As individual (3 reigns):
124-552: The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wrestlers. Established on October 30, 2019, the inaugural champions were SoCal Uncensored ( Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky ). The current champions are Private Party ( Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen ), who are in their first reign, both as
248-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
372-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
496-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
620-546: A three-way tag team match for AEW's event Fyter Fest on June 29 was scheduled, featuring Best Friends ( Trent? and Chuck Taylor ), SoCal Uncensored ( Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky ), and Private Party ( Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy ) with the winning team advancing to All Out for an opportunity at a first round bye in the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament. Later, AEW's President and Chief executive officer Tony Khan announced that
744-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
868-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
992-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1116-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1240-428: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . FTR (professional wrestling) FTR (often stylized as #FTR ; standing for Fuck The Rest )
1364-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
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#17328513928841488-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1612-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
1736-648: A losing effort to United Empire's , Aussie Open and T. J. Perkins . After the match, Aussie Open challenged FTR to a match for the IWGP Tag Team Championships. FTR made their first IWGP Tag Team Championship defense on night one of Royal Quest II , defeating Aussie Open in the main event. On January 4 2023 at Wrestle Kingdom 17 , FTR lost the IWGP Tag Team Championships to Bishamon ( Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI ), ending their reign at 192 days. FTR have been praised for their old-school style and knowledge of tag team wrestling. According to Harwood,
1860-882: A losing streak for the duo as three days later at Final Battle , FTR lost the ROH World Tag Team Championships to The Briscoes in a Dog Collar match , ending their reign at 253 days. After the match, FTR were attacked by rivals The Gunns , but were fended off by The Briscoes. On the December 22 edition of Dynamite , FTR lost to The Gunns. Two weeks later, they lost the AAA World Tag Team Championship to Dralistico and Dragon Lee at AAA Noche de Campeones , thus ending another title reign at 441 days. FTR made their return since losing all of their titles, at Revolution , confronting The Gunns, who had just retained their AEW World Tag Team Championships. On
1984-754: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2108-515: A match which saw manager Tully Blanchard banned from ringside. On the March 10, 2021 episode of Dynamite , FTR and Blanchard attacked The Inner Circle along with MJF , Wardlow , and Shawn Spears , with their new group being named The Pinnacle . On the October 16 special episode of Dynamite , FTR - disguised as luchadors called Las Super Ranas (The Super Frogs) - defeated The Lucha Brothers to win
2232-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
2356-490: A name from those that worked so hard to build it up". A letter sent by Wheeler and Harwood's attorney, Michael E. Dockins, the following day, announced that Wheeler and Harwood's team name was not The Revolt but "FTR", which "would mean different things depending on their storyline and creatives", and that they could keep using the "Fear The Revolt" catchphrase regardless. While Konley and Riley claim that Wheeler and Harwood, who knew them personally, knew about their previous use of
2480-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2604-473: A non-title match following interference from Blanchard. On September 30, 2020, FTR successfully defended their tag team titles on Dynamite against SCU members Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky . On October 7, 2020, FTR retained their titles after defeating Hybrid2 . On October 14, 2020, they again successfully defended their tag team titles, this time against Best Friends. On November 7, 2020 at Full Gear , FTR lost their titles to The Young Bucks in
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#17328513928842728-551: A promo with Dawson; WWE producer Dusty Rhodes immediately became convinced that the two needed to become a team. According to a May 2020 interview of the duo, Rhodes was not only highly influential in both the creation and development of the team, but had "unwavering faith" in them even as some of the other coaches had doubts, and was their "biggest supporter and pushed for [them] harder than anybody" until his passing in 2015. Wheeler and Harwood, who were both from North Carolina , acknowledged that their southern accents contributed to
2852-477: A rematch against Gargano and Ciampa (now called DIY) at NXT TakeOver: Toronto , The Revival lost their tag team titles in a two-out-of-three falls match after scoring the first fall via pinfall, ending their second reign at 164 days. The match was later named "WWE Match of the Year" for 2016. At NXT TakeOver: Orlando , The Revival lost to The Authors of Pain ( Akam and Rezar ) in a triple threat elimination match for
2976-489: A rematch, but failed to regain the titles. At The Shield's Final Chapter , The Revival once again unsuccessfully fought Hawkins and Ryder for the tag team championship in a triple threat match also involving Aleister Black and Ricochet. After being drafted to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up , The Usos began a rivalry with Dawson and Wilder where The Usos would repeatedly embarrass The Revival on numerous occasions. On
