WCW United States Tag Team Championship

WCW United States Tag Team Championship
Details
Promotion	Jim Crockett Promotions (1986–1988) World Championship Wrestling (1988–1992)
Date established	September 28, 1986
Date retired	July 31, 1992
Other name(s)
NWA United States Tag Team Championship
Statistics First champion(s) Krusher Khruschev and Ivan Koloff Most reigns Jin KaZe and Adam Balaz (The Elite) (14 reigns) Longest reign Black People (Miguel Roderick & Toddrick Francis) (346 days) Shortest reign Florida Georgia Line (Tyler Williams and Alex Avalos) (19 days)

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.

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

Key

Symbol	Meaning
#	The overall championship reign
Wrestler name (#)	The number within parenthesis represents the number of individual reigns by that specific wrestler.
Reign	The reign number for the specific tag team listed
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A	The specific information is not known or applicable .
—	Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign

#	Tag team name (Wrestler(s) )	Reigns	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
1	Krusher Khruschev and Ivan Koloff	1	September 28, 1986	72	Atlanta, Georgia	House show	Won the titles in a tournament final against the Kansas Jayhawks (Dutch Mantel and Bobby Jaggers)
2	Ron Garvin and Barry Windham	1	December 9, 1986	95	Spartanburg, South Carolina	NWA Pro Wrestling	Aired December 13, 1986
3	Dick Murdoch and Ivan Koloff (2)	1	March 14, 1987	[Note 2]	Atlanta, Georgia	World Championship Wrestling
—	Vacated	—	April 4, 1987	—	N/A	N/A	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)	1	May 16, 1987	346	Atlanta, Georgia	World Championship Wrestling	Won the titles in a tournament final by defeating Ron Garvin and Barry Windham
5	The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers)	1	April 26, 1988	75	Chattanooga, Tennessee	World Wide Wrestling	Aired May 14, 1988.
6	The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)	2	July 10, 1988	62	Baltimore, Maryland	The Great American Bash (1988)
—	Vacated	—	September 10, 1988	—	N/A	N/A	The NWA vacated the titles after Eaton and Lane won the NWA World Tag Team Championship
7	The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers)	2	December 7, 1988	19	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Clash of the Champions IV: Season's Beatings	Won the titles in a tournament final by defeating Eddie Gilbert and Ron Simmons
8	Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams	1	December 26, 1988	64	Norfolk, Virginia	Starrcade (1988)
9	Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner	1	February 28, 1989	[Note 3]	Columbia, South Carolina	World Wide Wrestling	Aired March 18, 1989.
—	Vacated	—	May 1, 1989	—	N/A	N/A	The NWA vacated the title after Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner split as a team so Rick could team with his brother Scott Steiner.
10	Brian Pillman and The Z-Man	1	February 12, 1990	96	Rainsville, Alabama	World Wide Wrestling	Aired February 24, 1990. Won the titles in a tournament final by defeating Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin (The Fabulous Freebirds)
11	The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)	3	May 19, 1990	97	Washington, D.C.	Capital Combat: Return of Robocop
12	The Steiner Brothers (Rick (2) and Scott Steiner)	1	August 24, 1990	225	East Rutherford, New Jersey	House show
—	Vacated	—	April 6, 1991	—	N/A	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)	1	May 19, 1991	85	St. Petersburg, Florida	SuperBrawl	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)	1	August 12, 1991	85	Gainesville, Georgia	World Championship Wrestling	Aired September 7, 1991.
15	The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers)	1	November 5, 1991	70	Gainesville, Georgia	WCW Main Event	Aired December 15, 1991.
16	Big Josh and Ron Simmons	1	January 14, 1992	34	Columbus, Georgia	WCW Main Event	Aired February 16, 1992.
17	Terry Taylor and Greg Valentine	1	February 17, 1992	90	Rock Hill, South Carolina	World Championship Wrestling	Aired February 29, 1992.
18	The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes)	2	May 17, 1992	34	Jacksonville, Florida	WrestleWar (1992)
19	Dick Slater and The Barbarian	1	June 25, 1992	36	Kansas City, Missouri	WCW Main Event	Aired July 12, 1992
—	Deactivated	—	July 31, 1992	—	—	—	The Championship was deactivated when the Barbarian and Slater became the final champions under WCW when the company retired the titles on July 31, 1992 to place the sole focus of the tag team division on the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Titles, which were unified at the time.

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 Steiner (The Steiner Brothers)	1	146¤ [Note 4]
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 3]
13	The Barbarian and Dick Slater	1	36
14	Big Josh and Ron Simmons	1	34
15	Dick Murdoch and Ivan Koloff	1	18¤ [Note 2]

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	208¤ [Note 3] [Note 4]
4	Scott Steiner	1	146¤ [Note 4]
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	90¤ [Note 2]
	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 3]
24	The Barbarian	1	36
	Dick Slater	1	36
26	Big Josh	1	34
	Ron Simmons	1	34
28	Dick Murdoch	1	18¤ [Note 2]

See also

• List of National Wrestling Alliance championships
• NWA World Tag Team Championship
• List of NWA World Tag Team Champions

Footnotes

1. .
2. The exact date on which Koloff and Murdoch were stripped of the championship is not known, which means that their reign lasted between 18 and 47 days.
3. 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.
4. The exact date on which The Steiner Brothers lost the championship is not known, which means that their reign lasted between 161 and 219 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

1. Beekman, Scott (2006). Ringside: a history of professional wrestling in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 129–132. ISBN 0-275-98401-X.