AWA World Tag Team Championship
The last version of the championship belts used
Details
PromotionAmerican Wrestling Association
Date established1960
Date retired1991
Statistics
First champion(s)Murder, Inc. (Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills)
Most reigns(as team) The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser (5 times) (as individual) The Crusher (9 times)
Longest reignThe High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) (744 days)
Shortest reignBill Dundee and Jerry Lawler (4 days)

The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.

History

When the NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club operated by Verne Gagne withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance in May 1960, Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills were the recognized champions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version). At the time, the AWA continued to recognize the NWA champions as their World champions. However, by August 1960, and having recently recaptured the NWA Tag Team championships for a second time, Kowalski and Mills were recognized as the first AWA World Tag Team Champions when AWA stopped recognizing NWA champions.

As the promotion grew, the AWA World Tag Team Championship became one of the most coveted tag team titles in the United States from the beginning until the late 1980s, when the AWA's talent roster was depleted by the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions. This led to the retirement of the titles when the AWA closed.[1]

Title history

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Murder, Inc.
(Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills) 		August 10, 1960 N/A N/A 1 55[Note 1] Kowalski and Mills were awarded the NWA World Tag Team Championship on August 1960. They were recognized as the first AWA champions when the AWA withdrew from the NWA and recognized its own champions.
2 Hard Boiled Haggerty and Len Montana / Gene Kiniski October 4, 1960 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 231 Montana suffered a broken leg in a match against Verne Gagne. On March 18, 1961, Haggerty chose Kiniski as his new partner.
3 Leo Nomellini and Wilbur Snyder May 23, 1961 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 57 [2]
4 Hard Boiled Haggerty and Gene Kiniski July 19, 1961 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 2 20 [3]
— Vacated August 8, 1961 Live event — — — Title vacated after Haggerty and Kiniski split up when Haggerty's interference in a cage match between Kiniski and Verne Gagne backfires.
5 Hard Boiled Haggerty (3) and Bob Geigel September 26, 1961 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 1 51 Haggerty defeated Kiniski for control of the titles and chose Geigel as his new partner.
6 Pat Kennedy and Dale Lewis November 16, 1961 Live event Rochester, Minnesota 1 7
7 Bob Geigel (2) and Otto Von Krupp November 23, 1961 Live event Rochester, Minnesota 1 40[Note 2] [4]
— Vacated January 2, 1962 — — — — Title vacated when Von Krupp was injured.
8 Larry Hennig and Duke Hoffman January 15, 1962 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 1 29 Defeated Ivan and Nikita Kalmikoff in a tournament final. [5]
9 Bob Geigel (3) and Stan Kowalski (2) February 13, 1962 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 47[Note 2]
10 The Neilsons
(Art Neilson and Stan Neilson) 		April 10, 1962 N/A Cincinnati, Ohio 1 250[Note 1] This was a "phantom" title change, as no match actually took place.
11 Doug Gilbert and Dick Steinborn December 16, 1962 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 1 16
12 The Kalmikoffs
(Ivan and Karol) 		January 1, 1963 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 231
13 The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser August 20, 1963 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 173 [6]
14 Moose Evans and Verne Gagne February 9, 1964 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 14 [7]
15 The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser February 23, 1964 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 2 342 [8]
16 Larry Hennig (2) and Harley Race January 30, 1965 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 175
17 The Crusher (3) and Verne Gagne (2) July 24, 1965 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 14
18 Larry Hennig (3) and Harley Race August 7, 1965 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 2 294
19 The Crusher (4) and Dick the Bruiser (3) May 28, 1966 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 3 223 [9]
20 Larry Hennig (4) / Chris Markoff and Harley Race January 6, 1967 Live event Chicago, Illinois 3 301 On November 1, 1967, Markoff replaced Hennig, who had his leg broken by Verne Gagne in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
21 Pat O'Connor and Wilbur Snyder (2) November 3, 1967 Live event Chicago, Illinois 1 29
22 Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto December 2, 1967 Live event Chicago, Illinois 1 392
23 The Crusher (5) and Dick the Bruiser (4) December 28, 1968 Live event Chicago, Illinois 4 245
24 The Vachons
(Butcher and Mad Dog) 		August 30, 1969 Live event Chicago, Illinois 1 623
† The Von Steigers
