5 WWE Superstars and the name of their first tag team
As any long-term WWE viewers will know, it takes a lot of work for a WWE tag team to become successful.
The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods), for example, initially debuted as a babyface trio who received overwhelmingly negative reactions from the WWE Universe.
On an episode of their Feel The Power podcast, the three WWE Superstars reeled off a list of 52 names that they could have been called instead of The New Day, including The Tribe, Perfect Harmony, and House of Positive Energy (HOPE).
While those names almost certainly would not have worked out for The New Day, several Superstars on the WWE roster were given even more questionable tag team names earlier in their careers.
In this article, let’s take a look at five famous WWE Superstars’ original tag team partners and names.
#5 Sheamus & Yoshi Tatsu (The Movers and Shakers - WWE developmental)
Sheamus has formed alliances with Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, and Wade Barrett (The League of Nations) and Cesaro (The Bar) in recent years on WWE television, but did you know that his first WWE tag team partner was actually Yoshi Tatsu?
During their time in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), Sheamus joined forces with Tatsu (then known as Mr. Yamamoto) to form The Movers and Shakers.
According to wrestling stats database Cagematch.net, the unlikely duo’s only match together ended in defeat against two up-and-coming Superstars at the time, Jake & Jesse (The Gymini).
It has been speculated for a long time that Tatsu once won a fight against Sheamus during their days in WWE’s developmental system.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast in 2020, Sheamus explained that he used to live in an apartment with Tatsu and Ted DiBiase Jr.
The Irishman once called out Tatsu for not paying his share of the bills, leading to a brief physical altercation between the two men.
“So we had a couple of constant conflicts whatever, and then it kind of boiled over one time. It was a bit of a shoving thing, and he took slap at me. I took a slap at him, and that was it. It was like two handbags, me and him fighting at each other.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
Sheamus clarified that the dispute only lasted around a minute and, contrary to what people might have heard, Tatsu did not knock him out.