B/R's All-Time Top-64 WWE Tag Team Bracket, Seedings and Winner

The WWE tag team version of March Madness would replace Wisconsin with Demolition, three-pointers with splashes from the top rope.

As college basketball looks to crown the year's best college basketball team, we turn to an NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament-style bracket to pin down the best WWE duo of all time. It's an exercise that creates fantasy matches and forces one to choose one great squad over another.

Last year, a hard-nosed Texan won the all-time great Superstars bracket. Who will do the same in the crowded field of tag team kings?

Will The Legion of Doom dominate as they did during their heyday? Will The Hardy Boyz emerge on top thanks to an overflowing collection of in-ring thrillers?

Emulating the tourney that Kentucky looks to plow its way through, WWE's most successful and popular teams will be divided into four regions of 16 teams each. The very best will earn higher seeds; the lower-tier pairings will have to settle for lower numbers.

The first round features eight matchups. The second round shrinks by half. This continues until the winners of each region make up the Final Four, the quartet of tag team excellence who will square off to name the champions.

En route to that coronation, we begin with how to decide those seedings. 

Seeding Criteria 

This part of the tournament is based on the more tangible aspects of WWE success.

Tag team championship wins and long reigns help get duos high spots. That's good news for Paul London and The Brian Kendrick, who held the belts for over 300 days.

Being in the WWE Hall of Fame, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame or Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame helps net teams a higher seed as well. The same goes for annual awards from Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter .

Being named the best team of the year by one of these respected outlets means plenty here. Where these squads landed on WWE.com's list of the top 50 tag teams is also part of the seeding process.

Only teams who made their mark in WWE are considered for the tournament. The Freebirds and The Young Bucks need not apply.

More on how the matchups play out after seeding later.

No. 1 Seeds

• The Wild Samoans 
• The New Age Outlaws
• The Legion of Doom
• The Hardy Boyz

The Wild Samoans are in both the WWE and Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame thanks partly to dominating the WWE tag title picture in the early '80s. Their final reign lasted the majority of 1983, and their three reigns total over 400 days.

Animal and Hawk of The Legion of Doom are the only other WWE team in the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.

That's one item on a long list of accomplishments that make them an easy choice for a No. 1 seed. They also walked into the WWE Hall of Fame after winning the WWF world tag titles twice and being named the top team in PWI's list of top tag teams of the PWI Years.

A pair of teams to emerge after them earn top seeds without any Hall of Fame nods yet.

The New Age Outlaws were PWI's Tag Team of the Year in 1998 and the No. 4 team on WWE.com's list. Billy Gunn and Road Dogg have won the titles five times and held the now-defunct World Tag Team Championships for over 450 days.

The Hardy brothers' reigns were not nearly as long, but they were champs six times and in 2000 were the top vote-getters in the PWI Tag Team of the Year Award.

While no one will dispute the greatness of that foursome of teams, giving them the No. 1 seeds leaves out some greats. The British Bulldogs, The Dudleyz, Edge and Christian and The Valiant Brothers all just missed out.

They will have to wait until the tournament is underway to prove they are better than The New Age Outlaws and Co.

WrestleMania Region

1. The Wild Samoans
2. The Dudley Boyz
3. John Morrison and The Miz
4. Los Guerreros 
5. Kane and X-Pac
6. The Shield (Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins)
7. The Smoking Gunns
8. Legacy
9. The U.S. Express
10. The Colossal Connection
11. Jeri-Show
12. Too Cool 
13. The Mega Powers
14. The Moondogs
15. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
16. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle

The first low seed that will pop out for many is The Mega Powers. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan were a hugely memorable team brimming with star power.

Too Cool or The Smoking Gunns aren't better teams; they are just more accomplished in terms of titles and awards. Savage and Hogan's impact and popularity have them primed to knock off some higher seeds once the action begins.

Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit just sneak into the tournament despite putting together so many great matches. They weren't together long and barely held the tag titles for longer than two weeks. 

That puts them in a tough spot, having to face Afa and Sika right away.

