Tag team championships in WWE
WWE (formerly the WWF, the WWWF, and Capitol Wrestling) has maintained at least one primary tag team championship for its male performers since 1958 (except for a two year interim between 1967 and 1969). During periods of brand division, separate tag team titles have been used on each brand.
For their female performers, a tag team championship existed from 1983 to 1989. The title was abandoned in 1989 due to lack of depth in the division. In 2019, WWE introduced a new women's tag team championship, shared by Raw and SmackDown, followed by one for the NXT brand in 2021.
Overview of titles[]
Male[]
| # | Name | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WWWF United States Tag Team Championship | 1958 – 1967 (became WWWF property in 1963) |
| 2 | WWF International Tag Team Championship | 1969 – 1971, 1985 |
| 3 | World Tag Team Championship | 1971 – 2010 |
| 4 | WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship | 1991 |
| 5 | WCW World Tag Team Championship | 1975 – 2001 (became WWF property in 2001) |
| 6 | WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | 2002 – present |
| 7 | NXT Tag Team Championship | 2013 – present |
| 8 | WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship | 2016 – present |
| 9 | NXT UK Tag Team Championship | 2018 – present |
Female[]
| # | Name | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WWF Women's Tag Team Championship | 1983 – 1989 |
| 2 | WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | 2019 – present |
| 3 | NXT Women's Tag Team Championship | 2021 – present |
History[]
Male[]
Capitol Wrestling set up its first tag team championship, the NWA United States Tag Team Championship in 1958. When Capitol seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), the championship became the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship. In 1967, WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino teamed with Spiros Arion to win the belts. Due to Sammartino being the world champion, the team vacated the tag titles which were then abandoned.[1]
For two years, the WWWF had no tag team championship until The Rising Suns (Toru Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa) arrived in the promotion in September 1969 with the WWWF International Tag Team Championship which they claimed to have won in a tournament in Tokyo in June of that year. This became the WWWF's tag team title until 1971, mostly being held by The Mongols.[2] When they left the WWWF, taking the titles with them, the promotion established their own original world tag team championship, the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. In 1979, the promotion became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and the tag titles were renamed the WWF Tag Team Championship until 1983 when they became the WWF World Tag Team Championship.
In May 1985, Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura beat Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis in a tournament final in Japan for a revival of the old International Tag Team Title of 1969–1971, only for the title to be abandoned again when New Japan and the WWF fell out in October 1985. By 1988, wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated was calling for the establishment of a secondary WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (modelled on the WCW United States Tag Team Championship) due to the glut of tag team competition in the promotion.[3] This never took place, but in 1991, WWF-affiliated promotion UWF Japan introduced the WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, claimed by the team of Perro Aguayo and Gran Hamada. This title was abandoned when the affiliation ended later that same year.[4]
In 2001, the WWF bought rival company World Championship Wrestling (WCW), acquiring the WCW World Tag Team Championship, among other titles, which was defended on WWF programming until that year's Survivor Series, where the WCW World Tag Team Championship was unified into the WWF World Tag Team Championship.[5]
After WWF's initial brand extension in the spring of 2002 and the renaming of the company as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the tag titles became the WWE Tag Team Championship and champions Billy and Chuck were drafted to the SmackDown brand. That summer, however, The Un-Americans (Christian and Lance Storm) would win the championship and shortly thereafter transfer it to the Raw brand where it was later renamed the World Tag Team Championship, effectively leaving the SmackDown brand without a tag team title. As a result, then-SmackDown general manager Stephanie McMahon introduced a new WWE Tag Team Championship and commissioned it to be the tag team title for the SmackDown brand.[6]
The two titles were unified in 2009 and were collectively referred to as the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship" while officially remaining independently active until the World Tag Team Championship was formally decommissioned in 2010,[5][6] leaving the newer title as WWE's only tag team championship. As a result of the 2016 draft, the championship became exclusive to Raw and was renamed the Raw Tag Team Championship, and SmackDown created the SmackDown Tag Team Championship as a counterpart title.[7] In addition, WWE's former developmental territory NXT established the NXT Tag Team Championship in January 2013, which became one of WWE's main titles for male tag teams in September 2019 when NXT became recognized as WWE's third major brand. Another title, the NXT UK Tag Team Championship, debuted for NXT's sister brand NXT UK in 2019, but is recognized as being a step below the other three. The Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK tag team titles are WWE's currently active tag team championships for its male performers.
