NXT Tag Team Championships

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The NXT Tag Team Championships were introduced on the first episode of NXT, with Enzo and Big Cass defeating the Vaudevillains to capture the gold.

## History

The NXT Tag Team Titles, like the other NXT championships, are belts exclusive to the NXT brand. They were first held by Enzo and Big Cass, who held the belts for over two months before losing them to American Alpha. Gable and Jordan would eventually lose the belts to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, who were going by the name of the Balor Club at the time. When Finn Balor was traded to Raw, they switched to using their names, Gallows and Anderson. The new champions dominated on NXT, making succesful title defenses against The New Day and The Dirty Heels, and defeating and vanquishing all of the tag teams on NXT. The title was officially retired at the start of Season 2.

With NXT's return at the start of Season 3, the NXT Tag Team Championships returned to Universe Mode. The Authors of Pain would make their debut shortly after NXT's return, and went on a path of destruction, quickly dispatching of the Hype Bros and Blake and Murphy. Their next opponents would be The Ascension, with Regal announcing that the teams would face off for the championships in Chicago. At Takeover: Chicago, Akam and Rezar would become the new tag team champions in dominant fashion. They defeated The Ascension again on a championship edition of NXT, once again winning easily. William Regal's proteges, British Strong Style of Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate, would be their next challengers. At Takeover: Brooklyn, the Authors of Pain retained again after Regal was ejected from ringside.

The Undisputed Era of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly would become the first team to defeat the Authors of Pain, winning the belts at Takeover: Toronto with some assistance from Adam Cole. They would defend their belts succesfully at Takeover: San Antonio against TM-61. Soon after, Fish, O'Reilly and Cole would engage in a feud with SAnitY that saw the champions retain on an episode of NXT. But when Fish and O'Reilly defended against The Ascension at Takeover: Chicago , SAnitY made their presence known, costing The Undisputed Era their titles.

Champions for the first time, Konnor and Viktor were dominant, looking to prove they didn't need help to capture the belts. They dismantled the Street Profits at Takeover: Brooklyn , but were then confronted by a new force in the tag division: The War Raiders. The two teams of hosses tore NXT apart with their wild brawls, and at Takeover: Tokyo , Hanson and Rowe became the new champions after a nasty piledriver to Konnor. After going so far just to come up short, The Ascension weren't giving up that easy, and needed one more match. After weeks of tenacious, pull-apart brawls, NXT GM Triple H gave both teams a chance to duke it out in an Extreme Rules match. At Takeover: Philadelphia, Hanson and Rowe would defend their titles for the first time, as Konnor fell to the Death Rowe. The War Raiders continued to dominant NXT, while a new team was being formed. After being banished by Triple H following the defeat in Brooklyn, Tyler Bate was back, and now teaming with his mentor, Trent Seven. The two honorable Brits worked their way up the card into a title match, and faced the seemingly impossible task of defeating Hanson and Rowe. Thanks to an absolutely heroic performance from Seven, at Takeover: New Orleans the War Raiders were toppled and new champions were crowned.

The duo known as Moustache Mountain were soon to be challenged by a fellow British tag team, the Grizzled Young Veterans, James Drake and Zach Gibson. In an absolute belter, Bate and Seven just survived the war at Takeover: Blackpool, one of the best tag team matches In Universe Mode history. Drake and Gibson got very close to earning a rematch, but fell in a number one contender's match to Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight of Heavy Machinery. This provided a very unique clash of styles, with the quirky, fun-loving Heavy Machinery facing off against the straight-laced wrestling purists of Moustache Mounatin. Bate and Seven got a bigger test than they had accounted for at Takeover: Seattle, but still emerged victorious all the same. An incredible title run for Moustache Mountain continued as 2019 came to a close, with their next challengers being Nick Miller and Shane Thorne of TM-61. With an opportunity to become champions in their home country, Miller and Thorne were more motivated than ever, declaring that this would be the end for them if they couldn't get it done in front of their family and friends. It was another great match at Takeover: Sydney, but unfortunately for the hometown boys, Bate and Seven would walk out champions. After that match, Thorne turned on his partner in a disgusting display, before declaring that he was here to stay in NXT.