The championship was announced on the December 24, 2018, episode of Monday Night Raw. Bayley and Sasha Banks, then going by the team name of The Boss 'n' Hug Connection, became the first champions in February 2019 and were part of the Raw brand during their inaugural reign. The title was originally established to be available to Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, but after a controversial finish to a title defense in March 2021, the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was created, thus the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship became no longer available to NXT. After the titles were unified in June 2023, however, NXT's title was retired, and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship became eligible to NXT once again. The title has been contested in the headlining match of one WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event: TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in 2019.
The title is distinct from the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship that was contested from 1983 to 1989 and does not share its lineage.
History
Sasha Banks and Bayley—the inaugural and record tying two-time champions as a team; during their inaugural reign, they were known as The Boss 'n' Hug Connection, while during their second reign, they were known simply as Bayley and Sasha Banks.
In 1989, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) abandoned the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship due to the lack of women's tag teams in the division. This remained true up through the 2000s—in 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In the early 2010s, the women's division began growing, and in 2012, WWE.com ran an article supporting the resurrection of the Women's Tag Team Championship.[1] In 2014, The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Nikki Bella) discussed a desire to establish a Divas Tag Team Championship—from 1999 to 2016, female performers were referred to as Divas and their top championship from 2010 to 2016 was the WWE Divas Championship.[2][3][4][5] The idea for a women's tag team championship was seemingly forgotten about until mid-2018; in an interview with Sky Sports, WWE's Chief Brand OfficerStephanie McMahon stated that in regards to the titles debuting, "Not quite yet, but that's absolutely something we've heard loud and clear from our fan base and it's something we're keen on implementing as soon as we are able to".[6] Prior to WWE's first all-female pay-per-view (PPV) Evolution in October, speculations—including comments from current female wrestlers—arose that the promotion would debut the titles at the event.[7][8] Just prior to the event, Stephanie said that the titles would be coming "sooner than we think";[6] the titles, however, were not debuted at Evolution. Speculation died down after the event, however, on the December 3, 2018, episode of Monday Night Raw, when questioned by a fan about what they wanted to bring to the women's division in 2019, Bayley and Sasha Banks stated that they wanted to become the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.[9]
During the December 24, 2018, special Christmas episode of Raw, WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon officially announced that a new WWE Women's Tag Team Championship would be introduced in 2019.[10] On the January 14, 2019, episode of Raw, the championship belts were unveiled by Alexa Bliss on her segment, "A Moment of Bliss". After the unveiling, Bliss announced that the inaugural champions would be decided at Elimination Chamber on February 17, 2019, in a tag team Elimination Chamber match, featuring three teams from Raw and three teams from SmackDown, making the title available to both brands.[11][12][13] On the February 18 episode of Raw, it was revealed that the titles could also be defended on the NXT brand.[14]
To determine the three teams from Raw, qualification matches were held and began on the January 28 episode of Raw. The teams of Nia Jax & Tamina and The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan) qualified by defeating the teams of Alexa Bliss & Mickie James and Natalya & Dana Brooke, respectively.[15] The following week, The Boss 'n' Hug Connection (Bayley and Sasha Banks) defeated Alicia Fox & Nikki Cross to win Raw's final spot.[16] No qualification matches were held to determine the three teams from SmackDown due to its smaller roster, and instead, each team declared their participation.[17] The team of Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville announced theirs on the January 29 episode of SmackDown Live,[18]The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) confirmed their entry via Twitter,[19] and Carmella & Naomi accepted the final spot on the February 5 episode.[20] The Boss 'n' Hug Connection would go on and win the match, lastly eliminating Rose & Deville by way of Banks submitting Deville, to become the inaugural champions.[14]
On the March 3, 2021, episode of NXT, WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defended the championship against NXT's Dakota Kai and Raquel González, who had earned the title opportunity for winning the inaugural Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The match ended in controversy, however, as the referee was taken out and Adam Pearce, the WWE official of Raw and SmackDown, sent a second referee to the ring, who ruled that Kai submitted to Baszler, although Kai was not the legal woman.[22] The following week, in response to the controversy, NXT General Manager William Regal established the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship for the brand as to not deal with Raw and SmackDown's politics any longer, and awarded the championship to Kai and González. The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship effectively became no longer available to NXT.[23][24]
