Mid 20th Century
118-677: The Hart Dynasty was a Canadian professional wrestling stable who appeared in World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ). The unit consisted of the tag team of Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith , and Natalya as a manager . The group was named due to the connection of all three wrestlers to the Hart wrestling family ; David Hart Smith is the son of Davey Boy Smith , Natalya is the daughter of Jim Neidhart , and Tyson Kidd trained under Bret Hart and at Stu Hart 's Dungeon and would later marry Natalya. They are recognized as
236-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
354-533: A fatal four-way tag team elimination match to unify the tag team championships, with Jensen and Briggs recognized as the final NXT UK Tag Team Champions. The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship was the term used in WWE to refer to both the Raw Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship being held and defended together by the same team. From May 2022 to April 2024, the holders of
472-599: A handicap match on May 26. They made their first appearance as just a tag team on the June 9 episode of ECW by defeating Christian and Swagger. On June 29, the trio were traded to the SmackDown brand and debuted as a team for the brand on the July 3 episode of SmackDown , when Kidd and Smith lost to Cryme Tyme . The Hart Dynasty made their pay-per-view debut at Bragging Rights in a 14-man tag team match in which their team
590-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
708-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
826-575: A unification match where the NXT title was unified into the WWE title, retiring the NXT title and subsequently making the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship available to NXT again. The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was the women's tag team championship of WWE's developmental brand NXT. The title was established on the March 10, 2021, episode of NXT , where NXT General Manager William Regal unveiled
944-431: A unification match where the NXT title was unified into the WWE title, subsequently retiring the NXT title with Fyre and Dawn recognized as the final champions. The following list shows the wrestlers that are currently holding all active tag team championships in WWE. The following list shows retired tag team championships and the final title holders before the belts were deactivated in WWE. The following lists shows
1062-546: A 21-man battle royal to become the promotion's first Southern Heavyweight Champion . Plans to bring the stable to WWE's main roster were made but Teddy Hart was released from his development contract in October. Eventually, DiBiase, Neidhart, and Smith, after losing the Southern Heavyweight Championship, were all called up to the main roster, albeit on separate shows, as DiBiase and Smith (using
1180-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1298-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
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#17328021381881416-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1534-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1652-492: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Unified WWE Tag Team Championship The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's and women's tag team championships (except for
1770-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1888-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2006-498: A heel once again as a result of this. Smith defeated Kidd in a singles match on the November 25 episode of WWE Superstars . Afterward, Smith offered to shake Kidd's hand, but Kidd refused and instead slapped him across the face. On the following episode of Raw , Kidd defeated Smith in a rematch. In 2017, Tyson Kidd announced that he had retired from professional wrestling due to a spinal cord injury, therefore removing any chances of
2124-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2242-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2360-433: A match for The Miz's WWE United States Championship . The Miz was allowed to pick his opponent for the championship match, and he chose to face Bret Hart. On the following episode of Raw on May 17, Hart defeated The Miz to win his fifth United States Championship, with help from the other members of The Hart Dynasty, who prevented Chris Jericho , William Regal , and Vladimir Kozlov from interfering on The Miz's behalf. At
2478-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
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#17328021381882596-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2714-643: A non-title six-person mixed tag team match at the Fatal 4-Way pay per view, where Natalya pinned Tamina to win the match. The following night on Raw , Hart was fired as general manager. The following month at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Hart Dynasty and The Usos competed in a tag team match for the Unified Tag Team Championship, which Kidd and Smith won to retain the championship. On
2832-638: A result of the original World Tag Team Championship becoming exclusive to Raw in the 2002 brand extension, then- SmackDown general manager Stephanie McMahon introduced the WWE Tag Team Championship and commissioned it to be the tag team title for the SmackDown brand. The inaugural champions were Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit . After several years, in April 2009, the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship were unified as
2950-494: A reunion. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches
3068-551: A two-year interim between 1967 and 1969) since Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The first men's tag team title,
3186-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
3304-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
3422-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
3540-434: Is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are
3658-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
The Hart Dynasty - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-427: Is the seventh overall men's tag team title to be contested in the company. In September 2019, it became regarded as one of WWE's main titles for male tag teams when NXT became recognized as WWE's third major brand. However, NXT reverted to being WWE's developmental brand in September 2021. The WWE Tag Team Championship was established in 2016 and is one of WWE's two currently active world tag team championships for
3894-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
4012-876: The Northeast version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship , preceded the company's creation, as it was established in 1957 for CWC as a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship , while the first women's tag team title, the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship , was established in 1983. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented (2002–2011; 2016–present), separate tag team championships have been created or allocated for each brand. As of 2024, WWE promotes three men's and one women's tag team championships. Two of
