WCW United States Tag Team Championship
| WCW United States Tag Team Championship | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ron Garvin and Barry Windham as the NWA United States Tag Team Champions (Mid-Atlantic version), c. 1987 | |||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||
| Promotion | Jim Crockett Promotions (1986–1990) World Championship Wrestling (1991–1992) | ||||||||||||
| Date established | September 28, 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Date retired | July 31, 1992 | ||||||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||||||
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The WCW United States Tag Team Championship, originally known as the NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version), was a professional wrestling tag team championship contested for previously in the United States]based Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) professional wrestling promotions.
In 1986, NWA President and JCP owner Jim Crockett Jr.[1] introduced the championship to replace and consolidate the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship and NWA National Tag Team Championship titles, under the name "NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)", by announcing a tournament for the newly created title, which was won by Krusher Khruschev and Ivan Koloff on September 28, 1986.
In 1988, Crockett sold JCP to Ted Turner, who established WCW as its successor;[1] however, the title continued to be defended under the NWA name until January 1991, when the WCW owned and controlled titles were rebranded. The final champions under the NWA name were The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott). Following the rebranding, the title was referred to as the "WCW United States Tag Team Championship", though the belts retained the design with the NWA initials (and WCW itself would not leave the NWA permanently until September 1993). On July 31, 1992, WCW stripped the final champions, The Barbarian and Dick Slater, of their titles and retired the championship in order to put the focus on the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Championship reigns were determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries. These narratives create feuds between the various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroes. Overall, there are 19 reigns among 15 tag teams, all of which have occurred in the United States. From the information known, The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)'s first reign is the longest in the title's history at 346 days, while The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers)' second reign is the shortest, at 19 days. The Midnight Express also holds the most reigns overall as a tag team and individually, with three.
Reigns
[edit]Over the championship's five-year history, there have been 19 reigns between 15 teams composed of 28 individual champions and three vacancies. Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev were the inaugural champions, while The Barbarian and Dick Slater were the last ones. The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) held the record for most reigns, both as a team and individually, at three. The Midnight Express' first reign is the longest at 346 days, while The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers)'s second reign was the shortest at 19 days.
Names
[edit]| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) | September 28, 1986 – January 1991 |
| WCW United States Tag Team Championship | January 1991 – July 31, 1992 |
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific team—reign numbers for the individuals are in parentheses, if different |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||||
| National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) | ||||||||||
| 1 | The Russians (Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev) |
September 28, 1986 | House show | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 72 | Defeated Kansas Jayhawks (Bobby Jaggers and Dutch Mantel) in a tournament final to become the inaugural champions. | |||
| 2 | Barry Windham and Ron Garvin | December 9, 1986 | NWA Pro Wrestling | Spartanburg, SC | 1 | 95 | Aired on tape delay on December 13, 1986 | |||
| 3 | Dick Murdoch and Ivan Koloff (2) | March 14, 1987 | World Championship Wrestling | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 21 | ||||
| — | Vacated | April 4, 1987 | — | — | — | — | Dick Murdoch was suspended from in-ring competition by the NWA after performing a brainbuster on Nikita Koloff on a concrete floor, and as a result, Ivan Koloff and Murdoch were stripped of the titles. | |||
| 4 | The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) |
May 16, 1987 | World Championship Wrestling | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 346 | Defeated Barry Windham and Ron Garvin in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. | |||
| World Championship Wrestling (WCW) | ||||||||||
| 5 | The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) |
April 26, 1988 | World Wide Wrestling | Chattanooga, TN | 1 | 75 | Aired on tape delay May 14, 1988. | |||
| 6 | The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) |
July 10, 1988 | The Great American Bash | Baltimore, MD | 2 | 62 | ||||
| — | Vacated | September 10, 1988 | — | — | — | — | The NWA vacated the titles after Eaton and Lane won the NWA World Tag Team Championship. | |||
| 7 | The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) |
December 7, 1988 | Clash of the Champions IV: Season's Beatings | Chattanooga, TN | 2 | 19 | Defeated Eddie Gilbert and Ron Simmons in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. | |||
| 8 | The Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams) |
December 26, 1988 | Starrcade | Norfolk, VA | 1 | 64 | ||||
| 9 | Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner | February 28, 1989 | World Wide Wrestling | Columbia, SC | 1 | [Note 1] | Aired on tape delay on March 18, 1989. | [2] | ||
| — | Vacated | May 1, 1989 | — | — | — | — | NWA abandoned title after Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner split as a team so Rick could team with his brother Scott Steiner. Gilbert and Rick Steiner are still champions as of May 7, 1989. | |||
