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
The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...
as the main
professional wrestling championship
A championship or title in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.
Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rivalr ...
for
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
s on their shows held in and around Minneapolis.
[ The Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club was a member of the ]National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
(NWA) from its formation in 1948, but left the group in 1960 to help form the American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...
(AWA).[ At one point in 1957, no less than 13 different versions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship were recognized across the United States. 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
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may oc ...
that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.Tiny Mills
Henry Mittlestadt (1911–1987), best known by his ring name, Tiny Mills, was a Canadian professional wrestler born in Camrose, Alberta. He often teamed with his brother Al Mills as the tag team Murder Incorporated (Murder Inc.). Later on Stan "K ...
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.[ 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
The Kalmikoffs were a professional wrestling group of fictitious soviet brothers. It began as a tag team consisting of Ivan (Edward Bogucki) and Karol (Karol Piwoworczyk) who were later joined by "brothers" Nikita (Nikita Mulkovitch) and Stan (o ...
(Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff) defeated Fritz Von Erich
Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champio ...
and Karl Von Schober in the finals of a tournament to win the championship.[ 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
Stan Kowalski (born Bert Smith; May 13, 1926 – October 20, 2017) was an American professional wrestler who was one half of the tag team Murder Incorporated with partner Tiny Mills in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1960 to 1975.
E ...
and Tiny Mills), became the first AWA World Tag Team Champions as all NWA-branded championships were abandoned.Verne Gagne
Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrest ...
shares the record of four championship reigns, with three different partners: Leo Nomellini
Leo Joseph Nomellini (June 19, 1924 – October 17, 2000) was an Italian-American Hall of Fame American football offensive and defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers and professional wrestler. He played college football for Minnesota and ...
, Bronko Nagurski
Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL), renowned for his strength and size. Nagurski was also a successful professional ...
, and Butch Levy.[ 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.][ 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.][
]
Title history
Team reigns by combined length
Key
Individual reigns by combined length
Key
Footnotes
Concurrent championships
;Sources for 13 simultaneous NWA World Tag Team Championships
* NWA World Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles version)
The Los Angeles version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main tag team professional wrestling championship of the North American Wrestling Alliance, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), which promoted shows in and arou ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version)
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) member NWA San Francisco promoted a professional wrestling tag team championship under the name NWA World Tag Team Championship from 1950 until 1961 in and around their local territory until it closed. When S ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version)
The Central States version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main professional wrestling championship for tag teams in Heart of America Sports Attractions, later known as Central States Wrestling (CSW) from 1951 to 1959, then again f ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Chicago version)
The Chicago version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Chicago-based Fred Kohler Enterprises, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The championship was for two-man tag te ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version)
Between May 1955 and 1969 the professional wrestling promotion ABC Booking (later known as Georgia Championship Wrestling; GCW) promoted their own regional version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, a professional wrestling championship for ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Indianapolis version)
The Indianapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, which was actively used between 1951 and 1960, was a professional wrestling championship exclusively for two-man tag teams. As a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Amarillo version)
The Amarillo version (or West Texas version) of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main tag team professional wrestling championship for the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion, a member of the National Wrestling All ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version)
The Texas version (or East Texas version) of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main tag team professional wrestling championship in the Dallas/Houston-based Southwest Sports territory of the National Wrestling Alliance. While the name ...
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version)
The Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a regional professional wrestling championship for tag teams that was used in the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) NWA Mid-America professional wrestling promotion from 1957 ...
References
{{Portal bar, United States
Tag team wrestling championships
National Wrestling Alliance championships
American Wrestling Association championships
Professional wrestling in Minneapolis
World professional wrestling championships