At tonight’s NWA 70th Anniversary show, it was announced that in 2019 they would be bringing back the Crockett Cup, the NWA’s prestigious tag team tournament that saw some legendary tag teams battle it out for supremacy from throughout the NWA.
The legendary tag team tournament the Crockett Cup returns in 2019! #NWA70 pic.twitter.com/HB0TFLxJFa
— NWA (@nwa) October 22, 2018
The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup was a tag team tournament started in 1986 that featured 24 of the top tag teams in the world in a huge tournament. Teams like Giant Baba & Tiger Mask (from All Japan), Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, The Rock N’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton), The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton), The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn) and The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) faced off in this grand tournament, that was ultimately won by The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk). It’s almost fitting that the return of the Crockett Cup came just days after the 15th anniversary of Road Warrior Hawk’s passing – them winning the inaugural Crockett Cup was their jumpstart with Jim Crockett Jr.’s Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling territory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geM5bB48S-s
The Crockett Cup only lasted two more years, with The Super Powers (Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff) winning the 1987 edition and then Lex Luger & Sting holding up the trophy for the 1988 Crockett Cup. Following the purchase of Jim Crockett Promotions by Ted Turner and the rebranding to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1988, the Crockett Cup was retired.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CUE63ucGtA
With the return of the NWA World Women’s Championship (retained tonight by Jazz in a hard hitting affair against Penelope Ford) and the reactivation of the NWA National Heavyweight Championship, the NWA is slowly bringing back its titles. The NWA Junior Heavyweight and World Tag Team were seemingly vacated following Billy Corgan’s purchase in 2016, so it’s highly possible the new NWA braintrust could use the return of the Crockett Cup as the launching point to crown the new NWA World Tag Team Champions. The NWA World Tag Team Champions at the time of Corgan’s vacancy were indie tandem The Heatseekers (Elliot Russell & Sigmon), who were in their fourth reign. Other recent champions of the past decade include New Japan’s Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) and TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) and The Real American Heroes, featuring two young stars named Joey Ryan and Karl Anderson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKEm6MP6GK8
From 2002 through 2007, the NWA World Tag Team Championships were used by TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, being held by such teams as The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & Devon Dudley), America’s Most Wanted (“Wildcat” Chris Harris & “Cowboy” James Storm), Team Canada (Bobby Roode & Eric Young), LAX (Homicide & Hernandez) and AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels.