SummerSlam Region

1. The Legion of Doom
2. Edge and Christian
3. Demolition
4. The Hart Foundation
5. The Rockers
6. Money Inc.
7. The Usos
8. Team Hell No
9. D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
10. The Colons
11. Rated-RKO
12. The Natural Disasters
13. The Killer Bees
14. The Brisco Brothers
15. The Two-Man Power Trip
16. Powers of Pain

This region is absolutely stacked.

The first five seeds all have legitimate arguments that that they should be in the Hall of Fame. Demolition, The Hart Foundation and The Rockers were key teams during one of the division's golden ages.

Getting by any of them is going to be tough.

The lower seeds offers some formidable foes as well. Team Hell No was a red-hot duo that delivered in the ring and in terms of funny segments. Randy Orton and Edge joining forces was also a thrill, putting two top stars in the division just as Triple H and Steve Austin did when they formed Two-Man Power Trip.

This is where the best dream matches will happen.

Royal Rumble Region

1. The New Age Outlaws
2. The British Bulldogs
3. MNM
4. The World's Greatest Tag Team
5. The Steiners
6. The Brain Busters
7. Ivan Putski and Tito Santana
8. Billy and Chuck
9. The Nasty Boys
10. Acolyte Protection Agency
11. The Brothers of Destruction
12. Rock 'N' Sock Connection
13. Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf
14. Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch
15. Goldust and Booker T
16. The Bushwhackers

The Bushwhackers' recent Hall of Fame nod has them get in the tourney, but several Worst Tag Team of the Year Awards from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter knocks them down to a low seed.

The region is an intriguing blend of teams from the late '80s/early '90s (The Brain Busters, The British Bulldogs) and more recent squads like Billy and Chuck. Those fellows get in at a surprisingly high spot thanks to two title reigns and PWI naming them the best team of 2002.

The more serious duos like the bruising Adonis and Murdoch will be looking to take them out and score what would be an upset in terms of seeding alone.

Putski and Santana are not a team some younger fans will be familiar with as their peak came in 1979 and 1980. They held onto the straps longer in their first and only reign than The Hardy Boyz did in their six total times as champ.

Survivor Series Region

1. The Hardy Boyz
2. The Valiant Brothers
3. Paul London and Brian Kendrick
4. The Blackjacks
5. Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka
6. The Quebecers
7. Strike Force
8. Kofi Kingston and R-Truth
9. Soul Patrol
10. The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff
11. Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito
12. Tony Garea and Rick Martel 
13. Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine
14. Goldust and Stardust/Cody Rhodes
15. Twin Towers
16. Kane and Big Show

Mr. Fuji shows up twice in the same region, possibly setting up a scenario where he does battle with himself. He and Tanaka were the tag kings of the early '70s, holding the belts for nearly a year starting in 1972.

Fuji later teamed up with Masa Saito in the early '80s to dominate once more. That pair of dastardly heels were champions longer than both The Dudley Boyz and The British Bulldogs. They just didn't get as many magazine awards and so have to settle for a No. 11 spot.

Like Billy and Chuck, Kingston and Truth get some love from PWI. The magazine named them the top squad in 2012. 

They will be underdogs in the tourney despite the number next to their names.

Tournament Matchup Criteria 

Seeding alone doesn't crown a winner. Once the initial matchups are finalized, the battles come down to impact, popularity, classic bouts, overall success and elements of a career that are harder to measure than title reigns. 

That is, of course, the more difficult part of the process and also the one more open for debate.

How memorable were these teams? How did they revolutionize the business? The answers to these questions help figure out who wins each fantasy match and whose tournament journey ends abruptly.

WrestleMania Region

Round of 64

• No. 1 Samoans over No. 16 Benoit and Angle
• No. 9 U.S. Express over No. 8 Legacy
• No. 5 Kane and X-Pac over No. 12 Too Cool
• No. 13 Mega Powers over No. 4 Guerreros 
• No. 6 The Shield over No. 11 Jeri-Show
• No. 3 Morrison and Miz over No. 14 Moondogs
• No. 10. Colossal Connection over No. 7 Smoking Gunns
• No. 2 Dudley Boyz over Cade and Murdoch

The Mega Powers score the first upset with a win over Eddie and Chavo. The Guerreros were a team for a longer stretch and were champions as well, but Savage and Hogan are more fondly remembered. It was a massive deal when these two got together to form a WWE dream team.

