NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version)

The Florida version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team championship. The title was defended sporadically in the National Wrestling Alliance affiliated Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1961 to 1962, 1978 to 1980, and then 1983 until 1986.^[1][2] While its name suggests it was defended throughout the United States, the title was actually a regional championship that was only defended throughout the Florida territory. The 1978-80 version of the United States Tag Team Championship belt inspired the current design for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship, upon reactivation in 2022.

NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida)
The Florida version of the U.S. tag team championship
Details
Promotion	Championship Wrestling from Florida[1][2]
Date established	January 1961[1][2]
Date retired	December 17, 1986[1][2]
Statistics First champions The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan)[1][2] Most reigns (As a team) Mike Graham and Steve Keirn (5 reigns)[1][2] (As individual) Steve Keirn (7 reigns) Longest reign Mike Graham and Steve Keirn (103 days)[1][2] Shortest reign Mike Graham and Steve Keirn (less than in one day) [1][2]

Title history

Key

No.	Overall reign number
Reign	Reign number for the specific team—reign numbers for the individuals are in parentheses, if different
Days	Number of days held

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics		Notes	Ref.
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days
1	The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan)	January 1961 (NLT)	CWF show	[Note 1]	1	N/A	The Fabulous Kangaroos were billed as champions when they arrived in Florida	[1][2]
2	Eddie Graham and Dick Steinborn	November 1961	CWF show	Miami Beach, Florida	1	N/A		[1][2]
3	Tojo Yamamoto and Taro Miyake	November 16, 1961	CWF show	Jacksonville, Florida	1	14		[1][2]
4	Eddie Graham and Dick Steinborn	November 30, 1961	CWF show	Jacksonville, Florida	2	57		[1][2]
5	The Assassins (Assassin #1 and Assassin #2)	January 26, 1962	CWF show	Atlanta, Georgia	1	91		[1][2]
—	Vacated	April 27, 1962	—	—	—	—	Championship was vacated after a draw against Ray Gunkel and Bob Ellis	[1][2]
6	Ray Gunkel and Bob Ellis	May 4, 1962	CWF show	Atlanta, Georgia	1	8	Defeated The Assassins in the rematch for the held up championship	[1][2]
7	The Assassins (Assassin #1 and Assassin #2)	May 12, 1962 (NLT)	CWF show	[Note 1]	2	N/A		[1][2]
—	Vacated	1962	—	—	—	—	Championship was abandoned for other CWF tag team championships	[1][2]
8	The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy and Johnny)	January 1, 1978	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	1	24		[1][2]
9	Mike Graham and Steve Keirn	January 25, 1978	CWF show	Miami, Florida	1	27		[1][2]
10	The Brisco Brothers (Jack and Jerry)	February 21, 1978	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	7		[1][2]
11	Mike Graham and Steve Keirn	February 28, 1978	CWF show	Miami, Florida	2	103	Mike Graham defeated Jack Brisco in a singles match to win the championship	[1][2]
12	Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato	June 11, 1978	CWF show	[Note 1]	1	38		[1][2]
13	Mike Graham and Steve Keirn	July 19, 1978	CWF show	Miami Beach, Florida	3	7		[1][2]
14	Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato	July 26, 1978	CWF show	[Note 1]	2	9		[1][2]
15	Mike Graham and Steve Keirn	August 4, 1978	CWF show	[Note 1]	3	22		[1][2]
16	Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato	August 26, 1978	CWF show	Lakeland, Florida	3	74		[1][2]
17	Killer Karl Kox and Dick Slater	November 8, 1978	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	1	N/A		[1][2]
—	Vacated	December 1978	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated when Kox and Slater split up.	[1][2]
18	Killer Karl Kox and Jimmy Garvin	December 5, 1978	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	42	Defeated Dick Slater and Bob Roop to win the championship	[1][2]
19	Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato	January 16, 1979	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	4	14		[1][2]
20	The Brisco Brothers (Jack and Jerry Brisco)	January 30, 1979	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	2	18		[1][2]
21	Jos LeDuc and Thor the Viking	February 17, 1979	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	1	12		[1][2]
22	Killer Karl Kox and Jimmy Garvin	March 1, 1979	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	2	11		[1][2]
23	Pak Song and Jos LeDuc (2)	March 12, 1979	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	1	5		[1][2]
