As an individual (6 reigns):
153-616: The World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE , defended on the Raw brand division . It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown . The current champions are The Judgment Day ( Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh ), who are in their first reign as
306-518: A Bra and Panties match . This led to a title match between Stratus and Victoria at No Mercy. The Divas rivalry from the SmackDown! brand heading into the event was between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie . On the September 26 episode of SmackDown! , Wilson defeated Nidia in a Bikini contest via crowd reaction. After the contest ended, Wilson was confronted by Dawn in a backstage segment. On
459-490: A Last Ride , but The Undertaker countered with a back body drop. The Undertaker attempted a Last Ride but Lesnar slammed The Undertaker into the turnbuckle. Lesnar delivered mounted punches on The Undertaker but The Undertaker performed a Last Ride and attempted to pin Lesnar, but Lesnar put his hand on the rope, avoiding the pin. The Undertaker attempted a Tombstone Piledriver but Lesnar countered and performed an F-5 to win
612-506: A Lingerie contest. Afterword, Dawn wanted to shake Torrie's hand this time but Torrie this time declined and walked away as if it looks like she wasn't going to fall for another trick to an assault that happened to her the previous week. Backstage, Dawn continued to attract Al towards herself, which led to a match between Torrie and Dawn at No Mercy. On the October 17 episode of SmackDown! , Dawn and Matt Hardy defeated Torrie and Rikishi in
765-547: A Tarantula on Noble and attempted a Buzzsaw Kick but missed the move. However, he slammed Noble's face into the turnbuckle and then performed a Buzzsaw Kick but before he could pin Noble, Noble's manager Nidia climbed the apron and kissed the referee. Noble took advantage and delivered a Gibson Driver to Tajiri for a near-fall. Noble attempted to pin Tajiri with a victory roll . Nidia helped Noble in pinning Tajiri to retain
918-407: A Triple Threat match to retain the title. On the September 30 episode of Raw , Victoria attacked Stratus from behind backstage before their title match. Stratus, however, defeated Victoria by disqualification to retain the title after Victoria nailed Stratus with a steel chair. On the October 7 episode of Raw , Victoria attacked Stratus after Stratus retained the title against Stacy Keibler in
1071-585: A Winners Take All match to claim both championships and become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. WWE had billed the match as a championship unification match; however, both titles remained independently active. The Usos had defended both titles together across both brands as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship , but on a couple of occasions in early 2023, they also defended
1224-649: A diving headbutt on Edge but Edge avoided the move and tagged Mysterio. Mysterio ran into the ring and used his quick speed, knocking Angle off the ring apron and then Mysterio dropkicked Benoit in the face. Mysterio followed by Droppin Da' Dime on Benoit. Benoit applied the Crippler Crossface on Mysterio but Mysterio escaped the hold by slamming Benoit into the middle rope and attempted a 619 but Benoit countered. Edge attacked Benoit and Mysterio attempted to pin, but Benoit kicked out. Later, Edge attacked Benoit in
1377-579: A drop toe hold on Jericho, knocking him into the groin of Christian in the corner. Goldust followed with a roll-up on Jericho for a near-fall. Goldust attempted the Curtain Call on Jericho but Jericho avoided the move and applied the Walls of Jericho on Goldust. Booker T broke the hold by kicking Jericho's head. Booker T performed a missile dropkick on Jericho. Christian grabbed a title belt and attempted to hit Booker T with it but Booker T stopped
1530-543: A roll-up to win the match and retain the title. After the match, Victoria assaulted Stratus until the referee stopped her. The main event was a Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship involving Brock Lesnar defending the title against The Undertaker . During the match, The Undertaker attacked Lesnar with his cast, causing Lesnar to bleed. Lesnar eventually started focusing on The Undertaker's injured hand but The Undertaker fought back. The Undertaker
1683-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are 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
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#17327932975521836-495: A Canadian lumberjack strap match after Ric Flair nailed Van Dam from behind with the World Heavyweight title belt while the referee was distracted. The secondary rivalry from the SmackDown! brand heading into No Mercy was between the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit and the team of Edge and Rey Mysterio to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions . SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced that
1989-487: A Pedigree on a Kane to retain the World Heavyweight Championship and unify Kane's Intercontinental Championship into the World Heavyweight Championship. The sixth match was a tag team match to determine the first-ever WWE Tag Team Champions . Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit wrestled Edge and Rey Mysterio for the titles. Midway through the match, Benoit climbed the top rope and attempted
2142-709: A United Kingdom-exclusive pay-per-view (PPV) in May 1999. A second No Mercy was then held later that same year in October, but in the United States, which established No Mercy as the annual October PPV for the promotion. The 2002 event was the fifth event under the No Mercy name and was held on October 20 at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas . It was also the first No Mercy held under
