5. APA (4)

I'm not sure if it is because of their limits as interesting in-ring performers, or if its Farooq's failing health, but I think the APA went as high as they'll ever go last year when they ranked fourth. Sure, they won their 3rd Tag Team Titles as they were the voice of the boys in the back for the WWF during the whole Invasion angle (which was a nice reward for their good vignette work, but I suspect had more to do with the Dudley Boyz switching sides to ECW), and I bet there is a good chance that they could win the Tag Titles again in their future. But they've hit the glass ceiling as a duo. Bradshaw may have a future as a singles competitor, but until Farooq gets healthy, or moves on, he'll never have a chance to find out. This is not to slight Farooq, who still possesses the most impressive Spinebuster in the business, I suspect he's just been slowed down by too many injuries throughout his career. Still, the APA did have some highlights in 2001, not the least of which was Farooq's delivery of the most underrated catchphrase in the WWF: "DAMN!".

4. EDGE AND CHRISTIAN (1)

Titles Held: WWF Tag Team Titles, 3X (39 days), Intercontinental Championship- Edge, 3X (93 days), Christian (28 days), U.S. Title- Edge (52 days), European Championship- Christian (62 days), 2001 King of the Ring- Edge. PPVs main-evented: 0. PPV Tag Team Title Matches: 3 (vs. Dudley Boyz, Royal Rumble; Triple Threat Table Match vs. Dudley Boyz and Undertaker and Kane, No Way Out; TLC II vs. Dudley Boyz and Hardy Boyz, Wrestlemania X-Seven). First Place Finishes: 2. Second Place Finishes: 2. Third Place Finishes: 0. Top Ten Finishes: 9.

The best tag team of 2000 falls to fourth place in 2001, and strangely enough, it was because of their success, not because of any failures. They were well on their way to at least challenging for the number one spot when they were broken up to explore singles careers, a move that turned out to be quite successful (so successful, in fact, that at least one of them should appear in the singles year end ranking: stay tuned). I should state that the statistics above are a bit misleading, only one of Edge's Intercontinental reigns and none of Christian's title reigns came when the duo were together. But this is the Tag Team Rankings, so I should focus on E&C as a team. As a team, they finished on top in what might have been 2001's most electrifying match, TLC II at Wrestlemania; they became seven-time Tag Team Champions; and continued to be the funniest non-gimmick team in all of wrestling.

3. UNDERTAKER AND KANE (-)

Titles Held: WWF Tag Team Titles, 2X (49 days), WCW Tag Team Titles, (79 days), Intercontinental Championship- Kane (37 days), Hardcore Title- Undertaker (22 days), Kane (15 days). PPVs main-evented (as a team): 4 (Royal Rumble Match, Royal Rumble; All-Titles on the Line vs. Triple H and Austin, Backlash; Team WWF vs. Team WCW/ECW, Invasion; Winner Takes All Match, Survivor Series). PPV Tag Team Title Matches: 4 (Triple Threat Table Match vs. Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, No Way Out; All-Titles on the Line vs. Triple H and Austin, Backlash; Title for Title Steel Cage Match vs. DDP and Kanyon, Summerslam; WCW Tag Title Match vs. Kronik, Unforgiven). First Place Finishes: 1. Second Place Finishes: 1. Third Place Finishes: 2. Top Ten Finishes: 9.

Few teams were as successful as The Brothers of Destruction in 2001, either as a duo or as individuals. However, they didn't rank as high as other teams throughout the year for one simple reason: they didn't always function as a unit. Most of the time they were pursuing their own agendas, then were thrown together in time for a Pay Per View. Still, no team benefitted more this year from the absence of a few key superstars. When The Rock left and Austin turned heel, the WWF needed faces to challenge Austin and Triple H, so it was Undertaker and Kane's turn to lead the faces of the WWF, and they did at Backlash and Judgment Day. The problem is, they kinda sucked at it. Then when Triple H and Chris Benoit went down, Kane and Undertaker once again were thrust into the main events at Invasion and Survivor Series when the WWF needed five top guys to face the Alliance. Sure, the Undertaker would have probably been there anyway, but does anyone believe that Kane would have represented the WWF at Invasion or Survivor Series had Helmsley or Benoit been available?

2. THE HARDY BOYZ (2)

Titles Held: WWF Tag Team Titles, 2X (20 days), WCW Tag Team Titles, (15 days), Intercontinental Championship- Jeff Hardy (5 days), Hardcore Title- Jeff Hardy, 2X (18 days); European Title- Matt Hardy (123 days); Light Heavyweight Title- Jeff Hardy (20 days). PPVs main-evented (as a team): 1 (Royal Rumble Match, Royal Rumble). PPV Tag Team Title Matches: 4 (TLC II vs. Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, Wrestlemania X-Seven; Fatal Four Way Elimination Match for WWF Titles vs. Dudley Boyz, The Hurricane and Lance Storm, and Big Show and Spike Dudley, Unforgiven; vs. The Hurricane and Lance Storm for WCW Tag Titles, No Mercy; Tag Team Unification Steel Cage Match vs. Dudley Boyz, Survivor Series). First Place Finishes: 2. Second Place Finishes: 3. Third Place Finishes: 4. Top Ten Finishes: 13.

