List of WWE Tag Team Champions

List Of WWE Tag Team Champions

The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship contested for in WWE. The WWE Tag Team Championship was WWE's third World Tag Team Title, and seventh tag team title overall introduced in 2002. After WWE bought the bankrupt promotions of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and dissolved the WCW Tag Team Championship, it split its roster into two brands, Raw and SmackDown, in a brand extension. As a result of this, WWE's original World Tag Team Championship was designated exclusive to the Raw brand, leaving SmackDown without a Tag Team Championship. Soon afterward, a WWE Tag Team Championship was introduced onto the SmackDown brand. In 2007, after the initiation of the ECW brand, WWE announced that the title would be shared between both brands, thus inter-brand matches could take place for the title. In 2009, the title was unified with the World Tag Team Championship and became recognized as the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship" until August 2010 when the World Tag Team Championship was decommissioned in favor of continuing the lineage of 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 Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle, who won the titles in a tournament final in October 2002, while as of December 2012, the champions are Kane and Daniel Bryan. Individually, this is Kane's second reign and Bryan's first.

Overall, there have been 38 different championship teams, and 56 individual champions with the tag teams of Slater and Gabriel and MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) holding the most reigns at 3, in addition, Johnny Nitro/John Morrison, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero hold the most reigns individually at four. Paul London and Brian Kendrick hold the longest reign at 331 days, in addition, John Morrison holds the longest combined reign individually at 541 days. John Cena and The Miz have the shortest reign as a team at roughly 15 minutes, due to The Corre invoking their rematch clause immediately after losing the titles. Rene Dupree is the youngest champion at age 20, while Kane is the oldest champion at age 45.