Last night on Monday Night Raw, The New Day – all three members consisting of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods – emerged victorious from two triple threat matches (thanks to Stephanie McMahon), defeating Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, Sheamus & Cesaro, Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho and Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns to officially break the 27-year old WWE record for longest tag team title reign, previously held by Ax & Smash, the Demolition. Demolition originally defeated Strikeforce (Rick Martel & Tito Santana) at Wrestlemania IV in 1988, holding the titles for over a year before dropping them to The Brainbusters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard) on a July edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event in 1989, for a startlingly 478 day reign as tag team champions. But this past Monday, the New Day surpassed that record, making it 479 days since the trio won the titles from The Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young) last year at Money In The Bank.
So as of today, the New Day are now the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history. It’s in the record books and it’s hard to argue if the WWE has produced a more over tag team unit in years. While some feel the act may be waning or getting stale (with even the possibility of them losing the titles this Sunday at Roadblock: End of the Line), there’s no denying the impact that New Day has had in the WWE Universe the past few years.
But how does the 479-day reign of New Day stack up against their historical peers? We know that no tag team in WWE’s history has held the titles longer, but what about the longest reigning tag team champions of other promotions throughout history? Exactly where does the New Day stand now in the industry’s record books, as opposed to just the ones penned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
Here’s a look at the longest reigning champions for 24 of the world’s most recognized promotions (ones that have tag team champions), from the shortest to the longest.
#22. Evolve Tag Team: Drew Galloway & Dustin, 120 days (July 16, 2016 to November 13, 2016)
Defeated Catch Point (Drew Gulak & Tracey Williams), lost to Catch Point (Tracey Williams & Fred Yehi)
#21. Mid-South Wrestling Tag Team: Junkyard Dog & “Mr. Olympia” Jerry Stubbs, 175 days (May 5, 1982 to October 27, 1982)
Defeated The Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika), lost to The Rat Pack (Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne)
#20. ECW World Tag Team: Chris Candido & Lance Storm, 203 days (December 6, 1997 to June 27, 1998)
Defeated the Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon), lost to Rob Van Dam & Sabu
NOTE: This does not include when ECW was known as Eastern Championship Wrestling prior to Paul Heyman rebranding as Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1994 and withdrawal from being an NWA affiliate. During the NWA affiliation, The Super Destroyers (AJ Petrucci & Doug Stahl) actually held the titles for 283 days).
#19. TNA World Tag Team: Beer Money (‘Cowboy’ James Storm & Bobby Roode), 212 days (January 9, 2011 to August 9, 2011)
Defeated The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley), lost to Mexican America (Anarquia & Hernandez)
NOTE: From 2002-2007, TNA was an NWA affiliate and it defended the NWA tag titles on TNA programming. The longest reigning tag team champions in TNA when they defended NWA affiliated tag team titles was America’s Most Wanted (‘Wildcat’ Chris Harris & ‘Cowboy’ James Storm) for 250 days.
#18. NWA/Mid-Atlantic World Tag Team: The Wrecking Crew (Gene & Ole Anderson), 230 days (June 11, 1975 to January 27, 1976)
Defeated Paul Jones & Wahoo McDaniel, lost to Rufus R. Jones & Wahoo McDaniel
NOTE: The NWA never recognized a traditional World Tag Team champion. From 1975 until it was unifed with the WCW World Tag Team titles, the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team title was defended as the NWA World Tag Team titles.
