NXT UK Tag Team Championship


The NXT UK Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on their NXT UK brand division, a sister brand of NXT based in the United Kingdom. Established on 18 June 2018, the inaugural championship team was James Drake and Zack Gibson. The current champions are Gallus, who are in their first reign and are the longest reigning champions.
WWE had originally announced plans for a United Kingdom-based brand in December 2016, however, it was not until mid-2018 when NXT UK was formally established as that brand. The NXT UK Tag Team Championship was then introduced during the first night of the 2018 United Kingdom Championship Tournament. Although it is one of four male tag team championships in WWE, it is viewed as a step below the promotion's three main brand titles, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship, WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, and NXT Tag Team Championship.

History

In a press conference at The O2 Arena on 15 December 2016, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced plans to establish a United Kingdom-based brand on which professional wrestlers from the country would compete. The WWE United Kingdom Championship was established that same day, however, it was not until mid-2018 when NXT UK was formally established as the United Kingdom-based brand, and sister brand of the American-based NXT. On 18 June during the first night of the 2018 United Kingdom Championship Tournament, the NXT UK Tag Team Championship, along with the NXT UK Women's Championship, was announced for the NXT UK brand. A four-team single-elimination tournament took place on the 24 and 25 November tapings of NXT UK. The finals occurred at on 12 January, where the team of James Drake and Zack Gibson defeated Moustache Mountain to become the inaugural champions.

Inaugural tournament


Belt design

The championship belts were unveiled by WWE Chief Operating Officer and NXT head Triple H and NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint on the 14 October 2018 tapings of NXT UK in Plymouth. The center plate of the championship belts is modeled on the NXT UK logo, which itself takes inspiration from the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms, featuring a lion and a horse with a vertical NXT logo between them; the animals are gold while the logo is silver. Above and below the logo are two halves of the globe which are colored blue. A banner above the upper globe reads "UK Tag Team" while a banner below the lower globe reads "Champions". A gold ornamented border with red jewels circles the center plate. Gold and black divider bars with red jewels at each end separate the center plate from the belt's two side plates. In what has become a prominent feature of WWE's championship belts, the side plates feature removable center sections that can be replaced with the current champion's logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a blue globe. The plates are on a black leather strap.

Reigns

As of , there have been three reigns between three teams composed of six individual champions. James Drake and Zack Gibson were the inaugural champions. Gallus has the longest reign at + days, while Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews have the shortest reign at 34 days. The oldest champion is Wolfgang, winning the title at 32 years old, while the youngest is Drake, winning it at 25.
The current champions are Gallus. They defeated previous champions Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews during the NXT UK taping in Brentwood, England on 4 October 2019.