Female[]
Prior to 1983, the WWF did not have a tag team championship for their women's division. In 1983, the reigning NWA Women's World Tag Team Champions of Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria joined the WWF. As the WWF had withdrawn from the NWA, which owned the championship, McIntyre and Victoria were recognized as the first WWF Women's Tag Team Champions. The championship continued until 1989, when the promotion abandoned it due to lack of performers in the division. The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) were the final champions.
The promotion would go without a women's tag team championship for many years. Talk of reviving the titles began circulating in 2012, when a WWE.com article was posted in favor of resurrecting the titles. Female performers were also in favor of adding a women's tag team championship. Online speculation began when WWE announced their first all female event, Evolution, for October, but the titles did not appear. On the December 24 episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon officially announced that a new WWE Women's Tag Team Championship would debut in 2019 (and would not carry the lineage of the original title). The Boss 'n' Hug Connection (Bayley and Sasha Banks) became the inaugural champions at Elimination Chamber in February. It was also revealed that the titles would be defended across Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.
The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship would continue to be defended on NXT until March 2021. On the March 10, 2021 episode of NXT, NXT General Manager William Regal established the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship, naming Dakota Kai and Raquel González as the first champions, due to the controversial ending of their match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship the week prior and their having won the first Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship subsequently ceased being available to NXT.
Longest championship reigns[]
Male[]
Top 10 tag team championship reigns[]
The following list shows the top 10 tag team championship reigns in WWE history.
| No. | Team | Title | Reign | Length (days) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) |
NXT UK Tag Team Championship | 1 | 497 | The actual length of their reign is undeterminable as the real date they lost the title is unknown, but WWE recognizes the reign as lasting 497 days. This reign includes lengthy periods of dormancy for the title and the NXT UK brand owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) |
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | 2 | 483 | They won the title as the WWE Tag Team Championship, but midway through this reign, it was renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension when the title became exclusive to Raw. All three members were recognized as champions under the Freebird Rule. |
| 3 | Demolition (Ax and Smash) |
World Tag Team Championship | 1 | 478 | During this reign, the title was known as the WWF World Tag Team Championship. |
| 4 | The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) |
WWWF United States Tag Team Championship | 3 | 409 | During this reign, the title was known as the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. |
| 5 | The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy Valiant and Johnny Valiant) |
World Tag Team Championship | 1 | 370 | During this reign, the title was known as the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. |
| 6 | The Mongols (Bepo and Geto) |
WWF International Tag Team Championship | 1 | 368 | During this reign, the title was known as the WWWF International Tag Team Championship. |
| 7 | The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) |
NXT Tag Team Championship | 1 | 364 | WWE recognizes The Ascension's reign as lasting 344 days due to tape delay. |
| 8 | Mr Fuji and Professor Tanaka | World Tag Team Championship | 1 | 337 | During this reign, the title was known as the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. |
| 9 | Paul London and Brian Kendrick | WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | 1 | 331 | During this reign, the title was known as the WWE Tag Team Championship. WWE recognizes London and Kendrick's reign as lasting 334 days due to tape delay. |
| 10 | Dr. Jerry Graham and Luke Graham | WWWF United States Tag Team Championship | 1 | 321 |
Specific record for each championship[]
The following list shows the longest reigning champion for each tag team championship created and/or promoted by WWE, with the exception of the WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship. The team of Perro Aguayo and Gran Hamada won the inaugural championship on January 7, 1991. The title was abandoned at an unknown date, without ever being lost to another team. The length of their reign can thus not be determined.