2295-413: 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
2448-469: 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
2601-519: 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
2754-585: 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
2907-497: 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 . No Mercy (2002) The 2002 No Mercy was the fifth No Mercy professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It
3060-553: A fan from the live audience. He then went out into the crowd and picked 10-year old Nicholas, and the two defeated Cesaro and Sheamus for the title. This made Nicholas the youngest WWE champion in history. Nicholas was also revealed to be the son of WWE referee, John Cone . The following night on Raw , the two relinquished the titles. During 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
3213-410: 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
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#17327932975523366-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has 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
3519-405: 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
3672-742: 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
3825-594: A mixed tag team match. Moments later, Torrie started looking for her dad until she went to the Women's locker room and found him in a shower with Dawn. Before the event aired live on pay-per-view (PPV), The Hurricane defeated Steven Richards in a match that aired live on Sunday Night Heat . The first match was for the World Tag Team Championship between Chris Jericho and Christian and Booker T and Goldust . Goldust and Jericho started
3978-440: 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
4131-508: A new design. At the center of the plate is WWE's logo placed over a globe, similar to the World Heavyweight Championship and Women's World Championship belts, albeit with a red background and placed on a shield flanked by two griffins in a similar manner to a coat of arms . Above the globe is a banner that reads "WORLD TAG TEAM" while below the globe is another banner that reads "CHAMPIONS", both in silver and with
4284-512: A propane tank. Later that night, Lesnar was informed by his manager Paul Heyman that the SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon had ordered Lesnar to defend the title against The Undertaker in a rematch at No Mercy, this time in a Hell in a Cell match . On the October 10 episode of SmackDown! , Lesnar and Heyman found an unorthodox but very effective way to distract The Undertaker leading up to their match. Heyman and Lesnar escorted
4437-536: A red background. The plates are on black straps with metal endplates, and gold divider bars separate the center plate from the two side plates. The side plates are now customizable with the reigning champions' logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a red globe. As of November 28, 2024, there have been 94 reigns between 72 teams composed of 103 individual champions, and one vacancy. The team of Cesaro and Sheamus and The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) have
4590-611: A result, Noble and Nidia kept their alliance. This led to a match between Noble and Tajiri for the Cruiserweight Championship at No Mercy. The Divas rivalry from the Raw brand heading into the event was between Trish Stratus and Victoria over the WWE Women's Championship . At Unforgiven, Stratus defeated Molly Holly to win the title. On the September 23 episode of Raw , Stratus defeated Molly and Victoria in
4743-499: 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 original 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
World Tag Team Championship (WWE) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4896-487: A second title for tag teams in the promotion to complement WWE's original World Tag Team Championship , which became exclusive to Raw. Both titles were unified in 2009 and were collectively referred to as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship while officially remaining independently active until the original World Tag Team Championship was formally decommissioned in 2010. As a result of
5049-401: A tag team tournament would take place to determine the new champions for the brand. The tournament started on the October 3 episode of SmackDown! , with the quarterfinals. Los Guerreros ( Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr. ) defeated Mark Henry and Rikishi in the first match and Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons defeated Billy and Chuck in the second match. The other two matches of
5202-462: A team; individually, it is the first for McDonagh and third for Bálor. They won the title by defeating Awesome Truth ( The Miz and R-Truth ) on the June 24, 2024, episode of Raw . The championship was originally established as the WWE Tag Team Championship on October 3, 2002, and the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit were the inaugural champions. It was introduced for the SmackDown brand as
5355-424: A third brand in 2006) announced a talent sharing agreement that enabled talent from either brand's roster to compete on both brands. As a result, the title became eligible to be contended and defended on both brands. In late 2008 through early 2009, reigning WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns ( Carlito and Primo ) engaged in rivalry with reigning World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz , which resulted in
5508-503: 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
