NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version)

Statistics
First champion(s)	Tiny Mills and Al Mills
Most reigns	As team: The Kalmikoffs (Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff) (4 times) ; Individual: Verne Gagne (4 times)
Longest reign	Murder Inc. (Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills) (193 days)
Shortest reign	Herb and Seymour Freeman (7 days)

NWA World Tag Team Championship
*(Minneapolis version)*
NWA World Tag Team Championship; (Minneapolis version)
Details
Promotion	NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club
Date established	January 8, 1957
Date retired	August 1960
First champion(s)
Statistics
First champion(s)	Tiny Mills and Al Mills
Most reigns	As team: The Kalmikoffs (Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff) (4 times) ; Individual: Verne Gagne (4 times)
Longest reign	Murder Inc. (Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills) (193 days)
Shortest reign	Herb and Seymour Freeman (7 days)

From January 8, 1957, through August 1960 the NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club promoted the Minneapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship as the main professional wrestling championship for tag teams on their shows held in and around Minneapolis.^[1]^[2] The Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from its formation in 1948, but left the group in 1960 to help form the American Wrestling Association (AWA).^[3] The NWA Board of Directors allowed each member, referred to as a NWA territory, to create and control its own individual "NWA World Tag Team Championship" to be defended within its territory.^[3] At one point in 1957, no less than 13 different versions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship were recognized across the United States.^{[Championships]} As with all professional wrestling championships, this championship was not contested for in competitive matches, but in matches with predetermined outcomes to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.^[4]

Records indicate that brothers Al and Tiny Mills were recognized as NWA World Tag Team Champions in Minnesota in June 1953, as they lost the championship to Tony Baillargeon and Pat O'Connor on June 20, 1953. The records did not indicate how the Mills brothers won the championship, nor is it clear what happened after Baillargeon and O'Connor won the championship.^[1]^[2] Records of an active NWA World Tag Team Championship in the Minneapolis area do not indicate new champions until January 8, 1957, when The Kalmikoffs (Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff) defeated Fritz Von Erich and Karl Von Schober in the finals of a tournament to win the championship.^[1]^[2] In 1960 the Minneapolis promotion left the NWA to found the AWA, which meant that the last holders of the NWA championship, Murder Inc. (Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills), became the first AWA World Tag Team Champions as all NWA-branded championships were abandoned.^[1]^[2]^[5]

The Kalmikoffs held the championship a total of four times, the record both for teams and for Ivan and Karol Kalmikoffs as individuals. Verne Gagne shares the record of four championship reigns, with three different partners: Leo Nomellini, Bronko Nagurski, and Butch Levy.^[1]^[2] Due to lack of details surrounding various championship changes, it is uncertain which team had the shortest reign; Herb and Seymore Freeman's reign of seven days is the shortest confirmed reign, but the possibility exists that another team had a shorter reign.^[1]^[2] The last reign was also the longest reign, as Murder Inc. held the championship for 193 days before being awarded the AWA World Tag Team Championship.^[1]^[2]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Cite error: The named reference NWATagMN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Cite error: The named reference NWATagMNWeb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Hornbaker, Tim (2007). "The Origins of a Wrestling Monopoly". National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.
^ Mazer, Sharon (February 1, 1998). Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 18–19. ISBN 1-57806-021-4. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
^ Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA: AWA World Tag Team Title". Wrestling title histories: Professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 28. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[NWATagMN-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Cite error: The named reference NWATagMN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[NWATagMNWeb-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Cite error: The named reference NWATagMNWeb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[NWAOrigin-3] Hornbaker, Tim (2007). "The Origins of a Wrestling Monopoly". National Wrestling Alliance, The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.

[4] Mazer, Sharon (February 1, 1998). Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 18–19. ISBN 1-57806-021-4. Retrieved June 19, 2016.

[AWATagBook-5] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA: AWA World Tag Team Title". Wrestling title histories: Professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 28. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

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