WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||||||||||
Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
Brand | Raw | ||||||||||||||||||
Date established | October 3, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||
Current champion(s) | The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) | ||||||||||||||||||
Date won | October 16, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
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The WWE Raw Tag Team Championship is a
The championship was originally established as the WWE Tag Team Championship on October 3, 2002, and the team of
History
From 1971 until 2002, the World Tag Team Championship was the primary men's world tag team championship of the professional wrestling promotion WWE. Following The Invasion storyline, WWE's roster doubled in size due to the influx of wrestlers from the former promotions, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling. As a result, WWE introduced the brand extension in March 2002 to divide its roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands where wrestlers would exclusively perform on their respective weekly television programs. The World Tag Team Championship initially became exclusive to SmackDown!, but was later reassigned to Raw, leaving the former without a tag team title. As a result, SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon introduced the WWE Tag Team Championship and commissioned it to be the tag team title for the SmackDown! brand on October 3, 2002. She also announced that the inaugural champions would be determined from an eight-team tournament. At No Mercy on October 20, 2002, the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit defeated Rey Mysterio and Edge in the tournament final to become the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions.[1]
On October 17, 2007, SmackDown! and
Following the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, reigning champions
At
During the May 20, 2022, episode of
In the main event of
Inaugural WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament (2002)
The WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament held to crown the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions for the SmackDown brand. It concluded at No Mercy on October 20, 2002, and was won by the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit.[13]
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
Los Guerreros | Sub | |||||||||
Mark Henry and Rikishi | ||||||||||
Los Guerreros | ||||||||||
Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle | Pin | |||||||||
Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle | Sub | |||||||||
Billy Kidman and John Cena | ||||||||||
Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle | Sub | |||||||||
Edge and Rey Mysterio | 22:03 | |||||||||
Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons
| Pin | |||||||||
Billy and Chuck | ||||||||||
Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons | ||||||||||
Edge and Rey Mysterio | Pin | |||||||||
Edge and Rey Mysterio | Pin | |||||||||
Brock Lesnar and Tajiri | ||||||||||
Brand designation history
Following the events of the
Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
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October 20, 2002 | SmackDown | Championship established as the WWE Tag Team Championship for SmackDown after the World Tag Team Championship became exclusive to Raw. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit became the inaugural champions at No Mercy. |
November 13, 2007 | ECW | The WWE Tag Team Championship moved to John Morrison and The Miz, members of the ECW brand, defeated Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. However, as part of a talent exchange agreement between SmackDown and ECW, teams of either brand could challenge for the title.
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July 20, 2008 | SmackDown | The WWE Tag Team Championship returned to John Morrison and The Miz to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The talent exchange agreement was still in effect during this time.
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April 5, 2009 | N/A | At Unified WWE Tag Team Championship . Both titles remained active and were defended on any brand.The World Tag Team Championship was decommissioned in August 2010, and "Unified" was dropped from the name. |
July 19, 2016 | Raw | Reintroduction of brand split. WWE Tag Team Champions SmackDown Tag Team Championship.[17]
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Belt design
In August 2010, the WWE Tag Team Championship received a redesign. Taking inspiration from Greece, the belts feature a center plate dominated by two Spartan helmets facing outward and the center plate is encircled with a meander pattern. At the top of the center plate is the WWE logo and at the bottom is a banner that reads "Tag Team" on one line and "Champions" below that. On both sides of the center plate are two side plates. The inner side plates feature the WWE logo and are encircled with the meander pattern, while the outer side plates feature a single Spartan helmet facing inward. When this belt design was introduced in 2010, the plates were bronze colored and featured the long-standing WWE scratch logo and the straps were black. In August 2014, the belts, along with all other pre-existing championship belts in WWE at the time, received a minor update, replacing the scratch logo with WWE's current logo that was originally used for the WWE Network that launched earlier that year in February.
In August 2016, after the reintroduction of the brand split and the creation of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, the WWE Tag Team Championship was renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship. The belts received an update on December 19 that year to reflect the name change. Featuring the same physical design, the plates were made silver and the straps changed to red, countering the silver plates on blue straps design of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship belts. While all other WWE championship belts have been updated to feature customizable side plates for the champion's logos, the Raw and SmackDown tag titles are the only championship belts in the promotion that lack this feature.
Reigns
As of March 28, 2024, there have been 92 reigns between 70 teams composed of 102 individual champions, and one vacancy. The team of Cesaro and Sheamus and The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) have the most reigns as a team at four, while individually, Kingston and
See also
Notes
- ^ In tandem with the World Tag Team Championship.
- ^ In tandem with the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
- Freebird Rule.
- Freebird Rule; Big E was split from the team in the 2020 WWE Draft.
References
- General
- "World Tag Team Championship title history". WWE. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- "Raw Tag Team Championship title history". WWE. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
- Specific
- ^ a b "Raw Tag Team Championship".
- ^ Medalis, Kara (2009-03-17). "Extremely lucky night". WWE. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
- ^ "WWE Tag Team Champions def. World Tag Team Champions (New Unified Tag Team Champions)". WWE. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
- ^ Schadler, Kyle (February 12, 2012). "Abandoned: The History of WWE's World Tag Team Championship, Pt. 2". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ "Triple H Discusses NXT as a Third Brand, Putting Talent in a Position to Succeed, More – 411MANIA". www.411mania.com.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (December 3, 2021). "Preview and Predictions for 'NXT WarGames'". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ Fiorvanti, Tim. "WrestleMania 34 recaps and results: Ronda shines in debut, Taker returns, Charlotte stops Asuka, new champs galore". ESPN. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ Barnett, Jake (March 20, 2022). "5/20 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Barnett's review of Smackdown Tag Team Champions Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. Raw Tag Team Champions "RK-Bro" Randy Orton and Riddle in a unification match, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn, Xavier Woods vs. Butch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
- Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (April 1, 2023). "WrestleMania 39 results: Powell's live review of night one with Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles, Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley for the Smackdown Women's Title, Austin Theory vs. John Cena for the U.S. Title, Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio, Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 2, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (May 27, 2023). "WWE Night of Champions results: Powell's live review of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles, Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Bianca Belair vs. Asuka for the Raw Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ "Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit's first reign". WWE. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (2009-04-27). "Judgment is coming". WWE. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ "History of the World Tag Team Championship: Carlito & Primo". WWE. Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ a b Babos, John. "WWE Raw & Smackdown Live Spoilers: WWE Raw Rebrands 2 Championship Belts Following Smackdown Live's Lead!". Www.insidepulse.com. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (October 16, 2023). "WWE Raw results (10/16): Powell's live review of the season premiere, Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso vs. Damian Priest and Finn Balor for the Undisputed WWE Tag Titles, Gunther vs. Bronson Reed for the IC Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 16, 2023.