NXT Women's Tag Team Championship
| NXT Women's Tag Team Championship | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship belt with default side plates | |||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||
| Brand | NXT | ||||||||||||||||
| Date established | March 10, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Io Shirai and Zoey Stark | ||||||||||||||||
| Date won | July 6, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling women's tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on their NXT brand division. It is one of two women's tag team championships in the promotion, along with the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship of Raw and SmackDown. The current champions are the team of Io Shirai and Zoey Stark, who are in their first reign.
The championship was established on the March 10, 2021 episode of NXT. Dakota Kai and Raquel González were crowned the inaugural champions due to winning the first-ever Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, after the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match they had originally received for their win ended in a controversial finish.
History
In December 2018, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was established as the sole women's tag team championship for WWE, and was available to the promotion's three main brands: Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.[1] On the March 3, 2021 episode of NXT, Dakota Kai and Raquel González, who had earned a title opportunity for winning the first-ever Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, faced WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (whose home brand is Raw). After the referee had been knocked out during the match, WWE official Adam Pearce, who officiates for Raw and SmackDown, sent down a second referee to declare Kai had submitted to Baszler, although Kai was not the legal woman. This led to a backstage argument between Pearce and NXT General Manager William Regal.[2]
The following week on the March 10 episode, Regal introduced the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship so as to not have to deal with Raw and SmackDown's politics any longer. Kai and González were named the inaugural champions due to their Women's Dusty Classic win. Their reign would not last long, however, as that same night, they defended the titles against the runner ups of the tournament, Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart, who defeated Kai and González to win the championship.[3][4]
Belt design
The belt design of the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship is nearly identical to the men's NXT Tag Team Championship, with a few exceptions. The straps are smaller for the women and they are white instead of black. Above the vertical NXT logo on the center plate says "Women's Tag Team" instead of just "Tag Team." For the customizable side plates, the default side plates have the vertical NXT logo instead of the WWE logo, which makes it only one of two NXT championships to have the NXT logo instead of the WWE logo for the default side plates, the other being the NXT North American Championship. The WWE logo is also missing from the very center of the NXT logo on the center plate.[3][4]
Reigns
As of July 7, 2024, there have been four reigns between four teams composed of eight individual champions. The inaugural championship team was Dakota Kai and Raquel González. The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell) have the longest reign at 63 days, while the team of Kai and Gonzalez have the shortest reign at 56 minutes (being named as first champions then losing the titles later the same night). Candice LeRae is the oldest champion at 35 years old, while Indi Hartwell is the youngest, winning the title at 24.
The current champions are Io Shirai and Zoey Stark, who are in their first reign, both as a team and individually. They defeated The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell) on July 6, 2021 in Orlando, Florida at The Great American Bash.
| 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 |
| Days recog. | Number of days held recognized by the promotion |
| <1 | Reign lasted less than a day |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | ||||
| 1 | Dakota Kai and Raquel González | March 10, 2021 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | <1 | <1 | NXT General Manager William Regal awarded the titles to the Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners Kai and González after a controversial finish to their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler the week prior. | [3] |
| 2 | Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart | March 10, 2021 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 55 | 55 | [3] | |
| 3 | The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell) |
May 4, 2021 | NXT | Orlando, FL | 1 | 63 | 63 | This was a Street Fight. | [5] |
| 4 | Io Shirai and Zoey Stark | July 6, 2021 | The Great American Bash | Orlando, FL | 1 | 1,097+ | 1,097+ | [6] | |
See also
References
- ^ Benigno, Anthony (February 18, 2019). "WWE Women's Tag Team Championships to be defended across Raw, SmackDown LIVE and NXT". WWE.com. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ Moore, John (March 3, 2021). "3/3 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler vs. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez for the WWE Women's Tag Titles, NXT Tag Champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher in a non-title match, LA Knight appears, The Way go to therapy". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Moore, John (March 10, 2021). "3/10 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Finn Balor vs. Adam Cole for the NXT Championship, Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm for the NXT Women's Championship, William Regal's big announcements, Xia Li vs. Kayden Carter". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- ^ a b Lambert, Jeremy (March 10, 2021). "NXT Women's Tag Team Titles Made Official; New Champions Crowned". Fightful. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- ^ Moore, John (May 4, 2021). "5/4 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Finn Balor's return, Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart vs. Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Isaiah Scott vs. Leon Ruff in a Falls Count Anywhere match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Moore, John (July 6, 2021). "7/6 NXT TV results: Moore's review of the Great American Bash edition with Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly, MSK vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher for the NXT Tag Titles, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, LA Knight vs. Cameron Grimes for the Million Dollar Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 7, 2021.