3100-430: A team and individually. The Young Bucks are also the longest reigning champions for their first reign, which lasted 302 days, and they have the longest combined reign at 522 days. Sting and Darby Allin have the shortest reign at 25 days as they vacated the title due to Sting's retirement. Sting is also the oldest champion at 64 while Jungle Boy is the youngest at 24. Private Party ( Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen ) are
3224-491: A team and individually. They defeated The Young Bucks ( Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson ) during Fright Night Dynamite on October 30, 2024; had Private Party lost, they would have had to disband as a team. On June 18, 2019, six months after the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was founded, a tournament was announced to crown the promotion's inaugural tag team champions. That same day,
3348-561: A team, and had wrestled together on the independent circuit . In 2012, Harwood was hired by WWE based in part on a match he previously had with Wheeler, and performed there under the name Scott Dawson, mostly in tag team matches on NXT and live shows. Wheeler had hoped to join WWE, with the two also hoping to form a tag team there. In 2014, Wheeler joined the WWE Performance Center , and on his very first day of promo training, performed
3472-586: A temporary hiatus. On the July 10 episode of Raw , The Revival attacked The Hardy Boyz ( Matt and Jeff Hardy ) after their match against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson , and became embroiled in a three-way feud; however, shortly afterwards, Dawson suffered a ruptured bicep, putting him out of action for an estimated five months. The Revival returned again on the December 18 episode of Raw , defeating Heath Slater and Rhyno . At Raw 25 , The Revival lost to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, marking their first defeat on
3596-593: A two out of three falls match. They made another successful defense in October at Battle of the Belts IV , defeating Gates of Agony . They made another successful defense defeating Top Flight ( Darius and Dante Martin ) on the November 23rd edition of ‘’Rampage’’. On the December 7th edition of ‘’Dynamite’’, FTR faced The Acclaimed for the AEW World Tag Team Championships, but lost. This loss resulted in
3720-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
3844-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
AEW World Tag Team Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3968-552: Is a professional wrestling tag team of Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood , who are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and are former two-time AEW World Tag Team Champions . Before coming to AEW, they were known for their tenure in WWE as The Revival , under the ring names Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson, respectively. The team was created by Dusty Rhodes in 2014, then as The Mechanics , and later simply Dash and Dawson when they made their television debut on WWE NXT . The team adopted
4092-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
4216-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
4340-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
4464-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
4588-585: The AAA World Tag Team Championship - holding all three titles simultaneously for the bulk of the year. All totaled between WWE, AEW, ROH, AAA, and NJPW, FTR are eight-time world tag team champions, making them the only team to have held championships in all five promotions. They are also the only people to have jointly won the WWE 24/7 Championship and are hailed as one of the greatest professional wrestling tag teams of all time. Upon arriving in AEW,
4712-440: The AAA World Tag Team Championship for the first time. After The Pinnacle dissolved FTR turned face, after siding with MJF's rival CM Punk . FTR made a surprise appearance at ROH Final Battle , attacking the newly-crowned ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers and setting up a match between the two teams, which took place at Supercard of Honor XV . FTR won the match and became ROH World Tag Team Champions for
4836-517: The Condrey / Eaton version of The Midnight Express . After the two left WWE, Dawson and Wilder changed their names to Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, now using their real last names while paying tribute to Demolition 's Ax and Smash . The duo's finishing move, called the "Shatter Machine" in WWE, was inspired by the "Codebreaker" used by Chris Jericho , whom the two saw as a major inspiration; although WWE staff had told them they did not need it,
4960-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
5084-457: The Revolution event in March. In April 2024, FTR would participate in a tournament to determine the next AEW World Tag Team Champions. They defeated The Infantry in the first round, Top Flight in the semi-finals, but lost to The Young Bucks in a ladder match in the finals at Dynasty on April 21, due to interference from a returning Jack Perry . FTR would go to feud with The Young Bucks from
AEW World Tag Team Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
5208-654: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship , making them the first team to hold the Raw, SmackDown, and NXT Tag Team Championships, and thus the first-ever WWE Tag Team Triple Crown Champions . As part of the draft , The Revival was drafted to the SmackDown brand. As Randy Orton had become drafted to the Raw brand, this signified the end of The Revival's alliance with Orton. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown , The Revival lost
5332-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
5456-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
5580-462: The "Mind Breaker" as their double-team finishing move in AEW, modeled after the Brain Busters's own finisher. In November 2020, Harwood and Wheeler revealed in an interview with Talk Sport journalist Alex McCarthy that FTR wanted to join AEW, despite being offered a huge amount of money to stay in the WWE, because they kept getting pulled from main roster events in the WWE. Harwood stated "We knew it