5661-586: 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
5814-479: A young woman to the arena, causing speculation to swirl about her identity. During the segment, Heyman tipped his hand as he explained that the woman – Tracy – would show just what kind of man The Undertaker was. As The Undertaker made his way to the ring, Tracy found herself in the ring staring face to face with him. She erupted into a fury and accused The Undertaker of lying to her and sleeping with her for three months. She stated that she had no idea that The Undertaker
5967-410: 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
6120-428: Is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches 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
6273-416: Is the youngest champion at 10 years old (also making him the youngest champion in WWE history), while R-Truth is the oldest champion at age 52. The current champions are The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh ). Individually, it is McDonagh's first reign and Bálor's third, and while it is their first time holding the title as a team. They won the title by defeating Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) on
World Tag Team Championship (WWE) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6426-657: The 2016 WWE Draft , the championship became exclusive to Raw and was renamed as the Raw Tag Team Championship , with SmackDown creating their own counterpart, the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. From May 2022 until April 2024, both titles were held and defended together as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship , with each maintaining their individual lineages. Under the Undisputed banner, both titles simultaneously became
6579-624: 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
6732-568: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship on August 23, 2016. The WWE Tag Team Championship was subsequently renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship and The New Day were the first champions to hold the title under its new name. In 2019, WWE's developmental territory NXT became the promotion's third major brand when it was moved to the USA Network in September, thus making the NXT Tag Team Championship
6885-776: 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 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
7038-667: The WWE Hardcore Championship and the WWE European Championship had been unified with the Intercontinental Championship in separate bouts where Rob Van Dam , the then-reigning champion, defeated European Champion Jeff Hardy and Hardcore Champion Tommy Dreamer . At Unforgiven, Triple H defeated Rob Van Dam to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 30 episode of Raw , Bischoff announced that
7191-462: The World Tag Team Championship (that he had won on September 23) in a four team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match as The Hurricane had been attacked earlier that evening (by Triple H and Ric Flair ) and was thus unable to compete. As Kane celebrated his title defense in the TLC match, Triple H and Flair came out with Triple H stating that he knew all about Katie Vick and accused Kane of killing her. On
7344-513: The referee was attacked by brawling Lesnar and The Undertaker. On the September 26 episode of SmackDown! , The Undertaker defeated Matt Hardy , who had interfered in Lesnar and The Undertaker's match at Unforgiven. After the match, Lesnar attacked The Undertaker with the WWE title belt. On the October 3 episode of SmackDown! , Hardy defeated The Undertaker in a Falls Count Anywhere match after Lesnar interfered and hit an F-5 on The Undertaker. Afterwards, Lesnar broke The Undertaker's hand with
7497-501: The title unification match at No Mercy, Kane continued his rivalry with Triple H. On the October 21 episode of Raw , Kane and Rob Van Dam defeated Triple H and Ric Flair in a tag team match. After the match, Kane and Triple H continued to brawl with each other. On the next episode of Raw , Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that the first-ever Elimination Chamber match would take place at Survivor Series and Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship would be on
7650-408: The "Unified" moniker, received a new single set of belts, and continued to be defended on any brand. The brand extension was discontinued on August 29, 2011, but it was revived on July 19, 2016. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the current World Tag Team Championship between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The original design of the title belt when it was introduced as
7803-516: The "unified" moniker, subsequently became the sole tag team championship in WWE, available to any brand. The first brand extension then ended in August 2011. Following the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, reigning champions The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston , and Xavier Woods ) were drafted to the Raw brand, making the championship exclusive to Raw. In response, SmackDown created
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#17327932975527956-584: 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
8109-400: 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
8262-509: 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
8415-411: 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 the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
8568-653: 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
8721-509: The June 24, 2024, episode of Raw in Indianapolis, Indiana . Professional wrestling Mid 20th Century 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
