Wrestling’s worst double acts

[RedTwoster]

Inspired by the fiasco that was Mercedes Mone and Kamille.

Which wrestling double acts shat the bed every time they appeared on screen? It doesn’t necessarily have to be tag teams - it could be bodyguard wrestling combos, commentary teams or manager/wrestler pairings. 
 

My picks… 

Michael Cole & Jonathan Coachman

A very short-lived commentary team - Coach became Cole’s announce partner on Smackdown after JBL returned to wrestling after his first stint at the desk. And they had virtually no chemistry - taking away from the product, turning ‘babbling on about nothing’ into an art-form. Coach was - rightly - replaced by Mick Foley mere months after taking the role.

Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely

To be fair on Chavo, I don’t think he was at fault in this duff partnership. I’m not sure who Neely would have had chemistry with - he was about as bland a big man as you could ever hope to find, extending from his look, to his wrestling ability. He made me want to see Chavo less, which was quite the feat as I didn’t really want to see him anyway.

Kenny Omega and Don Callis

Probably my most controversial pick, but hear me out…for me, Don Callis brought out the worst of Kenny Omega from a character perspective. He was doing perfectly fine as a heel without him, and while I can’t say for sure that would have continued, I don’t think Callis made Omega’s act better. I’ll go a step further and say I don’t think Callis has added much of anything to any of the acts he’s managed in AEW, having a tendency to make things about him, rather than his client.

[The Gaffer]

 

 

Miz and Sandow. Yeah, I know. Don't care. He's the pre-eminent embodiment of The Content Years and always will be. 

Not pictured: One or two crap triple acts/entourages he was in. 

Please retire *clap clap clapclapclap* 

Edited December 18, 2024 by The Gaffer

[The Reverend]

Very much old school (as usual) but my god the pairing of Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes on those old Silvervision tapes was the worst commentating. 

[RedTwoster]

3 minutes ago, The Gaffer said:

Miz and Sandow. Yeah, I know. Don't care. He's the pre-eminent embodiment of The Content Years and always will be. 

Not pictured: One or two crap triple acts/entourages he was in. 

Please retire *clap clap clapclapclap* 

I’m going to put it out there…I really like Miz, and I think WWE made a huge mistake putting the WWE title on Jinder Mahal and not him during the early days of the second brand split. He’s a tremendous heel, on his day. Sorry, @The Gaffer!

[SuperBacon]

5 minutes ago, The Gaffer said:

Miz and Sandow. Yeah, I know. Don't care. He's the pre-eminent embodiment of The Content Years and always will be. 

No way! I loved Mizdow, and thought it was loads of fun.

My answer is JBL and Cole. Insufferable MAGGLE.

[The King of Old School]

Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin in 2024 WWE is definitely up there.

[DCW]

 

Rock & Debra in 2001. Made no sense on any level and her addition to the story added nothing at all. At least the two lads were so good that it didn't really damage the build up I suppose. 

[hallicks]

 

RVD & Ricardo. I’m glad there’s a photo of this and it wasn’t just some weird fever dream. Only lasted about 3 weeks. It sort of made storyline sense but a total waste of everyone’s time. 

[tiger_rick]

Not sure there's much that sums up WWE's decline through the 2000s more than these two. 2006 is a horrific year. The Rey push off the back of Eddie's death is a big reason but these two might be the biggest. Just utter dreck that kept coming back.

[garynysmon]

1 hour ago, The Reverend said:

Very much old school (as usual) but my god the pairing of Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes on those old Silvervision tapes was the worst commentating. 

Couldn't agree more.

Even aged 8 or so and lapping up absolutely anything WWF related, I couldn't fathom how bad Alfred Hayes was. I remember his deer in headlights appearance at WM 1 being a source of pisstaking at school once the VHS had made its usual rounds.

They really didn't give a shit about those coliseum video releases did they? Hayes seemed to swap from face to heel at total random.

Edited December 18, 2024 by garynysmon

[Chili]

17 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Not sure there's much that sums up WWE's decline through the 2000s more than these two. 2006 is a horrific year. The Rey push off the back of Eddie's death is a big reason but these two might be the biggest. Just utter dreck that kept coming back.

This was AWFUL. They got a three disc DVD set of this run from 2006 alone. The state of it.

[RedTwoster]

I’m not sure I even need to explain this one, but…

A tandem so bad, it turned Sammy heel, and even then it didn’t work. I’m sure they’re a wonderful couple in real life, but on screen they are detestable to the point of being unwatchable. Speaking of which…

I do wonder how differently Cody’s AEW run would have gone if not for Brandi. To be fair on her, she wasn’t a bad promo - and if used correctly, I think she would have been an asset to AEW. And heck, as a heel duo they might have been a strong act. But as it was, she drained motivation away from me ever wanting to see Cody again, something he recovered from well in WWE.

[Merzbow]

Adam Cole and MJF, brought out the absolute worst in each other and made an entire product almost unwatchable for me.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I'm almost a single issue poster at this point, but..

Hideous, right? And on his own bad enough to ruin entire weeks of your life. But, there was a time where they found a secret ingredient to make his act more insufferable, more irritating and more likely to ruin entire months of you life.

They managed to find someone to pair him with, who he had seemingly no chemistry with, no rapport and someone it didn't seem like he'd ever really spent much time with.

Yep. That's right. His actual wife.

They were absolutely intolerable together. And he's kept her wardrobe ever since.

Shite.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, The Reverend said:

Very much old school (as usual) but my god the pairing of Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes on those old Silvervision tapes was the worst commentating. 

God, this. Al was always a bit dreadful on colour, veering wildly between an out and out heel applauding baddies for intelligent cheating or slagging Virgil off for doing crap dropkicks and so on, and being fairly neutral (he seemed to get genuinely overwhelmed calling Bret winning the big belt in his dad's hometown, Saskatoon). But he was acceptable next to a proper play by play guy like Monsoon. Sean Mooney was not that man ; a fine fellow in the studio reeling off neatly scripted links, he was not an engaging commentator. Partially because everything sounded overly scripted and dispassionate (no, he did not attend Gorilla's masterclass on selling a "miscarriage of justice") but also because he bought into terrible second rate nicknames for the wrestlers, which always felt a bit clunky for guys performing under silly gimmick names already. Now, I never expected "Earthquake cheated, for fuck's sake! The fat cunt hit Tugboat with Jimmy Hart's fucking megaphone, this is bullshit!!" .... but I'd have loved a middle ground between that and what we got - "The fans here in Tupelo, not happy with what transpired here between The Walking Natural Disaster, and the Sailing Superstar."