Wrestling has long relied on the "repackage" to keep a worker fresh. Sometimes, it works wonderfully as all it takes is a new look or name to turn an okay worker into a superstar (babyface Rocky Maivia becoming the arrogant The Rock). Other times, it can be bad, ruining a promising star and setting back a career. As with so much in wrestling, it's tricky to tell what can work or not and that goes double for a tag team.
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Sometimes, a repackaged team just gives them a fresher look or a new name (LOD 2000). Other times, it's a total remake of the team, a new outlook, characters, and more. Sometimes, it's just what the team needed to become stars and led to huge success. Other times, the repackage hurt the team and led to failure. These are ten notable tag team repackages in wrestling to show how a little reworking could occasionally lead to some magic.
10 The APA
Ron Simmons and John Layfield had been bouncing around WWE with some rough tag teams and poor gimmicks. In 1998, they were put with the Undertaker as his cultish Acolytes, mostly just silent muscle. When the Ministry of Darkness split, the pair transformed themselves into a "protection" agency to help others for a fee.
Before long, their backstage videos of playing cards and getting into fights were a highlight of the show. It led to further tag title reigns and good pushes for both. While JBL and Simmons' "Damn" stuff was famous, the APA was also one of the most successful repackagings.
9 The Midnight Express
The Express actually had three repackagings, two good and one very bad. Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey had been a good pairing until Condrey left in 1987. Stan Lane replaced him, and this version of the Express was even better as multiple tag team champions. Condrey would pair with Randy Rose as the "Original" Midnight Express with Paul Heyman as manager.
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That also led to tag team gold and a feud with the other Midnights. In 1998, WWE tried to revive it with Bart Gunn and Bob Holly as a "New" Midnight Express, who were even NWA tag team champions. However, that was a pale imitation of the other Midnights to prove it's the talent, not the name, that gets over.
8 Harlem Heat
Some wrestlers truly dodge a bullet in a bad gimmick. The Ebony Express had done wonderfully in the old Global territory before getting a break for WCW. But the original gimmick was shocking; Kole and Lash would be led to the ring by Southern manager Col Robert Parker dressed like convicts and in chains with the idea he "won" them in a poker game.
Thankfully, the one time they tried it at a house show, the crowd nearly rioted. The pair were transformed into "street" guys named Booker T and Stevie Ray, and "Harlem Heat" were quickly one of the best teams in WCW. While the "2000" remake was bad, at least it wasn't this horrible.
7 The Wrecking Crew
In the dying days of the old American Wrestling Association, Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom were a rare fun act. The Wrecking Crew lived up to their name, reigning as tag team champions and smashing all teams in their path.
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They were left adrift when the AWA folded in 1991 before journeying to WWE. There, they were remade as Beau and Blake, the Beverly Brothers with the Genius as their manager. They had shots at the tag titles but lacked the fire they had in the AWA as this change wrecked their momentum.
6 Bludgeon Brothers
Luke Harper and Eric Rowan were a good pairing with Bray Wyatt, playing up the "backwoods cultists" aura well. Unfortunately, injuries combined with the Wyatt Family splitting saw the pair off TV for a while.
They returned as the Bludgeon Brothers, bearing huge hammers and a weird "robed monks" motif. It actually worked for a run as tag team champions, but once more, injuries cut the run short. They would return to the old act before each left WWE, yet the repackage led to Harper's biggest success in the company.
5 The Usos
Given WWE's love of Samoan wrestlers, it's no surprise the Usos got a good push off the bat. They started off looking like a new take on the Headshrinkers in bare feet and island gear, the only difference being talking more. It was good but just lacked the fire to get over.
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Enter their new "streetwise" attitude with trash talking and a meaner streak, and suddenly, they were amazingly popular. It's led to multiple tag team title reigns, spectacular matches with the New Day and others and still one of the best teams around. Adopting a new look definitely helped these brothers.
4 The Sheepherders
Look up videos of the Sheepherders and see one of the most vicious tag teams of all time. The New Zealand madmen tore up the indies and Mid-South with some of the bloodiest matches of their time. When they joined WWE in 1988, it was expected they'd have to tone the act down a bit.
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Few expected the pair to transform into a couple of goofballs who would lick the heads of fans and do comedy matches. Luke and Butch actually enjoyed no longer having to be so violent, and the act was a huge hit for the time. So while they may not have gotten the gold, the Bushwhackers were a favorite act.
3 Primo & Epico
It's been a long, strange trip for the real-life cousins. The Colons began in WWE as heels and eventually became tag team champions. They were pretty much just themselves with high-flying moves, although lacking more identity.
They were then remade into Los Matadors, masked men who came to the ring with a mini-bull and played up a "Spanish" identity. After that, they were the Shining Stars, playing up the Puerto Rico influence even more. Finally, they were just the Colons before being released in 2020. They had more names than they had title reigns.
2 The New Day
Just imagine how different WWE's main event scene might look today had the original idea for the New Day gone off. Tossed together for having nothing better to do, Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods originally had a gospel act going with Xavier as the "preacher" and even plans to come out with a full choir singing the way.
It would play on the old idea of "preach positivity," yet they didn't connect as babyfaces. It was dropped fast, and soon the New Day was allowed to be more themselves, turning heel before fans fell in love with their goofball antics prompting an organic babyface turn. It's hard to believe we'd been seeing a record number of titles had this original gimmick gone through.
1 3 Minute Warning
WWE does love to push a "Wild Samoan" act now and then. Matt Anoa'i and Eddie Fatu started in the mid-1990s working with Eddie's brother Solafa (later known as Rikishi) in his "make a difference" street character.
After that ended poorly, they spent time in the indies before being remade as 3 Minute Warning, Eric Bischoff's flunkies who would attack other teams, including Billy & Chuck. They were split with Rosey teaming up with the Hurricane, eventually becoming tag team champions, while Jamal later returned as Umaga. Despite their relatively quick split, were a unique team for their time.
