Wrestling Tag Team of the Year 2024: WWE's Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill made magic together

Missing from Uncrowned's inaugural list of 2024’s top duos in professional wrestling is a pairing — any pairing — that held the WWE World Tag Team titles. Shocking, isn’t it, that the bedrock program from the biggest promotion in sports entertainment didn’t manage to crack the top five? How did that happen? Perhaps it’s because there was the fun but underutilized Awesome Truth reign that went nowhere and often left me wondering, "What’s up? (What’s up?) What’s up? (What’s up?)"

Or perhaps it was that 175-day Judgment Day reign during which Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh defended the straps a whopping three times. Sadly, that’s not going to cut it. It’s competitive out here, folks. Like, the Motor City Machine Guns debuted in WWE and won the WWE Tag Team Championships their second week on the job, but that didn’t garner top-five billing either.

There’s also Nathan Frazer and Axiom (aka Fraxiom) whose NXT tag title reign, active schedule and successful defenses are worthy of praise despite falling just short of our list.

So, who did get recognition as the year’s best tag team?

Well, let’s start with TNA’s ABC, who came in fifth on our year-end voting. Ace Austin and Chris Bey began the year as TNA Tag Team Champions, being presented with fresh belts in January (after the Impact-Wrestling-is-now-TNA-Wrestling rebrand). They lost the titles in March, won 'em back in July, then lost 'em again in September, with successful defenses between, and above all else they were active. Their performances earned them Tag Team of the Year honors from TNA and that comes after Chris Bey’s significant injury back in October put a halt to their year of prominence. They deserve their flowers and all the well wishes and support continue to be sent Bey’s way as he recovers.

Also tied for fifth place are Private Party, who had a banner year in AEW, winning the Tag Team Championships in October and successfully defending them at November's Full Gear event.

The future is bright for Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen, who are sitting ranked right beneath the team they beat for the titles, coming in at number four (CM Punk fans brace for impact): The Young Bucks.

As you can see from Matthew Jackson's post, the Bucks did substantial things this year, from taking part in Sting's retirement match to becoming three-time AEW tag champs. Perhaps the only thing preventing them from being higher is activity, as they weren’t quite as busy as 3rd-ranked DIY or runner-up FTR.

Speaking of DIY, they had a hell of a year that felt like a rollercoaster being operated by Triple H. See, Vince McMahon had all these “must be this tall to ride” rules, but Paul Levesque wants Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa on the apparatus when it reaches its highest point.

Just look at DIY’s year, which began with them losing the tag titles to Balor and Priest, only to regain the gold in July, then lose it in August, then turn heel and win it back in December.

Roller. Coaster.

As for 2nd place, FTR's Dax Hardwood recently said some things, including this blurb:

“2025, I want to continue to build. 2025, continue to build out television shows, continue to build our relationship with Max now, streaming on Max, but also selfishly, I want to remind people that FTR is the greatest tag team in the world.”

Greatest tag team in the world is a bold claim, and to say you “want to remind people” implies that you were in fact the best of the best at some point. Maybe in the past, for some length of time, they were just that, and it’s certainly not absurd to think they might be atop all tag teams in the court of public opinion once again.

But after careful consideration of what’s transpired in 2024, the No. 1-ranked Uncrowned Tag Team of 2024 is …

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill

Their place atop the podium is quite simple. Belair and Cargill’s year can be summed up with two words: active and dominant. After winning the Women's Tag Titles at the end of August, the two defended their belts five times in two and a half months. That’s not to mention the non-title bouts and singles matches that ensured they were a prominent part of WWE programming all year long.

While they never lost the title, there was a small hiccup for Cargill. Nothing major, just deep lumbar paraspinal muscle contusions, a bruised kidney, a sprained MCL, a tibial plateau bone bruise and facial lacerations. That CVS receipt-length list of injuries came from being yeeted onto a car windshield? If you say so, WWE. At any rate, Cargill is gone and Belair is now teamed up with Naomi (cold world, but it’s next woman up), but that doesn’t undo a sensational 2024 from Belair and Cargill — one deserving of being called best of the year.

Now, will they run it back next year? I think not because Hardwood already called dibs on 2025’s best tag team award. But also because it was definitely Naomi who attacked Cargill, right? Right?

Whatever theory you subscribe to, WWE has an opportunity to bring Cargill back in a monumental way that could be both thrilling and cinematic, a swirl so perfect it’ll make this 2024 crowning age like a fine wine.

Here is how the Uncrowned wrestling team voted for 2024 Tag Team of the Year.

Honorable mentions:

• Fraxiom

• Rascalz

• Motor City Machine Guns

More from Uncrowned's 2024 Wrestling awards:

• Wrestlers of the Year (Men and Women)

• Match of the Year

• Feud of the Year

• Breakthrough Star of the Year

• The Crownies (Best of the rest awards)