(Karl Von Steiger and Kurt Von Steiger) 		February 23, 1971 Live event Portland, Oregon 1† 23
† The Vachons
(Butcher and Mad Dog) 		March 18, 1971 Live event Salem, Oregon 1(2) 58 Defeated The Von Steigers by D.Q.
25 Red Bastien and Hercules Cortez / The Crusher (6) May 15, 1971 Live event Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1 250 In August 1971, Bastien chose The Crusher as his new partner after Cortez was killed in a car accident on July 23.
26 Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens January 20, 1972 Live event Denver, Colorado 1 345 [10]
27 Verne Gagne (3) and Billy Robinson December 30, 1972 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 7
28 Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens January 6, 1973 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 2 561
29 The Crusher (7) and Billy Robinson (2) July 21, 1974 Live event Green Bay, Wisconsin 1 95
30 Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens October 24, 1974 Live event Winnipeg, Manitoba 3 296
31 The Crusher (8) and Dick the Bruiser (5) August 16, 1975 Live event Chicago, Illinois 5 342
32 Bobby Duncum and Blackjack Lanza July 23, 1976 Live event Chicago, Illinois 1 349
33 The High Flyers
(Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) 		July 7, 1977 Live event Winnipeg, Manitoba 1 443
34 Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens (4) September 23, 1978 N/A N/A 1 256 Awarded the titles when Brunzell was injured in a charity softball game.
35 Verne Gagne (4) and Mad Dog Vachon (3) June 6, 1979 Live event Winnipeg, Manitoba 1 410
36 East-West Connection
(Adrian Adonis and Jesse Ventura) 		July 20, 1980 Live event Denver, Colorado 1 329 Won by forfeit when Gagne no-showed scheduled defense.
37 The High Flyers
(Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) 		June 14, 1981 Live event Green Bay, Wisconsin 2 742
38 The Sheiks
(Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera) 		June 26, 1983 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 315
39 The Crusher (9) and Baron Von Raschke May 6, 1984 Live event Green Bay, Wisconsin 1 111 [11]
40 The Road Warriors
(Animal and Hawk) 		August 25, 1984 Live event Las Vegas, Nevada 1 400
41 Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal September 29, 1985 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 1 111
42 Scott Hall and Curt Hennig January 18, 1986 Live event Albuquerque, New Mexico 1 119 "Phantom match" said to have occurred to cover for Regal leaving the company while still champion.[12][13]
43 Buddy Rose and Doug Somers May 17, 1986 AWA All-Star Wrestling Hammond, Indiana 1 255 Rose and Somers won the match by countout and were awarded the title despite titles not allowed to change hands in that way.
44 The Midnight Rockers
(Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) 		January 27, 1987 Live event St. Paul, Minnesota 1 118
45 Soldat Ustinov and Boris Zhukov / Doug Somers (2) May 25, 1987 Live event Lake Tahoe, Nevada 1 139 Somers replaced Zhukov on October 1987 after he jumped to the WWF. [14]
46 Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler October 11, 1987 CWA Live event Memphis, Tennessee 1 8
47 Dr. D and Héctor Guerrero October 19, 1987 CWA Live event Memphis, Tennessee 1 7 Dr. D was local wrestler Carl Styles under a mask.
48 Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler October 26, 1987 CWA Live event Memphis, Tennessee 2 4
49 The Midnight Express
(Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) 		October 30, 1987 AWA Championship Wrestling Whitewater, Wisconsin 1 58 [15]
50 The Midnight Rockers
(Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) 		December 27, 1987 AWA Championship Wrestling Las Vegas, Nevada 2 83 The Midnight Express defeated The Midnight Rockers on December 27, 1987, and continued to be recognized as AWA World Tag Team Champions into 1988, including making successful title defenses. After a dispute between Dennis Condrey and Verne Gagne over payments, AWA President Stanley Blackburn appeared on television on January 24, 1988, and stated that, after rewatching the December 27, 1987 AWA World Tag Team Title match, he believed that the Midnight Rockers had actually won the match, and they were then retroactively recognized as having been Champions for the past 28 days; Titles were held up on February 15, 1988, after a controversial match with The Rock 'n' Roll Express in Memphis. The Rockers won a rematch on February 22, 1988, also in Memphis, but this was never recognized and they remain two-time champions.[16]
51 Badd Company
(Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka) 		March 19, 1988 AWA Championship Wrestling Las Vegas, Nevada 1 371
52 The Olympians
(Ken Patera (2) and Brad Rheingans) 		March 25, 1989 AWA Championship Wrestling Rochester, Minnesota 1 177
— Vacated September 18, 1989 — — — — Title vacated when Patera was injured.
53 The Destruction Crew
(Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos) 		October 1, 1989 AWA Championship Wrestling Rochester, Minnesota 1 314 Defeated Paul Diamond and Greg Gagne in a tournament final.
54 D.J. Peterson and The Trooper August 11, 1990 AWA Championship Wrestling Rochester, Minnesota 1 123
— Deactivated 1991[Note 3] — — — — The title became inactive when the AWA folded in 1991.