4130-689: The Over the Limit pay-per-view, The Hart Dynasty defeated The Miz and Chris Jericho to retain the championship. On May 24, 2010, Hart was named as the Raw General Manager and vacated the United States Championship as a result. On the same episode of Raw , The Hart Dynasty began a rivalry with a group composed of Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso , the sons of Rikishi , and Tamina , the daughter of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka . This led to
4248-707: 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. SmackDown subsequently established their own WWE Tag Team Championship . After several years, in April 2009, the titles would be unified as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, but both titles remained independently active. The champions defended
4366-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
4484-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
4602-452: The "unified" moniker, subsequently became the sole tag team championship in WWE, available to any brand before the first brand extension ended in August 2011. The NXT Tag Team Championship is the tag team championship of WWE's developmental territory , NXT . The title was established in January 2013 and the inaugural champions were British Ambition ( Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey ). It
4720-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
4838-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
The Hart Dynasty - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
5074-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
5192-629: The August 16 episode of Raw , the World Tag Team Championship was retired, making the Hart Dynasty the final champions. On the same night, Bret Hart presented The Hart Dynasty with brand new WWE Tag Team Championship belts. At Night of Champions , The Hart Dynasty lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre in a Tag Team Turmoil match which also involved the Usos, Kozlov and Santino Marella , and
5310-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
5428-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
5546-565: The Raw title became the World Tag Team Championship while the SmackDown title became the WWE Tag Team Championship. The NXT UK Tag Team Championship was the tag team championship for the NXT UK brand, a sister brand of NXT based in the United Kingdom. It was the ninth overall men's tag team title contested in the company, and the inaugural champions were James Drake and Zack Gibson . It
5664-490: The Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands. However, in March 2021, after a dispute over the title, the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was established, thus the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship became no longer available to NXT. On the June 23, 2023, episode of SmackDown , reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler defeated the reigning NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn in
5782-485: The Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands. After three decades of not having a women's tag team championship and with large support from fans and female wrestlers alike, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was established and then debuted in 2019. The Boss 'n' Hug Connection ( Bayley and Sasha Banks ) became the inaugural champions at Elimination Chamber in February. The title was originally established to be defended across
5900-438: The SmackDown titles while Awesome Truth ( The Miz and R-Truth ) retrieved the Raw titles. The WWF Women's Tag Team Championship was the company's first women's tag team championship, established in 1983. In 1983, reigning NWA Women's World Tag Team Champions 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
6018-663: The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship could appear and defend the titles on both the Raw and SmackDown brands. On the May 20, 2022, episode of SmackDown , reigning SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos ( Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso ) defeated reigning Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ) in a Winners Take All match to become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. Although WWE billed
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#17328021381886136-598: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship on any brand until August 2010. That month, the Anonymous Raw General Manager announced that the original World Tag Team Championship would be decommissioned in favor of continuing the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) were subsequently the final team recognized as the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions. The WWE Tag Team Championship, which dropped
6254-415: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, but both titles remained independently active. The champions defended the unified title across all brands until the World Tag Team Championship was formally decommissioned in August 2010 in favor of continuing the lineage of the WWE Tag Team Championship, which dropped the "unified" moniker. The first brand extension then ended in August 2011. With the reintroduction of
6372-505: The WCW World Tag Team Championship, among other titles. It was subsequently defended on WWF programming—the fifth overall men's tag team title contested in the company—until Survivor Series in November that year. At the event, reigning WCW Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley ) defeated reigning WWF Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz ( Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy ) to unify
6490-501: 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, with Aguayo and Hamada as the only title holders. The WCW World Tag Team Championship was established in 1975, originally contested under the NWA banner, then later, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and finally,
6608-640: The WWF fell out in October that year. The original World Tag Team Championship was the fourth men's tag team title to be contested in WWE, however, it was the first world tag team championship to be established by the company. After the company lost the WWWF International Tag Team Championship, the WWWF established the WWWF World Tag Team Championship in 1971 and the inaugural champions were
6726-431: The WWF. The title was originally a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling , run by Jim Crockett Promotions of the NWA. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew ( Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson ) were the inaugural champions. It then became the world tag team championship of WCW when the promotion seceded from the NWA in 1991. In March 2001, the WWF bought rival company WCW, acquiring
6844-465: The WWWF in 1971, they took the titles with them. In May 1985, six years after the company was renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura beat Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis in a tournament final in Japan for a revival of the rebranded WWF International Tag Team Championship only for the title to be abandoned again when relations between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and
