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