The Hardy Boyz were named Tag Team of the Year through a vote at WWFYearInReview.com, which is more a testament to their popularity, rather than their success. Don't get me wrong, The Hardys had a great year (second place is nothing to turn your nose up against), but, like the two teams above them, their success as a duo was weakened by their success as individuals. Matt held the European title for most of the year, and, perhaps more importantly, was Lita's boyfriend for most of the year (far more prestigious than the European Title). Jeff turned in some of the most breathtaking performances of the year during his Hardcore Title PPV bouts with Rob Van Dam, shocked the world by beating Triple H for the Intercontinental Title, and tried to breath some life into the Light Heavyweight Title. The high point of the year for Team Extreme (other than their participation in TLC II at Wrestlemania) had to have been their one week confrontation with Stone Cold and Triple H, which generated huge fan interest and could have provided the WWF a real chance to elevate two of its most popular performers. Ultimately, the Hardy Boyz played second-fiddle to the Undertaker and Kane, which led to some incredibly uncreative programming, and would continue to play second-fiddle to another tag team for the rest of the year.

1. THE DUDLEY BOYZ (3)

Titles Held: WWF Tag Team Titles, 5X (147 days), WCW Tag Team Titles, (69 days- The Dudley Boyz unified the two tag title belts). PPVs main-evented (as a team): 1 (Team WWF vs. Team WCW/ECW, Invasion). PPV Tag Team Title Matches: 8 (vs. Edge and Christian, Royal Rumble; Triple Threat Table Match vs. Edge and Christian and Undertaker and Kane, No Way Out; TLC II vs. Edge and Christian and Hardy Boyz, Wrestlemania X-Seven; vs. Kane and Spike Dudley, King of the Ring; Fatal Four Way Elimination Match for WWF Titles vs. Hardy Boyz, The Hurricane and Lance Storm, and Big Show and Spike Dudley, Unforgiven; vs. Big Show and Tajiri for WWF Tag Titles, No Mercy; Tag Team Unification Steel Cage Match vs. Hardy Boyz, Survivor Series, vs. Big Show and Kane, Vengeance). First Place Finishes: 9. Second Place Finishes: 2. Third Place Finishes: 0. Top Ten Finishes: 13.

That tag team would of course be Bubba Ray and D-Von, the Dudley Boyz. There really can be no doubt that they were the true Tag Team of the Year, winning the WWF TItles on five seperate occasions, the WCW Tag Team Titles once, unifying the two Tag Titles, and holding championship gold for almost 60% of the year. Add to those staggering numbers the fact that the Dudleyz fought in tag title matches in 8 of the 12 PPVs (2 PPVs featured no tag title matches), appeared in the main event of Invasion as members of Team WCW/ECW, and perhaps most importantly, finished first in my rankings 9 out of 13 times, and you have dominance not seen since the likes of The New Age Outlaws or the Legion of Doom. Later in the year it was easier for the Dudleyz to stay on top, given the absolute lack of depth in the tag team division, but this should not discredit their accomplishments. Consider that earlier in the year three of arguably the best teams in WWF history, plus three super-team pairings of top Federation singles competitors (Undertaker and Kane, Austin and Triple H, Jericho and Benoit), were all vying for the top spot in the tag team division. When the dust settled, more often then not, The Dudley Boyz were still standing at number one.

For more WWF content on this site, click on any of the following:

THE YEAR 2000- YEAR IN REVIEW- See how the superstars of the WWF stacked up using my rankings system for the entire year 2000. Who was number 1, The Rock or Triple H? Who were the top tag teams? Also, the title pictures for each belt from the WWF Championship all the way down to the Light Heavyweight Title, with my own commentary on each reign.

LITA- ONE MAN'S OBSESSION- I admit, I am in love with Lita. I also admit that this behaviour has become a bit of an obsession. See pictures of the Team Extreme Diva, biographical info and random career facts, while I attempt to come to terms with the fact that I am in love with someone I see on TV.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS- Ranking archives dating back to November 2000. Missed a posting? Want to track my biases? Find all past information here.

READER RESPONSES- Got an opinion? Share it with me by e-mailing me, and see your opinion posted, along with my response, here.

SITE AWARDS- Here I list the multitude of awards (who knows? Maybe one day there will be a multitude of awards) that WWF Rankings has received.