# NWA World Tag Team Championship (Chicago version)

The Chicago version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Chicago-based Fred Kohler Enterprises, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The championship was for two-man tag teams only. While the NWA Board of Directors mandated that there would only be one NWA World Heavyweight Championship, they did not regulate the use of championships labeled "NWA World Tag Team Championship", allowing any member that so desired to create their own local version. As a result, as many as 13 different, regional versions were active in 1957, the highest number of active NWA World Tag Team Championships in existence at the same time.
The championship was introduced in 1953 when the promoters awarded the championship to Lord James Blears and Lord Athol Layton. The championship was promoted from 1953 until 1960 when Fred Kohler left the NWA to help form the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and thus the AWA World Tag Team Championship became the top tag team championship in the Chicago area. The Chicago promotion would later be bought by Dick Afflis, who merged it with his Indianapolis-based territory. The last NWA World Tag Team Championship was won by the Shires brothers, Roy and Ray, on April 9, 1960. The Volkoffs, Boris and Nicoli, held the championship four times, the record for the Chicago version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Art Neilson and Reggie Lisowski held the championship for 371 days, the longest individual reign in the championship's seven-year history. Being a professional wrestling championship, it is not won or lost competitively, but instead determined 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.

## Title history
### Key

| No. | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| N/A | The specific information is not known |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| | Indicates that there was a period where the lineage is undocumented due to the lack of written documentation in that time period. |
| No. | Champions | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes |
| 1 | Lord James Blears and Lord Athol Layton | 1 | 1953 | | N/A | N/A | Awarded |
| 2 | Bill Melby and Billy Darnell | 1 | July 25, 1953 | 84 | Chicago, Illinois | live event | Defeated Blears and Martino Angelo who substituted Layton who had suffered an injury. |
| 3 | Ben and Mike Sharpe | 1 | October 17, 1953 | | Chicago, Illinois | live event | |
| — | Vacated | — | 1953 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Vacated when the Sharpe brothers stop working for the company |
| 4 | Bill Melby and Billy Darnell | 2 | 1954 | | live event | | Melby and Darnell were awarded the championship. |
| 5 | Reggie Lisowski and Art Neilson | 1 | February 13, 1954 | 371 | live event | | Defeated Melby and Jack Witzig who substituted for an injured Darnell |
| 6 | Pat O'Connor and Roy McClarity | 1 | March 19, 1955 | | Moline, Illinois | live event | |
| 7 | Guy Brunetti and Joe Tangara | 1 | February 1956 | | live event | | |
| 8 | Mike DiBiase and Danny Plechas | 1 | February 18, 1956 | | Moline, Illinois | live event | |
| 9 | Reggie and Stan Lisowski | 1 | March 1956 | | live event | | |
| — | Vacated | — | 1956 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated for undocumented reasons |
| 10 | Bobby Bruns and Roy McClarity | 1 | November 3, 1956 | | live event | Des Moines, Iowa | Won the championship in a match against Nicolai and Boris Volkoff |
| — | Vacated | — | November 1956 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated for undocumented reasons |
| 11 | Nicolai and Boris Volkoff | 1 | November 24, 1956 | | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | live event | Won the vacant championship in a match against Reggie and Stan Lisowski |
| 12 | Reggie and Stan Lisowski | 2 | December 1956 | | | live event | |
| 13 | Nicolai and Boris Volkoff | 2 | December 15, 1956 | 161 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | live event | |
| 14 | Verne Gagne and Édouard Carpentier | 1 | May 25, 1957 | | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | live event | |
| 15 | Nicolai and Boris Volkoff | 3 | June 1957 | | | live event | |
| 16 | Reggie and Stan Lisowski | 3 | June 29, 1957 | 238 | Chicago, Illinois | live event | |
| 17 | Nicolai and Boris Volkoff | 4 | February 22, 1958 | 266 | Chicago, Illinois | live event | |
| 18 | Jackie and Don Fargo | 1 | November 15, 1958 | | Chicago, Illinois | live event | |
| — | Vacated | — | 1959 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated for undocumented reasons |
| 19 | Roy and Ray Shire | 1 | August 6, 1959 | 189 | Indianapolis, Indiana | live event | defeated Angelo Poffo and Dick Afflis in a tournament final |
| 20 | Gene Kiniski and Dick Afflis | 1 | February 11, 1960 | 58 | | live event | |
| 21 | Roy and Ray Shire | 2 | April 9, 1960 | | | live event | |
| — | Retired | — | August 1960 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship retired when promoter Fred Kohler left the NWA to help for the American Wrestling Association, replacing the championship with the AWA World Tag Team Championship |

## Team reigns by combined length

Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
| Rank | Team | No. of reigns | Combined days |
| 1 | Nicolai and Boris Volkoff | 4 | 435¤ |
| 2 | Reggie Lisowski and Art Neilson | 1 | 371 |
| 3 | Roy and Ray Shire | 2 | 333¤ |
| 4 | Pat O'Connor and Roy McClarity | 1 | 319¤ |
| 5 | Reggie and Stan Lisowski | 3 | 117¤ |
| 6 | Bill Melby and Billy Darnell | 2 | 85¤ |
| 7 | Gene Kiniski and Dick Afflis | 1 | 58 |
| 8 | Jackie and Don Fargo | 1 | 47¤ |
| 9 | Mike DiBiase and Danny Plechas | 1 | 12¤ |
| 10 | Verne Gagne and Édouard Carpentier | 1 | 7¤ |
| 11 | Ben and Mike Sharpe | 1 | 1¤ |
| 11 | Bobby Bruns and Roy McClarity | 1 | 1¤ |
| 11 | Guy Brunetti and Joe Tangara | 1 | 1¤ |
| 11 | Lord James Blears and Lord Athol Layton | 1 | 1¤ |

## Individual reigns by combined length

Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
| 1 | Reggie Lisowski | 4 | 488¤ |
| 2 | Boris Volkoff | 4 | 435¤ |
| 2 | Nicolai Volkoff | 4 | 435¤ |
| 4 | Art Neilson | 1 | 371¤ |
| 5 | Ray Shire | 2 | 333¤ |
| 5 | Roy Shire | 2 | 333¤ |
| 7 | Pat O'Connor | 1 | 319¤ |
| 7 | Roy McClarity | 1 | 319¤ |
| 9 | Stan Lisowski | 3 | 117¤ |
| 10 | Bill Melby | 2 | 85¤ |
| 10 | Billy Darnell | 2 | 85¤ |
| 12 | Dick Afflis | 1 | 58 |
| 12 | Gene Kiniski | 1 | 58 |
| 14 | Don Fargo | 1 | 47¤ |
| 14 | Jackie Fargo | 1 | 47¤ |
| 16 | Danny Plechas | 1 | 12¤ |
| 16 | Mike DiBiase | 1 | 12¤ |
| 18 | Édouard Carpentier | 1 | 7¤ |
| 18 | Verne Gagne | 1 | 7¤ |
| 20 | Ben Sharpe | 1 | 1¤ |
| 20 | Bobby Bruns | 1 | 1¤ |
| 20 | Guy Brunetti | 1 | 1¤ |
| 20 | Joe Tangara | 1 | 1¤ |
| 20 | Lord Athol Layton | 1 | 1¤ |
| 20 | Lord James Blears | 1 | 1¤ |
| 20 | Mike Sharpe | 1 | 1¤ |
| 20 | Roy McClarity | 1 | 1¤ |