That's enough to get The Mega Powers into the second round.

A similar argument has Andre the Giant and Haku get a similar result over The Smoking Gunns. Billy and Bart Gunn were champions but during a stretch when the division was terrible. 

They were a silly pair during a silly time for the company. The star power of The Colossal Connection pushes them past the Gunns. Having Bobby Heenan at their side doesn't hurt either.

Round of 32

• No. 1 Samoans over No. 9 U.S. Express
• No. 13 Mega Powers over No. 5 Kane and X-Pac  
• No. 6 The Shield over No. 3 Morrison and Miz
• No. 2 Dudley Boyz over No. 10. Colossal Connection

The Mega Powers do it again with a win over the fun team of Kane and X-Pac. Savage and Hogan was a pairing of superheroes; Kane and X-Pac was more WWE's version of The Odd Couple. 

Fans will hold tight to memories of Hogan and Savage overcoming The Twin Towers far more than they will those of X-Pac playing sidekick to The Big Red Machine.

Reigns and Rollins get a surprise win of their own. Morrison and Miz were tag champs for longer, nearly reaching the 300-day mark. The Shield, though, had one of the hottest runs in recent memory. They brought an energy to the product that revived it.

That pushes the black-clad crew into the Sweet 16.

Round of 16

• No. 1 Samoans over No. 13 Mega Powers
• No. 2 Dudley Boyz over No. 6 The Shield 

Longevity gives the edge to The Wild Samoans. They were larger-than-life characters who remain a big part of WWE history and make their mark over a far longer stretch than Hogan and Savage.

Their Hall of Fame honors speak to that.

And good as Reigns and Rollins were when they were together, Bubba Ray and D-Von were a key cog to one of WWE's tag team golden ages. They helped popularize the use of tables, the TLC match and provided many a classic along the way. 

Elite Eight

• No. 1 Samoans over No. 2 Dudley Boyz

Talk about a dream match. Put these two squads in a No Disqualification match and just watch the destruction unfold.

The competition is extremely close at this point as both teams are all-time greats. Afa and Sika get points for dominating the division while the Dudleys are one of three outstanding duos. Their long stretch on top makes them the first team in the bracket to reach the Final Four.

SummerSlam Region

Round of 64

• No. 1 Legion of Doom over No. 16 Powers of Pain
• No. 9 DX over No. 8 Team Hell No
• No. 5 Rockers over No. 12 Natural Disasters
• No. 4 Hart Foundation over No. 13 Killer Bees
• No. 11 Rated-RKO over No. 6 Money Inc.
• No. 3 Demolition over No. 14 Briscos
• No. 7 Usos over No. 10. Colons
• No. 2 Edge and Christian over No. 15 Two-Man Power Trip

A surplus of greatness is gone in just the first round. Stiff competition ousts Money Inc., The Killer Bees and the Briscos, who had a lot of their success with other promotions.

Rated-RKO overcomes Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster thanks to it feeling like a special pairing, a Mega Power-lite. Money Inc. was more gimmicky and came in as the tag division was slowing down.

Edge and Randy Orton's biggest rivals move on as well. While Team Hell No had a sustained period of success, DX had several incarnations and reunions, giving them more time to craft their legacy.

Round of 32

• No. 1 Legion of Doom over No. 9 DX
• No. 4 Hart Foundation over No. 5 Rockers
• No. 3 Demolition over No. 11 Rated-RKO 
• No. 2 Edge and Christian over No. 7 Usos

The teams from the Hulkamania era show up big here. 

The Rockers and The Hart Foundation battled in real life many a time. Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart were on top of that competitive division while The Rockers never quite were. 

As fun as Orton and Edge were together, they can't touch what Demolition did. They hold the record for the longest tag title reign, a testament to their longevity and popularity. They remain one of the most memorable teams even if they felt like Legion of Doom ripoffs. 

