This year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated made the decision to start their first-ever ranked tag team list, the PWI Tag Team 50. Bell To Belles helped in ranking the tag teams, writing entrants for the special edition, and now, the honor of co-releasing every women’s tag team who ranked on the inaugural list.
For the purpose of ranking, tag teams were evaluated during the period between Oct. 1, 2019 and Sep. 30, 2020. The criteria utilized when ranking teams were: momentum, win record, chemistry, creativity, overall activity, and “it” factor.
Without further ado, here are the nine women’s tag teams who ranked, starting with the lowest-ranked, with their overall spot on the list and a summary of their achievements over the last year.
#50 The IIconics
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, as the IIconics, make #50 on the PWI Tag Team 50.
The duo have wrestled together since 2015, officially becoming the “IIconics” in 2018, when they debuted on SmackDown, defeating Asuka and Becky Lynch.
In the past year, they haven’t held the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, and they’ve only competed in 19 matches together as a team. Towards the end of the evaluation period, on the Aug. 31 episode of Raw, the IIconics lost a WWE Women’s Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Losers Must Disband match to The Riott Squad, separating the tag team.
Though it appears the team is split for good, Kay and Royce still deserve a spot on the list for their chemistry, popularity, skillset, and pure comedy gold.
#43 Medusa Complex
Having formed in 2019, Charli Evans and Millie McKenzie form Medusa Complex, a tag team that manages to terrorize all nations, across the globe.
The pair currently hold the EVE Tag Team Championships, a reign lasting nearly a year, which they snagged from Gisele Shaw and Sammii Jayne, in January. Medusa Complex also held the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championships during the evaluation period, dropping them to DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto in Oct. 2019.
Though COVID only allowed Medusa Complex to compete in nine matches, the pair participated in the Riptide Tag Team Tournament Finals, beating out The Rascalz, and the Dream Tag Team Invitational 2020 Qualifying Three-Way Elimination match, defeating Destination Everywhere with The Young Guns.
McKenzie is only 20 years old, and Evans is only 23, so this duo has plenty of time to wreak havoc for years to come.
#31 Tokyo Cyber Squad (Jungle Kyona & Konami)
Tokyo Cyber Squad has always ruled, but two members in particular had a stellar year as tag team partners, and were the members who ranked on the PWI list: Jungle Kyona and Konami.
Tokyo Cyber Squad started the evaluation period with the Goddesses of Stardom Championships, holding the belts until January, when they lost the titles to Bea Priestley and Jamie Hayter. As title holders, the duo participated in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2019, competing against Riho, Starlight Kid, Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima, Priestley, and Hayter, and defended their titles twice during their reign.
In February, Tokyo Cyber Squad competed against Oedo Tai for the Artist of Stardom #1 Contendership, but were defeated. In July, they once again competed for the vacant Goddesses of Stardom titles, but were defeated by Queen’s Quest. At the very end of the evaluation period, in late September, Tokyo Cyber Squad competed in a Captain’s Fall match at Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix 2020 and defeated Oedo Tai.
Stardom is well known for their spectacular team wrestling, and Tokyo Cyber Squad just proved that point further.
#29 Oedo Tai (Bea Priestley & Jamie Hayter)
When it comes to tag team relationships, Bea Priestley and Jamie Hayter were made for each other.
The two have wrestled as a team only since last October and joined Oedo Tai at different points in their Stardom tours. Hayter joined Oedo Tai in Jan. 2019, while Priestley didn’t join until early this year, leaving Queen’s Quest to join. That little detail didn’t stop them from becoming an unstoppable force, though.
The duo took part in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League in 2019, making it all the way to the finals, eventually losing to DREAM SHiNE. In January, they snagged the Goddesses of Stardom tag titles, defeating Tokyo Cyber Squad. They eventually had to vacate the title due to COVID. After time apart due to the pandemic, the pair are back in action for RevPro Epic Encounters.
