WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
| WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The SmackDown Tag Team Championship belt | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | SmackDown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | August 23, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | August 21, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship[1] is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is the eighth overall male tag team championship to have existed in the WWE. The title is one of two tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the Raw Tag Team Championship on the Raw brand. The current champions are The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods), who are in their third reign as a team.
Unveiled on the August 23, 2016 episode of SmackDown Live, it was created to be the counterpart title to the then-WWE Tag Team Championship, which became exclusive to Raw as a result of the 2016 WWE draft.[2] That title was subsequently renamed after the crowning of the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Heath Slater and Rhyno.
History
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Following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension and subsequent draft on July 19, 2016, then-WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day were drafted to Raw, leaving SmackDown without a tag team championship. Over the course of the following month, SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan stated that he wanted to build up the tag team division before introducing a championship. Immediately following SummerSlam on the August 23, 2016 episode of SmackDown Live, Bryan and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon introduced the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (Raw's title was subsequently renamed). An eight-team tournament was then scheduled to determine the inaugural champions, culminating in a final match at Backlash on September 11, 2016.[3][4][5] The team of Heath Slater and Rhyno defeated The Usos in the tournament final to become the inaugural champions.[6]
When unveiled, the championship belt design was nearly identical to the Raw Tag Team Championship, with the differences being that the leather straps were blue as opposed to the former's original black with a different stitching pattern, and the plates were silver as opposed to the former's original bronze. The Raw Tag Team Championship belt design was updated on December 19, 2016, with silver plates on red straps to bring both sets of titles more in line with each other.
Inaugural tournament
| Quarterfinals SmackDown (8/23, 8/30)[3][4] | Semifinals SmackDown (9/6)[5] | Final Backlash (9/11) | ||||||||||||
| American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) | 10:13 | |||||||||||||
| American Alpha† | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Usos | 0:28 | |||||||||||||
| The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) | 3:49 | |||||||||||||
| The Usos | 10:02 | |||||||||||||
| Heath Slater and Rhyno | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) | 2:50 | |||||||||||||
| The Hype Bros | 7:03 | |||||||||||||
| Heath Slater and Rhyno | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) | 2:54 | |||||||||||||
| Heath Slater and Rhyno | Pin | |||||||||||||
† After Chad Gable suffered a storyline injury after defeating The Usos, American Alpha were removed from the final. The Usos then defeated The Hype Bros at Backlash in a second chance tag team match to replace American Alpha in the final.
Reigns
As of October 24, 2018, overall there have been 10 reigns between 6 teams. The team of Heath Slater and Rhyno were the inaugural champions. The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) hold multiple records with the championship: they are tied with The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) for the most reigns at three, they are the longest-reigning champions at 182 days (183 as recognized by WWE) for their third reign, they have the longest combined reign at 329 days (331 days as recognized by WWE), and they are tied with The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton) for having the shortest reign at 23 days (24 days as recognized by WWE for both teams). The oldest champion is Rhyno, winning the title at 40 years old, while the youngest is Jason Jordan when he won it at 28.
The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) are the current champions in their record tying third reign. They defeated The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) on August 21, 2018, in a No Disqualification match on SmackDown Live in Brooklyn, New York.