Round of 16

• No. 4 Hart Foundation over No. 1 Legion of Doom 
• No. 2 Edge and Christian over No. 3 Demolition

In a bracket of best pro wrestling teams, Animal and Hawk win easily. Fans remember their dominance, their presence and unique gimmick. Much of their success, though, occurred with other promotions.

Hart and Neidhart, on the other hand, were centerpieces of the WWE tag scene for much longer. That gives them the upset here.

Edge and Christian knock off a highly memorable team with a combination of humor and guts. Few teams have delivered as many hilarious skits as these two. All their antics alone would get them consideration for one of the best teams ever, but they also backed it up with wild, thrilling matches against a stacked tag team division.

Elite Eight

• No. 2 Edge and Christian over No. 4 Hart Foundation

If only this match could play out in real life, it would be an instant classic.

Both duos provided great matches and memories. Both were on top of their divisions during a time when it was loaded with talent.

It's what Edge and Christian brought outside the ring that gives them the victory here. Hart wasn't great at interviews, while Neidhart was good at them. Edge and Christian, though, compiled a greatest hits of wacky fun. 

Royal Rumble Region

Round of 64

• No. 1 Outlaws over No. 16 Bushwhackers
• No. 9 Nasty Boys over No. 8 Billy and Chuck
• No. 5 Steiners over No. 12 Rock and Sock
• No. 4 World's Greatest Tag Team over No. 13 Strongbow and Wolf
• No. 6 Brain Busters over No. 11 Brothers of Destruction
• No. 3 MNM over No. 14 Adonis and Murdoch
• No. 10 APA over No. 7 Putski and Santana
• No. 2 Bulldogs over No 15. Bookdust 

Most of the matches here follow the seeding. 

Farooq and Bradshaw provide one of the few upsets thanks to strong characters and being able to adjust. They began as the occult-inspired Acolytes before morphing into the barroom-brawling APA. That allowed them to have a greater impact on WWE history, battling on when they could have disbanded.

The Nasty Boys end Billy and Chuck's run. Their matches were better and their gimmicks will be remembered more fondly.

Billy and Chuck got much of their buzz from being controversial, making homosexuality a gimmick rather than a sexual orientation.

Round of 32

• No. 1 Outlaws over No. 9 Nasty Boys
• No. 4 World's Greatest Tag Team over No. 5 Steiners
• No. 6 Brain Busters over No. 3 MNM
• No. 2 Bulldogs over No. 10 APA

Figuring everyone's overall career would net Rick and Scott Steiner the win, but on WWE success alone, Kurt Angle's buddies move on here. They sat atop the division for a long time. The Steiners didn't dominate the same way, not as they did with WCW.

The underrated Brain Busters top Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro thanks to a better set of great matches. MNM has the edge in gimmick, but Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard rose to the top when the tag team division was overflowing with talent.

Being stellar in the ring allowed them to do that.

Round of 16

• No. 1 Outlaws over No. 4 World's Greatest Tag Team
• No. 2 Bulldogs over No. 6 Brain Busters

The Outlaws were key contributoers to the Attitude Era. It's harder to imagine pulling them from that period of history than it is imagining Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas not being around in the early '00s.

Billy Gunn and Road Dogg even had a farewell-tour run recently, adding to their notable career.

The Bulldogs win out over familiar foes by virtue of being on top for much longer. While Anderson and Blanchard briefly roosted atop the WWE tag team hierarchy, Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid did so for much of the '80s.

Elite Eight

• No. 2 Bulldogs over No. 1 Outlaws

Match quality decides this one. The Outlaws were more fun and irreverent, but the Bulldogs were more dependable in the ring. They consistently produced classics opposite teams like The Hart Foundation.

A more competitive division during their time also helps Smith and Dynamite make it to the last four teams standing.