—	Vacated	March 17, 1979	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated when Leduc leaves the area.
24	Pak Song (2) and Killer Khan	March 31, 1979	CWF show	[Note 1]	1	67	Defeat The Blonde Bombers (Larry Latham and Wayne Ferris) in a tournament.	[1][2]
25	Mike Graham and Steve Keirn	June 6, 1979	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	5	0		[1][2]
26	Jos Leduc (3) and Don Muraco	June 6, 1979	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	1	N/A		[1][2]
—	Vacated	August 1979	—	—	—	—	Championship vacated for undocumented reasons	[1][2]
27	Dusty Rhodes and Bugsy McGraw	July 14, 1980	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	N/A	Defeat The Funk Brothers (Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk) in a tournament final.	[1][2]
—	Vacated	September 1980	—	—	—	—	NWA North American Tag Team Championship and NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship replaced the championship.	[1][2]
28	The Zambuie Express (Elijah Akeem and Kareem Muhammad)	September 26, 1983	N/A	"New Mexico"	1	40	Was said to have won a fictitious tournament.	[1][2]
29	Dusty Rhodes (2) and Blackjack Mulligan	November 5, 1983	CWF show	Lakeland, Florida	1	24		[1][2]
30	Ron Bass and One Man Gang	November 29, 1983	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	43	Bass and the One Man Gang defeated Dusty Rhodes and Mike Davis for the championship.	[1][2]
31	Mike Rotunda and Mike Davis	January 11, 1984	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	26		[1][2]
32	The Long Riders (Ron Bass (2) and Black Bart)	February 6, 1984	CWF show	West Palm Beach, Florida	1	37		[1][2]
33	The U.S. Express (Mike Rotunda (2) and Barry Windham)	March 14, 1984	CWF show	Miami, Florida	1	13		[1][2]
34	The Long Riders (Ron Bass (3) and Black Bart)	March 27, 1984	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	2	8		[1][2]
35	The U.S. Express (Mike Rotunda (3) and Barry Windham)	April 4, 1984	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	2	21		[1][2]
36	The Long Riders (Ron Bass (4) and Black Bart)	April 25, 1984	CWF show	Miami, Florida	3	31		[1][2]
37	The U.S. Express (Mike Rotunda (4) and Barry Windham)	May 26, 1984	CWF show	Sarasota, Florida	3	8		[1][2]
38	The Long Riders (Ron Bass (5) and Black Bart)	June 3, 1984	CWF show	Florida	4	16
39	The U.S. Express (Mike Rotunda (5) and Barry Windham)	June 19, 1984	CWF show	Florida	4	25
40	Los Guerreros (Chavo and Hector)	July 14, 1984	CWF show	Florida[Note 1]	1	88		[1][2]
41	Jim Neidhart and Krusher Khruschev	October 3, 1984	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	90	Defeated Hector Guerrero and Cocoa Samoa to win the championship.	[1][2]
42	The Youngbloods (Jay Youngblood and Mark Youngblood)	January 1, 1985	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	56		[1][2]
43	The PYT Express (Norvell Austin and Koko Ware)	February 26, 1985	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	7		[1][2][3]
44	The Youngbloods (Jay Youngblood and Mark Youngblood)	March 5, 1985	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	2	42		[1][2][4]
45	Rick Rude and Jesse Barr	April 16, 1985	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	84		[1][2]
46	Wahoo McDaniel and Billy Jack Haynes	July 9, 1985	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	N/A		[1][2]
—	Vacated	December 1985	—	—	—	—	McDaniel and Haynes split up following loss to National tag team champions Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson at Starrcade 1985 in Atlanta (only the National title was on the line).	[1][2]
47	The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn (6))	July 12, 1986	N/A	"Portland, Oregon"	1	87	Supposedly defeated the Sheepherders in a (fictitious) tournament final.	[1][2][5]
48	The Sheepherders (Butch Miller and Luke Williams)	October 7, 1986	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	54		[1][2]
49	The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn (7))	November 30, 1986	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	2	16		[1][2]
50	Kareem Muhammad (2) and Hacksaw Higgins	December 16, 1986	CWF show	Tampa, Florida	1	1	Won the championship by forfeit	[1][2]
—	Deactivated	December 17, 1986	—	—	—	—	Higgins was fired from the CWF and the championship was abandoned. CWF reinstated the state championship as their main tag team championship while recognizing the Mid-Atlantic version of the U.S. Tag Team Championship until its closure in December 1987.	[1][2]

Footnotes

1. The location of the match has not been captured as part of the championship documentation.

See also

• United States portal

• List of National Wrestling Alliance championships