When it comes to important decades, the 1980s make a great argument for being one of the most pivotal in wrestling history. This was the decade that saw Vince McMahon take over his father’s company and turn WWE into a pop culture juggernaut thanks to a cartoonish presentation and crossover stars like Hulk Hogan. But Hogan was primarily known as a singles star in the ‘80s. What about the tag teams of the era?

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WWE in the 1980s boasted some truly great tag teams in its division, many of whom were able to put on some of the best matches of the decade. Let’s take a look at 10 of those matches, featuring some extremely familiar names — including the one already mentioned.

10 The British Bulldogs Stole The Show At WrestleMania 2

Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid Managed To Defeat Brutus Beefcake & Great Valentine For The Tag Title

While fans have ultimately deemed WrestleMania 2 to be one of the lesser PPVs in the event’s history, it was surprisingly ambitious, taking place in three different locations over the course of the night. The second location — Rosemont, Illinois — boasted Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine defending the World Tag Team Championship against Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid in a main event (for the location) that ended up stealing the show. Surprisingly hard hitting for the 1980s, it’s a bout worth sitting through the show’s sadly weak matches for.

9 Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage Took On Ted DiBiase & Andre The Giant

The Main Event Of SummerSlam Was The Mega Powers’ Best Outing As A Team

During the 1980s, Hulk Hogan formed a tag team with Macho Man Randy Savage called The Mega Powers that would ultimately lead to an amazing rivalry between the two partners. But before that, they successfully teamed up to defeat Ted DiBiase & Andre The Giant in the main event of the first-ever SummerSlam. Nowhere near a technical masterpiece compared to the other bouts on this list, this match didn’t just had star-power on its side, but it had spectacle and storytelling on its side — not to mention a justifiably hot crowd.

8 The Brain Busters & The Hart Foundation Opened Up SummerSlam 1989

The Brain Busters’ World Tag Team Title Was NOT On The Line

SummerSlam 1989, however, was a mostly disappointing show that included yet another Hulk Hogan tag team match in the main event (this time with Brutus Beefcake). That said, the show started off on an amazing note as Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard took on Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart in a tag team match where, for some reason, The Brain Busters’ tag title wasn’t on the line.

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Despite that strange choice, the bout hardly disappointed, as both teams were made up of gifted performers doing their thing to the best of their abilities — even if the bad guys won in the end.

7 The Hart Foundation vs. The British Bulldogs Yielded A Classic

This Tag Team Match Was A Family Affair

One of The Hart Foundation’s best rivalries in the 1980s was with The British Bulldogs, who in reality were in-laws of The Hart Foundation, as Jim Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, and Dynamite Kid all married into the Hart family in one way or another. Unlike the SummerSlam match with The Brain Busters, The Hart Foundation were the heels here, cheating at all the right places and double teaming the Bulldogs. Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith ultimately got the win here, intelligently subverting The Harts’ expectations by resorting to their opponents’ tactics.

6 Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch Defended The World Tag Team Title Against The Brisco Brothers

Jack & Jerry Brisco Were Unable To Dethrone The Champions

WWE’s pivot into cartoonish sports entertainment wasn’t necessarily an overnight thing, even with the ordaining of Hulk Hogan as WWE Champion. As a result, while Hulkamania was in full swing, fans were still able to see some very classic old school style matches, like when Adrian Adonis — before he became “Adorable” — and Dick Murdoch defended the World Tag Team Championship against The Brisco Brothers. The two teams for a great pairing as the more technically minded Briscos went up against the hard-hitting heels.

5 Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre Defended The World Women’s Tag Belts Against Peggy Lee & Wendi Richter

Victoria & McIntyre Were The Inaugural Champions

Because women’s wrestling was never a priority for WWE for much of its existence, fans may be unaware that WWE even had a Women’s Tag Team Championship in the 1980s, much less who held them. Due to a limited roster, inaugural champions Princess Victoria and Velvet McIntyre frequently clashed with Wendi Richter and Peggy Lee (a.k.a. Peggy Lee Leather), and fans should look no further than this bout to see just how good these two teams were together. Fans going back to watch this surprisingly fierce affair have remarked that the bout feels “ahead of its time.”

4 The Hart Foundation & The Rockers Put On A 20-Minute Banger In Late 1989

The Two Teams Fought To A Time Limit Draw

Before Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels put on an infamous rivalry in the 1990s, both were tag team specialists, and their respective tag teams — The Hart Foundation and The Rockers — clashed in some great bouts in the 1980s. This Madison Square Garden bout ended in a time limit draw, but the wrestling leading up to it is so good that it trumps any unsatisfying ending.

RELATED: Why The Rockers Were Never Officially WWE Tag Team Champions, Explained

Less than a year later, The Rockers would be booked to dethrone The Hart Foundation in a pre-taped match, but the ring ropes unexpectedly breaking during the bout resulted in WWE not airing the match and ultimately deciding that the title change didn’t even happen.

3 Ricky Steamboat & Tito Santana Put Away Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine In A Forgotten Gem

Beefcake & Valentine Were Later Known As The Dream Team

The Dream Team, the somewhat forgotten duo of Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and Brutus Beefcake, are responsible for two of the best WWE tag bouts of the 1980s, with their best one being against the pure babyface team of Tito Santana and Ricky Steamboat. This match, which happened as the Valentine/Santana feud was winding down, proved to be a highlight of the era, as the devoted tag team proved to be a more well-oiled machine and the two singles babyfaces. Despite that, Santana managed to score the win in the bout with a rare submission.

2 Brain Busters vs. Rockers Is Classic Heels vs. Faces Tag Team Wrestling

The Bout Went Down At Madison Square Garden

Old school wrestling was all about pure babyfaces versus hated heels, with one of the most extreme versions of that happening in the last year of the decade as Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard took on Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. As one might expect, it’s classic tag team wrestling, with the high-flying heroes The Rockers struggling to overcome the underhanded tactics of The Brain Busters. In addition to boasting a ridiculously great hot tag, fans have also praised the match for being clever, especially in its finish.

1 The Best Golden Era Tag Team Match Was A Women’s Bout On A Regional Show

The World Women’s Title Was On The Line

One of the best tag teams of the 1980s — male or female, it must be stressed — were the amazingly named Jumping Bomb Angels. The duo of Ituski Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno were only together for a couple of years in the 1980s, but they were an exceptional duo in both their native All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling and in WWE’s women’s tag team division. In the latter, the duo most notably feuded with The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai);, and while no titles were on the line in this WWF on MSG Network bout, the two teams delivered a next level match that fans hadn’t really seen before from female competitors. It wasn’t a match with a lot of hype, either — fans watching the bout will notice that the crowd is remarkably silent only to get raucous as the bout unfolds.