Date established 1965 First champion(s) Chris and John Tolos | Date retired October 1980 | |
Promotion Big Time Wrestling/NWA Detroit Most reigns Team: Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz (5 reigns)
Individual: Fred Curry (9 reigns) Longest reign The Fabulous Kangaroos
(Al Costello and Don Kent (At least 196 days) | ||
The Detroit version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the top ranked professional wrestling championship for teams in the Detroit, Michigan based Big Time Wrestling, sometimes referred to as NWA Detroit, between 1965 and 1980. Due to being a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) All-Star Wrestling was entitled to promote their local version of the championship as the NWA bylaws did not restrict the use in the way they restricted the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to one nationally recognized championship. Because individual NWA members, referred to as NWA territories, were allowed to create their own version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship at least 22 different versions existed between 1949 and 1991. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is not won or lost competitively but instead by the decision of the bookers of a wrestling promotion. The title is awarded after the chosen team "wins" a match to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.
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The first championship team recognized in Detroit was the Tolos brothers (Chris and John Tolos), who were introduced as champions around February 1965 as having "recently won" the championship, but no records of a tournament exists. Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz held the championship five times as a team, the record for the 25 year history of this version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, while Fred Curry holds the record for most overall reigns, nine reigns with different partners. The shortest reign belongs to Lou Klein and Ed George as Lou Klein announced his retired right after the match, making their reigns only minutes long. The longest reign lasted at least 196 days as The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Don Kent won the championship on December 18, 1971 and held it until May 1972.