The SmackDown Tag Team Championship has been the reason for some of the most exciting tag team action that has come our way. The twin titles were introduced in 2016 following the re-introduction of the brand split. The then-WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day, had been drafted to Monday Night RAW, leaving the blue brand without a tag team championship. As a result, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan introduced the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, along with announcing a tournament to crown the inaugural champions. The championships had a design similar to the existing Tag Team Championships, with the bronze plates being replaced by silver plates and the black strap being replaced by a blue strap to represent the brand to which the titles were exclusive to.
History of SmackDown Tag Team Championships
During WWE's original brand split from 2002 to 2011, wrestlers were assigned to either the SmackDown or Raw brand. The men's world tag team championship for SmackDown was known as the WWE Tag Team Championship, created in 2002 to complement Raw's World Tag Team Championship.The first champions were Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, who defeated Edge and Rey Mysterio in the finals of an eight-team tournament to win the championship. In 2009, both titles were combined into the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, but both remained active until August 2010 when the World Tag Team Championship was discontinued, leaving the WWE Tag Team Championship as the only tag team championship available to both brands. The original brand split ended in August 2011.
In July 2016, WWE brought back the brand split and during the draft, the then-WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day were moved to Raw, leaving SmackDown without a tag team title. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan wanted to strengthen the tag team division before introducing a new championship. After SummerSlam 2016, Bryan and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon introduced the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, with the WWE Tag Team Championship later being renamed as the Raw Tag Team Championship and undergoing a design change to be identical to the SmackDown titles, with the only differentiating factor being the red strap that symbolized the championship’s exclusivity to RAW.
The inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions: Heath Slater and Rhyno
A tournament was held to determine the first champions, which began on the August 23, 2016, episode of SmackDown Live. The tournament included eight teams, four from SmackDown and four from RAW, with the final match taking place on September 11, 2016 at the Backlash pay-per-view. The final match of the tournament was between The Usos and Heath Slater & Rhyno. Heath Slater was a free agent at the time of the brand split and had been trying to earn a contract from both RAW and SmackDown. After multiple failed attempts to earn a contract, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan offered Slater the chance to earn a contract by participating and winning the tournament for the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Teaming with Rhyno, Slater was able to win the tournament, become the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champion and earn his SmackDown contract and the two teamed up for the tournament.
New Day v/s The Usos: the rivalry that made the SmackDown Tag Team Championships prestigious
One of the most significant rivalries in the history of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was the intense feud between The New Day and The Usos in 2017 and 2018. These two teams produced some of the most memorable matches in the history of the championship, including a Hell in a Cell match that took place in October 2017.
The rivalry between The New Day and The Usos began in the summer of 2017, with both teams trading victories in high-profile matches. The New Day, consisting of Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods, initially won the championship by defeating The Usos at WWE Battleground in July 2017. The Usos, consisting of Jimmy and Jey Uso, won the championship back at SummerSlam in August 2017. The rivalry between the two teams reached its peak in October 2017 when they faced off in a brutal Hell in a Cell match. The match featured high-flying moves, brutal chair shots, and a jaw-dropping dive off the top of the cell by Xavier Woods. The New Day emerged victorious, retaining the championship, in what was one of the most intense and dramatic matches in the history of the championship.
The New Day and The Usos continued to trade victories throughout 2018, with both teams putting on outstanding matches. The two teams faced off at WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, with The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) also involved in the match. The Bludgeon Brothers emerged victorious, winning the championship, in what was a chaotic and unforgettable match. The Usos, who were the then-SmackDown Tag Team Champions even forfeited a tag team gauntlet match out of respect in 2019 to allow Big E and Xavier Woods to win, further allowing Kofi Kingston to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.
The paths of the two teams crossed yet again in November 2022, when The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) challenged The Usos for the latter’s Undisputed Tag Team Championship in an attempt to ensure that the record of longest reigning male tag team champions on WWE's main roster set by The New Day at 483 days remains intact.
Unification into the Undisputed Tag Team Championship
As part of The Bloodline faction, The Usos had been feuding with RK-Bro, a team consisting of Randy Orton and Matt Riddle, for quite some time. Their rivalry gained steam after WrestleMania 38, with faction leader Roman Reigns becoming the Undisputed Universal Champion and instructing his cousins to bring more championships to the faction by unifying their titles with the RAW Tag Team Championships. The RAW titles were held by RK-Bro, leading to a Championship Unification match being made official for the WrestleMania Backlash Premium Live Event. However, the match was later changed to a 6-Man Tag Team match, also involving Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.The originally scheduled unification match took place on the May 20, 2022 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, which saw an assistance from Roman Reigns allowing The Usos to win the RAW Tag Team Championship. This also made The Usos the only team (as of this writing) to hold the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Championships simultaneously.
While the match was called a Unification match, with The Usos thereafter being known as the Undisputed Tag Team Champions, WWE still showcases the two titles as separate entities, with them even being defended individually since the start of 2023.
