The Texas version (or East Texas 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 ...

was the main

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 ...

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 ...

in the Dallas/Houston-based Southwest Sports territory of the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

. While the name indicates that it was defended worldwide, this version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was mainly defended in the eastern part of Texas. The championship was created in 1957 and actively promoted by Southwest Sports until 1968, when it was abandoned. The championship was later brought back by the Dallas-based

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

(WCCW) promotion in 1981, and was used until 1982 when WCCW decided to use the NWA American Tag Team Championship as their top tag team championship. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match. The NWA Board of Directors allowed any member of the NWA to create a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, which led to as many as 13 identically-named championships active in 1957. From 1959 until 1969 there was a second NWA World Tag Team Championship promoted in Texas, referred to as the Amarillo version or the West Texas version; this was later replaced with the

NWA Western States Tag Team Championship The NWA International Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling title, originally created as the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title wa ...

. The first championship team was that of

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 Wrestl ...

and Wilbur Snyder, who were awarded the championship in July 1958 by Southwest Sports. The last recorded champions of the Southwest Sports era were Mr. Ito and Chati Yokochi, who won the championship on December 12, 1968, with the championship being abandoned in 1969 or 1970. When the championship was reintroduced in 1981, promoter

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 ...

brought in the team of

Hercules Ayala Ruben Cruz (July 14, 1950 – January 22, 2020) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Hercules Ayala. He competed in Canadian and international wrestling promotions including the eastern Canadian Grand Prix Wre ...

and Ali Mustafa, billing them as champions from a different region to give the championship an air of legitimacy. The last champions were Fritz's son

Kerry Von Erich Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 – February 18, 1993), better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with ...

and

Al Madril Alberto "Al" Madril (born March 20, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Madril began his wrestling career in 1970. During the first half of the decade, he competed in Pacific Northwest Wrestling, t ...

, who won the championship in April 1981. The longest-reigning championship team was Pepper Gomez and

Rocky Romero John R. Rivera (born October 28, 1982) is a Puerto Rican-American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed non-exclusively to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロッ ...

, whose reign in the Southwest Sports era lasted between 274 and 303 days. Due to vague records of the time, the exact number of days that various championship reigns lasted is impossible to determine, as is which team held the championship for the shortest amount of time.

The Von Brauners The Von Brauners were a professional wrestling tag team/stable that operated from the 1950s through the 1970s. The teams consisted of Karl Von Brauner (Doug Donnan), Kurt Von Brauner #1 (Jimmy Brawner), Eric Von Brauner (Ron Donnan), and Kurt Von ...

( Kurt and Karl Von Brauner) hold the record for most reigns as a team, a total of four, while Pepper Gomez and

Duke Keomuka Martin Hisao Tanaka (April 22, 1921 – June 30, 1991) was an American professional wrestler better known as Duke Keomuka. He is the father of wrestler Pat Tanaka and referee Jimmy Tanaka. Biography Because he was a Japanese American in Californ ...

both held the championship six times with different partners.

Title history

Key

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) *

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 ...

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 (Buffalo Athletic Club version) The Buffalo Athletic Club version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a regional professional wrestling championship for tag teams that existed from 1956 until 1970. The championship was promoted by National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) mem ...

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 (Iowa/Nebraska version) *

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 (Salt Lake Wrestling Club version) The Salt Lake Wrestling Club version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship for tag teams that was promoted between 1955 and 1959 in the Salt Lake Wrestling Club territory of the National Wrestling Allianc ...

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 (Minneapolis version) 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 as the main professional wrestling championship for tag teams on their shows held in a ...

*NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) *

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