WWE Tag Team Championship
| WWE Tag Team Championship |
The current design of the WWE Tag Team Championship |
| Details |
| Current champion(s) |
Air Boom (Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne) |
| Date won |
August 22, 2011 |
| Promotion |
WWE |
| Date established |
October 1, 2002 |
| Other name(s) |
- Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
|
| Past design(s) |
|
|
|
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship. Both titles were unified in 2009 and were collectively referred to as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship while essentially remaining independently active until the World Tag Team Championship was decommissioned in 2010. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition.
History
A part of the SmackDown brand after the company's initial brand extension in the spring of 2002, the original World Tag Team Championship was reassigned that following summer to appear and be defended on the Raw brand. The titles became exclusive to the Raw brand, leaving the SmackDown! brand without a tag team title. As a result, SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon, introduced the new WWE Tag Team Championship and commissioned it to be the tag team title for the SmackDown! brand. She stated that the inaugural champions would be determined from an eight-team tournament. On October 20, 2002, the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit defeated Rey Mysterio and Edge at No Mercy 2002 in the tournament final to become the first ever WWE Tag Team Champions.
On October 17, 2007, SmackDown! and ECW 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, WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) engaged in rivalry with the World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz, which resulted in the announcement on the March 17 edition of ECW that at WrestleMania XXV both teams would defend their titles against each other and the winning team would hold both titles.[1] The Colons 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 essentially remained two active championships that were now collectively defended.[2]
As the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, the champions could appear on and defend the titles on any WWE brand.[3] On August 16, 2010, the World Tag Team Championship was decommissioned in favor of continuing the lineage of the WWE Tag Team Championship following the presentation of new championship belts to then-champions David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd of The Hart Dynasty. The champions can still compete on any brand.[4]
Reigns
The inaugural champions were Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. The current champions are Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston), who are in their first reign as a team, as well as individually. They defeated Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga on August 22, 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
References
- General
- Specific
External links
Current WWE championships and accomplishments |
|
|
Championships
|
|
World
|
|
|
|
Secondary
|
|
|
|
Divisional
|
|
|
|
|
Developmental
|
|
|
|
Other
|
|
|