Rob Van Dam and Sabu as ECW World Tag Team Champions at an ECW event August 4, 1998

The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

Originally, ECW was known as Eastern Championship Wrestling when it was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an organization that had numerous member promotions. ECW withdrew as a member of the NWA in 1994 and renamed itself to Extreme Championship Wrestling.[1] The championship remained active until April 2001, when ECW filed for bankruptcy. All of ECW's assets were later purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in mid-2003, including the copyrights to ECW's championships.[2]

In May 2006, WWE extended its promotion by adding ECW as a third additional brand, the others being Raw and SmackDown!, in a storyline sports extension.[3] The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was the only former ECW championship reactivated by WWE for the new brand.[4] However, the title history was published by WWE on its website.[5]

Title reigns were determined either by professional wrestling matches with different tag teams (a duo of wrestlers) or stables (a group of more than two wrestlers) using ring names, involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or were awarded the title due to scripted circumstances; the championship could have also been vacated by the promotion. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or heroes as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches for the championship.

The title was mostly won at live events in eight American states. The inaugural champions were The Super Destroyers (A. J. Petrucci and Doug Stahl), who won a tournament final at a live event to win the titles on June 23, 1992. Danny Doring and Roadkill, who won the titles on December 3, 2000 at the Massacre on 34th Street pay-per-view event, were the final wrestlers to have held the championship before ECW filed for bankruptcy. At 283 days, The Super Destroyers' first reign was the longest, while The Dudley Boyz' eighth reign and the team of Raven and Stevie Richards' second reign were the shortest, at less than one day. With eight reigns, The Dudley Boyz held the most reigns as a tag team and individually. Overall, there were 51 reigns among 31 teams.

Reigns

Names

Name Years
ECW Tag Team Championship June 23, 1992 – September 18, 1993
NWA-ECW Tag Team Championship September 18, 1993 – August 27, 1994
ECW World Tag Team Championship August 27, 1994 – April 11, 2001