8874-408: 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
9027-488: 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
9180-498: The October 14 episode of Raw , after Kane and Hurricane lost the World Tag Team Championship to Jericho and Christian, Kane addressed the crowd and admitted that he was somewhat responsible for Vick's death, however, he claimed that it was an accident. According to Kane, he was simply driving her home from a party because she had too much to drink. Triple H soon came out to interrupt. He stated that Kane's story
9333-416: The October 3 episode of SmackDown! , Wilson introduced her father Al Wilson to Billy and Chuck . Dawn started getting affected towards Al shortly thereafter. Later that night, Torrie defeated Dawn in a Bikini contest. After the contest ended, Dawn was about to shake Torrie's hand but instead she slapped her down and tossed her out of the ring. On the October 10 episode of SmackDown! , Torrie defeated Dawn in
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#17327932975529486-463: The Raw brand was between Rob Van Dam and Ric Flair. At Unforgiven, Flair interfered in Van Dam's World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H. During the match, Triple H tried to attack Van Dam with a sledgehammer but Flair interfered in the match and snatched it from Triple H. Flair turned on Van Dam by hitting him with the sledgehammer and allowed Triple H to win the match. As a result of
9639-484: The SmackDown! brand featured WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defeat The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the title. The main event from the Raw brand was a title unification match , where World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion Kane to unify the Intercontinental Championship into the World Heavyweight Championship. The undercard featured Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit versus Edge and Rey Mysterio to determine
9792-483: The Tag Team banner read "World Wrestling Entertainment" in small print. On both sides of the center plate were two side plates. The inner side plates featured the WWE scratch logo and were encircled with the meander pattern, while the outer side plates featured a single Spartan helmet facing inward. A version with two name plates on the center plate, one for each champion, had been created but was not used. In August 2014,
9945-710: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship on any brand until August 2010. That month, the Anonymous Raw General Manager announced that the World Tag Team Championship would be decommissioned in favor of continuing the WWE Tag Team Championship, which received a new, single set of championship belts, which were presented to reigning champions The Hart Dynasty ( Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith ) by Bret Hart . The WWE Tag Team Championship, which dropped
10098-462: 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. On October 17, 2007, SmackDown! and ECW (which became
10251-421: The WWE Tag Team Championship featured a design that was similar to the 1985 to 2002 version of the original World Tag Team Championship, with gold plates on black straps. It featured a similar center plate with an eagle and crown designs alongside a blue globe at the center. On top, it featured the company's scratch logo on a blue background. The gold text in the blue ribbon read "World Wrestling Entertainment" while
10404-613: The WWE name as the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May. It was also the first No Mercy to be held after the introduction of the brand extension in March, in which the promotion divided its roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. The 2002 event in turn featured wrestlers from both brands. The event featured nine professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWE The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after
10557-455: The World Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships would be at stake in a unification match at No Mercy. Both Triple H and Chris Jericho , the reigning Intercontinental Champion, would defend their titles in matches that night, with the winners advancing to No Mercy. While Triple H was successful in his defense Bubba Ray Dudley , Jericho was not, losing to Kane . On the October 7 episode of Raw , Kane successfully singlehandedly defended
10710-458: The World Tag Team Championship with the SmackDown title becoming the WWE Tag Team Championship. From 1971 until 2002, WWE 's original World Tag Team Championship was the primary men's world tag team championship of the professional wrestling promotion. 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
10863-464: The announcement on the March 17 episode of ECW that at WrestleMania 25 , both teams would defend their titles against each other and the winning team would hold both titles. The Colóns defeated Morrison and 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
11016-401: 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
11169-447: The arena, he was replaced by Brock Lesnar in the tag team match. Edge and Mysterio still managed to win the match and advance to the semifinals. On the October 17 episode of SmackDown! , Noble's tag team partner Tajiri served as the special referee in a match between Noble and Nidia. Noble won the match. After the match, Tajiri tried to help Nidia to her feet but she slapped him on the face, enabling Noble to attack Tajiri from behind. As
11322-418: 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
