It’s a wrestling tale as old as time – one member of a tag team breaking out and becoming a huge singles star, and one being left behind, floundering.
By far the most popular example of this is The Rockers – Shawn Michaels went on to become, well, Shawn Michaels, and Marty Jannetty went on to become, well, Marty Jannetty.
In writing this, I realised it is a somewhat flawed concept in some cases, but I’ve treated it as a gun-to-my-head situation where if I HAD to pick who WWE would choose to win a singles world title right now, this would be who I’d predict.
And that’s the important part – this isn’t my personal opinion. It’s more a prediction of which partner WWE sees in which role, not who I personally see in which role. And it’s a reflection of CURRENT circumstance, not past success.
You’ll get it as I explain them individually, I promise.
To simplify it, the general rule is this – if WWE was to put the world title on either tag team member right now, which one would it be.
Another thing to mention is that this is of course a pretty fluid situation – if any new tag teams emerge or disband, this list will be updated to reflect that, and likewise, if WWE’s booking very heavily suggests a change in heart about any particular tag team members, we’ll update that too.
Inspired by the recent speculation of the Street Profits splitting up, here’s our attempt at picking the Michaels and Jannetty of every current WWE tag team.
Street Profits
Michaels: Montez Ford
Jannetty: Angelo Dawkins
All the recent speculation of a potential Street Profits split is the reason the idea to write this came into my head to begin with.
The overwhelming majority of people, seemingly including WWE, have always seen Montez Ford as the breakout star of the team, and that doesn’t appear to have changed.
Dawkins has reportedly been impressing WWE officials a lot lately, so maybe this won’t be as easy a choice as everyone seemed to think, but I still think Ford is just destined to reach the very top one day.
Aliyah & Raquel Rodriguez
Michaels: Raquel Rodriguez
Jannetty: Aliyah
This list becomes easier to write when WWE begins showing me exactly what the dynamic of a team is on their television show.
Raquel Rodriguez has been presented as a future top women’s star ever since her main roster debut, and Aliyah is very much looked at as the weak link between the two. Bayley literally said this to her face in a promo.
So yeah, this team will be a simple pitstop on Raquel’s rise, while for Aliyah it may be her peak.
The Dyad
Michaels: Rip Fowler
Jannetty: Jagger Reid
With the new regime and the return of black and gold encroaching, I expect the Dyad to not be long for this world, and Triple H will bring back the Grizzled Young Veterans.
However, whether as the Dyad or as GYV, it’s Rip Fowler/Zack Gibson that gets the promo time between the two, so he’d likely be the one in line for the singles run if, for whatever reason, the duo split.
Alpha Academy
Michaels: Chad Gable
Jannetty: Otis
This one was really quite hard to pick.
WWE already tried with Otis a couple of years ago. He had a Universal Championship match against Braun Strowman and won Money in the Bank.
Then WWE got cold feet on the idea of him being one of its top champions, and took Money in the Bank off him to give it to The Miz.
If it didn’t happen then, I don’t think it’s gonna happen now. Otis is rooted into his role.
Gable, on the other hand, has done enough since the formation of the Alpha Academy to prove he can hang at the top level in just about every facet of wrestling. The in-ring, the verbal, he has it all.
Gallus
Michaels: Mark Coffey
Jannetty: Wolfgang
I still think it is bizarre that the two brothers in Gallus are not the tag team, but here we are.
Between Coffey and Wolfgang, Coffey seems more like someone that would get the singles push. This actually already happened in NXT UK, when he captured the Heritage Cup for like two weeks.
Wolfgang, despite being part of the team, feels like the third wheel.
RK-Bro
Michaels: Randy Orton
Jannetty: Matt Riddle
This might be the one where the idea of a Michaels and Jannetty comparison applies the least, but I’ve given it a go.
WWE loves Randy Orton. Like, LOVES Randy Orton.
WWE seems to really like Riddle too, but enough to make him the top champion? I’m not sure about that.
Out of the two, it has to be Orton. There is undoubtedly more chance that Orton wins another World Title than Riddle wins his first.
Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen
Michaels: Brooks Jensen
Jannetty: Josh Briggs
When I put these two in here, I originally out of instinct went with Josh Briggs as the Michaels, and Brooks as the Jannetty.
Thinking about it further, I have reversed that choice.
Brooks is the one who is the focal point of the two. He’s used as a comedic punching bag, sure, but he’s the one that people care about.
Briggs has the size advantage, which is why I originally had him as the Michaels, but in the Triple H era that isn’t as much of an advantage as it used to be.
Fallon Henley will be the biggest star of the three, but as their careers grow, I expect Briggs to more so be the ‘Tucker’ to Brooks’ ‘Otis’.
