rarely had bad matches they didn't really have any standout ones either.
29. Lucha House Party
I'm not really sure how this team didn't fall by the wayside, like so many other teams in WWE these days, but here they are as one of the most entertaining teams on Raw, which is admittedly a very low bar. Their work on 205 Live is what got them this spot though. They had a series of very good matches against the likes of Buddy Murphy/Tony Nese and Drew Gulak/Jack Gallagher/Brian Kendrick. They have good chemistry together and should be together for a while yet.
28. WorkHorsemen
They have wrestled all over the place this year, mostly as The Lethal Enforcers, and are the current AWE and FW Tag Team Champions. It is their work in Evolve that has impressed me the most though. They have put in consistently great performances against whoever they face and have done a great job of making the Street Profits look strong. Both men will be big parts of Evolve going forward.
27. Best Friends
There are very few teams that have the chemistry that these two guys do and probably none that have their comedic timing. All the matches they had this year took place in either ROH or NJPW, but they were held back this year by injury. They had a good showing in the World Tag League and I look forward to them having a more prominent 2019.
26. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
I really wanted to put these guys higher in this list as I think they are superb, but they just aren't featured on NXT TV as frequently as I would like. When they have had their chance to shine, though, they have grabbed it with both hands. Their match against Undisputed Era at NXT Takeover Chicago II was a magnificent display of tag team wrestling and stole the show on that night. I hope they get another run at the belts in 2019.
25. Doom Patrol
This is the Chris Dickinson & Jaka version of Doom Patrol. Or Catch Point. Or Team Pazuzu. They spent the first 10 months of this year in possession of the Evolve Tag Team Titles, eventually losing them to the Street Profits in a really good match. They have been one of the best things about Evolve throughout the year and have also put in some good showings in Beyond Wrestling. They are just a fun team to watch.
24. Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado)
The IWGP Jr tag division doesn't get the love that a lot of the rest of the company gets but it features a number of great teams, even if it seems like there are only two or three of them. This tandem has actually held the titles for the last 9 months but has only defended them four times since, which stops them from ranking higher than this. Great team though.
23. Street Profits
Well, this is a weird one, a WWE contracted team that is solely on this list because of their work in a different company. They were basically just fodder in NXT before WWE made an agreement that allowed Evolve to use some of their talent. On their first night, they won the Evolve tag titles from Doom Patrol, and they still hold those titles. All of their matches in Evolve have been very good at least, with a couple of them being great. They have been a great example of how a stint in a different promotion can help some NXT talent.
22. Guerrillas Of Destiny
GOD are an infuriating team. They are fully capable of putting on great matches, and they have a couple of them this year, but they are also prone to resting on their laurels somewhat, resulting in run of the mill matches. They certainly made an impact this year though, fracturing the Bullet Club into two halves, even if the Firing Squad angle was complete wank.
21. CCK
It has been a funny old year for CCK. Chris Brookes has been a rock as one half of the team but his partners haven't been so lucky. At various points of the year, injury has meant that the other half of the team has been filled by Kid Lykos, Travis Banks, Jonathan Gresham and Timothy Thatcher. Despite that, the matches have always been really good. You can check out pretty much any of their matches in PROGRESS, RevPro, FCP, or wXw and you will have a great time.
20. SoCal Uncensored
They might have a combined age of 124 but you can't deny the quality of SCU. Kazarian and Daniels were already a great team and the addition of Scorpio Sky has freshened things up nicely. They have held both the ROH tag and 6-man titles during 2018 and have been involved in some great matches along the way. It's hard to say how much longer they can continue at this level but for now, they remain an important part of ROH.
19. War Raiders
Despite the fact that I have them dropping quite far from their ranking last year, I don't think that they have become any worse of a team. The reason for the drop is that they have spent most of the year signed to NXT but didn't really do anything particularly worthwhile until the midpoint of the year. They were excellent in the WarGames match but that was their only Takeover appearance of the year. Next year should see them return to the top 10 of this list.
18. Roppongi 3K
You could take most of what I said about Kanemaru and Desperado and put it here and it would apply just as well. I do however feel that this is the superior in-ring team with SHO, in particular, being a standout. They held the IWGP Jr Tag Titles for just over a month combined and won the Jr Tag League. I expect much of the same in 2019.
17. Grizzled Young Veterans
A great team pushed forward by possibly the best pure heel in wrestling, Zack Gibson. His promos make everything better. They put on really good matches too, having held the PROGRESS tag titles well on two occasions this year. They almost made the stupendously baffling Thunderbastard Series worth trying to follow. Almost. They will be starting off 2019 with a tag title match at the first NXT UK Takeover.
16. The Briscoes
It's the Briscoes, innit. They are a great tag team that frequently puts on great matches. They may also be one of the few wrestling acts that has to play down their redneck side for a redneck gimmick. This list isn't about their personal views though, it's about their wrestling.
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