During the May 16, 2022, episode of Raw, reigning champions Sasha Banks and Naomi reportedly walked out after a meeting with Vince McMahon due to a creative dispute.[25] WWE released an official statement, in which the company stated that Banks and Naomi "walked into WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis' office with their suitcases in hand, placed their tag team championship belts on his desk and walked out".[26] The two were originally booked for the show's main event, which had to be reworked.[25][27] On the following episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Banks and Naomi had been suspended indefinitely, therefore the titles were vacated (they both later left the company). A tournament was also announced to determine new champions.[28][29] On the August 5 episode of SmackDown, WWE official Adam Pearce announced that the tournament would begin on the August 8 episode of Raw.[30] Although the championship was no longer defended on NXT, one team from the brand competed in the tournament as part of the SmackDown bracket.[31] The team of Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez (formerly Raquel González) won the tournament to win the vacant championship.[32]
As a result of the 2023 WWE Draft, reigning NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn were drafted to SmackDown and took the titles with them, claiming they would defend the title across all three brands, although they never did and only had non-title matches on SmackDown. On the June 9 episode, as they were about to have an in-ring interview, Fyre and Dawn were interrupted by reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, who challenged Fyre and Dawn to a championship unification match, which was accepted and scheduled for the June 23 episode of SmackDown.[33] Rousey and Baszler won to become the undisputed WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, thus making the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship available to NXT again. The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was subsequently retired in the process.[34]
According to Fightful, the unification match was planned to happen right after the draft, but due to various injuries within the division, it got delayed. Fightful also noted there had been confusion regarding the original creation of the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship, as the company already had the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship and there were not many women's tag teams in the division. Furthermore, it was noted that the plan after the unification was that the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship would appear on NXT programming "when needed", which was the original plan for the title.[35]
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Tournament (2022)
After Sasha Banks and Naomi had been suspended indefinitely and the titles had been vacated, SmackDown commentator Michael Cole announced that there would be a tournament to declare new champions.[29] The tournament began on the August 8 episode of Raw and was held across episodes of Raw and SmackDown until its conclusion on the August 29 episode of Raw.[31]
Quarterfinals Raw (August 8 and 15) SmackDown (August 12 and 19)
The championship belts were unveiled by wrestler Alexa Bliss on the January 14, 2019, episode of Raw. The belts feature three plates on a white leather strap, which is smaller than the men's titles. The three plates are outlined in gold while the inner portion is mostly silver. The WWE logo is affixed at the top of the circular center plate, which has four protruding edges. At the center, the word "Tag Team" is prominently written in gold. Above that is a gold banner that reads "Women's" while below is a gold banner that reads "Champions". Similar to how the men's Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships are Greek inspired, the center plate is encircled by a meander pattern. There is also margent ornamentation in the inner circle. In what has become a prominent feature with WWE's championship belts, the two side plates feature a removable center section that can be customized with the champion's logos; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a globe. Generally, the reigning team will have one side plate on each belt dedicated to each champion, unless the team has a name (e.g., The Kabuki Warriors).[12]
Record-tying two-time (as a team), longest-reigning and current champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka (left - who also holds the record for individual reigns with four) and Kairi Sane (right))
As of April18, 2024, there have been 24 reigns between 19 teams composed of 30 individual champions and two vacancies. The inaugural championship team was Bayley and Sasha Banks, who at the time went by the team name of The Boss 'n' Hug Connection. As a team, they are tied with the teams of Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky), The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), and Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan for the most reigns at two, while individually, Asuka holds the record with four reigns. As a team, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) have the longest reign at 171 or 172 days (180 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay), while the team of Bliss and Asuka have the shortest reign at 5 days (4 days as recognized by WWE). As a team, The Kabuki Warriors have the longest combined reign at 254+ days, while individually, Asuka has the longest combined reign at 301+ days. Lita is the oldest champion, winning the title at 47 years old, while Rhea Ripley is the youngest, winning it at 24.
The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) from SmackDown are the current champions in their record-tying second reign as a team. Individually, this is the record fourth reign for Asuka and second for Sane. They won the titles by defeating previous champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter on the January 26, 2024, episode of SmackDown in Miami, Florida.
Shayna Andrea Baszler is an American professional wrestler, kickboxer, and former mixed martial artist. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand. Baszler is a former two-time and longest combined-reigning NXT Women's Champion and a former record-tying three-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion.