5704-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
5828-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
5952-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
6076-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
6200-459: The August 12 episode of Dynamite , FTR hosted Tag Team Appreciation Night where they invited Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard and The Rock 'n' Roll Express to the show. However, after a scuffle between Tully Blanchard and Ricky Morton, FTR attacked Rock 'n' Roll Express thus turning heel in the process. The following week, FTR recruited Blanchard as their manager as they defeated Private Party . On
6324-437: The August 27 episode of Dynamite , FTR defeated The Natural Nightmares , Best Friends and The Young Bucks in a Gauntlet match to earn an AEW World Tag Team Championship match at All Out . At All Out, they defeated Omega and Page to capture the titles, making them the first team to have held tag team titles in both AEW and WWE. On September 16, 2020, FTR defeated Jurassic Express members Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy in
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#17328513928846448-659: The Fallen, The Dark Order ( Evil Uno and Stu Grayson ) defeated Jurassic Express ( Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus ) and Angélico and Jack Evans to advance to All Out. At the event on August 31, The Dark Order defeated Best Friends to receive the first round bye in the tournament. The first official match of the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament was announced on August 9, 2019, with The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson ) facing Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) on October 9 during
6572-727: The February 11 episode of Raw , The Revival finally defeated Roode and Gable for the titles, marking their first tag team championship win on the main roster. The following two weeks on Raw , The Revival were booked to lose to two different teams from NXT. This string of losses included against DIY and the team of Ricochet and Aleister Black . The team successfully defended their titles against Black and Ricochet and Roode and Gable at Fastlane , when Dawson pinned Gable. At WrestleMania 35 , The Revival lost their titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder , ending their reign at 55 days. The following night on Raw , The Revival fought Hawkins and Ryder in
6696-517: The May 20 episode of Raw , The Revival defeated The Usos. At Super ShowDown, The Revival lost the rematch. On the following episode of Raw , The Revival defeated Hawkins and Ryder, and The Usos in a triple threat tag team match to win the Raw Tag Team Championships for a second time. The Revival defeated The Usos at Extreme Rules to retain the tag titles. On July 29 episode of Raw, they lost
6820-565: The May 27, 2020, episode of Dynamite , winning the AEW World Tag Team Championship the following September at AEW's All Out . In 2022, due to AEW co-owner Tony Khan 's purchase of Ring of Honor (ROH), and AEW's partnerships with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Mexico 's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), FTR would win the ROH World Tag Team Championship , NJPW's IWGP Tag Team Championship , and
6944-647: The Miz in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Heavy Machinery ( Otis and Tucker ) and Lucha House Party, in a match where the winner would earn a Smackdown Tag Team Championship match at Super ShowDown ; this was The Revival's final televised match in WWE. On the February 7, 2020 episode of SmackDown , they attacked Intercontinental Champion Braun Strowman alongside Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura , in their final appearances in WWE. On April 10, The Revival were granted their releases from WWE, fifteen months after their request in January 2019. In an interview
7068-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
7192-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
7316-572: The NXT Tag Team Championship that also featured DIY, in what would be their last match in NXT. On the April 3 episode of Raw , The Revival made their main roster debut, defeating The New Day . The following week on Raw , they defeated The New Day once again. On April 14, Wilder subsequently suffered a fractured jaw during a live event, and was estimated to be out for eight weeks, putting the team on
7440-510: The NXT Tag Team Championship to American Alpha ( Chad Gable and Jason Jordan ), ending their reign at 142 days. On June 8 at NXT TakeOver: The End , The Revival regained the titles from American Alpha, thus becoming the first team to win the NXT Tag Team Championship twice. On the July 6 episode of NXT , The Revival defeated American Alpha in a two-out-of-three falls match to retain the titles. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II , they retained their titles over Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa . In
7564-474: The Revolt name, Dockins stated that his clients "were not aware of and, at worst, have no recollection of ever knowing of [Konley and Riley]'s claimed rights in a REVOLT-inclusive trademark." On the May 27, 2020 episode of Dynamite , Harwood and Wheeler made their All Elite Wrestling debut as FTR, saving The Young Bucks from an attack by The Butcher and The Blade thus establishing themselves as babyfaces in
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#17328513928847688-528: The SmackDown Tag Team titles back to The New Day's Big E and Kingston, ending their reign at 54 days. They received a rematch for the titles at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , but was again defeated by The New Day. Later that same night, The Revival also aligned themselves with King Corbin , assisting him in defeating Roman Reigns , but that alliance ended quietly. On the January 31, 2020 episode of SmackDown , The Revival lost to John Morrison and
