AWA World Tag Team Championship
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The AWA World Tag Team Championship was the tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association. It was defended from the AWA's launch in 1960 until the promotion became inactive in late-1990 and eventually closed in 1991.
Championship history
Note: Only officially recognized championship reigns are listed here.
| Champion | Reign | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murder Inc. (Stan Kowalski & Tiny Mills) | 1 | August 1960 | N/A | Murder Inc., the reigning holders of the Minneapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, are recognized as the first AWA World Tag Team Champions after the AWA stops recognizing NWA championships |
| Hard Boiled Haggerty (Don Stansauk) & Lenny Montana | 1 | October 4, 1960 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Hard Boiled Haggerty & Gene Kiniski | 1 | March 18, 1961 | St. Paul, Minnesota | Lenny Montana suffered a broken leg during a tag team match against Verne Gagne & Leo Nomellini; Kiniski replaces Montana as Haggerty's partner |
| Leo Nomellini & Wilbur Snyder | 1 | May 23, 1961 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Hard Boiled Haggerty & Gene Kiniski | 2 | July 19, 1961 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Vacant | August 8, 1961 | N/A | Haggerty and Kiniski split up after Haggerty's interference in a steel cage match between Kiniski and Verne Gagne backfires | |
| Hard Boiled Haggerty & Bob Geigel | 1 | September 26, 1961 | St. Paul, Minnesota | Haggerty defeats Gene Kiniski to win the championship and chooses Geigel as his new partner |
| Pat Kennedy (Larry Hulin) & Dale Lewis | 1 | November 16, 1961 | Rochester, Minnesota | |
| Bob Geigel & Otto Von Krupp (Lawrence Simon) | 1 | November 23, 1961 | Rochester, Minnesota | |
| Vacant | January 1962 | N/A | Von Krupp is injured | |
| Larry Hennig & Duke Hoffman (Robert Leipler) | 1 | January 15, 1962 | St. Paul, Minnesota | Defeat Ivan & Nikita Kalmikoff in a tournament final |
| Bob Geigel & Stan Kowalski (Bert Smith) | 1 | February 13, 1962 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Art Neilson (Arthur Nelson) & Stan Neilson (Stan Holek) | 1 | April 1962 | Cincinnati, Ohio | Fictional title change |
| Doug Gilbert (Doug Lindsay) & Dick Steinborn | 1 | December 16, 1962 | St. Paul, Minnesota | |
| Ivan Kalmikoff (Edward Bogucki) & Karol Kalmikoff (Karol Piwoworczyk) | 1 | January 1, 1963 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| The Crusher (Reginald Lisowski) & Dick the Bruiser (William Afflis) | 1 | August 20, 1963 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Verne Gagne & Moose Evans | 1 | February 9, 1964 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| The Crusher & Dick the Bruiser | 2 | February 23, 1964 | St. Paul, Minnesota | |
| Larry Hennig & Harley Race | 1 | January 30, 1965 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| The Crusher & Verne Gagne | 1 | July 24, 1965 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Larry Hennig & Harley Race | 2 | August 7, 1965 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| The Crusher & Dick the Bruiser | 3 | May 28, 1966 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Larry Hennig & Harley Race | 3 | January 6, 1967 | Chicago, Illinois | Verne Gagne & Don Leo Jonathan defeat Hennig & Race on March 28, 1967 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but the title is returned to Hennig & Race when the decision is reversed |
| Pat O'Connor & Wilbur Snyder | 1 | November 3, 1967 | Chicago, Illinois | Defeat Harley Race & Chris Markoff, who replaced Larry Hennig after Hennig suffered a knee injury in a tag team match on November 1, 1967 in Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Mitsu Arakawa (Mack Arakawa) & Dr. Moto (McRonald Kamaka) | 1 | December 2, 1967 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| The Crusher & Dick the Bruiser | 4 | December 28, 1968 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Mad Dog (Maurice) & Butcher (Paul) Vachon | 1 | August 30, 1969 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Red Bastien (Rolland Bastien) & Hercules Cortez (Alfonso Chicharro) | 1 | May 15, 1971 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | |
| Red Bastien & The Crusher | 1 | August 1971 | N/A | Crusher replaces Hercules Cortez, who was killed in a car accident near St. Cloud, Minnesota on July 23, 1971 |
| Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens | 1 | January 20, 1972 | Denver, Colorado | |
| Verne Gagne & Billy Robinson (William Robinson) | 1 | December 30, 1972 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens | 2 | January 6, 1973 | St. Paul, Minnesota | |
| The Crusher & Billy Robinson | 1 | July 21, 1974 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | |
| Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens | 3 | October 24, 1974 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | |
| The Crusher & Dick the Bruiser | 5 | August 16, 1975 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Bobby Duncum & Blackjack Lanza (John Lanza) | 1 | July 23, 1976 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne) | 1 | July 7, 1977 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | |
| Pat Patterson (Pierre Clermont) & Ray Stevens | 1 | September 23, 1978 | N/A | Awarded the title after Brunzell is injured while playing softball |
| Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon | 1 | June 6, 1979 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | |
| The East-West Connection (Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura) | 1 | July 20, 1980 | Denver, Coloado | Win by forfeit when Gagne, who had won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship two days earlier on July 18, no-shows a scheduled title defence |
| The High Flyers | 2 | June 14, 1981 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | |
| The Sheiks (Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera) | 1 | June 26, 1983 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke (James Raschke) | 1 | May 6, 1984 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | |
| The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk) | 1 | August 25, 1984 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Jim Garvin (James Williams) & Steve Regal | 1 | September 29, 1985 | St. Paul, Minnesota | |
| Scott Hall & Curt Hennig | 1 | January 18, 1986 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Fictional title change; Regal had left the AWA while still champion |
| Buddy Rose (Paul Perschmann) & Doug Somers (Douglas Somerson) | 1 | May 17, 1986 | Hammond, Indiana | Rose and Somers win the title via countout |
| The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) | 1 | January 27, 1987 | St. Paul, Minnesota | |
| Soldat Ustinov (James Lanning) & Boris Zhukov (James Harrell) | 1 | May 25, 1987 | Lake Tahoe, Nevada | |
| Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee (William Cruickshanks) | 1 | October 11, 1987 | Memphis, Tennessee | Defeat Soldat Ustinov & Doug Somers, who replaced Boris Zhukov in October 1987 when Zhukov went to the WWF |
| Hector Guerrero & Dr. D (Carl Styles) | 1 | October 19, 1987 | Memphis, Tennessee | |
| Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee | 2 | October 26, 1987 | Memphis, Tennessee | |
| The Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose) | 1 | October 30, 1987 | Whitewater, Wisconsin | |
| The Midnight Rockers | 2 | December 27, 1987 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Badd Company (Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka) | 1 | March 19, 1988 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| The Olympians (Ken Patera & Brad Rheingans) | 1 | March 25, 1989 | Rochester, Minnesota | |
| Vacant | September 18, 1989 | N/A | Title vacated after Patera is injured by the Destruction Crew | |
| The Destruction Crew (Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos) | 1 | October 1, 1989 | Rochester, Minnesota | Defeat Paul Diamond & Greg Gagne in a tournament final |
| The Trooper (Del Wilkes) & D.J. Peterson (David Peterson) | 1 | August 11, 1990 | Rochester, Minnesota | The final champions; the AWA closes in May 1991 |