11475-418: The attempt. Jericho attempted a springboard dropkick , but the middle rope broke. However, Jericho delivered a one-handed bulldog on the title belt on Goldust and performed a Lionsault to retain the title. The second match of the event was between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie . The ring was being repaired during Dawn's entrance, as the middle rope broke down during the previous match. Torrie started
11628-561: 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
11781-607: 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. According to well-known belt maker Dave Millican, who designed and created the belts, he wanted to go with either nickel, silver, or gold for the plates, but WWE, in particular Stephanie McMahon, wanted copper to do something different that
11934-434: The betrayal, Flair turned heel . On the September 23 episode of Raw , Triple H and Flair defeated Van Dam and Bubba Ray Dudley in a tag team match. After the match, Van Dam attacked Triple H and performed a Diving Legdrop on Triple H through the announce table. On the October 14 episode of Raw , Eric Bischoff announced that Van Dam would wrestle Flair in a match at No Mercy. Later that night, Triple H defeated Van Dam in
12087-409: The bottom read "TAG TEAM" in a blue background and "CHAMPIONS" in blue text. The inner side plates were gold and featured two wrestlers grappling with the WWE logo at the top on a blue background, while the outer side plates were simply the company logo on a blue background. In August 2010, the WWE Tag Team Championship received a redesign, replacing the previous design that had been used in tandem with
12240-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling 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
12393-424: 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
12546-418: 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
12699-410: The cast. Lesnar continued his attempt to remove the cast. He kicked The Undertaker's injured hand, which allowed Lesnar to remove the cast. Lesnar focused on The Undertaker's injured hand and continued to attack it until The Undertaker low blowed Lesnar. Lesnar delivered a DDT to The Undertaker. Lesnar went to the outside of the ring. The Undertaker attempted a suicide dive on Lesnar but Lesnar avoided
12852-491: The center of the ring. Van Dam performed a Rolling Thunder on Flair to get a near-fall. Van Dam followed it by performing a Five-Star Frog Splash on Flair for the victory. The fourth match was for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship . Jamie Noble defended the title against Tajiri . The match started in the aisle when Tajiri attacked Noble. The two continued to battle and their fight reached
13005-433: The championship. After the match, Bischoff announced that Jericho and Christian would defend the titles against Booker T and Goldust at No Mercy. The third rivalry from the SmackDown! brand heading into the event was between Jamie Noble and Tajiri over the WWE Cruiserweight Championship . On the October 10 episode of SmackDown! , Noble's valet Nidia was involved in a backstage confrontation with Rey Mysterio and Noble
13158-423: 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
13311-461: 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
13464-468: 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 the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
13617-442: The corner and Mysterio performed a bronco buster on Benoit. Edge performed a hurricanrana on Angle. Benoit attempted a diving headbutt on Edge but Edge avoided the move and Angle received it. Edge took advantage and pinned Angle for a near-fall. Mysterio entered the ring and kicked Angle in the face. Benoit applied a Crippler Crossface on Edge from behind but Edge knocked Benoit out of the ring and tossed Mysterio onto Benoit outside
13770-540: 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
13923-405: 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
14076-408: The event. All wrestlers were from either one of the WWE's brands – SmackDown! or Raw – the two storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees. The main rivalry from the SmackDown! brand was between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker over the WWE Championship . At Unforgiven , Lesnar defended the title against The Undertaker in a single match . The match resulted in a no contest after
14229-603: 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
14382-470: 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
14535-579: The first tag team championships to be defended in the main event of WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania , which occurred as the main event of WrestleMania 39 Night 1 in April 2023. The titles would again be defended in the main event of a pay-per-view and livestreaming event at Night of Champions the following month. The titles were then split at WrestleMania XL in April 2024 with the Raw Tag Team Championship subsequently renamed as
14688-610: 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
14841-460: 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
14994-454: The inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions . Other matches included Trish Stratus versus Victoria for the WWE Women's Championship , Jamie Noble versus Tajiri for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship , Rob Van Dam versus Ric Flair , Torrie Wilson versus Dawn Marie , and Chris Jericho and Christian versus Booker T and Goldust for the World Tag Team Championship . No Mercy was first held by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as
15147-526: 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
15300-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in 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