Edris Enofe & Malik Blade
Michaels: Edris Enofe
Jannetty: Malik Blade
I must preface this by saying I mean absolutely no disrespect to Malik Blade when I type these words.
This could be the most obvious choice on this list, and may end up as one of the most notable modern equivalents.
Edris Enofe will be a star in WWE, he has the look and the charisma to make it all the way to the top if he spends a bit more time in developmental.
Malik Blade is his friend. His gimmick is that he’s a dork and Edris is cool. That is the literal presentation that NXT is putting out there, so obviously fans will react accordingly.
Rick Boogs & Shinsuke Nakamura
Michaels: Shinsuke Nakamura
Jannetty: Rick Boogs
This is actually the first entry on this list that switched due to the regime change.
Boogs is a jacked charismatic man, and he is very over, so he would have been someone Vince McMahon and the old regime would have loved to give a push to.
Triple H however will likely give it to Nakamura. He made him the face of NXT for almost a year when he first came to WWE, and Shinsuke is still over with the crowds to this day.
I no longer believe Shinsuke has no chance in hell, pardon the pun, at winning a top title one day.
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
Michaels: Katana Chance
Jannetty: Kayden Carter
Katana Chance has been in NXT for like four years now and only just won her first championship, so obviously you could look at stats like that and think her future wouldn’t look bright.
However, she has the ninja entrance and has everything to be a great underdog women’s star, more so than Kayden.
Kayden is really good too, I just think Katana is the woman they’d lean towards here.
Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon
Michaels: Valentina Feroz
Jannetty: Yulisa Leon
I feel awful for Yulisa Leon.
Valentina Feroz has always, to me, felt like the member of the team that WWE was hoping to make a singles star in the future, with the team being a way to get her more experienced.
Now, Yulisa has torn her ACL and is out for 9 months, giving Feroz nearly a year of singles action to establish herself before she returns.
This seems inevitable now. Talk about awful timing.
Hit Row
Michaels: Top Dolla
Jannetty: Ashante Adonis
With Swerve now in AEW, Hit Row is now just a duo of Top Dolla and Ashante Adonis, and yeah this seemed very obvious to me.
The Vince McMahon regime saw Top Dolla as the star, and cut the group when he was deemed difficult to work with (which translated to Top Dolla asking WWE why B-Fab wasn’t travelling to SmackDown).
Triple H loves Top Dolla too, and kept in contact with him during his time away from WWE. He’s the singles star here.
Pretty Deadly
Michaels: Elton Prince
Jannetty: Kit Wilson
As a team that give young Rockers vibes, it seems too early to look at either member as a Shawn or a Marty right now.
Perhaps that will become more obvious over time, but for the time being I will pick Elton Prince, because his name is Elton Prince, and that name rules.
Omos & MVP
Michaels: Omos
Jannetty: MVP
Of course MVP is more of a manager to Omos than a tag partner, but he does wrestle occasionally, so I’ve included them anyway.
That said, it’s pretty obvious which one WWE sees as the star out of the two.
The Miz & Tommaso Ciampa
Michaels: Tommaso Ciampa
Jannetty: The Miz
So this is where that little disclaimer from earlier comes into effect the most.
The Miz is the quintessential WWE star, he was WWE Champion as recently as last year, so naturally he’d be the one of the two that would get the push?
But now Triple H is in charge, and that man LOVES him some Tommaso Ciampa. Pretty sure his three favourite things on earth are Stephanie McMahon, Motorhead and Tommaso Ciampa.
So yeah, now the regime has changed this team is designed for Miz to get Ciampa over, not vice versa.
Los Lotharios
Michaels: Angel
Jannetty: Humberto
Humberto is no slouch. He’s great himself and is still very young, but Angel (Garza) is extra charismatic.
Humberto was floating around on the main roster while Triple H was pushing Garza in NXT, with him becoming the Cruiserweight Champion. He also has the ripping off the pants spot that always gets a pop.
He’s the one I’d expect Trips to hitch his wagon to.
Indus Sher
Michaels: Veer
Jannetty: Sanga
WWE sees Veer as the bigger star.
He’s the one that got the call up, he has the Disney movie, he’s younger. All of that stuff.
Viking Raiders
Michaels: Ivar
Jannetty: Erik
Ivar was injured from September 2020 until April 2021. What did Erik do during that time? Popped up on Raw Underground maybe twice, but that was it.
If WWE was ever going to think about using Erik as a single, that would have been the time to do it.
Would it have been the same for Ivar if it was the other way around? Quite possibly, but I’ll go with him because we haven’t seen the actual evidence of it yet.