6962-504: The WWWF, the championship subsequently 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. The WWF International Tag Team Championship was the third men's tag team title to be contested in
7080-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
7198-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
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#17328021381887316-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
7434-628: The brand extension in July 2016 and the subsequent draft that month , the championship became exclusive to Raw and was renamed the Raw Tag Team Championship, and SmackDown created the SmackDown Tag Team Championship as its counterpart title. From May 2022 to April 2024, the title was held and defended together with the SmackDown Tag Team Championship as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, and both titles remained independently active. With
7552-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
7670-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
7788-551: The championship until December 11, when they lost to Johnny Curtis and Tyler Reks . After losing the championship, they were once again split up when Wilson (renamed Tyson Kidd) was called up to the ECW brand with Natalya as his valet. In the 2009 WWE Supplemental Draft , Natalya and Smith were officially drafted to the ECW brand, despite Smith never debuting for SmackDown. On the May 12 episode of ECW on Sci Fi , Smith debuted on ECW under
7906-513: The 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 . It would be a short-lived championship, as two years later on the June 23, 2023, episode of SmackDown , reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler defeated reigning NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn in
8024-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
8142-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
8260-560: The company. For the two years following the abandonment of the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship, the WWWF had no tag team title 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, Japan in June of that year. This became the WWWF's tag team title until 1971, mostly being held by The Mongols ( Bepo Mongol and Geeto Mongol ). When they left
8378-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
8496-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
8614-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
8732-609: The final team to hold WWE's original World Tag Team Championship . In 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) launched their new development territory , Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). Harry Smith , Nattie Neidhart and TJ Wilson were moved to the new farm territory, where they aligned themselves and formed the Next/New Generation Hart Foundation (also known simply The New Hart Foundation) and were later joined by Teddy Hart and Ted DiBiase Jr. At FCW's debut show on June 26, Smith won
8850-461: 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 WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was introduced on the December 24, 2018, episode of Raw and is the only women's tag team championship in WWE, shared by
8968-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
9086-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
9204-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
9322-500: 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. The following list shows the top 10 tag team championship reigns in WWE history. The following list shows the longest reigning champion for each tag team championship created and/or promoted by WWE. Titles are listed in order of creation. The following lists shows
9440-503: The inaugural holders for each tag championship created and/or promoted by WWE. The following list shows the top 10 tag team championship reigns in WWE history. 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
9558-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
9676-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
9794-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
9912-408: The main roster, representing the SmackDown brand. It is the eighth overall men's tag team title contested in the company, but the third world tag team championship established by WWE. Originally established as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, its creation came as a result of the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, when the previous WWE Tag Team Championship became exclusive to Raw and
10030-495: The match and officially becoming fan favorites as a result. The following night on Raw , The Hart Dynasty defeated the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions ShoMiz ( The Miz and Big Show ) in a non-title match, after ShoMiz had insulted Hart. At Extreme Rules , they earned a shot at the Unified Tag Team Championship after defeating ShoMiz as part of a tag team gauntlet match (which also included
10148-435: The match as a unification match, both titles remained independently active. For the vast majority of title defenses between May 2022 and April 2024, the titles were defended together, but there were a couple of occasions in early 2023 where the titles were defended separately. There were four teams that were recognized as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions, with one team and three individuals recognized twice. Jey Uso held
10266-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
10384-605: The men's titles, the World Tag Team Championship on Raw and the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown , are regarded as world tag team championships , while the third men's title is for WWE's developmental brand , NXT , the NXT Tag Team Championship . The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is the only women's tag team championship in WWE and is defended across Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. The WWWF United States Tag Team Championship
10502-583: The name DH Smith) were sent to Raw and Neidhart to SmackDown , disbanding the Next Generation Hart Foundation. After being drafted to SmackDown, Smith returned to FCW — without debuting on SmackDown — and reformed the stable with Wilson. With Neidhart's (renamed Natalya) help them win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on October 30, 2008, by defeating Joe Hennig and Heath Slater . They held
10620-451: The name David Hart Smith, by interfering in Kidd's match against Finlay , signaling the reformation of the group, briefly under the name The Hart Trilogy, before settling on The Hart Dynasty. Smith made his debut with the group by defeating Finlay the following week. The team had their first match together, alongside Jack Swagger , by defeating fellow Canadian Christian and Tommy Dreamer in
10738-625: The primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
10856-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