15453-480: 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
15606-496: 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
15759-471: The line in the match. Kane, Shawn Michaels , Chris Jericho , Booker T and Van Dam were announced as the other participants of the match. Later that night, Kane defeated Triple H in a casket match after Michaels interfered. At Survivor Series, Michaels defeated Triple H, Booker T, Van Dam, Jericho and Kane in the Elimination Chamber match to win the World Heavyweight Championship. While
15912-557: The main event of a pay-per-view and livestreaming event at Night of Champions the following month on May 27 when Owens and Zayn retained the titles against The Bloodline ( Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa ). At WrestleMania XL Night 1 on April 6, 2024, The Judgment Day ( Finn Bálor and Damian Priest ) defended the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match in which both sets of championships had to be retrieved for
16065-517: The match and retain the WWE Championship. On the October 24 episode of SmackDown! , the show's newest acquisition Big Show challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series . Later that night, The Undertaker cut a promo and showed his respect for Lesnar on their Hell in a Cell match at No Mercy. However, the promo was interrupted by Big Show, who attacked The Undertaker and injured him by throwing him off
16218-455: The match but immediately tagged in to Booker T and Christian respectively. Booker T knocked Christian with a punch and then a clothesline and started chasing Jericho but Jericho hopped down from the ring apron. Goldust slingshotted Jericho over the top rope onto Christian and Booker T rolled Jericho back into the ring. Goldust tagged in and performed a double bulldog on Jericho and Christian and then performed Golden Globes on Christian and
16371-425: The match by attacking Dawn with punches until Dawn left the ring. As Dawn returned to the ring, she started arguing with the referee . Torrie took advantage of the situation and performed a swinging neckbreaker on Dawn to win the match. The next match was between Rob Van Dam and Ric Flair . As the match started, Van Dam started attacking Flair until Flair escaped out of the ring but Van Dam caught him outside
16524-486: The match to end. As a result, the championships were split with Awesome Truth ( The Miz and R-Truth ) winning the Raw Tag Team Championship while A-Town Down Under ( Austin Theory and Grayson Waller ) won the SmackDown titles. A week later on the April 15 episode of Raw , the Raw Tag Team Championship was renamed as the World Tag Team Championship with a new set of championship belts. The SmackDown Tag Team Championship
16677-498: 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
16830-483: The most reigns as a team at four, while individually, Kingston and Seth Rollins have the most with six. The New Day's second reign is also the longest reign at 483 days and they are the only team to hold the championship for over one consecutive year—Big E is also credited for this reign as during New Day's first two reigns, Big E, Kingston, and Woods were all recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule (Big E
16983-432: The move and The Undertaker collided with the cell wall. Lesnar hit The Undertaker with the steel steps, causing The Undertaker to bleed profusely. Lesnar performed a spinebuster on The Undertaker for a near-fall. The Undertaker attempted Old School but Lesnar countered. The Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Lesnar for a near-fall. Lesnar then tried to mock The Undertaker by performing The Undertaker's own finisher on him,
17136-529: The new champions at No Mercy. The third rivalry from the Raw brand heading into the event was between the team of Chris Jericho and Christian and the team of Booker T and Goldust over the World Tag Team Championship. On the September 23 episode of Raw , Jericho defeated Goldust to retain the Intercontinental Championship in a match ordered by the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff. On the September 30 episode of Raw , Jericho
17289-466: The original World Tag Team Championship to represent the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship since April 2009. The belts were on black straps with copper plates. Taking inspiration from Greece , the center plate was dominated by two Spartan helmets facing outward and it was encircled with a meander pattern. At the top of the center plate was the WWE scratch logo and at the bottom was a banner that read "Tag Team" on one line and "Champions" below that; above
17442-600: The process. Despite that, McMahon affirmed that The Undertaker would be permitted to wear the cast. The main rivalry from the Raw brand was between the World Heavyweight Champion Triple H and the WWE Intercontinental Champion Kane , and was part of an ongoing storyline where Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff was seeking to have one overall champion to reign over his roster; to this effect, earlier in 2002
17595-717: 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
17748-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise 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
17901-465: The quarterfinal round took place on the October 10 episode of SmackDown! , as Angle and Benoit defeated John Cena and Billy Kidman , and Edge and Mysterio defeated Brock Lesnar and Tajiri . On the October 17 episode of SmackDown! , the semifinal round took place, where Angle and Benoit defeated Los Guerreros, and Edge and Mysterio defeated D-Von and Simmons. This set up the final round match pitting Angle and Benoit against Edge and Mysterio to crown
