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NXT Tag Team Championship

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This article is about the tag team championship on the NXT brand. For the tag team championship on the now-defunct NXT UK brand, see NXT UK Tag Team Championship.
NXT Tag Team Championship
The current NXT Tag Team Championship belt with default side plates
(2017–present)
Details
PromotionWWE
BrandNXT
Date establishedJanuary 23, 2013
Current champion(s)Nathan Frazer and Axiom
Date wonSeptember 1, 2024
Statistics
First champion(s)British Ambition
(Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey)
Most reignsAs Tag Team (3 reigns):

As Individual (3 reigns):

Longest reignThe Ascension
(Conor O'Brian/Konnor and Rick Victor/Viktor)
(364 days)[b]
Shortest reignMoustache Mountain
(Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)
(2 days)[c]
Oldest championBobby Fish
(42 years, 292 days)
Youngest championTyler Bate
(21 years, 104 days)
Heaviest championThe Authors of Pain
(Akam and Rezar)
(629 lb (285 kg) combined)
Lightest championNathan Frazer and Axiom (336 lb (152 kg) combined)

The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champions are Nathan Frazer and Axiom, who are in their second reign, both as a team and individually. They won the title by defeating previous champions Chase U (Andre Chase and Ridge Holland) at No Mercy on September 1, 2024.

Established on January 23, 2013, the inaugural championship team was British Ambition (Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey). In September 2019, the company began promoting NXT as its "third brand" when the NXT television program was moved to the USA Network. Two years later, however, NXT reverted to its original function as WWE's developmental brand. In September 2022, the NXT UK Tag Team Championship was unified into the NXT Tag Team Championship.

History

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The inaugural NXT Tag Team Champions, The British Ambition: Adrian Neville (left) and Oliver Grey (right)

In June 2012, WWE established NXT as their developmental territory, replacing Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). The following year on the January 23 episode of NXT, special guest and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels announced that there would be an eight-team single-elimination tournament to crown the first NXT Tag Team Champions.[1] On the January 31 taping of NXT (aired February 13), British Ambition (Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey) defeated The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) in the tournament final to become the inaugural champions.[2] In the first title defense, however, Neville and Bo Dallas defended the title against The Wyatt Family due to Grey being injured, where they lost; Dallas was not recognized as champion.[3][4] On the June 20 taping of NXT (aired July 17), Neville and Corey Graves defeated The Wyatt Family for the title, making Neville the first two-time champion.[5] On June 8, 2016, The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) became the first team to hold the championship on more than one occasion when they defeated American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) at TakeOver: The End.

Although NXT had been established as WWE's developmental territory, over the years it grew to establish itself as WWE's third major brand. This would become official in September 2019 when NXT was moved to the USA Network, thus making the NXT Tag Team Championship the third major tag team title for men in WWE, along with the WWE World Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship.[6] However, WWE revamped NXT in September 2021 and returned the brand to its original function as a developmental territory.[7]

In August 2022, WWE announced that the NXT UK brand would go on hiatus and would relaunch as NXT Europe at a later time.[8] As such, NXT UK's championship's were unified into their respective NXT championship counterparts. On September 4, 2022, at Worlds Collide, Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) defeated Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), reigning NXT Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed), and 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. Jensen and Briggs were recognized as the final NXT UK Tag Team Champions, while Pretty Deadly went forward as the unified NXT Tag Team Champions.[9]

Inaugural tournament

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Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
         
The Wyatt Family
(Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) 		Pin[10]
Percy Watson and Yoshi Tatsu
The Wyatt Family
(Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) 		Pin[10]
Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty
Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty Pin[10]
Primo & Epico
The Wyatt Family
(Luke Harper and Erick Rowan)
British Ambition
(Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey) 		Pin
British Ambition
(Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey) 		Pin[10]
3MB
(Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater)
British Ambition
(Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey) 		Pin[10]
Kassius Ohno and Leo Kruger
Kassius Ohno and Leo Kruger Sub[10]
Alex Riley and Derrick Bateman

Belt designs

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One-time champions Blake and Murphy (right and left), shown here with the original NXT Tag Team Championship belts

The original NXT Tag Team Championship belts featured a simple design. The center plate was an irregular polygon. Prominently down the center of the plate was a vertical NXT logo in gold; to the left center side of the logo read "Tag" while the right center side read "Team". The two side plates contained the WWE logo. The plates were on a black leather strap. A unique feature of this original design was that the two belts were slightly different. On one belt, the left side of the center plate was black with "Tag" written in gold while the right side of the center plate was gold with "Team" written in black; the other belt was the opposite. The side plates also reflected this coloring; the side plate on the black side was dominated by a black background behind the WWE logo while the side plate on the gold side had a dominant gold background behind the WWE logo. When first introduced, the side plates had the WWE scratch logo but in August 2014, all of WWE's pre-existing championships at the time received a minor update, changing the scratch logo to WWE's current logo that was originally used for the WWE Network that launched earlier that year in February.[11]