Reigns

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific team—reign numbers for the individuals are in parentheses, if different
Days Number of days held
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 The Super Destroyers
(A. J. Petrucci and Doug Stahl) 		June 23, 1992 Live event Philadelphia, PA 1 283 Defeated Glen Osbourne and Max Thrasher in a tournament final.
2 Tony Stetson and Larry Winters April 2, 1993 Hardcore TV Radnor, PA 1 1 Title change aired on May 11, 1993 via tape delay.
3 The Suicide Blondes
(Chris Candido, Johnny Hotbody, and Chris Michaels) 		April 3, 1993 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 1 42 Hotbody and Candido won the belts, but all three wrestlers were recognized as champions, and were able to defend the titles in any combination via the Freebird Rule. Title change aired on May 25, 1993 via tape delay.
4 The Super Destroyers
(A. J. Petrucci and Doug Stahl) 		May 15, 1993 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 2 <1 Defeated Johnny Hotbody and Chris Michaels. Title change aired on July 6, 1993 via tape delay.
5 The Suicide Blondes
(Chris Candido, Johnny Hotbody, and Chris Michaels) 		May 15, 1993 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 2 61 Title change aired on July 20, 1993 via tape delay.
— Vacated July 15, 1993 Hardcore TV — — — The title was vacated when Chris Candido jumped to Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
6 The Dark Patriot and Eddie Gilbert August 8, 1993 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 1 54 Defeated Salvatore Bellomo and The Sandman in a tournament final. Title change aired on September 7, 1993 via tape delay.
— Vacated October 1, 1993 Bloodfest: Part 1 Philadelphia, PA — — The title was vacated when Eddie Gilbert left ECW.
7 Johnny Hotbody (3) and Tony Stetson (2) October 1, 1993 Bloodfest: Part 1 Philadelphia, PA 1 43 Awarded when Eddie Gilbert no-showed the event.
8 Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn November 13, 1993 November to Remember Philadelphia, PA 1 21
9 Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac December 4, 1993 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 1 63 Sullivan and Tazmaniac defeated Tommy Dreamer and Shane Douglas, who was substituting for an injured Johnny Gunn. Title change aired on December 14, 1993 via tape delay.
— Vacated February 5, 1994 Live event Philadelphia, PA — — Title was held up due to controversial finish of a title defense against The Bruise Brothers.
10 Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac March 5, 1994 Live event Philadelphia, PA 2 1 Defeated The Bruise Brothers in a rematch.[6]
11 The Public Enemy
(Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) 		March 6, 1994 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 1 174 Title change aired on March 8, 1994 via tape delay.
12 Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck August 27, 1994 NWA World Title Tournament Philadelphia, PA 1 70 Title change aired on September 6, 1994 episode of Hardcore TV via tape delay.
13 The Public Enemy
(Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) 		November 5, 1994 November to Remember Philadelphia, PA 2 91 Title change aired on November 15, 1994 episode of Hardcore TV via tape delay.
14 The Dangerous Alliance
(Sabu and The Tazmaniac (3)) 		February 4, 1995 Double Tables Philadelphia, PA 1 21
15 The Triple Threat
(Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko) 		February 25, 1995 Return of the Funker Philadelphia, PA 1 42 [7]
16 The Public Enemy
(Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) 		April 8, 1995 Three Way Dance Philadelphia, PA 3 83 This was a three-way dance also involving Rick Steiner and The Tazmaniac.
17 Raven and Stevie Richards June 30, 1995 Mountain Top Madness Jim Thorpe, PA 1 78 Title change aired on July 4, 1995 via tape delay.
18 The Pitbulls
(Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2) 		September 16, 1995 Gangstas Paradise Philadelphia, PA 1 21 Title change aired on September 19, 1995 episode of Hardcore TV via tape delay.
19 Raven and Stevie Richards October 7, 1995 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 2 <1 Title change aired on October 17, 1995 via tape delay.
20 The Public Enemy
(Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) 		October 7, 1995 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 4 21 This was a three-way dance also involving The Gangstas. Title change aired on October 24, 1995 via tape delay.
21 2 Cold Scorpio and The Sandman October 28, 1995 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 1 62 Scorpio defeated Rocco Rock in a title vs. title singles match to win the tag team title and retain the ECW World Television Championship. He chose Sandman as his partner. Title change aired on November 7, 1995 via tape delay.
22 Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck December 29, 1995 Holiday Hell New York, NY 2 36 Whipwreck defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in a singles match to win both the tag team titles and the ECW World Television Championship; Cactus Jack came out and declared himself to be Mikey's partner after he won the match.
23 The Eliminators
(Kronus and Saturn) 		February 3, 1996 Big Apple Blizzard Blast New York, NY 1 182
24 The Gangstas