18054-418: The ring and Triple H went back to fight Kane in the ring. The Hurricane then ran down to the ringside area and prevented Flair from interfering in the match. This distracted Triple H and he performed a Pedigree on Hurricane. Kane performed a powerslam on Triple H for a near-fall. Kane attempted a big boot on Triple H but he avoided the move and the referee was knocked down. Triple H and Kane fought outside
18207-403: The ring by fighting with punches. The action returned to the ring where Flair applied a figure four leglock on Van Dam. Van Dam tried to reverse the hold but Flair rolled into the ropes to break the hold. Flair attempted to apply the figure four leglock again but Van Dam countered it with a small package for a near-fall . Flair climbed the top rope but Van Dam pulled him down by slamming him in
18360-405: The ring where Noble dominated Tajiri for much of the earlier match. Tajiri started dominating the match by attempting a moonsault on Noble. However, Noble avoided the move but Tajiri landed on his feet. However, Tajiri performed a Flip Over DDT on Noble. Noble attempted a clothesline but missed it and Tajiri delivered a series of kicks and a superkick for a near-fall. Tajiri followed by applying
18513-445: The ring, where Kane chokeslammed Triple H through a broadcast table. Flair tried to attack Kane outside the ring but Kane shoved him and took Triple H with him back into the ring to pin him. Flair ran into the ring with a sledgehammer and tried to attack Kane with it but Kane grabbed it from Flair and hit him with it. After knocking out Flair, Kane focused on Triple H and tried to hit him with it, but Triple H low blowed Kane and took
18666-461: The ring. Angle attempted to apply an ankle lock on Edge, but Edge countered it and applied the ankle lock on Angle instead. Angle countered the hold and applied his own ankle lock on Edge, making him submit . As a result, Angle and Benoit became the first-ever WWE Tag Team Champions. The match was later named Match of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter . The final match on the undercard
18819-426: The silver plates on blue straps design of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship belts. While all other WWE championship belts were updated to feature customizable side plates for the champion's logos, the Raw and SmackDown tag titles lacked these features. On the April 15, 2024, episode of Raw , in conjunction with the Raw Tag Team Championship being renamed to World Tag Team Championship, the championship belts received
18972-419: The stage. Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman continuously advised Lesnar to get out of the title match against Big Show at Survivor Series because Heyman thought that Lesnar could not defeat Big Show, but Lesnar intended to wrestle Big Show. At Survivor Series, Big Show defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship, after Heyman betrayed Lesnar and helped Big Show win the title. After losing to Triple H in
19125-440: 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
19278-426: 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,
19431-415: The third major tag team title for men in WWE. However, this recognition was reversed when NXT reverted to its original function as a developmental brand in September 2021. At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, reigning Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus were scheduled to defend the title against Braun Strowman and a partner of his choosing. At the event, Strowman revealed that his partner would be
19584-480: The title. After the match, Tajiri delivered a Buzzsaw Kick to Noble. The fifth match of the event was the Title unification match for Triple H 's World Heavyweight Championship and Kane 's WWE Intercontinental Championship . Midway through the match, Kane performed a back body drop on Triple H and attempted a pinfall attempt on Triple H but Ric Flair ran into the ring and went after Kane. Flair got Kane out of
19737-530: The titles separately. In the main event of WrestleMania 39 Night 1, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defended the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn . This subsequently made both the Raw and SmackDown titles the first tag team championships to be defended in the main event of WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania . At the event, Owens and Zayn defeated The Usos to become champions. The titles would again be defended in
19890-519: 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
20043-471: 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
20196-405: 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 a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
20349-535: 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
20502-400: The weapon. Triple H attempted to hit Kane with the sledgehammer but Kane avoided the move, delivered a chokeslam to Triple H and attempted to pin him, but the referee was still out. A new referee came in to make the count, but Flair pulled him out to prevent the pinfall. Flair then climbed the top rope to distract Kane but Kane performed a chokeslam on Flair. Triple H took advantage and performed
20655-420: 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
20808-425: 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
20961-488: 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
21114-432: Was confronted by Goldust's tag team partner Booker T in a backstage segment. On the October 7 episode of Raw , Booker T defeated Big Show in a Steel Cage match . After the match, Jericho attacked Booker T. On the October 14 episode of Raw , Booker T retaliated by attacking Jericho before Jericho and Christian's World Tag Team Championship match against Kane and The Hurricane. However, Jericho and Christian managed to win