#17. WCW World Tag Team: Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed), 282 days (May 19, 1990 to February 24, 1991)
Defeated the Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner), lost to the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael PS Hayes & “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin)
#16. Progress Tag Team: FSU (Mark Andrews & Eddie Dennis), 301 days (March 30, 2014 to January 25, 2015)
Won a triple threat to win inaugural tag titles, lost to The Origin (El Ligero & Nathan Cruz)
#15. NJPW: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team: Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Shinjiro Otani, 348 days (July 13, 1999 to June 25, 2000)
Defeated The Great Sasuke & Jushin Thunder Liger, lost to Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka
#14. Ring of Honor World Tag Team: Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli), 363 days (April 10, 2010 to April 1, 2011)
Defeated The Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark Briscoe), lost to The World’s Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas)
#13. NXT Tag Team: The Ascension, 364 days (September 12, 2013 to September 11, 2014)
Defeated Aaron Neville & Corey Graves, lost to The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara)
#13. Revolution Pro Undisputed British Tag Team: The Revolutionists (James Castle & Sha Samuels), 364 days (June 14, 2015 to June 12, 2016)
Defeated The Thrillers (Mark Haskins & Joel Redman), lost to Joel Redman & Charlie Garrett
#12. wXw World Tag Team: Martin Stone & Doug Williams, 371 days (July 26, 2008 to August 1, 2009)
Defeated AbLas (Absolute Andy & Steve Douglas), lost to The Kartel (Sha Samuels & Terry Frazier)
#11. CZW World Tag Team: The Best Around (TJ Cannon & Bruce Maxwell), 392 days (March 14, 2009 to April 10, 2010)
Defeated 2 Girls, 1 Cup (Beef Wellington & Greg Excellent), lost to The Suicide Kings (Drake Younger & Eddie Kingston)
#10. CHIKARA Campeonatoes de Parjas: Pieces of Hate (Jigsaw & The Shard), 413 days (June 2, 2013 to July 20, 2014)
Defeated 3.0 (Scott Parker & Shane Matthews), lost to The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Mr. Touchdown)
#10. ICW Tag Team: Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey), 413 days (November 2, 2014 to December 20, 2015)
Defeated The Hooligans (Brian Kendrick & Paul London), lost to The 55 (Sha Samuels & Kid Fite)
#9. WWE: New Day, 479+ days (August 23, 2015 to present)
Defeated The Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young)
#8. NOAH: GHC Tag Team: Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith, 486 days (May 23, 2008 to September 21, 2009)
Defeated Team Ikko (Noamuchi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura), lost to Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima
#7. AAA Campeonato en Parejas: La Hermandad 187 (Joe Lider & Psicosis (Nicho el Millionario), 551 days (September 14, 2008 to March 19, 2010)
Defeated La Familia de Tijuana (Halloween & Extreme Tiger), lost to La Legion Extranjera (Taiji Ishimori & Takeshi Morishima)
#6. AJPW World Tag Team: Minoru Suzuki & Taiyo Kea, 554 days (June 28, 2008 to January 3, 2010)
Defeated Joe Doering & Keiji Mutoh, lost to Masakatsu Funaki & Keiji Mutoh
#5. NJPW: IWGP Tag Team: Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson & Giant Bernard), 564 days (June 19, 2010 to January 4, 2012)
Defeated Seigigun (Wataru Inoue & Yuji Nagata), lost to Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)
#4. PWG World Tag Team: Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), 616 days (August 31, 2008 to May 9, 2010)
Defeated The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black), lost to ¡Peligro Abejas! (El Generico & Paul London)
#3. CMLL Campeonato Mundial de Parejas: Los Guerreros de la Atlantida (Ultimo Guerrero & Dragon Rojo Jr.), 630 days (November 2, 2010 to August 3, 2012)
Defeated Los Invasores (Mr. Aguila & Hector Garza), lost to Atlantis & Diamante Azul
#2. NOAH: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team: KENTA & Noamichi Marufuji, 690 days (July 16, 2003 to June 5, 2005)
Defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & Takehiro Murahama, lost to Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura.
#1. AWA World Tag Team: The High Flyers (“Jumping” Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne), 744 days (June 14, 1981 to June 26, 1983)
Defeated The East-West Connection (Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura & Adrian Adonis), lost to The Sheiks (Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera)
Follow Last Word on Sports Wrestling and Jamie Greer on Twitter for more stories and updates!
Main Photo contains images from WWE.com