Titles are listed in order of creation.
| Title | Champion | Reign | Dates held | Length (days) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWWF United States Tag Team Championship | The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) |
3rd | November 28, 1960 – January 11, 1962 | 409 | During this reign, the title was known as the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. |
| WWF International Tag Team Championship | The Mongols (Bepo and Geto) |
1st | June 15, 1970 – June 18, 1971 | 368 | During this reign, the title was known as the WWWF International Tag Team Championship. |
| World Tag Team Championship | Demolition (Ax and Smash) |
1st | May 27, 1988 – July 18, 1989 | 478 | During this reign, the title was known as the WWF World Tag Team Championship. |
| WCW World Tag Team Championship | Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) |
1st | May 19, 1990 – February 24, 1991 | 281 | The title was owned by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) at this time. Originally known as the NWA World Tag Team Championship, during this reign, it was renamed to WCW World Tag Team Championship due to issues between the NWA and WCW. |
| WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) |
2nd | August 23, 2015 – December 18, 2016 | 483 | The New Day won the title as the WWE Tag Team Championship, but midway through this reign, it was renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension when the title became exclusive to Raw. All three members were recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. |
| NXT Tag Team Championship | The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) |
1st | September 12, 2013 – September 11, 2014 | 364 | WWE recognizes The Ascension's reign as lasting 344 days (October 2, 2013 – September 11, 2014) due to tape delay. |
| WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship | The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) |
5th | July 18, 2021 - present | 237+ | This reign is ongoing. |
| NXT UK Tag Team Championship | Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) |
1st | October 4, 2019 – N/A | 497 | The actual length of their reign is undeterminable as the real date they lost the title is unknown, but WWE recognizes the reign as lasting 497 days (October 17, 2019 – February 25, 2021) due to tape delay for both dates. This reign includes lengthy periods of dormancy for the title and the NXT UK brand owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Female[]
Due to the short length of the three championships, only the specific record for each is shown.
| No. | Champion | Title | Reign | Dates held | Length (days) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai) |
WWF Women's Tag Team Championship | 1 | August 1, 1985 – January 24, 1988 | 906 | |
| 2 | The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) |
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | 1 | October 6 , 2019 – March 25 or 26, 2020 | 172 or 171 | The event that they lost the title was taped across two days, and it is not known which date they lost the title. WWE recognizes The Kabuki Warriors' reign as lasting 181 days (October 6, 2019 – April 4, 2020) due to tape delay. |
| 3 | Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne) |
NXT Women's Tag Team Championship | 1 | October 26, 2021 - present | 137+ | This reign is ongoing. |
Most championship reigns[]
Male[]
The following lists shows the wrestlers with the most reigns for each tag team championship created and/or promoted by WWE.
By team[]
| No. | Champion | Championship | No. of Reigns | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) |
WCW World Tag Team Championship | 10 | |
| 2 | The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) |
World Tag Team Championship | 8 | During their first six reigns, the title was known as the WWF World Tag Team Championship. |
| 3 | The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) |
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship | 7 | During their first six reigns, Big E also defended the title, as all three members of New Day were recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule; Big E was split from the team as a result of the 2020 WWE Draft, and thus was not part of the seventh reign. |
| 4 | Cesaro and Sheamus | WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | 4 | |
| The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) |
During their first reign, the title was known as the WWE Tag Team Championship, but midway through their second reign, it was renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension when the title became exclusive to Raw. During their first two reigns, Big E also defended the title, as all three members of New Day were recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule; Big E was split from the team as a result of the 2020 WWE Draft, and thus was not part of the third and fourth reigns. | |||
| 5 | The Grahams (Jerry and Eddie) |
WWWF United States Tag Team Championship | 4 | During all four of their reigns, the title was known as the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. |
| 6 | The Undisputed Era | NXT Tag Team Championship | 3 | During their first reign, Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong were all recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. During their second reign, only O'Reilly and Strong were recognized as champions, while during their third reign, only Fish and O'Reilly were recognized as champions. |
| 7 | The Mongols (Bepo and Geto) |