List of SmackDown Tag Team Championship Reigns
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | |||
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | |||
| 1 | Heath Slater and Rhyno | September 11, 2016 | Backlash | Richmond, VA | 1 | 84 | As a result of the 2016 WWE draft, the WWE Tag Team Championship became exclusive to RAW. In response, SmackDown established the SmackDown Tag Team Championship; Raw's title was subsequently renamed. Slater and Rhyno defeated The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) in the finals of an eight-team tournament to become the inaugural champions. |
| 2 | The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton) | December 4, 2016 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs | Dallas, TX | 1 | 23 | Wyatt and Orton won the match, but Harper was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. |
| 3 | American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) | December 27, 2016 | SmackDown | Rosemont, IL | 1 | 84 | This was a fatal four-way tag team elimination match, also involving Heath Slater & Rhyno and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso). Luke Harper and Randy Orton represented The Wyatt Family and were last to be pinned. |
| 4 | The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) | March 21, 2017 | SmackDown | Uncasville, CT | 1 | 124 | |
| 5 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | July 23, 2017 | Battleground | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 28 | Kingston and Woods won the match, but Big E was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. |
| 6 | The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) | August 20, 2017 | SummerSlam Kickoff | Brooklyn, NY | 2 | 23 | Big E and Xavier Woods represented The New Day. |
| 7 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | September 12, 2017 | SmackDown | Las Vegas, NV | 2 | 26 | This was a Sin City Street Fight. Big E and Kingston won the match, but Woods was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. |
| 8 | The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) | October 8, 2017 | Hell in a Cell | Detroit, MI | 3 | 182 | This was a Hell in a Cell match. Big E and Xavier Woods represented The New Day. |
| 9 | The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper (2) and Rowan) | April 8, 2018 | WrestleMania 34 | New Orleans, LA | 1 | 135 | This was a triple threat tag team match, also involving The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston. Harper was previously known as Luke Harper. |
| 10 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | August 21, 2018 | SmackDown | Brooklyn, NY | 3 | 56 | This was a No Disqualification match. Kingston and Woods won the match, but Big E was also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule. |
| 11 | The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) | October 16, 2018 | SmackDown 1000 | Washington, D.C. | 1 | 103 | Big E and Xavier Woods represented The New Day. |
| 12 | The Miz and Shane McMahon | January 27, 2019 | Royal Rumble | Phoenix, AZ | 1 | 21 | |
| 13 | The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) | February 17, 2019 | Elimination Chamber | Houston, TX | 4 | 51 | |
| 14 | The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) | April 9, 2019 | SmackDown | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 21 | |
| — | Vacated | April 30, 2019 | SmackDown | Columbus, OH | — | — | The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) vacated the title due to Jeff suffering a knee injury that required surgery. |
| 15 | Daniel Bryan and Rowan (2) | May 7, 2019 | SmackDown | Louisville, KY | 1 | 68 | Defeated The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) to win the vacant title. |
| 16 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | July 14, 2019 | Extreme Rules | Philadelphia, PA | 4 | 63 | This was a triple threat tag team match, also involving Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker). Big E and Woods won the match. At the time, Kingston was the reigning WWE Champion and he was not recognized as tag team champion with Big E and Woods, but after The New Day won their sixth title on April 17, 2020, Kingston was retroactively credited for this reign under the Freebird Rule. |
| 17 | The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) | September 15, 2019 | Clash of Champions | Charlotte, NC | 1 | 54 | Big E and Xavier Woods represented The New Day. |
| 18 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | November 8, 2019 | SmackDown | Manchester, England | 5 | 111 | Big E and Kingston won the match. At the time, Woods was inactive due to injury and he was not recognized as champion with Big E and Kingston, but after The New Day won their sixth title on April 17, 2020, Woods was retroactively credited for this reign under the Freebird Rule. |
| 19 | The Miz (2) and John Morrison | February 27, 2020 | Super ShowDown | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 1 | 50 | Big E and Kofi Kingston represented The New Day. |
| 20 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | April 17, 2020 | SmackDown | Orlando, FL | 6 | 93 | This was a triple threat match between Big E representing The New Day, Jey Uso representing The Usos, and The Miz representing himself and John Morrison. Big E pinned The Miz to win the titles. During this reign, Woods was inactive due to injury, but was credited for this reign under the Freebird Rule. |
| 21 | Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro (2) | July 19, 2020 | The Horror Show at Extreme Rules | Orlando, FL | 1 | 82 | This was a tables match. Big E and Kofi Kingston represented The New Day. |
| 22 | The New Day (Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) | October 9, 2020 | SmackDown | Orlando, FL | 7 | 3 | Kingston and Woods won the titles as part of The New Day with Big E; however, the two were drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2020 WWE Draft immediately after their win, splitting them from Big E and marking their first reign without him. |
| 23 | The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | October 12, 2020 | Raw | Orlando, FL | 1 | 88 | As a result of the 2020 WWE Draft, The New Day were drafted to Raw while then-Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits were drafted to SmackDown. To keep the branded championships on their respective brands, WWE official Adam Pearce had the two teams exchange championships. |
| 24 | Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode | January 8, 2021 | SmackDown | St. Petersburg, FL | 1 | 128 | |
| 25 | Rey and Dominik Mysterio | May 16, 2021 | WrestleMania Backlash | Tampa, FL | 1 | 63 | |
| 26 | The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) | July 18, 2021 | Money in the Bank Kickoff | Fort Worth, TX | 5 | 621+ | On the May 20, 2022, episode of SmackDown, The Usos defeated Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) in a Winner Takes All match. With that, they then became recognized as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. |