The Creed Brothers
Michaels: Julius Creed
Jannetty: Brutus Creed
Both Creed Brothers are awesome, but Julius Creed is going to be WWE Champion one day.
He’s got charisma and he’s got freak athleticism, being able to hit a shooting star press and whatever that was against Pretty Deadly in the Steel Cage.
Brutus smash and the cannonball will also be big crowd poppers, but Julius Creed is exactly what WWE was hoping Gable Steveson would be.
Imperium
Michaels: Ludwig Kaiser
Jannetty: Giovanni Vinci
Ludwig has gone from being the sideman of Gunther to a tag team star alongside Giovanni Vinci, and Imperium are set to rule SmackDown soon.
This was a very hard decision to make. On one hand, Vinci had the months of being a singles star in NXT when he stayed behind after Ludwig and Gunther went up to SmackDown.
On the other hand, the main roster fans already know Ludwig, so that familiarity would likely see him be chosen as the one that would be pushed.
Legado Del Fantasma
Michaels: Cruz Del Toro
Jannetty: Joaquin Wilde
Legado are only just finding their footing on SmackDown, so the idea of a breakup seems bizarre for a long time.
If WWE had to pick one to be a solo star, I’d go with Cruz Del Toro, as he is younger and has been in NXT for a long time.
Jinder Mahal & Shanky
Michaels: Jinder Mahal
Jannetty: Shanky
Good ol’ Skyscraping Dancing Shanky has been really fun on SmackDown, but that’s his thing – fun. And I don’t see him breaking out of that.
If WWE was to go beserk on the India market again, it would probably be either Veer or Sanga that they’d push, not one of these two.
But if it’s between Jinder and Shanky, I think Jinder gets the nod just based on his past credibility.
Toxic Attraction
Michaels: Gigi Dolin
Jannetty: Jacy Jayne
WWE has seemingly been high on Gigi Dolin for a while, she definitely has the charismatic presence and carries herself like a star.
Jacy Jayne does too, and I actually disagree with the choice here, but Gigi seems more like someone WWE would push to the very top.
Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams
Michaels: Carmelo Hayes
Jannetty: Trick Williams
Trick is literally the hype man for Carmelo Hayes. He’s great at that and there is no need for that to change.
Ideally Melo would get the big push with Trick by his side, but if they broke up, he’d still get the big push anyway.
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
Michaels: Xavier Woods
Jannetty: Kofi Kingston
This is a very interesting one, because it’s essentially a question of – is WWE more likely to make Kofi Kingston a two-time world champion, or make Xavier Woods a one-time world champion?
For the vast majority of teams in this article, I’ve used the logic of ‘WWE is more likely to use a trusted main eventer as a top guy than elevate someone new’.
I think this is one of the few exceptions.
The story of all three members of New Day having become world champion is something that I think will always be in WWE’s mind until they pull the trigger.
Tony D’Angelo & Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo
Michaels: Tony D’Angelo
Jannetty: Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo
Tony D’Angelo is now considered an established enough name on the NXT brand to help get over other newer stars, but at the end of the day I can’t see Stacks taking over D’Angelo’s success.
If they were to split, it seems more like a Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss situation here.
Maximum Male Models
Michaels: mån.sôör
Jannetty: ma.çé
Other than being a somewhat unproven entity in the ring, ma.çé theoretically has everything WWE would want in a top star.
However, mån.sôör is from Saudi Arabia.
For as long as WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia exists, you can never write off the possibility of a huge push in his future.
Damage CTRL
Michaels: IYO SKY
Jannetty: Dakota Kai
Right.
So the comparisons between Damage CTRL and the Shield, to me, seem accurate, and that seems to be the dynamic that Triple H is going for, but Dakota and IYO are the tag team as of right now.
So we then look at the individual components between that duo, and who would be more likely to be pushed to the top.
Dakota Kai spent 6 years in NXT, and she had several title matches on Takeovers, but left the developmental brand with two tag championship reigns at a combined 3 days and one hour.
IYO was the NXT Women’s Champion for over 300 days, and also won the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship. IYO has also only been pinned once since the group’s formation, while Dakota has taken more.
Looking at it like that, the choice seems clear.
The Usos
Michaels: Jey Uso
Jannetty: Jimmy Uso
The Usos are of course one of the hardest duos to separate on this list, and for a while it would have been virtually impossible.
However, during the ThunderDome era, Jey proved himself to be more than a good hand in the main event scene.
Jimmy hasn’t had the same chance to prove whether he can do the same or not, but that’s just the way it goes.
If WWE had to choose, they’d go with the option that’s already been tested, and worked.
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