The World's Greatest Tag Team was a professional wrestling tag team in the WWE. The team consisted of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, and started out captained by Kurt Angle, during which time they were known as Team Angle.

History

Initial run (2002-2004)

The tag team made their debut on the December 26, 2002 edition of WWE's SmackDown!. Paul Heyman introduced the team under the name Team Angle as a "gift" to his top client Kurt Angle. The team won the WWE Tag Team Championship on February 6, 2003 by defeating Los Guerreros. On May 18, they lost the titles to Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri at Judgment Day in a Ladder Match. On June 12, Angle confronted Benjamin and Haas about the losing streak they had been in for a couple of weeks, and he fired them both from Team Angle.

Soon after the breakup, Benjamin and Haas referred to themselves as The Best Damn Tag Team Period (a reference to the Fox Sports Net show The Best Damn Sports Show Period) and then The Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team, or The World's Greatest Tag Team for short, and went on to recapture the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri on July 3, but lost them just after two months to Los Guerreros on September 18.

The group stayed together until March 22, 2004 when, during the Draft Lottery, Benjamin was drafted to the RAW brand, thus breaking up The World's Greatest Tag Team. They two briefly reunited in the 2005 Royal Rumble match, performing their various double team moves on other superstars. Haas was kept on SmackDown! until his release in July 2005.

Reformation (2006-2007)

On April 17, 2006, Charlie Haas returned to WWE as part of the RAW brand, defeating his former tag team partner, Benjamin, the very same night. On the December 4, edition of RAW, after Benjamin pinned Super Crazy, Haas entered the ring, berated Crazy, and celebrated with a bewildered Benjamin. The next week, Shelton announced The World's Greatest Tag Team was officially back in a segment with Cryme Tyme. They defeated The Highlanders in a match later that same night. They then feuded with Cryme Time, but were largely unsuccessful, including a tag team turmoil match at New Year's Revolution. However, they finally pinned Cryme Tyme, ending their undefeated streak, on the January 29, 2007 edition of RAW.

On April 2, The World's Greatest Tag Team was unsuccessful in defeating the team of Ric Flair and Carlito, but defeated them in a rematch on April 16 when Haas distracted Carlito, setting him up for a T-Bone suplex by Benjamin. They won again when Carlito turned against Ric Flair, leaving The World's Greatest Tag Team to pick up the count out victory. They then challenged The Hardy Boyz for the World Tag Team Championship at One Night Stand in a ladder match, but came up short.

The World's Greatest Tag Team then went into a feud with Paul London and Brian Kendrick after losing to the duo on their debut match on RAW. Two weeks later, London defeated Benjamin, whilst Haas was able get singles wins over Kendrick and London on Heat. On the July 23 edition of RAW, The World's Greatest Tag Team got a tag team win over London and Kendrick. They were once again also known as The (Self-Proclaimed) World's Greatest Tag Team.

& On November 20,2007 The World's Greatest Tag Team broke up again as Benjamin jumped to ECW.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature maneuvers
  • Double team finishing and signature moves
    • World's Greatest Stun Gun (Leapfrog stun gun)
    • Superkick (Benjamin) followed into a German suplex pin (Haas)
    • Inverted atomic drop (Haas) followed by a superkick (Benjamin) into a jackknife pin (Haas)
    • Powerbomb (Haas) / Diving lariat (Benjamin) combination
    • Double arm drag onto the knees
    • Gutbuster (Benjamin) onto knee (Haas)

Championships and accomplishments

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Championship (1 time; Held by Kurt Angle while he was their leader)
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Tag Team of the Year (2003)

External links

• HaasOfPain.com (Official Website of Charlie Haas)
• Charlie Haas' WWE Profile
• Shelton Benjamin's WWE Profile