(Mustafa Saed and New Jack) 		August 3, 1996 The Doctor Is In Philadelphia, PA 1 139 This was a four-way dance, also involving The Bruise Brothers and The Samoan Gangsta Party.
25 The Eliminators
(Kronus and Saturn) 		December 20, 1996 Hardcore TV Middletown, NY 2 85 Title change aired on December 31, 1996 via tape delay.
26 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		March 15, 1997 Hostile City Showdown Philadelphia, PA 1 29 Title change aired on March 20, 1997 episode of Hardcore TV via tape delay.
27 The Eliminators
(Kronus and Saturn) 		April 13, 1997 Barely Legal Philadelphia, PA 3 68
28 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		June 20, 1997 Hardcore TV Waltham, MA 2 29 The Dudley Boyz defeated John Kronus in a handicap match as a result of a sidelining injury sustained by Saturn. Title change aired on June 26, 1997 via tape delay.
29 The Gangstas
(Mustafa Saed and New Jack) 		July 19, 1997 Heat Wave Philadelphia, PA 2 29 This was a steel cage match. Title change aired on July 24, 1997 episode of Hardcore TV via tape delay.
30 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		August 17, 1997 Hardcore Heaven Fort Lauderdale, FL 3 34 The Dudley Boyz won the championship via forfeit as a result of Mustafa Saed leaving the promotion before Hardcore Heaven took place.
31 The Gangstanators
(Kronus (4) and New Jack (3)) 		September 20, 1997 As Good as It Gets Philadelphia, PA 1 28 Title change aired on September 27, 1997 episode of Hardcore TV via tape delay.[8]
32 The Full Blooded Italians
(Little Guido and Tracy Smothers) 		October 18, 1997 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 1 48 Title change aired on November 1, 1997 via tape delay.
33 The Can-Am Express
(Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon) 		December 5, 1997 Live event Waltham, MA 1 1
34 Chris Candido (3) and Lance Storm December 6, 1997 Better Than Ever Philadelphia, PA 1 203 This was a three way dance also involving Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks (Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney)
35 Rob Van Dam and Sabu (2) June 27, 1998 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, PA 1 119 Title change aired on July 1, 1998 via tape delay.
36 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		October 24, 1998 Hardcore TV Cleveland, OH 4 8 Title change aired on October 28, 1998 via tape delay.
37 Balls Mahoney and Masato Tanaka November 1, 1998 November to Remember New Orleans, LA 1 5
38 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		November 6, 1998 Hardcore TV New York, NY 5 37 Title change aired on November 13, 1998 via tape delay.
39 Sabu (3) and Rob Van Dam December 13, 1998 ECW/FMW Supershow II Tokyo, Japan 2 125 Title change aired on December 16, 1998 episode of Hardcore TV via tape delay.
40 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		April 17, 1999 Hardcore TV Buffalo, NY 6 92 D-Von Dudley defeated Rob Van Dam in a singles match to win the championship for his team. Title change aired on April 23, 1999 via tape delay. [9]
41 Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney (2) July 18, 1999 Heat Wave Dayton, OH 1 26
42 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		August 13, 1999 Hardcore TV Cleveland, OH 7 1 Title change aired on August 20, 1999 via tape delay.
43 Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney (3) August 14, 1999 Hardcore TV Toledo, OH 2 12 Title change aired on August 27, 1999 via tape delay.
44 The Dudley Boyz
(Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) 		August 26, 1999 The Last Show at the Madhouse New York, NY 8 <1 Title change aired on ECW on TNN on September 3, 1999 via tape delay.
45 Tommy Dreamer (2) and Raven (3) August 26, 1999 The Last Show at the Madhouse New York, NY 1 136 Title change aired on ECW on TNN on September 3, 1999 via tape delay.
46 Impact Players
(Justin Credible and Lance Storm (2)) 		January 9, 2000 Guilty as Charged Birmingham, AL 1 48
47 Tommy Dreamer (3) and Masato Tanaka (2) February 26, 2000 Hardcore TV Cincinnati, OH 1 7 Title change aired on March 7, 2000 via tape delay.[10]
48 Mike Awesome and Raven (4) March 4, 2000 ECW on TNN Philadelphia, PA 1 8 Title change aired on March 10, 2000 via tape delay.[11]
49 Impact Players
(Justin Credible (2) and Lance Storm (3)) 		March 12, 2000 Living Dangerously Danbury, CT 2 41 This was a three-way dance also involving Tommy Dreamer and Masato Tanaka.
— Vacated April 22, 2000 CyberSlam Philadelphia, PA — — The title was vacated after Justin Credible threw down the titles before challenging Tommy Dreamer for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
50 The Unholy Alliance
Yoshihiro Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck (3) 		August 25, 2000 Midtown Massacre New York, NY 1 1 This was a three-way dance also involving Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lynn and Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger. Title change aired on September 1, 2000 on ECW on TNN via tape delay.
51 Full Blooded Italians
(Little Guido (2) and Tony Mamaluke) 		August 26, 2000 Midtown Massacre New York, NY 1 99 Title change aired on September 8, 2000 on ECW on TNN via tape delay.
52 Danny Doring and Roadkill December 3, 2000 Massacre on 34th Street New York, NY 1 129 Doring and Roadkill's reign was the final one in the title's history.
— Deactivated April 11, 2001 — — — — Abandoned when the promotion closed.

