The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested in WWE on the SmackDown brand. Unveiled on the August 23, 2016, episode of SmackDown as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, 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 and was subsequently renamed to Raw Tag Team Championship.[1] Beginning in May 2022, the Raw and SmackDown titles were held and defended together as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship until they were split at WrestleMania XL in April 2024. After their split, the Raw title was renamed as World Tag Team Championship while the SmackDown title became the WWE Tag Team Championship.
The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. The inaugural champions were Heath Slater and Rhyno, who won the title in a tournament final at Backlash on September 11, 2016. The current champions are The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga), who are in their first reign, both as a team and individually. They defeated previous champions #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) on the August 2, 2024, episode of SmackDown in Cleveland, Ohio. On August 3, 2024 at WWE SummerSlam Jacob Fatu became injured and on the August 9, 2024 episode of WWE SmackDown! Tonga Loa was seen as one-half if the WWE Tag Team Champions indicating from that point on that the title is shared between the three under the Freebird Rule.[2]
As of August 18, 2024, overall there have been 33 reigns between 22 teams composed of 41 individual champions, and one vacancy. The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have the most reigns at seven, both as a team and individually, and their seventh is the shortest reign for the title at 3 days (2 days as recognized by WWE); during their first six reigns, Big E was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) have the longest singular reign at 622 days for their fifth reign, and they have the longest combined reign as a team at 1,002 days, while individually, Jey has the longest combined reign at 1,011 days (1,010 days as recognized by WWE). The oldest champion is Shane McMahon, winning the title at 49 years old, while the youngest is "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio when he won it at 24.
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