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).^[1][2] The championship was for two-man tag teams only. While the NWA Board of Directors mandated that there would only be one NWA World Heavyweight Championship, they did not regulate the use of championships labeled "NWA World Tag Team Championship", allowing any member that so desired to create their own local version.^[3] As a result, as many as 13 different, regional versions were active in 1957, the highest number of active NWA World Tag Team Championships in existence at the same time.^{[Championships]}

NWA World Tag Team Championship (Chicago version)
Details
Promotion	Fred Kohler Enterprises
Date established	1953[1][2]
Date retired	August 1960[1][2]
Statistics First champions Lord James Blears and Lord Athol Layton[1][2] Most reigns Nicolai and Boris Volkoff (4 reigns) Longest reign Reggie Lisowski and Art Neilson (371 days) Shortest reign [Note 1]

The championship was introduced in 1953 when the promoters awarded the championship to Lord James Blears and Lord Athol Layton. The championship was promoted from 1953 until 1960 when Fred Kohler left the NWA to help form the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and thus the AWA World Tag Team Championship became the top tag team championship in the Chicago area.^[1][2] The Chicago promotion would later be bought by Dick Afflis, who merged it with his Indianapolis-based territory. The last NWA World Tag Team Championship was won by the Shires brothers, Roy and Ray, on April 9, 1960. The Volkoffs, Boris and Nicoli, held the championship four times, the record for the Chicago version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Art Neilson and Reggie Lisowski held the championship for 371 days, the longest individual reign in the championship's seven-year history. Being a professional wrestling championship, it is not won or lost competitively, but instead determined by the decision of the bookers of a wrestling promotion.^[1][2] The title is awarded after the chosen team "wins" a match to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.^[4]

Title history

Key

No.	The overall championship reign
Reign	The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A	The specific information is not known
—	Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
	Indicates that there was a period where the lineage is undocumented due to the lack of written documentation in that time period.

No.	Champions	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes	Ref(s)
1	Lord James Blears and Lord Athol Layton	1	1953	[Note 2]	N/A	N/A	Awarded	[1][2]
2	Bill Melby and Billy Darnell	1	July 25, 1953	84	Chicago, Illinois	live event	Defeated Blears and Martino Angelo who substituted Layton who had suffered an injury.	[1][2]
3	Ben and Mike Sharpe	1	October 17, 1953	[Note 3]	Chicago, Illinois	live event		[1][2]
—	Vacated	—	1953	N/A	N/A	N/A	Vacated when the Sharpe brothers stop working for the company	[1][2]
4	Bill Melby and Billy Darnell	2	1954	[Note 4]	live event	[Note 5]	Melby and Darnell were awarded the championship.	[1][2]
5	Reggie Lisowski and Art Neilson	1	February 13, 1954	371	live event	[Note 5]	Defeated Melby and Jack Witzig who substituted for an injured Darnell	[1][2]
6	Pat O'Connor and Roy McClarity	1	March 19, 1955	[Note 6]	Moline, Illinois	live event		[1][2]
7	Guy Brunetti and Joe Tangara	1	February 1956	[Note 7]	live event	[Note 5]		[1][2]
8	Mike DiBiase and Danny Plechas	1	February 18, 1956	[Note 8]	Moline, Illinois	live event		[1][2]
9	Reggie and Stan Lisowski	1	March 1956	[Note 9]	live event	[Note 5]		[1][2]
—	Vacated	—	1956	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated for undocumented reasons	[1][2]
10	Bobby Bruns and Roy McClarity	1	November 3, 1956	[Note 10]	live event	Des Moines, Iowa	Won the championship in a match against Nicolai and Boris Volkoff	[1][2]
—	Vacated	—	November 1956	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated for undocumented reasons	[1][2]
11	Nicolai and Boris Volkoff	1	November 24, 1956	[Note 11]	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	live event	Won the vacant championship in a match against Reggie and Stan Lisowski	[1][2][5]
12	Reggie and Stan Lisowski	2	December 1956	[Note 12]	[Note 5]	live event		[1][2]
13	Nicolai and Boris Volkoff	2	December 15, 1956	161	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	live event		[1][2]
14	Verne Gagne and Édouard Carpentier	1	May 25, 1957	[Note 13]	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	live event		[1][2][6]
15	Nicolai and Boris Volkoff	3	June 1957	[Note 14]	[Note 5]	live event		[1][2]
16	Reggie and Stan Lisowski	3	June 29, 1957	238	Chicago, Illinois	live event		[1][2]
17	Nicolai and Boris Volkoff	4	February 22, 1958	266	Chicago, Illinois	live event		[1][2][7]
18	Jackie and Don Fargo	1	November 15, 1958	[Note 15]	Chicago, Illinois	live event		[1][2]
—	Vacated	—	1959	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated for undocumented reasons	[1][2]
19	Roy and Ray Shire	1	August 6, 1959	189	Indianapolis, Indiana	live event	defeated Angelo Poffo and Dick Afflis in a tournament final	[1][2]
20	Gene Kiniski and Dick Afflis	1	February 11, 1960	58	[Note 5]	live event		[1][2]
21	Roy and Ray Shire	2	April 9, 1960	[Note 16]	[Note 5]	live event		[1][2]
—	Retired	—	August 1960	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship retired when promoter Fred Kohler left the NWA to help for the American Wrestling Association, replacing the championship with the AWA World Tag Team Championship	[1][2]

