In August 2022, WWE announced that the NXT UK brand would go on hiatus and would relaunch as NXT Europe at a later time.[5] As such, NXT UK's championships were unified into their respective NXT championship counterparts. Subsequently, the NXT UK Tag Team Championship was retired on 4 September 2022 at Worlds Collide. At the event, Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) defeated NXT Tag Team ChampionsThe Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed), Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), and reigning NXT UK Tag Team Champions Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match to unify the NXT UK Tag Team Championship into the NXT Tag Team Championship, with Jensen and Briggs recognized as the final NXT UK Tag Team Champions. Pretty Deadly went forward as the unified NXT Tag Team Champions.[6]
Inaugural tournament
Semifinals NXT UK 24 and 25 November 2018 (aired 2 and 9 January 2019)
The championship belts were unveiled by WWE Chief Operating Officer and NXT head Triple H and NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint on the 14 October 2018 tapings of NXT UK in Plymouth. The center plate of the championship belts was modeled on the NXT UK logo, which itself took inspiration from the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms, featuring a lion and a horse (instead of the traditional unicorn) with a vertical NXT logo between them; the animals were gold while the logo was silver (the WWE logo was affixed at the center of the X). Above and below the logo were two halves of the globe which were colored blue. A banner above the upper globe read "UK Tag Team" while a banner below the lower globe read "Champions". A gold ornamented border with red jewels circled the center plate. Gold and black divider bars with red jewels at each end separated the center plate from the belt's two side plates. In what became a prominent feature of WWE's championship belts, the side plates featured removable center sections that could be replaced with the reigning champion's logo; the default side plates featured the WWE logo on a blue globe. The plates were on a black leather strap.[7]
Reigns
Longest-reigning champions Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), who held the title for 497 days (as recognized by WWE)
Over the championship's four year history, there were seven reigns between seven teams composed of 14 individual champions and one vacancy. James Drake and Zack Gibson were the inaugural champions. Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) had the longest reign, which WWE recognizes as lasting 497 days (beginning 17 October 2019 and ending 25 February 2021); the actual length of their reign is undeterminable as the real date they lost the title is unknown. Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews had the shortest reign at 34 days; however, WWE recognizes their reign as lasting 47 days due to tape delay, and as such, recognize that Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter had the shortest reign at 21 days also due to tape delay (although Smith and Carter's reign actually lasted 62 days). Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs are recognized as the final champions. The oldest champion was Trent Seven, winning the title at 40 years old, while the youngest was Jensen, winning it at 20.
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
Days recog.
Number of days held recognized by the promotion
†
Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on 17 October 2019 and ending on 25 February 2021, when the respective episodes aired on tape delay. The actual date they lost the title is unknown.
^The actual length of the reign is undeterminable, as the actual date Gallus lost the championship is unknown. As such, the reign length indicated here is what WWE officially recognizes for the reign.
^WWE recognizes their reign as lasting 47 days due to tape delay, and instead recognize that Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter had the shortest reign at 21 days also due to tape delay (although Smith and Carter's reign actually lasted 62 days).