List of top combined reigns

By team

Rank Team # Of Reigns Combined Days
1. The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser 5 1,325
2. Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens 3 1,202
3. The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) 2 1,185
4. Harley Race and Larry Hennig / Chris Markoff[Note 4] 3 777
5. Butcher and Mad Dog Vachon 2 623
6. Verne Gagne and Mad Dog Vachon 1 410
7. Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) 1 400
8. Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto 1 392
9. Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka) 1 371
10. Bobby Duncum and Blackjack Lanza 1 349
11. The East-West Connection (Adrian Adonis and Jesse Ventura) 1 329
12. The Sheiks (Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera) 1 315
13. The Destruction Crew (Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos) 1 314
14. Art and Stan Nielson 1 259
15. Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens 1 256
16. Buddy Rose and Doug Somers 1 255
17. Red Bastien and Hercules Cortez/The Crusher*[Note 5] 1 250

By wrestler

Rank Wrestler # Of Reigns Combined Days
1. The Crusher 9 1,717[Note 6]
2. Ray Stevens 4 1,458
3. Dick the Bruiser 5 1,325
4. Nick Bockwinkel 3 1,202
5. Jim Brunzell 2 1,185
5. Greg Gagne 2 1,185
7. Mad Dog Vachon 3 1033
8. Larry Hennig 4 797
9. Harley Race 3 777
10. Butcher Vachon 2 623

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b There are no records of the day the reign began, only the month so the first day of the month is counted.
  2. ^ a b There are no records of the day the reign ended, only the month so the first day of the month is counted.
  3. ^ There are no records of the day or month this final reign ended, only the year.
  4. ^ Chris Markoff replaced Larry Hennig in their third reign.
  5. ^ The Crusher replaced Hercules Cortez after Cortez died from injuries sustained in a car accident.
  6. ^ Combined length may not be correct. See above.

References

  1. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 23, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 23): Antonio Inoki Vs. Hulk Hogan, Andre Vs. Sakaguchi, Frank Gotch in a 57-minute match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  3. ^ Hoops, Brian (July 19, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 19): Kiniski wins third AWA title, Nash beats AJ Styles for TNA belt". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Hoops, Brian (November 23, 2019). "Daily Pro Wrestling history (11/23): WWE Survivor Series 2014". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  5. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 15, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/15): Big John Studd wins 1989 Royal Rumble". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  6. ^ Hoops, Brian (August 20, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (August 20): June Byers wins NWA Women's belt, Michael Shane wins TNA X-Division title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  7. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 9, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 9): The Midnight Rider defeated Ric Flair". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  8. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 23, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/23): WWE Elimination Chamber 2014". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  9. ^ F4W Staff (May 28, 2015). "ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (MAY 28): HULK HOGAN VS. NICK BOCKWINKEL, BRUNO VS. SUPERSTAR GRAHAM DOUBLE DQ". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 20, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/20): HHH returns, wins 2002 Royal Rumble". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  11. ^ F4W Staff (May 6, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 6): Verne Gagne Vs. Danny Hodge, 1st Annual Von Erich Parade of Champions show". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "American Wrestling Association".
  13. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 18, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/18): Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for WWWF title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  14. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 25, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 25): Rockers last match in AWA, Tiger Mask wins NWA Jr. Heavyweight gold, Russian amateur wrestler beats Vader". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  15. ^ Hoops, Brian (October 30, 2015). "DAILY PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (10/30): A SLEW OF TAG TEAM TITLES CHANGE HANDS". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  16. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 22, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/22): Sting defeats Hogan to win vacant WCW title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.

External links

AWA World Tag Team Champions
American Wrestling Association
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