There is nothing in wrestling like tag team matches. The right teams battling against each other can create magic that a singles match never could.
From the first tag team match in 1901, all the way to the likes of FTR and The Young Bucks in the 21st century, the art has a long and storied history.
Tag team matches have been some of the best of all time, and helped elevate stars to higher planes that they never could have dreamed as singles stars.
In this article, we’ll go through the top 10 greatest tag team matches of all time.
It will only include two-on-two tag team matches, focusing on the best of the art of tag team wrestling.
Six-man matches will not be included, nor will matches featuring even more wrestlers – such as the traditional five-on-five Survivor Series matches.
Here are the best tag team matches of all time, ranked from worst to best. The matches are ranked based on a number of factors, including ratings from Dave Meltzer, Cagematch and our own opinion on the best tag team match.
10. Golden Lovers vs The Young Bucks (NJPW Strong Style Evolved 2018)
The Golden Lovers took on the Young Bucks at NJPW’s Strong Style Evolved event in 2018. This was a really, really fun tag team match with both teams telling a great story.
It evoked a similar story to that of Page/Omega vs Young Bucks at AEW Revolution, and was awarded a five-star match when it was over.
The American crowd brought a much different vibe to the usual Japanese crowd, and allowed the four to work a different style of match than they’d usually do.
However, it was still filled with the classic action you’d expect from all men, and is more than worthy of appearing on this list.
9. The Young Bucks vs The Lucha Brothers (AEW All Out 2021)
Perhaps the greatest cage match of all time took place at AEW All Out 2021.
The Young Bucks legendary title reign finally came to an end at the hands another sibling duo – Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix.
The Lucha Brothers have had numerous five-star matches against the Young Bucks, but none came close to this cage match.
Both teams jumped from the cage with ease, using their own bodies and various weapons to inflict as much injury as possible.
The highlight of the match saw the Lucha Brothers eat a superkick from the Bucks’ thumbtack-laden shoe, and coming back to win the match and the titles in this 5-star bout.
8. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW Real World Tag League 1996)
When the Holy Demon Army took on the Super Generation Army in the Real World Tag League final, fans were expecting something great.
Three of the “Four Pillars of Heaven” (plus legendary wrestler Jun Akiyama) battled for over 30-minutes in front of a rabid crowd, putting on one of the best tag team matches of all time.
The performance of Toshiaka Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa were particularly impressive – the ending of the match, with Kawada in shock at Misawa withstanding everything he had to offer, was brilliant.
It was an emotional rollercoaster ride, and truly encapsulates what was brilliant about All Japan Pro Wrestling during their peak in the 1990s.
7. The Dudleys vs The Hardys vs Edge & Christian (WrestleMania X7)
The best tag team match in WrestleMania history was the absolute bonkers TLC match at WrestleMania X7.
There of the top teams in the world (Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boys and Edge & Christian) but their lives on the line in the first ever TLC match.
It “stole the show” at Wrestlemania X7 according to the man who main evented the show, Stone Cold Steve Austin. This was a testament to it’s quality, as each man took ridiculous bumps in order to entertain the crowd.
The highlight was Edge’s incredible spear onto Jeff Hardy from a ladder, a spot which is still shown in hype packages in WWE to this day.
6. The Revival vs DIY (NXT Takeover: Toronto 2016)
The Revival continued their incredible rivalry with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in Toronto, with one of the best matches in NXT history.
Their battles over the NXT Tag Team Championship in 2016 helped put NXT on the map as the home of some of the best wrestling in the world.
It was here where The Revival (who later became known as FTR in AEW) solidified themselves as one of the best heel tag teams of all time, and helped build sympathy for Gargano and Ciampa throughout the match.
The Revival took the lead by winning the first fall with a Shatter Machine and putting DIY 1-0 down.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa managed to even the score shortly thereafter, however, with a combination of a superkick and knee strike, via WWE.
The match ended when Gargano and Ciampa locked both men in their finishers, and Dawson and Dash both tapped out, despite holding each other’s hands to try and stop them giving up.
5. FTR vs The Briscoes (ROH Final Battle 2022)
Of the legendary trilogy of matches between FTR and The Briscoe Brothers, their bout at Ring of Honor Final Battle 2022 has to be the best.
In fact, it is one of the best tag team matches of all time, adding to FTR’s fantastic run in AEW.
After a long match filled with blood and violence, The Briscoes came out the winners, ending their feud with FTR with one of the best tag team matches of all time.
4. Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs The Young Bucks (AEW Revolution 2020)
The best tag team match in AEW history was The Elite’s implosion, when Adam Page & Kenny Omega took on The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution 2020.
The two teams were all part of the same faction, The Elite, but had fallen into some disagreements in recent times. Hangman Adam Page felt isolated by the Elite, and wanted out of the group.
The Young Bucks refused and wouldn’t let him leave, which caused heavy arguments.
Kenny Omega was the man in the middle, trying to keep the peace between his while also trying to keep hold of the AEW Tag Team Championships.
This led to an explosion of emotions, where both teams gave it their all to try and defeat, both physically and mentally, the other team in the ring at AEW revolution.
The match was an instant classic, combining supreme in ring work with extraordinary storytelling and emotion.
3. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (AJW Dream Rush In Kawasaki)
Four of the best wrestlers of all time clashed at the height of All-Japan Women, with a tag team match that defied any expectations.
This is one of the best tag team matches ever, as well as maybe the best women’s match of all time.
In this two-out-of-three falls match, the four women battled 40 minutes for the WWWA Tag Team Championships. It was a fast-paced affair that never slowed down, showing the insane cardio of the women involved.
The first fall saw Dynamite Kansai pinning Manami Toyota after 14 minutes, before Toshiyo Yamada pinned Dynamite Kansai just two minutes later.
The matched ended after 40 minutes, when Manami Toyota pinned Mayumi Ozaki to end a fantastic match that will go down in history.
2. Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW Super Power Series 1992)
1990’s Japanese wrestling continues to dominate this list, with this brilliant tag team match for the AJPW Power Series 1992.
The crowd was incredibly hot to see this match, which actually had very little story going into it.
It simply had the Can-Am Express taking on the Super Generation Army, defending their tag team titles in the third match from the end of the show.
It clearly should have been last, as this match blew expectations out of the water, as Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi won the All Asia Tag Team Champinships at the end of a fantastic match.
1. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW Super Power Series 1995)
When you put all of the “Four Pillars of Heaven” in one ring together, you know that magic is about to be created.
However, nobody could have expected them to have, hands down, the greatest tag team match in wrestling history.
All four men brought their A-game, working harder than any man in wrestling history. They hit every move in their arsenal, and showed their bemusement and shock at every impressive kick out.
It was full of fantastic character moments, like Kenta Kobashi taking shots for Misawa, showing the incredible respect he had for his partner.
The whole match was perfect and insanely competitive, with the Four Pillars putting on the best tag team match of all time.