Combined reigns

The Dudley Boyz had eight reigns as tag team champions, the most in the title history

By team

Rank Team No. of reigns Combined days
1 Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock
(The Public Enemy)		 4 369
2 Kronus and Saturn
(The Eliminators)		 3 335
3 A. J. Petrucci and Doug Stahl
(The Super Destroyers)		 2 283
4 Sabu and Rob Van Dam 2 244
5 Buh Buh Ray and D-Von
(The Dudley Boyz)		 8 230
6 Chris Candido and Lance Storm 1 203
7 Mustapha Saed and New Jack
(The Gangstas)		 2 168
8 Tommy Dreamer and Raven 1 136
9 Danny Doring and Roadkill 1 129
10 Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck 2 106
11 Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke
(The Full Blooded Italians)		 1 99
12 Chris Candido, Johnny Hotbody, and Chris Michaels
(The Suicide Blondes)		 2 88
13 Justin Credible and Lance Storm
(Impact Players)		 2 79
14 Raven and Stevie Richards 2 78
15 Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac 2 64
16 2 Cold Scorpio and The Sandman 1 62
17 The Dark Patriot and Eddie Gilbert 1 54
18 Little Guido and Tracy Smothers
(The Full Blooded Italians)		 1 48
19 Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson 1 43
20 Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko 1 42
21 Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney 2 38
22 Kronus and New Jack
(The Gangstanators)		 1 28
23 Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn 1 21
Sabu and The Tazmaniac 1 21
Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2
(The Pitbulls)		 1 21
26 Mike Awesome and Raven 1 8
27 Tommy Dreamer and Masato Tanaka 1 7
28 Balls Mahoney and Masato Tanaka 1 5
29 Tony Stetson and Larry Winters 1 1
Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon 1 1
Yoshihiro Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck 1 1

By wrestler

Rank Wrestler No. of reigns Combined days
1 Johnny Grunge 4 369
Rocco Rock 4 369
3 Kronus 4 363
4 Saturn 3 335
5 Chris Candido 3 291
6 A. J. Petrucci 2 283
Doug Stahl 2 283
08 Lance Storm 3 282
09 Sabu 3 265
10 Rob Van Dam 2 244
11 Buh Buh Ray Dudley 8 230
D-Von Dudley 8 230
13 Raven 4 222
14 New Jack 3 196
15 Mustapha Saed 2 168
16 Tommy Dreamer 3 164
17 Little Guido 2 149
18 Johnny Hotbody 3 131
19 Roadkill 1 129
Danny Doring 1 129
21 Mikey Whipwreck 3 107
22 Cactus Jack 2 106
23 Tony Mamaluke 1 99
24 Kevin Sullivan 1 64
25 Chris Michaels 2 88
26 The Tazmaniac 3 84
27 Justin Credible 2 79
28 Stevie Richards 2 78
29 The Sandman 1 62
2 Cold Scorpio 1 62
31 Eddie Gilbert 1 54
The Dark Patriot 1 54
33 Tracy Smothers 1 48
34 Tony Stetson 2 44
35 Balls Mahoney 3 43
36 Chris Benoit 1 42
Dean Malenko 1 42
38 Spike Dudley 2 38
39 Johnny Gunn 1 21
Pitbull #1 1 21
Pitbull #2 1 21
42 Masato Tanaka 2 12
43 Mike Awesome 1 8
44 Larry Winters 1 1
Doug Furnas 1 1
Phil LaFon 1 1
Yoshihiro Tajiri 1 1

References

General
  • "ECW Tag Team Championship reign history". Wrestling Title Histories by Royal Duncan and Gary Will. Solie.org. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
  • "ECW Tag Team Championship reign history at WWE.com". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
Specific
  1. ^ Loverro, Thorm (2006). The Rise and Fall of ECW. Paul Heyman, Tazz, Tommy Dreamer. Simon and Schuster. pp. 5–24. ISBN 1-4165-1058-3. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  2. ^ "United States Bankruptcy Court: Case No. 01-B-11982 (ASH)" (PDF). United States Bankruptcy Court. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  3. ^ "WWE Launches ECW As Third Brand". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2006-05-26. Archived from the original on 2008-12-23. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  4. ^ Hoffman, Brett. "An Extreme Debut". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  5. ^ "ECW Tag Team Championship History at WWE.com". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  6. ^ Hoops, Brian (March 5, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (03/05): The Hardy Boyz win WWF tag team gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  7. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 25, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/25): WWF No Way Out 2001". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  8. ^ Hoops, Brian (September 20, 2015). "On this date in pro wrestling history (9/20): Flair defeats McDaniel, Gagne beats Von Raschke". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  9. ^ Hoops, Brian (April 17, 2020). "Daily pro wrestling (04/17): WCW Spring Stampede 1994". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  10. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 26, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/26): Verne Gagne wins AWA title on his birthday". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  11. ^ Hoops, Brian (March 4, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (03/04): ROH 10th Anniversary Show". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 5, 2017.

External links

Extreme Championship Wrestling
ECW World Tag Team Champions
Categories