The 1990s were up and down for tag teams in WWE. As the decade started, the division was strong, packed with amazing teams like Demolition, the Hart Foundation, the Rockers, Power & Glory, the Legion of Doom, the Nasty Boys, and more. But as the years went on, the division got weaker with more ad hoc teams and shorter title reigns. It was all filled with a lot of bad teams.

Some just weren’t bad, but they really had no place in WWE at all. They were guys either unprepared or past their prime and used as barely more than jobbers. Others were just a waste of a signing and did nothing to help the division. Here’s the most useless tag team for WWE in every year of the 1990s as a reminder of how much bad there was in this decade.

1990: The Bolsheviks Were Just There

They Never Got Any Real Push

For a few years, the Bolsheviks were just….there. Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov were classic old-school Russian heel characters, yet their tenure from 1988 to 1990 was barely above jobber status. They’d be used for Saturday Night’s Main Event or multi-team matches, but otherwise, they really had no backing or flash in the ring.

1990 kept up the trend with the team hitting a low point by losing to the Hart Foundation at WrestleMania 6 in 18 seconds. Things got worse between them and with the Cold War ending, there was no need for the evil Russians. So Nikolai was turned face to end this team, but given how much they’d been struggling, this was almost a mercy killing.

1991: The New Foundation Didn’t Last Long

Those Outfits Were Atrocious

This could have been useful for giving Owen Hart his first big push in WWE. Yet it didn’t quite work out that way. Owen was paired with Jim Neidhart, and it sounded good on paper. Owen had the youth, speed, and high-flying, and Neidhart provided the strength and experience. But those ridiculous balloon pants and suspenders made them look foolish rather than a serious team.

They were stuck feuding with the Beverly Brothers and rarely showing off as much as they could. They had one PPV match at the 1992 Royal Rumble before Neidhart departed the company, so this team never served as the foundation for anything good.

1992: The Bushwhackers Were Too Soft

They Were Just Cashing Checks Here

Many fans may be ticked that The Sheepherders were toned down in WWE. The two men had been known for epic and bloody matches across several territories, but in WWE, they became clowns. However, Luke and Butch actually enjoyed no longer having to put their bodies on the line, just have fun and collect the paychecks. That doesn’t excuse how they took up space on the roster.

Their Royal Rumble match against the Beverly Brothers was a total slog; they had skits on TV shows with the goofy Jaimson, and they kept coming up on the losing effort in various feuds and matches. Despite that, the Bushwhackers were kept around for little reason other than licking the heads of fans, but at least they got paid for it.

1993: The Knights Were A Lousy One-Night Team

They Didn’t Even Fit The Match

The 1993 Survivor Series was going to have a big blow-off to the Bret Hart-Jerry Lawler feud dominating WWE that year. It would be Bret with brothers Owen, Keith and Bruce taking on Lawler and his three masked “Knights.” However, weeks before the show, some legal troubles forced Lawler out, so Shawn Michaels was put in his place. This means there was little reason why Shawn would have some “Knights” on his side.

The bout itself was rough, with Shawn doing most of the offense while the Knights (who were Jeff Gaylord, perennial jobber Barry Horowitz, and, believe it or not, Greg Valentine) were picked off by the Harts. Shawn eliminated Owen before bailing on the match and each of the Knights was probably grateful for the masks after this embarrassing battle.

The Barbarian Did Not Fit This Team

The Headshrinkers had been a pretty good team in WWE, sold nicely as tough wild men and even earned a run as tag team champions in mid-1994. Shortly after that loss, however, Samu left due to injuries. Rather than end the team, WWE brought in the former Barbarian, now called Sione, to take his place, throwing the entire balance of the pair off.

They were more played for comedy, getting used to wearing boots and trying to become “civilized” with few actual victories. To go from tag champs to this was embarrassing, and it was little wonder The Barbarian would jump over to WCW rather than stick to this lousy act.

1995: Tekno Team 2000 Was Only For Bill Watts

A Bad Team In A Bad Year

There were a lot of bad teams in WWE in 1995. The Blus Brothers, Well Dunn and more. Yet Tekno Team 2000 was the most useless. For some reason, Bill Watts was hired by WWE and, just as in WCW, wanted to turn his son Erik into a star. He and Chad Fortune were paired as Tekno Team 2000 with “futuristic” outfits and hair to win over fans.

Sadly, three years had done little to improve Erik in the ring and the team had little flash to them. Even WWE didn’t seem to care about them that much. To no shock, when Watts was fired after just a couple of months, the team quickly faded out of sight to make that push more meaningless.

1996: The New Rockers Wound Down Fast

This Was Doomed From The Start

Poor Marty Jannetty. A good worker, he had to watch Shawn Michaels soar to superstardom when The Rockers split while he had a couple of ad hoc pairings and a one-week run as World Tag Team Champion in 1994 with the 1-2-3 Kid. Returning to WWE in late 1995, Marty was approached by Al Snow, who told him they were now a team.

Al was giving the character of Leif Cassidy and the same Rockers style of outfits. But while Michaels and Jannetty were magic in the ring, Cassidy and Jannetty were a disaster. They lacked the chemistry of the original, and Jannetty left after a few months to be a forgettable part of this legacy.

Almost Any “New” Team Stinks

With few exceptions (New Day), it’s as if any team labeled “New” is automatically going to stink. The Blackjacks had been a classic cowboy tag team holding the WWE Tag Team Championship and were terrific in the ring. Having Blackjack Mulligan’s son Barry Windham taking up the legacy sounded right. He and Justin Bradshaw were paired together with the same outfits, down to the handlebar mustaches.

Despite looking the part, the pair didn’t gel as well in the ring. Trying to ape the original Blackjacks only held them back, as they were used in multi-team matches but little else. They eventually split after a forgettable run and yet another “new” team not connecting with fans.

Who Took The Godwinns As Enforcers?

Sometimes an act change can help a team out. This was not one of those times. The Godwinns may not have been that fun as pig farmers, yet they were still successful in WWE, including twice as champions. By 1998, they were relegated to the lower rungs and so needed a refresh. Gone was the farmer gimmick and they were now in suits and their real names of Dennis Knight and Mark Canterbury as Southern Justice.

That had some promise, except they were the flunkies for Jeff Jarrett in the ill-fated WWE-NWA “feud” and plenty of losing efforts. That included being defeated by DX and actually seeming worse in the ring. They were disbanded thanks to injury, yet they might have been better with no change than this.

1999: Public Enemy Were An Ill Fit

No One In WWE Wanted Them

If anyone in ECW benefited from Paul Heyman’s booking, it was Public Enemy. Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge were rough workers, but under Heyman’s hand, they got over as a great tag team, smashing tables and enthralling fans. But taken out of ECW and into other companies, their weaknesses were laid bare. By 1999, they were in rough shape burning bridges when they joined WWE.

From day one, the pair weren’t accepted backstage with serious beef with various workers. They lasted just two months, losing to the APA and other teams while not given a chance to show off their usual fun moves. Thus, the Enemy never had a chance in WWE and hiring them on in the first place was a waste.