Pamela Rose Martinez is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Bayley, and is the current WWE Women's Champion in her second reign. Bayley's 380-day reign as WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, tied with Rhea Ripley, stands as the longest in the championship's history.
Alexis Cabrera is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs under the ring name Alexa Bliss. She is currently inactive due to maternity leave.
Cheree Georgina Crowley is a New Zealand professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Dakota Kai, where she is a member of Damage CTRL. She is a former two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Iyo Sky. She is also known for her time in NXT, where she won the inaugural Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, and is a former two-time NXT Women's Tag Team Champion.
Gionna Daddio is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Liv Morgan. She is a former one-time SmackDown Women's Champion and a former two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Raquel Rodriguez.
Savelina Fanene is an Australian-American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Nia Jax. She is a former one-time Raw Women's Champion and a former two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion.
Fire and Desire was an American professional wrestling tag team in WWE, consisting of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. The team was formed in 2017 on the Raw brand originally as a trio called Absolution, which consisted of Paige, Rose and Deville with the latter two jumping to the main roster from NXT. In 2018, Paige retired from in-ring competition due to her injuries and became the SmackDown General Manager, ending her alliance with Rose and Deville. Rose and Deville continued teaming together and the team was renamed "Fire and Desire" in late 2019. The team dissolved in 2020 when Deville betrayed Rose by conniving with Dolph Ziggler to create friction between Rose and Otis.
Levi Rolla Cooper is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Tucker. After signing with WWE in 2013, he was assigned to their developmental brand NXT, under the ring name Tucker Knight. He is best known for his partnership with Otis, as part of Heavy Machinery. They were promoted to WWE's main roster in 2019, and disbanded in 2020 as a result of the WWE Draft.
Nicola Glencross is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Nikki Cross. She is a one-time WWE Raw Women's Champion, three-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion and an 11-time and final WWE 24/7 Champion.
Bianca Blair Crawford is an American professional wrestler and fitness and figure competitor. As of April 2016, she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Bianca Belair. One of two women to win at a WrestleMania main event, Belair's 420-day reign as Raw Women's Champion stands as the longest in the championship's history.
Demi Bennett is an Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Rhea Ripley. She is a member of The Judgment Day stable and her 380-day reign as a former Women's World Champion is tied with Bayley as the longest in the title's history.
The 2019 Survivor Series was the 33rd annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brand divisions. The event took place on November 24, 2019, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, marking the second Survivor Series held here after the 1989 event when the arena was still known as the Rosemont Horizon. It was the first and only Survivor Series to include the NXT brand, the first since 2009 to feature three major brands, and the first and only to feature three-way Survivor Series elimination matches. The theme of the event was brand supremacy and featured wrestlers from the three brands against each other.
The Street Profits are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford. The team is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand as a part of The Pride stable, which also includes Bobby Lashley and B-Fab.
Bayley and Sasha Banks were an American professional wrestling tag team in WWE. They were the inaugural holders of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, a title they would hold a record-tying two times.
The Kabuki Warriors are a Japanese professional wrestling tag team consisting of Asuka and Kairi Sane. They are both currently signed to WWE, where they perform on the SmackDown brand as members of Damage CTRL. They are the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions in their record-tying second reign, with their first reign being the longest in the title's history. Asuka was a former one-time Raw Women's Champion and had won the women's Money in the Bank as part of the team.
Victoria González is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Raquel Rodriguez. She is a former 3-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, 1-time NXT Women's Champion and a record-tying 2-time and inaugural NXT Women's Tag Team Champion.
Dominik Óscar Gutiérrez is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, where he is a member of The Judgment Day stable. He is a former two-time NXT North American Champion.
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, sometimes referred to as The Dirty Dawgs or The Dirty Dogs, were a professional wrestling tag team performed in WWE, where they are former one-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champions and one-time WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
Damage CTRL is a villainous professional wrestling stable that performs in WWE on the SmackDown brand. The stable features Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane and Asuka. Bayley formed the group with Sky and Kai in July 2022, but was expelled from the group in February 2024.
↑ Harding, Robert (January 19, 2014). "WWE: Why Brie and Nikki Bella's Divas tag team championship idea is a good one". Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. it might be worth listening to the Bella Twins' suggestion that the company add tag team championships for the Divas division. Brie and Nikki Bella mentioned the idea in an interview that will appear in the February issue of WWE Magazine.
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