NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida)
The Florida version of the U.S. tag team championship
Details
PromotionChampionship Wrestling from Florida[1][2]
Date establishedJanuary 1961[1][2]
Date retiredDecember 17, 1986[1][2]
Statistics
First champion(s)The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan)[1][2]
Most reigns(As a team) Mike Graham and Steve Keirn (5 reigns)[1][2] (As individual) Steve Keirn (7 reigns)
Longest reignMike Graham and Steve Keirn
(103 days)[1][2]
Shortest reignMike Graham and Steve Keirn
(less than in one day) [1][2]

The Florida version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team championship. The title was defended sporadically in the National Wrestling Alliance affiliated Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1961 to 1962, 1978 to 1980, and then 1983 until 1986.[1][2] While its name suggests it was defended throughout the United States, the title was actually a regional championship that was only defended throughout the Florida territory. The 1978-80 version of the United States Tag Team Championship belt inspired the current design for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship, upon reactivation in 2022.

Title history

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
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 The Fabulous Kangaroos
(Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) 		January 1961 (NLT) CWF show [Note 1] 1 N/A The Fabulous Kangaroos were billed as champions when they arrived in Florida [1][2]
2 Eddie Graham and Dick Steinborn November 1961 CWF show Miami Beach, Florida 1 N/A   [1][2]
3 Tojo Yamamoto and Taro Miyake November 16, 1961 CWF show Jacksonville, Florida 1 14   [1][2]
4 Eddie Graham and Dick Steinborn November 30, 1961 CWF show Jacksonville, Florida 2 57   [1][2]
5 The Assassins
(Assassin #1 and Assassin #2) 		January 26, 1962 CWF show Atlanta, Georgia 1 91   [1][2]
— Vacated April 27, 1962 — — — — Championship was vacated after a draw against Ray Gunkel and Bob Ellis [1][2]
6 Ray Gunkel and Bob Ellis May 4, 1962 CWF show Atlanta, Georgia 1 8 Defeated The Assassins in the rematch for the held up championship [1][2]
7 The Assassins
(Assassin #1 and Assassin #2) 		May 12, 1962 (NLT) CWF show [Note 1] 2 N/A   [1][2]
— Vacated 1962 — — — — Championship was abandoned for other CWF tag team championships [1][2]
8 The Valiant Brothers
(Jimmy and Johnny) 		January 1, 1978 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 1 24   [1][2]
9 Mike Graham and Steve Keirn January 25, 1978 CWF show Miami, Florida 1 27   [1][2]
10 The Brisco Brothers
(Jack and Jerry) 		February 21, 1978 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 7   [1][2]
11 Mike Graham and Steve Keirn February 28, 1978 CWF show Miami, Florida 2 103 Mike Graham defeated Jack Brisco in a singles match to win the championship [1][2]
12 Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato June 11, 1978 CWF show [Note 1] 1 38   [1][2]
13 Mike Graham and Steve Keirn July 19, 1978 CWF show Miami Beach, Florida 3 7 [1][2]
14 Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato July 26, 1978 CWF show [Note 1] 2 9   [1][2]
15 Mike Graham and Steve Keirn August 4, 1978 CWF show [Note 1] 3 22   [1][2]
16 Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato August 26, 1978 CWF show Lakeland, Florida 3 74   [1][2]
17 Killer Karl Kox and Dick Slater November 8, 1978 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 1 N/A   [1][2]
— Vacated December 1978 — — — — The championship was vacated when Kox and Slater split up. [1][2]
18 Killer Karl Kox and Jimmy Garvin December 5, 1978 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 42 Defeated Dick Slater and Bob Roop to win the championship [1][2]
19 Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato January 16, 1979 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 4 14   [1][2]
20 The Brisco Brothers
(Jack and Jerry Brisco) 		January 30, 1979 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 2 18   [1][2]
21 Jos LeDuc and Thor the Viking February 17, 1979 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 1 12   [1][2]
22 Killer Karl Kox and Jimmy Garvin March 1, 1979 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 2 11   [1][2]
23 Pak Song and Jos LeDuc (2) March 12, 1979 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 1 5   [1][2]
— Vacated March 17, 1979 — — — — The championship was vacated when Leduc leaves the area.
24 Pak Song (2) and Killer Khan March 31, 1979 CWF show [Note 1] 1 67 Defeat The Blonde Bombers (Larry Latham and Wayne Ferris) in a tournament. [1][2]
25 Mike Graham and Steve Keirn June 6, 1979 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 5 0   [1][2]
