UNION Tag Team Championships (RLS Championship)

The UNION Tag Team Championships (sometimes formerly styled as the UNION Wrestling Tag Team Championships) are the men's team-based championships fought for in UNION Wrestling, and are recognised in the alternative wrestling scene as being "the highest men's tag team championships- and overall team based championships- in the United Kingdom and Ireland".1 They were debuted in December 2015 and have been held by a total of six teams, with one of those using two names.
The original run of the titles was notable for them being held by non-UNION talent, as part of the deal with WWE; The Rock as part of Team Bring It and The Dudley Boyz.2
== History ==
The belts were brought in during the UK&I Tour in December 2015, and contested in a small tournament over a few shows involving British Samurai & Matsuda, The Misfits, Los Luchadores and eventual winners The United Kingdom. The UK held the belts until mid-2016, losing them to Team Bring It (consisting of The Rock and Zodiak) during the run-up to the Canadian Tour. They lost the belts during the tour to The Misfits.
The Misfits held the titles during the move to the WWE Network, and defended them against The Dudley Boyz at Hardcore Brawl 2016 and dropping them to the WWE legends at PWU Capitol Punishment 2017. The Dudley Boyz were unable to hold them for long, wishing to return to the US, so dropped the belts quickly to The Coalition on Live From The Union. The Coalition themselves have held the titles with several defences against Ambition and The United Kingdom. Ambition were once again unsuccessful in their challenge for the titles at Open Challenge 2017.
In July 2017 UNION Wrestling Director of Wrestling Eddie Hamer apparently told sources within the promotion that he wanted to phase out tag team championships due to the thin division. Ace and Bill Arson's large amount of new signings in the following days eventually negated this, and the titles were successfully defended against HDMC at Heavy Metal 2017.
The Coalition lost the now rebranded UNION Tag Team Championships to The Deck at the first LIVE! Special Episode in October 2017, in the Main Event Tag Ladder Match. The titles were still held by The Deck when Mikey Ace left the promotion, and were put on hold for the "forseeable future" due to this. They were deactivated, along with the rest of the titles, when UNION went back to their touring roots for financial reasons in late 2018/early 2019.
They were reactivated, in a vacated state, in 2022, and won by INVICTA's Zander Adder & Bane (who'd previously held the championships as The Coalition) against #AMBITION at UNION's Bring Down The House event in Sheffield in March 2022. After winning the Uneasy Alliance match at UNION Uneasy Alliance 2023, INVICTA won the right to choose their opponents for the next six months, choosing and defeating Born 4 The Brawl (Grayson Gage & Tyrone Riske) for UNION Hardcore Brawl 2023 in June.
They'd lose the Championships to The Deck at UNION Open Challenge 2024, shockingly, with Bane being pinned by The Maverick. The Deck would retain the championships at Bring Down The House '24. Brody Shires, at ringside, would interfere while the referee was distracted in their rematch at Uneasy Alliance 2024, leading to INVICTA capturing them for a record equalling second time, and a record breaking third time for Adder & Bane.
== Reigns ==
# 	Champions 	Won 	Reign in Defences
1 	The United Kingdom (Rafe Daniels & Davey Mac)	Won during tourney at UK&I Tour show in December 2015 	5*
2 	Team Bring It (The Rock & Zodiak) 	Won during interim between two tours in April 2016 	3*
3 	The Misfits (Navajo & El Jefe) 	Won during Canadian Tour in May 2016 	14*
4 	The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von) 	Won at PWU Capitol Punishment 2017 against The Misfits 	0
5 	The Coalition (Zander Adder & Bane) 	Won on Live From The Union against The Dudley Boyz 	8*
6 	The Deck (Mayhem & Ace) 	Won from The Coalition at UWLIVE! Episode 1 	4*
Vacated & Deactivated	Vacated & Deactivated 	Vacated & Deactivated 	Vacated & Deactivated
7 	INVICTA (Zander Adder & Bane) 	Won from #AMBITION at UNION Bring Down The House in March 2022	3*
8 	The Deck (The Maverick & Mayhem) 	Won from INVICTA at UNION Open Challenge in March 2024 	2*
9 	INVICTA (Zander Adder & Bane) 	Won from The Deck at UNION Uneasy Alliance 2024 in April 2024 	-
*=Defences include those on live shows during non-stream hiatuses or special events.
== Trivia ==
* Like all UNION Wrestling championships, the Tag Team title reigns are measured in number of defences, rather than a timescale such as days or weeks. This was done primarily to further set UNION apart from other promotions.3
* With Eddie Hamer apparently unhappy with the tag team division, but more teams expected to debut after October, it was in the balance whether these titles would survive the rebrand and cost cutting measures. In the end, they did and main evented the first Second Cycle show. Hamer would later bring the titles back in 2022, despite an even smaller tag team division, even going as far as to add analogous titles for the women of the roster.4
== Behind-the-Scenes/Notes ==
# The "alternative wrestling scene" being my posh little name for the universe I've created as a complete whole.
# This is true, I used a custom attired Rock and Dudleyz in those days.
# This is actually to make it easier to update the pages on here, having to do so only after defences rather than daily or weekly.
# This was my own unhappiness with the tag team division of the time, feeling like it largely offered nothing. I'm determined to make it mean more this time around.
Category:Championships