Tag team wrestling is a huge part of the pro wrestling business that sometimes goes underappreciated, especially in WWE. It’s been said over the years that Vince McMahon’s disdain towards tag team wrestling is mostly economically driven. He’d rather pay two performers to put on a match than four. Regardless, tag team wrestling is an essential cog in the WWE machine.
Many future main event stars get their first break in the business as part of a tag team. For many, before they aspire to hold singles gold, their sights are set on winning a Tag Team Championship. Over the years, pro wrestling has featured a great number of tag team title belts. These are arguably the best designs ever.
10 ECW Tag Team Championship
In the early 90s, a small start-up wrestling promotion hit the scene. The company would eventually morph into Extreme Championship Wrestling and become the ECW most fans remember. ECW was catered to the disenfranchised bloodthirsty wrestling fan. The promotion would feature three major championships. Among them were the ECW Tag Team Championship.
The original belt design for the tag team titles was a knockoff of the WWE Intercontinental Championship. In the late 90s, the design was updated to better fit ECW’s style. The new belts had a circular saw blade with the ECW logo in the center. It also had etching that resembled a steel cage with barbed wire and red lettering to presumably represent blood. It was honestly a pretty cool look
9 TNA Knockouts Championship
Even at its peak, TNA never rivaled WWE in any category. In 2009 however, TNA did something that it would take WWE 10 years to do. That year, TNA introduced tag team championships for their knockouts division. In hindsight, the move was at least six years ahead of its time as the women’s revolution in WWE wouldn’t start until 2015.
While the division might’ve had some growing pains, the set of championship belts TNA had designed were exceptional. The plates sat on red leather straps which made the belts pop. Oddly enough, the championships kind of looked like smaller versions of AEW’s current World Championship.
8 TNA Tag Team Championship
While TNA never truly threatened WWE in any way, some fans will argue that TNA had a better Tag Team division throughout the years. Though that might be a bold statement, there might be some semblance of truth there. After all, teams like Beer Money Inc. and The Motor City Machine Guns excelled in TNA.
For ten years, which is a long shelf life for any championship belt, TNA’s top tag teams competed for these beautiful championship belts. The design was simple but stunning. Four small side plates with a big center plate which featured a globe in the center with the TNA logo. Many fans were sad to see this design go when it was finally retired in 2017.
7 NXT UK Tag Team Championship
For a while, before the launch of AEW, NXT was the “it” brand for pro wrestling diehards. At its peak, the internet wrestling community rallied behind NXT like no other third brand in WWE history. That success motivated WWE to expand the brand across the pond in the United Kingdom. In 2018, NXT UK was born. The promotion would start with only one championship at first.
Eventually, though, more championships, including the NXT UK Tag Team Championships would be introduced. To say these belts are breathtaking would be an understatement. The circular center plate draws the eye and pops. The etching on the belt is next-level. These were hands down the best Tag Team Championship belts in WWE during their brief tenure.
6 ROH Tag Team Championship
In 2001, there was a void in professional wrestling left by the closing of ECW. Luckily, Ring Of Honor stepped in as the premiere independent wrestling promotion in the business. Many of today’s top stars owe a lot of their success to the time they spent in ROH. Coincidentally, many of those top stars held the ROH Tag Team Championship at some point.
Much like the TNA Tag Team Championship, these title belts are simple but outstanding. They bare a resemblance to the TNA Tag Team Championship. The most significant differences between the two are the logo in the center of the main plate and the side plates. The ROH Tag Team Championship arguably have better side plates which makes them a bit more appealing.
5 NWA United States Tag Team Championship
During the NWA’s heyday, there were levels to being a championship contender. Almost no performer ever jumped the line and went directly to the World Champion scene, be it a singles star or a tag team. For tag teams, before they got a shot at the World Tag Team Championship they’d likely challenge for the United States Tag Team Championships.
While these titles have largely been forgotten, the belt design was exquisite. The red leather strap made the gold plates pop and the circular side plates were a nice change of pace compared to other belts. Furthermore, the red white, and blue sprinkled throughout the belts really got the USA theme across strongly and made them stand out.
4 AEW Tag Team Championship
Here we have the newest set of Tag Team Championships in any major promotion today, the AEW Tag Team Championship. Despite not having the lineage of some of the other title belts on the list, the AEW Tag Team Championships are still an absolute work of art. At first glance, they’re almost nicer than some promotion’s singles World Championship.
AEW knocked it out of the park with these bad boys. The belts feature a nice big center plate which immediately draws the eye. The globe in the center gives it a nice color contrast. The side plates are a bit plain, simply bearing the AEW logo they’re also on the bigger side which helps the belts look grand.
3 NWA World Tag Team Championship
As far as history and lineage go, this might be the most storied and prestigious set of Tag Team Championship belts in wrestling history. The NWA World Tag Team Championships predate the WWE Tag Team Championships. Furthermore, they’ve appeared in various promotions over the years. Including WWE, WCW, and TNA.
The belt design is a timeless one. The belts feature a gorgeous center plate with a globe in the middle and black banners across the top and bottom. The side plates have different designs etched beautifully. There have been two different variants of the belt straps. Hands down the one that looked the best was the blue strap. Though some fans did enjoy the black strap version as well.
2 WWE World Tag Team Championship
After years of featuring the same classic design, in 2002, WWE finally gave their Tag Team Championships a makeover. After having one set of champions represent two shows, WWE eventually split their tag titles. SmackDown‘s title would be referred to as the “WWE Tag Team Championship.” The Raw title would be known as the “World Tag Team Championship.”
While the SmackDown belts left much to be desired, the Raw belts were a universal hit. The center plate featured a globe, like many belts do, except this one was red. The side plates had a black background which made the designs on them pop. These sets of tag titles were beloved and even rivaled the classic WWE Tag Team Championship in popularity.
1 Classic WWE Tag Team Championship
After being introduced in 1985, these Reggie Parks creations stood the test of time like no other championship belt in WWE history, lasting nearly 20 years. During that time, WWE featured four different designs for their World Championship but only slightly tweaked the tag titles. There’s a good reason for that.
These stunning belts featured a rectangular center plate with an eagle flying over a globe. The red lettering over the globe gave a great color contrast. The side plates changed a few times over the years but the changes rarely altered the look of the belts too much. Many fans still clamor for WWE to bring back this classic design.