As one of the most diabolical, skilled teams with an undeniable chemistry and presence, their placement on the list was inevitable.
#26 Team Sea Stars
Team Sea Stars is one of the longest standing tag teams in the women’s independent scene, and it’s not hard to see why.
Team Sea Stars, composed of Delmi Exo and Ashley Vox, have had the time of their life, over the past year. The team currently holds three titles: the Sabotage Tag Team Championships, the SHIMMER Tag Team Championships, and the BCP Tag Team Championships, which currently sits at 320 days, the shortest reign of the three.
There’s not much that can’t be said about Team Sea Stars; these women have done it all. Championships, TV programming, intergender wrestling—it was their year. If bigger promotions cared more about women’s tag team wrestling, these two would be snatched up in no time.
#22 Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
More lovingly-known as Bliss Cross Applesauce by fans, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions twice during the evaluation period.
Their first reign ended last October after 62 days, losing the titles to the Kabuki Warriors. They regained the titles again in March, holding them for 62 days again, losing them to Sasha Banks and Bayley.
The team competed together at Hell in a Cell, Starrcade, Backlash, and even WrestleMania 36, where they defeated the Kabuki Warriors to win the tag titles.
Though Bliss seems more occupied with other ventures at the moment, the two will always remain friends in fans’ hearts.
#20 Queen’s Quest (Momo Watanabe, Utami Hayashishita, AZM, & Saya Kamitani)
Three members of Queen’s Quest had a particularly successful year: Momo Watanabe, Utami Hayashishita, and Saya Kamitani.
Watanabe and Hayashishita, along with AZM, held the Artist of Stardom Championships from November until February. Kamitani and Hayashishita currently hold the Goddesses of Stardom Championships, which they’ve held since July.
The trio were some of the most active wrestlers on Stardom’s roster, defending their titles numerous times, participating in every match they could, and reminding why the demand everyone bows down to their greatness.
Fans are more than willing to bow down (especially our friend and Stardom know-it-all, JPQ). Knowing how young and talented these three are with only a handful of years under their belts, we better get use to bowing down.
#9 Kabuki Warriors
The departure of Kairi Sane in July ended the upward trajectory of the Kabuki Warriors’ dynasty, but they still accomplished enough to rank them in the top 10 of this inaugural list.
The Kabuki Warriors’ WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship title reign lasted 171 days between October and March, after which, they dropped the titles to Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in a surprise loss at WrestleMania 36. During the last year, as a team, they also competed at Hell in a Cell, Survivor Series, Starrcade, Tribute to the Troops, TLC, and across all three brands.
Though they lost more than they won during their last year of competing together, Kabuki Warriors were favored by fans for their known skillset, promo presence, and genuine friendship. We will always remember what a legacy the Kabuki Warriors left, and we will always wonder what could have been.
#3 Golden Role Models
There’s no surprise as to who the highest-ranking women’s tag team is on this inaugural list, especially considering Bayley ranked #1 and Sasha Banks ranked #5 on PWI Women’s 100.
These real life best friends had in-ring chemistry only two soulmates could really portray, matching their talent, wit, charisma, and ambition to the very end.
Though once named Boss ‘N Hug Connection, when Bayley turned heel, the duo opted for a different approach to dominating the WWE women’s divisions. They held the WWE Tag Team titles for a surprisingly short amount of time after grabbing them from Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross; their second reign lasting only 96 days. They defended the titles only a handful of times before they lost the titles to Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler at Payback in August.
Though they had a short reign, and really weren’t considered the defending champs we know they could be, they were the reason most wrestling fans, especially women’s wrestling fans, tuned into WWE programming. Their highly entertaining antics and larger than life personalities proved to be the best part of weekly WWE television.
The duo have of course ended their friendship, and their working relationship, as a result. But WWE won’t keep them separated for too long. They would be stupid to keep them apart.
Pre-order the physical copy of the PWI Tag Team 50 today here. Stay glued to PWI on Twitter for the digital release to see the entire list early.
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