26 Jos Leduc (3) and Don Muraco June 6, 1979 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 1 N/A   [1][2]
— Vacated August 1979 — — — — Championship vacated for undocumented reasons [1][2]
27 Dusty Rhodes and Bugsy McGraw July 14, 1980 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 N/A Defeat The Funk Brothers (Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk) in a tournament final. [1][2]
— Vacated September 1980 — — — — NWA North American Tag Team Championship and NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship replaced the championship. [1][2]
28 The Zambuie Express
(Elijah Akeem and Kareem Muhammad) 		September 26, 1983 N/A "New Mexico" 1 40 Was said to have won a fictitious tournament. [1][2]
29 Dusty Rhodes (2) and Blackjack Mulligan November 5, 1983 CWF show Lakeland, Florida 1 24   [1][2]
30 Ron Bass and One Man Gang November 29, 1983 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 43 Bass and the One Man Gang defeated Dusty Rhodes and Mike Davis for the championship. [1][2]
31 Mike Rotunda and Mike Davis January 11, 1984 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 26   [1][2]
32 The Long Riders
(Ron Bass (2) and Black Bart) 		February 6, 1984 CWF show West Palm Beach, Florida 1 37   [1][2]
33 The U.S. Express
(Mike Rotunda (2) and Barry Windham) 		March 14, 1984 CWF show Miami, Florida 1 13   [1][2]
34 The Long Riders
(Ron Bass (3) and Black Bart) 		March 27, 1984 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 2 8   [1][2]
35 The U.S. Express
(Mike Rotunda (3) and Barry Windham) 		April 4, 1984 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 2 21   [1][2]
36 The Long Riders
(Ron Bass (4) and Black Bart) 		April 25, 1984 CWF show Miami, Florida 3 31   [1][2]
37 The U.S. Express
(Mike Rotunda (4) and Barry Windham) 		May 26, 1984 CWF show Sarasota, Florida 3 8   [1][2]
38 The Long Riders
(Ron Bass (5) and Black Bart) 		June 3, 1984 CWF show Florida 4 16  
39 The U.S. Express
(Mike Rotunda (5) and Barry Windham) 		June 19, 1984 CWF show Florida 4 25  
40 Los Guerreros
(Chavo and Hector) 		July 14, 1984 CWF show Florida[Note 1] 1 88   [1][2]
41 Jim Neidhart and Krusher Khruschev October 3, 1984 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 90 Defeated Hector Guerrero and Cocoa Samoa to win the championship. [1][2]
42 The Youngbloods
(Jay Youngblood and Mark Youngblood) 		January 1, 1985 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 56   [1][2]
43 The PYT Express
(Norvell Austin and Koko Ware) 		February 26, 1985 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 7   [1][2][3]
44 The Youngbloods
(Jay Youngblood and Mark Youngblood) 		March 5, 1985 CWF show Tampa, Florida 2 42   [1][2][4]
45 Rick Rude and Jesse Barr April 16, 1985 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 84   [1][2]
46 Wahoo McDaniel and Billy Jack Haynes July 9, 1985 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 N/A   [1][2]
— Vacated December 1985 — — — — McDaniel and Haynes split up following loss to National tag team champions Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson at Starrcade 1985 in Atlanta (only the National title was on the line). [1][2]
47 The Fabulous Ones
(Stan Lane and Steve Keirn (6)) 		July 12, 1986 N/A "Portland, Oregon" 1 87 Supposedly defeated the Sheepherders in a (fictitious) tournament final. [1][2][5]
48 The Sheepherders
(Butch Miller and Luke Williams) 		October 7, 1986 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 54   [1][2]
49 The Fabulous Ones
(Stan Lane and Steve Keirn (7)) 		November 30, 1986 CWF show Tampa, Florida 2 16   [1][2]
50 Kareem Muhammad (2) and Hacksaw Higgins December 16, 1986 CWF show Tampa, Florida 1 1 Won the championship by forfeit [1][2]
— Deactivated December 17, 1986 — — — — Higgins was fired from the CWF and the championship was abandoned. CWF reinstated the state championship as their main tag team championship while recognizing the Mid-Atlantic version of the U.S. Tag Team Championship until its closure on December 1987. [1][2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r The location of the match has not been captured as part of the championship documentation.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Florida: NWA U.S Tag Team Title [Graham]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 157–163. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk "United States Tag Team Title [Florida]". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Hoops, Brian (July 12, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 12): Gagne, Bruiser and Crusher, Ladd wins Americas title, 1992 Bash with Sting vs. Vader". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
Categories