| 10 | Brian Pillman and The Z-Man | February 12, 1990 | World Wide Wrestling | Rainsville, AL | 1 | 96 | Defeated (The Fabulous Freebirds) (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) in a tournament final to win the revived championship. Aired on tape delay on February 24, 1990. |
[3] | ||
| 11 | The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) |
May 19, 1990 | Capital Combat | Washington, D.C. | 3 | 97 | ||||
| 12 | The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner (2) and Scott Steiner) |
August 24, 1990 | House show | East Rutherford, NJ | 1 | 225 | During this reign, the title was renamed the WCW United States Tag Team Championship. | |||
| — | Vacated | April 6, 1991 | World Wide Wrestling | — | — | — | Announced April 6, 1991 by WCW Board of Directors spokesman Grizzly Smith, as a result of The Steiner Brothers winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship during this reign. | |||
| 13 | The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) |
May 19, 1991 | SuperBrawl I | St. Petersburg, FL | 1 | 85 | Defeated The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracey Smothers) in a Top Contenders match to win the vacant championship. | |||
| 14 | The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip and Todd Champion) |
August 12, 1991 | World Championship Wrestling | Gainesville, GA | 1 | 85 | Aired on tape delay on September 7, 1991. | |||
| 15 | The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers) |
November 5, 1991 | WCW Main Event | Gainesville, GA | 1 | 70 | Aired on tape delay on December 15, 1991. | |||
| 16 | Big Josh and Ron Simmons | January 14, 1992 | WCW Main Event | Columbus, GA | 1 | 34 | Aired on tape delay on February 16, 1992. | |||
| 17 | Greg Valentine and Terry Taylor | February 17, 1992 | World Championship Wrestling | Rock Hill, SC | 1 | 90 | Aired on tape delay on February 29, 1992. | |||
| 18 | The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) |
May 17, 1992 | WrestleWar | Jacksonville, FL | 2 | 34 | ||||
| 19 | The Barbarian and Dick Slater | June 25, 1992 | WCW Main Event | Kansas City, MO | 1 | 36 | Aired on tape delay on July 12, 1992 | |||
| — | Vacated | July 31, 1992 | — | — | — | — | On the July 4, 1992 edition of WCW Saturday Night, VP Bill Watts announced that the company would be looking to consolidate the WCW World, NWA World, and US Tag Team Titles to focus on one championship team. Watts deemed that whoever held the US Tag Title at the end of July would be the final titleholders. The Championship was deactivated during The Barbarian and Dick Slater's title reign on July 31, 1992. | |||
Combined reigns
[edit]As of December 26, 2024.
| † | Indicates the current champions |
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain; the combined length may not be correct. |
By team
[edit]| Rank | Team | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) |
3 | 505 |
| 2 | The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) |
1 | 225 |
| 3 | The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) |
2 | 124 |
| 4 | Brian Pillman and The Z-Man | 1 | 96 |
| 5 | Barry Windham and Ron Garvin | 1 | 95 |
| 6 | The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) |
2 | 94 |
| 7 | Greg Valentine and Terry Taylor | 1 | 90 |
| 8 | The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip and Todd Champion) |
1 | 85 |
| 9 | Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev | 1 | 72 |
| 10 | The Young Pistols Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers |
1 | 70 |
| 11 | The Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams) |
1 | 64 |
| 12 | Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner | 1 | 62 – 91¤[Note 1] |
| 13 | The Barbarian and Dick Slater | 1 | 36 |
| 14 | Big Josh and Ron Simmons | 1 | 34 |
| 15 | Dick Murdoch and Ivan Koloff | 1 | 21 |
Individual
[edit]| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Eaton | 3 | 505 |
| Stan Lane | 3 | 505 | |
| 3 | Rick Steiner | 2 | 287 – 316¤[Note 1] |
| 4 | Scott Steiner | 1 | 225 |
| 5 | Jimmy Garvin | 2 | 124 |
| Michael Hayes | 2 | 124 | |
| 7 | Brian Pillman | 1 | 96 |
| The Z-Man | 1 | 96 | |
| 9 | Barry Windham | 1 | 95 |
| Ron Garvin | 1 | 95 | |
| 11 | Bobby Fulton | 2 | 94 |
| Tommy Rogers | 2 | 94 | |
| 13 | Ivan Koloff | 2 | 93 |
| 14 | Greg Valentine | 1 | 90 |
| Terry Taylor | 1 | 90 | |
| 16 | Firebreaker Chip | 1 | 85 |
| Todd Champion | 1 | 85 | |
| 18 | Krusher Khruschev | 1 | 72 |
| 19 | Steve Armstrong | 1 | 70 |
| Tracy Smothers | 1 | 70 | |
| 21 | Kevin Sullivan | 1 | 64 |
| Steve Williams | 1 | 64 | |
| 23 | Eddie Gilbert | 1 | 62 – 91¤[Note 1] |
| 24 | The Barbarian | 1 | 36 |
| Dick Slater | 1 | 36 | |
| 26 | Big Josh | 1 | 34 |
| Ron Simmons | 1 | 34 | |
| 28 | Dick Murdoch | 1 | 21 |
See also
[edit]
- List of National Wrestling Alliance championships
- NWA World Tag Team Championship
- List of NWA World Tag Team Champions
Footnotes
[edit]References
[edit]- General
- Will, Gary; Royal Duncan (1994). "United States: 19th century & widely defended titles - NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA". Wrestling Title Histories (3 ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 23. ISBN 0-9698161-1-1.
- "NWA United States Tag Team Championship Title History". Wrestling Title Histories by Gary Will and Royal Duncan. Solie.org. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
- "WCW United States Tag Team Championship Title History". Wrestling Title Histories by Gary Will and Royal Duncan. Solie.org. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
- Specific
- ^ a b Beekman, Scott (2006). Ringside: a history of professional wrestling in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 129–132. ISBN 0-275-98401-X.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (February 28, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/28): Andersen & Hansen win NWA Tag Titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (February 12, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 12): Christian Cage wins gold in TNA". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.