On April 1, 2017, at WrestleMania Axxess, NXT General Manager William Regal announced that all of the NXT title belts would be redesigned. The new title belts were unveiled at TakeOver: Orlando that same night and given to the winners of their respective matches. Both the center plate and side plates of the new NXT Tag Team Championship belts are the same shape as the previous design and are again on black leather straps. The differences are the design on the plates themselves. The center plate maintains the vertical NXT logo prominently in the center, but now in silver with the WWE logo affixed at the very center of the "X". At the top of the plate right above the vertical NXT logo is a banner that reads "Tag Team", while at the bottom of the plate below the logo is a banner that reads "Champions". Black, silver, and gold ornamentation fills in the rest of the plate. Unlike the previous design, the design does not differentiate between the two championships. Coming in line with WWE's other championship belts, the updated design features side plates with a removable center section that can be customized with the champion's logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo. As a result, the championship was the first WWE tag team championship to feature customizable side plates.[12]

Reigns

[edit]
Main article: List of NXT Tag Team Champions
Two-time and current champions Nathan Frazer and Axiom

As of November 29, 2024, there have been 38 reigns between 29 teams composed of 60 individual champions, and three vacancies. The Undisputed Era as a stable have the most reigns at three, while individually, stable member Kyle O'Reilly has the most reigns, also at three. The inaugural champions were the British Ambition (Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey). The team with the longest reign is The Ascension (Conor O'Brian/Konnor and Rick Victor/Viktor), who held the title for 364 days,[13][14] while the shortest reign belongs to Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven), who held the title for 2 days. However, due to tape delay, which are the air dates that WWE recognizes for the NXT Tag Team Championship's history, The Ascension's reign is regarded as lasting 343 days (still the longest) and that Moustache Mountain's reign was 22 days; as a result, MSK's (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) second reign of 6 days (5 days according to WWE) is recognized as the shortest. Tyler Bate was the youngest champion at 21, while Bobby Fish was the oldest at 42.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom are the current champions in their second reign, both as a team and individually. They won the title by defeating previous champions Chase U (Andre Chase and Ridge Holland) at No Mercy on September 1, 2024, in Denver, Colorado.[15]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ During their first reign, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong were all recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. During their second reign, only O'Reilly and Strong were recognized as champion, while during their third reign, only Fish and O'Reilly were recognized as champion.
  2. ^ WWE officially recognizes it as 343 days, but still the longest.
  3. ^ WWE officially recognizes it as 22 days due to tape delay; the shortest reign recognized by WWE is MSK's second reign at 6 days (5 days according to their title history).

References

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  1. ^ Bishop, Matt. "WWE NXT: HBK kicks off tag title tournament". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT results 2/13 – Week 33: First NXT tag champions crowned, Paige vows to take over the show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  3. ^ Santiago, Andres (3 May 2013). "WWE NXT spoilers from Winter Park, FL: John Cena and more". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  4. ^ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 5/8 Week 45: Wyatt Family captures Tag Titles, Ohno turning face?, Sandow in action, Paige vs. Summer Rae feud continues, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  5. ^ Caldwell, James (21 June 2013). "WWE News: NXT spoilers for summer episodes – first NXT Women's champ, Flair, more, plus NXT TV in the U.S.?". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Triple H Discusses NXT as a Third Brand, Putting Talent in a Position to Succeed, More – 411MANIA". www.411mania.com.
  7. ^ Currier, Joseph (December 3, 2021). "Preview and Predictions for 'NXT WarGames'". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  8. ^ Defelice, Robert (August 18, 2022). "WWE Announces The Impending Launch Of 'NXT Europe' Final NXT UK Event To Be 'Worlds Collide' On 9/4". Fightful. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Moore, John (September 4, 2022). "NXT Worlds Collide results: Moore's live review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a unification match, NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Women's Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a unification match, Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Santiago, Andres (2013-01-11). "DX invades DX taping: Complete WWE NXT spoilers from Florida". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  11. ^ Graser, Marc (August 15, 2014). "WWE Rebrands With New Logo Tied to Digital Network". Variety. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  12. ^ WWE (April 1, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: WWE NXT General William Regal arrives at WrestleMania Axxess with a HUGE announcement regarding NXT TakeOver: Orlando!". Facebook. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  13. ^ "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 10/2: New NXT Tag champions". PWTorch. 2013-02-10. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  14. ^ Caldwell, James. "NXT news: NXT Title match result, Kenta gets new ring name, new Tag Champs, main roster champ wrestles, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  15. ^ Moore, John (September 1, 2024). "NXT No Mercy results: Moore's live review of Ethan Page vs. Joe Hendry for the NXT Championship with Trick Williams as special referee, Roxanne Perez vs. Jaida Parker for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
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