WWF International Tag Team Championship | 2 | During both of their reigns, the title was known as the WWWF International Tag Team Championship. |
| 8 | James Drake and Zack Gibson | NXT UK Tag Team Championship | 1 | There have only been five reigns between five teams thus far. |
| Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews | ||||
| Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) | ||||
| Pretty Deadly (Lewis Howley and Sam Stoker) | ||||
| Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) | ||||
| 9 | Perro Aguayo and Gran Hamada | WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship | 1 | This was the only reign for the title. |
By wrestler[]
| No. | Champion | Championship | No. of Reigns | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edge | World Tag Team Championship | 12 | During his first seven reigns, the title was known as the WWF World Tag Team Championship. During his eighth reign, the title was known as the WWE Tag Team Championship. During his following four reigns, the title was known as the World Tag Team Championship. It was also simultaneously known as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship during his 12th reign. |
| 2 | Booker T | WCW World Tag Team Championship | 11 | |
| 3 | Seth Rollins | WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | 6 | During his first reign, the title was known as the WWE Tag Team Championship. |
| 3 | Kofi Kingston | During his first three reigns, the title was known as the WWE Tag Team Championship. Midway through his fourth reign, it was renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension when the title became exclusive to Raw. | ||
| 4 | Kofi Kingston | WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship | 7 | During their first six reigns, the two were part of a trio with Big E called The New Day and all three were recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule; Big E was split from the team as a result of the 2020 WWE Draft and was thus not recognized as champion for the seventh reign. |
| Xavier Woods | ||||
| 5 | Dr. Jerry Graham | WWWF United States Tag Team Championship | 6 | During his first five reigns, the title was known as the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. |
| 6 | Kyle O'Reilly | NXT Tag Team Championship | 3 | |
| 7 | Geto Mongol | WWF International Tag Team Championship | 3 | During all three of his reigns, the title was known as the WWWF International Tag Team Championship. |
| 8 | Mark Andrews | NXT UK Tag Team Championship | 1 | There have only been five reigns between five teams composed of ten individual champions thus far. |
| Trent Seven | ||||
| Tyler Bate | ||||
| Mark Coffey | ||||
| James Drake | ||||
| Zack Gibson | ||||
| Lewis Howley | ||||
| Sam Stoker | ||||
| Flash Morgan Webster | ||||
| Wolfgang | ||||
| 9 | Perro Aguayo | WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship | 1 | This was the only reign for the title. |
| Gran Hamada |
Female[]
The following lists shows the wrestlers with the most reigns for each tag team championship created and/or promoted by WWE.
By team[]
| No. | Champion | Championship | No. of Reigns | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross | WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | 2 | |
| Bayley and Sasha Banks | During their first reign, they went by the team name of The Boss 'n' Hug Connection. | |||
| Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler | ||||
| 2 | The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai) |
WWF Women's Tag Team Championship | 2 | |
| 3 | Dakota Kai and Raquel González | NXT Women's Tag Team Championship | 1 | There have only been five reigns between five teams thus far. |
| Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart | ||||
| The Way (Candice LaRae and Indi Hartwell) | ||||
| Io Shirai and Zoey Stark | ||||
| Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne) |
By wrestler[]
| No. | Champion | Championship | No. of Reigns | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikki A.S.H. | WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | 3 | During her first two reigns, she was known as Nikki Cross. |
| 2 | Judy Martin | WWF Women's Tag Team Championship | 2 | |
| Leilani Kai | ||||
| Velvet McIntyre | ||||
| 3 | Dakota Kai | NXT Women's Tag Team Championship | 1 | There have only been five reigns between five teams composed of ten individual champions thus far. |
| Raquel González | ||||
| Ember Moon | ||||
| Shotzi Blackheart | ||||
| Candice LaRae | ||||
| Indi Hartwell | ||||
| Io Shirai | ||||
| Zoey Stark | ||||
| Gigi Dolin | ||||
| Jacy Jayne |
Most total reigns[]
The following list shows the wrestlers who have the most tag team championship reigns in total as individuals, combining all titles they have held as recognized by WWE. This list also shows the titles that they won to achieve this record.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "United States Tag Team Title (Capitol/WWWF)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
- ^ "WWWF/WWF International Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
- ^ "Too much talent - It's Time For A WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship" - Pro Wrestling Illustrated December 1988
- ^ "10 championships you never knew existed in WWE". WWE.
- ^ a b "WWWF/WWF/WWE World Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ a b "WWE Tag Team Championship". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- WWE tag team championships
- Tag team wrestling championships