21267-463: Was distracted by Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman . The Undertaker grabbed Heyman's tie through the cage and pulled him repeatedly into the cell wall, causing Heyman to bleed. Lesnar took advantage of the distraction and started fighting The Undertaker. He backed The Undertaker into the wall of the cell and worked on the injured hand. He slammed the hand repeatedly and then tried to remove the cast. The Undertaker attacked Lesnar and prevented him from removing
21420-436: Was established, in which select members of WWE's roster are reassigned to a different brand. After the WWE Tag Team Championship was unified with the World Tag Team Championship as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, the champions could appear and defend the titles on any WWE brand. The World Tag Team Championship was decommissioned in August 2010, leaving the WWE Tag Team Championship as WWE's sole tag team title, which dropped
21573-457: Was for the WWE Women's Championship in which Trish Stratus defended the title against Victoria . Stratus and Victoria started the match in the ring and they quickly fought to the outside. Trish clotheslined Victoria but Victoria fought back and slammed Stratus on the guardrail. Back in the ring, Victoria performed a Diving Legdrop on Stratus. In the end, Victoria made a pinfall attempt on Stratus but Stratus countered it and pinned Victoria with
21726-464: Was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions . The event took place on October 20, 2002, at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas . It was the first No Mercy held following the introduction of the brand extension, as well as the first No Mercy held under the WWE name after the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May. The event featured two main events . The main event from
21879-432: Was married and his wife Sara was pregnant and apologized to Sara, saying she hated that the news had to be broken that way. The Undertaker claimed that he had never even seen Tracy before, much less had an affair with her. But all that earned him was a slap to the face from her that ended the segment. Moments later, The Undertaker attempted to convince Sara over the phone that he was innocent until it became obvious that Sara
22032-493: Was not buying his alibi. Sara also got a call from Lesnar as Lesnar told Sara in a mockingly insincere tone that he was concerned for her state of mind. Toward the end of the show, The Undertaker would vent his frustrations on Lesnar at the end of the evening as he assaulted him, using the cast on his broken hand as a weapon. On the October 17 episode of SmackDown! , The Undertaker admitted in an interview that he lied about not knowing Tracy and that he knew Tracy, but insisted that it
22185-410: Was not done elsewhere. 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 then received an update on December 19 that year to reflect the name change. They featured the same physical design, but the plates were silver and the straps changed to red, countering
22338-448: Was not there to support her. She then confronted Noble, enabling the security guard to ask what the problem was. Nidia responded by slapping Noble's water bottle out of Noble's hand onto the guard, prompting him to remove the two out of the arena for the night. On that evening, Noble was scheduled to team with Tajiri to take on Edge and Rey Mysterio in the quarterfinals to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions but since Noble got removed from
22491-572: Was only partly true and that Kane apparently forgot to mention that he too had been drinking. In addition, Triple H mentioned that at Katie's autopsy, doctors found traces of Kane's semen, leaving Triple H to accuse Kane of necrophilia. Toward the end of the show, Kane attempted to gain revenge on Triple H as he got to the ring, but Triple H quickly escaped. Kane then attacked half of the Raw roster by Chokeslamming them and then stared down at Triple H as they were set to square off in their title unification match at No Mercy. Another predominant rivalry from
22644-650: 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
22797-415: 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
22950-446: Was split from the team in the 2020 WWE Draft ). John Cena and The Miz's sole reign is the shortest reign at 9 minutes, due to The Corre invoking their rematch clause immediately after losing the title. As a team, The New Day (across its two different variants of team members) also have the longest combined reign at 627 days, while Kingston individually has the longest combined reign at 912 days (910 days as recognized by WWE). Nicholas
23103-417: 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
23256-480: Was then renamed as the WWE Tag Team Championship with its own new set of belts on the April 19 episode of SmackDown . 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. Following the events of the WWE brand extension , an annual WWE draft
23409-422: Was years before he and Sara even met. Tracy, however, begged to differ, and let McMahon know that she and The Undertaker had been together as recently as ten days earlier. Lesnar and Heyman, with their own axe to grind, demanded that McMahon prohibit The Undertaker from wearing his cast during their upcoming match. Intent on exacting vengeance upon Lesnar, The Undertaker attacked Lesnar with the cast, bloodying him in
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