10974-434: The same team, but both titles were independently active. The titles were held together under the "unified" banner from April 2009 to August 2010, with a total of six teams holding the titles during this time, with one individual, Chris Jericho , holding them twice as he held the unified title with two different teams. The holders of the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship appeared and defended the titles across all three brands at
11092-429: The separation of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, the Raw Tag Team Championship was renamed as the World Tag Team Championship on April 15, 2024, followed by the SmackDown title becoming the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship was the term used in WWE to refer to both the original World Tag Team Championship and previous WWE Tag Team Championship being held and defended together by
11210-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
11328-512: The team of Evan Bourne and Mark Henry . After a failed attempt to regain the championship, in which Kidd was pushed off balance during their double-team Hart Attack move, Kidd and Smith began to have a falling out with one another. This culminated on the November 15 episode of Raw , when Kidd refused to tag in and attacked Smith during a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Nexus ( Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater ). Kidd became
11446-418: The team of John Morrison and R-Truth and the team of Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry ). On the April 26 episode of Raw , The Hart Dynasty defeated ShoMiz to win the Unified Tag Team Championship. The following day, all three members were officially drafted to the Raw brand in the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft . On May 10, Kidd defeated The Miz in a match which earned any member of The Hart Dynasty
11564-642: The team of Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler . 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. 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
11682-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
11800-539: The time: Raw, SmackDown, and ECW —the latter of which was established in May 2006 but disbanded in February 2010. At WrestleMania 25 in April 2009, reigning WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns ( Carlito and Primo ) defeated reigning World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz , and thus unified the titles into what became known as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, the umbrella term for what officially remained two active championships that were now collectively defended. The championships would be defended as
11918-436: The titles, retiring WCW's title in the process. The current World Tag Team Championship was established in 2002 and is one of WWE's two currently active world tag team championships for the main roster, defended on the Raw brand. It was originally established as the WWE Tag Team Championship, being the sixth overall men's tag team title contested in the company, but the second world tag team championship established by WWE. As
12036-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
12154-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
12272-589: The undisputed title with two different partners, while The Judgment Day ( Finn Bálor and Damian Priest ) were the only team to hold the undisputed title twice. They were also the final team recognized as Undisputed Champions as at WrestleMania XL Night 1 on April 6, 2024, they defended the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match in which both sets of titles had to be retrieved to win. The titles were subsequently split as A-Town Down Under ( Austin Theory and Grayson Waller ) retrieved
12390-494: The unified title across all brands until the World Tag Team Championship was formally decommissioned in August 2010 in favor of continuing the lineage of the WWE Tag Team Championship, which dropped the "unified" moniker. The final World Tag Team Champions were The Hart Dynasty ( Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith ), who continued on as the WWE Tag Team Champions. The WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
12508-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
12626-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
12744-420: The wrestlers with the most reigns for each tag team championship created and/or promoted by WWE. The following lists shows the wrestlers with the most reigns for each tag team championship created and/or promoted by WWE. The following list shows the male 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
12862-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
12980-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
13098-549: Was established in 2018, however, after the announcement of the closure of NXT UK, the title was retired when it was unified into the NXT Tag Team Championship at Worlds Collide in September 2022. At the event, Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) defeated Gallus ( Mark Coffey and Wolfgang ), reigning NXT Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed), and reigning NXT UK Tag Team Champions Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs in
13216-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
13334-439: Was renamed the Raw Tag Team Championship, thus SmackDown created the SmackDown Tag Team Championship as its counterpart title. Heath Slater and Rhyno were the inaugural champions. From May 2022 to April 2024, the title was held and defended together with the Raw Tag Team Championship as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, and both titles remained independently active. Shortly after the titles were split at WrestleMania XL ,
13452-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
13570-563: Was successful in winning. They also had their first match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against D-Generation X (DX) on the December 25 episode of SmackDown , but lost. On March 28, 2010, The Hart Dynasty, (along with the rest of the Hart family), were in their uncle Bret 's corner as he faced Mr. McMahon in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania XXVI , performing a Hart Attack on McMahon during
13688-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
13806-594: Was the fifth men's tag team title under the company's banner, but it was contested in the WWF-affiliated promotion UWF Japan . By 1988, wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated was calling for the establishment of a secondary tag team championship (modelled on the WCW United States Tag Team Championship ) due to the glut of tag team competition in the promotion. This never took place, but in 1991, UWF Japan introduced
13924-607: Was the first men's tag team championship to be contested for in WWE , at the time known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). It was originally established in 1958 for Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) as a version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship and the inaugural champions were Mark Lewin and Don Curtis . When CWC seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1963 and became
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