Evolve Tag Team Championship Explained

Championshipname:Evolve Tag Team Championship
Promotion:Evolve
Created:November 10, 2015
Titleretired:July 2, 2020
Mostreigns:(as a team) Catch Point/Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson and Jaka) (2 reigns)
(as an individual) Chris Dickinson, Drew Galloway, Jaka and Tracy Williams (2 reigns)
Firstchamp:Drew Galloway and Johnny Gargano
Lastchamp:The Besties in the World
(Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett)
Longestreign:Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson and Jaka) (days)
Shortestreign:The Troll Boyz (A. C. H. and Ethan Page) (days)
Oldest:Eddie Kingston (37 years)
Youngest:Leon Ruff (23 years)
Heaviest:Angelo Dawkins (282lb)
Lightest:Johnny Gargano (190lb)[1]

The Evolve Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Evolve promotion. The inaugural champions were crowned on January 24, 2016, at the end of an eight-team tournament.

Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. There have been 13 reigns shared among 12 teams and 21 wrestlers.

History

Evolve was founded in 2009 by Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) booker Gabe Sapolsky, Full Impact Pro (FIP) owner Sal Hamaoui and independent wrestler Davey Richards and held its first event on January 16, 2010.[2] [3] On November 25, 2011, Evolve and DGUSA announced the unification of the two promotions, which would result in Evolve recognizing the Open the Freedom Gate and Open the United Gate Championships as its top two titles.[4] On December 22, 2014, WWNLive, the parent company of both Evolve and DGUSA, announced it was putting DGUSA on hiatus until it could secure more Japanese wrestlers for the promotion's shows.[5] The Open the United Gate Championship continued being defended at Evolve shows until May 30, 2015, when reigning champions Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann retired the title and asked for a new Evolve tag team title to be created in its place.[6] On September 22, Evolve announced that it would start putting more emphasis on the promotion's tag team division and would create the new title, if the experiment turned out successful.[7] On November 10, 2015, Evolve sent out a press release, officially announcing the creation of the Evolve Tag Team Championship.[8]

Championship tournament

Evolve announced that the inaugural champions would be determined in a tournament taking place over Evolve 53, Evolve 54 and Evolve 55 from January 22 to 24, 2016, in Orlando, Florida.[8] The first three teams participating in the tournament were revealed in the press release announcing the creation of the title.[8] The rest of the teams were announced throughout the rest of November 2015 along with the clarification that the tournament would be contested in a single-elimination format with eight participating teams.[9] [10] The first round matches were announced on January 19, 2016.[11] Timothy Thatcher was originally announced for the tournament, but he was forced to pull out due to a staph infection and was replaced by Sami Callihan.[12]

Participating teams

Combined reigns

RankTeamNo. of
reigns
Combined
defenses
Combined
days
1
2 11 477
2
1 3 160
34 147
4
6 138
5
2 120
1 120
7
2 105
8
3 76
92 69
101 62
11
0 1

By wrestler

RankWrestlerNo. of
reigns
Combined
defenses
Combined
days
12 11 477
11 477
35 265
42 3 189
51 3 160
64 147
4 147
86 138
6 138
102 120
2
1
132 105
143 76
3 76
162 69
171 62
1
190 1
0 1

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Roster . https://web.archive.org/web/20160118134948/http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/roster/ . January 18, 2016 . January 24, 2016 . . dead .
  2. Web site: Gabe Sapolsky interview on Dragon Gate, Evolve . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131748/http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/11316/ . Mehaffy . Gary . April 2, 2015 . November 9, 2009 . January 7, 2016 . Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  3. Web site: Radican's Evolve DVD Review Series: Evolve 1 - Richards vs. Ibushi, Sawa vs. TJP . Radican . Sean . February 16, 2010 . January 7, 2016 . Pro Wrestling Torch.
  4. Web site: Evolve evolves -- now unified with DGUSA . https://web.archive.org/web/20111128003432/http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/3-news/23135-evolve-evolves-now-unified-with-dgusa . November 28, 2011 . November 25, 2011 . January 7, 2016 . Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  5. Web site: WWNLive news: Update on the future of Dragon Gate USA, several new matches for Evolve Florida tour . Caldwell . James . December 22, 2014 . January 7, 2016 . Pro Wrestling Torch.
  6. Web site: Radican's "Evolve 43" iPPV report 5/30 - Hero-Lee MOTYC, debut of Speedball, Galloway-Busick main event . Radican . Sean . June 3, 2015 . January 7, 2016 . Pro Wrestling Torch.
  7. Web site: 9.22.15 . September 22, 2015 . February 29, 2016 . WWNLive.
  8. Web site: Evolve to crown first tag champions in January 2016 . Namako . Jason . November 16, 2015 . January 7, 2016 . Wrestleview.
  9. Web site: Complete Evolve Tag Tournament field . Caldwell . James . November 30, 2015 . January 7, 2016 . Pro Wrestling Torch.
  10. Web site: More info on Evolve tag tournaments in January 2016 . Namako . Jason . November 30, 2015 . January 7, 2016 . Wrestleview.
  11. Web site: First round of Evolve tag title tournament Friday announced, last chance for iPPV sale & bonus . Johnson . Mike . January 19, 2016 . January 19, 2016 . Pro Wrestling Insider.
  12. Web site: WWN alerts for 1/20/16 (Thatcher off iPPVs this weekend) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230217165059/https://www.wrestleview.com/roh-news/57520-wwn-alerts-for-1-20-16-thatcher-off-ippvs-this-weekend/ . February 17, 2023 . WrestleView . Namako . Jason . January 21, 2016 . February 17, 2023.