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Days recog. |
Number of days held recognized by the promotion |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | ||||
| 1 | Heath Slater and Rhyno | September 11, 2016 | Backlash | Richmond, VA | 1 | 84 | 84 | Defeated The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) in the tournament final to become the inaugural champions. | [6] |
| 2 | The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton) |
December 4, 2016 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs | Dallas, TX | 1 | 23 | 24 | Wyatt and Orton won the match, but Harper was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. | [7][8] |
| 3 | American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) |
December 27, 2016 | SmackDown Live | Rosemont, IL | 1 | 84 | 84 | This was a fatal four-way tag team elimination match, also involving Heath Slater and Rhyno, and The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso). Luke Harper and Randy Orton represented The Wyatt Family and were last to be pinned. |
[9] |
| 4 | The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) |
March 21, 2017 | SmackDown Live | Uncasville, CT | 1 | 124 | 124 | [10] | |
| 5 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) |
July 23, 2017 | Battleground | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 28 | 28 | Kingston and Woods won the match, but Big E was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. | [11] |
| 6 | The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) |
August 20, 2017 | SummerSlam | Brooklyn, NY | 2 | 23 | 23 | Match aired live on WWE Network and YouTube as part of the SummerSlam Kickoff show. Big E and Xavier Woods represented The New Day. |
[12] |
| 7 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) |
September 12, 2017 | Sin City SmackDown Live | Las Vegas, NV | 2 | 26 | 26 | This was a Sin City Street Fight. Big E and Kingston won the match, but Woods was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. |
[13] |
| 8 | The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) |
October 8, 2017 | Hell in a Cell | Detroit, MI | 3 | 182 | 182 | This was a Hell in a Cell match. Big E and Xavier Woods represented The New Day. |
[14] |
| 9 | The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper (2) and Rowan) |
April 8, 2018 | WrestleMania 34 | New Orleans, LA | 1 | 135 | 135 | This was a triple threat tag team match, also involving The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston. Harper was previously known as Luke Harper. |
[15] |
| 10 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) |
August 21, 2018 | SmackDown Live | Brooklyn, NY | 3 | 64+ | 64+ | This was a No Disqualification match. Kingston and Woods won the match, but Big E is also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. |
[16] |
Combined reigns
As of October 24, 2018.
By team
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days | Combined days recognized by WWE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) | 3 | 329 | |
| 2 | The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) | 1 | 135 | |
| 3 | The New Day † (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | 3 | 118+ | |
| 4 | American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) | 1 | 84 | |
| Heath Slater and Rhyno | 1 | 84 | ||
| 6 | The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton) | 1 | 23 | 24 |
By wrestler
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days | Combined days recognized by WWE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jey Uso | 3 | 329 | |
| Jimmy Uso | 3 | 329 | ||
| 3 | (Luke) Harper | 2 | 158 | 159 |
| 4 | Rowan | 1 | 135 | |
| 5 | Big E † | 3 | 118+ | |
| Kofi Kingston † | 3 | 118+ | ||
| Xavier Woods † | 3 | 118+ | ||
| 8 | Chad Gable | 1 | 84 | |
| Heath Slater | 1 | 84 | ||
| Jason Jordan | 1 | 84 | ||
| Rhyno | 1 | 84 | ||
| 12 | Bray Wyatt | 1 | 23 | 24 |
| Randy Orton | 1 | 23 | 24 | |
Notes
- ↑ 183 days as recognized by WWE.
References
- ↑ "SmackDown Tag Team Championship". WWE. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ↑ Martin, Adam. "Daniel Bryan to reveal two new championships exclusive to Smackdown tonight from Connecticut". wrestleview.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- 1 2 Parks, Greg. "8/23 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Complete, Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- 1 2 Caldwell, James. "8/30 WWE Smackdown Live Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live TV Report & Talking Smack-cap". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
- 1 2 Caldwell, James. "9/6 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Ongoing, Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
- 1 2 Caldwell, James. "9/11 WWE Backlash Results – CALDWELL'S Complete PPV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ↑ WWE.com Staff (December 7, 2016). "The Wyatt Family to defend SmackDown Tag Team Titles under the Freebird Rule". WWE. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE TLC 2016 live review: AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose in a TLC match for the WWE Championship, The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ↑ Parks, Greg. "12/27 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Ongoing, Real-Time Report, including three title matches, John Cena's return". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ↑ Keller, Wade. "KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 3/21: Shane reacts to Shane challenging him to a WrestleMania match, more hype for WrestleMania 33". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "7/23 Powell's WWE Battleground Live Review: Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match for the WWE Championship, AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens for the U.S. Championship, John Cena vs. Rusev in a flag match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "08/20 Powell's WWE SummerSlam Kickoff Show coverage: New Day vs. The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Akira Tozawa vs. Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and Jason Jordan vs. Miz, Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
- ↑ Keller, Wade. "KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 9/12: Vince McMahon appears to address Shane being suspended and Owens threatening to sue". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Hell in a Cell 2017 live review: Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon in a Falls Count Anywhere HIAC match, New Day vs. The Usos in an HIAC match for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WrestleMania 34 live review: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship, Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ↑ Barnett, Jake. "8/21 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Bludgeon Brothers vs. New Day in a No DQ match for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy, Becky Lynch explains her actions at SummerSlam, AJ Styles interview". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 21, 2018.