Survivor Series Region

Round of 64

• No. 1 Hardyz over No. 16 Kane and Big Show
• No. 9 Soul Patrol over No. 8 Kingston and Truth
• No. 5 Fuji and Tanaka over No. 12 Garea and Martel
• No. 4 Blackjacks over No. 13 Beefcake and Valentine
• No. 11 Fuji and Saito over No. No. 6 Quebecers
• No. 3 London and Kendrick over No. 14 Rhodes brothers
• No. 10 Sheik and Volkoff over No. 7 Strike Force 
• No. 2 Valiant Brothers over No. 15 Twin Towers

The Foreign Legion takes out Strike Force thanks to some of the best heel heat any tag team has ever seen. Sheik and Volkoff consistently had audiences riled up over their disrespect over America.

That's plenty to move them past the entertaining but not as memorable duo of Rick Martel and Tito Santana.

Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas are easily more influential than Truth and Kingston. Soul Patrol became the first African-American team to win WWE gold. They blazed a trail that Kingston and Truth would later walk.

Round of 32

• No. 1 Hardyz over No. 9 Soul Patrol 
• No. 4 Blackjacks over No. 5 Fuji and Tanaka
• No. 11 Fuji and Saito over No. 3 London and Kendrick 
• No. 2 Valiant Brothers over No. 10 Sheik and Volkoff 

The high-flying London and Kendrick were exciting and had a lengthy reign as champs. Fuji and Saito, though, had the bigger impact. They had fans seething with hatred.

Strangely enough, Fuji's team with Tanaka was even better, but they face a tougher opponent in this tourney—the Hall of Fame cowboys The Blackjacks. 

Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza were even more memorable characters than Fuji and Tanaka. They were such a hit that WWE tried to recreate their magic from the '70s some 20 years later.

The Valiant Brothers were innovators, bringing flair to the mat game before it was as commonplace as it is today. That and their longevity pushes them past the great heel combo of Sheik and Volkoff. 

Round of 16

• No. 1 Hardyz over No. 4 Blackjacks 
• No. 2 Valiant Brothers over No. 11 Fuji and Saito

Had The Blackjacks stuck around WWE longer, there would be more of an argument to have them upset Matt and Jeff Hardy. The cowboys did a lot of their damage in WCCW and elsewhere. Besides, The Hardyz just had so many great matches.

All of their ladder-centric bouts with Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz are among WWE's all-time best.

The Valiant Brothers get another win by staying on top of the tag team mountain for an impressive stretch. They thrived in the middle of the '70s before forming an alternate version of the team in 1978.

How much they inspired future showmen nets them the win over a pair of outstanding heels.

Elite Eight

• No. 1 Hardyz over No. 2 Valiant Brothers

The Valiant Brothers, like The Blackjacks, moved around too much to beat out Matt and Jeff. They had hot streaks with WWE before moving onto other companies.

The Hardy Boyz, meanwhile, stuck around during a stretch where the division was loaded with talent and rose to the top several times.

Final Four and Championship Match

• No. 2 Edge and Christian over No. 1 Samoans
• No. 1 Hardyz over No. 2 Bulldogs
• No. 2 Edge and Christian over No. 1 Hardyz 

With the 64-team bracket shrunk down to just four, the debates over who is best becomes a huge challenge. It becomes a game of comparing excellence to excellence

Edge and Christian nudge past Afa and Sika with better matches and the advantage of all of their backstage antics. The Wild Samoans had a memorable gimmick, but the five-second pose and "reeking of awesomeness" have become iconic parts of WWE history.

They end up facing old foes in the Hardy brothers when Matt and Jeff squeak by the Bulldogs.

That matchup features two teams with plenty of classics on their resume, memorable personalities and impressive reigns as the best duo in the division. Victory comes by way of a longer stay. Matt and Jeff wrestled for WWE for a touch longer and also reunited in the late '00s.

That sets up a collision between two teams that did so on screen time and time again.

Either team wouldn't have had the success that it did without the other. They were each other's archenemies and best opponents. It's Edge and Christian's goofy charisma that sets them apart. 

They were the total package, daredevils and comedians, heroes and class clowns. That combination makes them the gold standard in tag teams—at least until the next all-time great pairing comes along.

All championship statistics courtesy of WWE.com.