Team reigns by combined length

Key

Symbol	Meaning
¤	The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used.

Rank	Team	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Nicolai and Boris Volkoff	4	435¤
2	Reggie Lisowski and Art Neilson	1	371
3	Roy and Ray Shire	2	333¤
4	Pat O'Connor and Roy McClarity	1	319¤
5	Reggie and Stan Lisowski	3	117¤
6	Bill Melby and Billy Darnell	2	85¤
7	Gene Kiniski and Dick Afflis	1	58
8	Jackie and Don Fargo	1	47¤
9	Mike DiBiase and Danny Plechas	1	12¤
10	Verne Gagne and Édouard Carpentier	1	7¤
11	Ben and Mike Sharpe	1	1¤
	Bobby Bruns and Roy McClarity	1	1¤
	Guy Brunetti and Joe Tangara	1	1¤
	Lord James Blears and Lord Athol Layton	1	1¤

Individual reigns by combined length

Key

Symbol	Meaning
¤	The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used.

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Reggie Lisowski	4	488¤
2	Boris Volkoff	4	435¤
	Nicolai Volkoff	4	435¤
4	Art Neilson	1	371¤
5	Ray Shire	2	333¤
	Roy Shire	2	333¤
7	Pat O'Connor	1	319¤
	Roy McClarity	1	319¤
9	Stan Lisowski	3	117¤
10	Bill Melby	2	85¤
	Billy Darnell	2	85¤
12	Dick Afflis	1	58
	Gene Kiniski	1	58
14	Don Fargo	1	47¤
	Jackie Fargo	1	47¤
16	Danny Plechas	1	12¤
	Mike DiBiase	1	12¤
18	Édouard Carpentier	1	7¤
	Verne Gagne	1	7¤
20	Ben Sharpe	1	1¤
	Bobby Bruns	1	1¤
	Guy Brunetti	1	1¤
	Joe Tangara	1	1¤
	Lord Athol Layton	1	1¤
	Lord James Blears	1	1¤
	Mike Sharpe	1	1¤
	Roy McClarity	1	1¤

See also

• National Wrestling Alliance
• NWA World Tag Team Championship

Footnotes

1. Several reigns have unknown length, it is impossible to determine who had the shortest
2. The exact date Blears and Layton were awarded the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 205 days.
3. The exact date the Sharp brothers left the company is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 75 days.
4. The exact date Melby and Darnell were awarded the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 43 days.
5. The location of the match was not captured as part of the documentation.
6. The exact date O'Connor and McClarity lost the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 319 and 325 days.
7. The exact date Brunetti and Tangara won the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 17 days.
8. The exact date Dibiase and Plechas won the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 12 and 42 days.
9. The exact date the championship was is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 246 days.
10. The exact date the championship was vacated is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 21 days.
11. The exact date The Volkoffs lost the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 7 and 20 days.
12. The exact date the Lisowskis lost the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 15 days.
13. The exact date Gagne and Carpentier lost the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 7 and 34 days.
14. The exact date the Volkoffs won the championship is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 1 day and 29 days.
15. The exact date the championship was vacated is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 47 and 263 days.
16. The exact date the championship was abandoned is unknown, which means their reign lasted between 114 and 144 days.

Concurrent championships

Sources for 13 simultaneous NWA World Tag Team Championships

• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles version)^[8][9]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version)^[10][11]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version)^[12][13]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Chicago version)^[1][2]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Buffalo Athletic Club version)^[14][15]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version)^[16][17]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Iowa/Nebraska version)^[18][19]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Indianapolis version)^[20][21]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Salt Lake Wrestling Club version)^[22][23]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Amarillo version)^[24][25]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version)^[26][27]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version)^[28][29]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version)^[30][31]