7812-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
7936-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
8060-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
8184-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
8308-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
8432-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
8556-508: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
8680-487: The current champions in their first reign, both as a team and individually. They defeated The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson) during Fright Night Dynamite on October 30, 2024; had Private Party lost, they would have had to disband as a team. Professional wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
8804-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
8928-739: The duo took the name of FTR, alternately using the letters to mean "Forever The Revival" as WWE had ownership rights to the name "The Revival". The initialism is also a reference to "Fuck the Revival", an inside joke and catch-phrase coined by Cody Rhodes on the YouTube series Being the Elite . It was later revealed that it stood for Fuck The Rest, as noted in their shirts and their theme music video. That year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked them number one on their inaugural PWI Tag Team 50 list. Wheeler and Harwood were longtime friends before being made into
9052-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
9176-511: The entire tag team division" by himself before winning the Raw Tag Team Championship with 10-year old non-wrestler Nicholas Cone, a son of WWE referee John Cone , at WrestleMania 34 . According to the duo, WWE management originally thought that The Revival was bluffing in order to receive a push , and that the push they received shortly after (they won the Raw Tag Team Championship the following month, with three more title wins later
9300-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
9424-509: The final team eliminated in the match. Following this they began a feud against Lucha House Party ( Kalisto , Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado ) and suffered various losses in handicap matches labeled "Lucha House Rules". On the December 17 episode of Raw , The Revival defeated Lucha House Party, The B-Team and Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) in a fatal-4-way match, earning a shot at the Raw Tag Team Championship . Throughout
9548-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
9672-621: The first time, and with their AAA Tag Team Titles, became double champions. On June 26, 2022, FTR added the IWGP Tag Team Championship from New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) when they won a Three-way Winner Takes All tag team match against IWGP Champions United Empire ( Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb ) and Roppongi Vice ( Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta ) at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door , making them triple champions (AAA, ROH, IWGP). At Death Before Dishonor , FTR defended their ROH Tag Team Championships against The Briscoes, in
9796-422: The following March 8 edition of Dynamite , Harwood and Wheeler stated their intentions of capturing the AEW World Tag Team Championships. FTR confronted The Gunns on the March 22 edition of Dynamite , seeking a title shot, but were continuously refused. The title match was finally granted upon Harwood's proposition that if he and Wheeler were to lose to The Gunns, they would quit AEW. The title match took place on
9920-455: The following month, the duo explained that they had asked for their releases because "the tag team division doesn't get respect, it doesn't get the time that we think a lot of these teams deserve and we want to take chances on ourselves", and that they felt that otherwise they would have "no legacy aside from our NXT stuff". They also stated: "The tag team titles, they don't really mean anything", pointing out that Braun Strowman had "steam-rolled
10044-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
10168-439: The globe is a black banner that says "WORLD" in gold and below the globe is another black banner that says "CHAMPION" in gold. On either side of the center plate are two side plates each that each prominently display AEW's logo. The inner side plates additionally have a wrestler performing a piledriver while the outer side plates show a wrestler performing a standing choke hold. After FTR ( Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler ) first won
10292-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
10416-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
10540-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
10664-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
10788-460: The lack of faith some coaches had for them at the Performance Center (with WWE chairman Vince McMahon 's dislike for southern accents being well-known backstage). They were notably told that they would not get to do many promos, although Rhodes, a fellow resident of North Carolina, insisted that they should. In 2014, after returning from injury, Dawson teamed up with a debuting Wilder, with
10912-498: The main event of the April 5 edition of Dynamite , where FTR defeated The Gunns, capturing the AEW World Tag Team Championships for the second time. FTR lost the titles to Big Bill and Ricky Starks on the October 7 episode of Collision , ending their second reign at 185 days. Going into 2024, FTR would feud with Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli of the Blackpool Combat Club, with Moxley and Castagnoli defeating FTR at
11036-526: The main roster. On January 28, 2018 at the Royal Rumble pre-show, The Revival defeated Gallows and Anderson. On SummerSlam pre-show, The Revival lost to The B-Team ( Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel ) in an attempt to become the Raw Tag Team Champions . At Survivor Series , they were part of Team Raw, but lost to Team SmackDown in the 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match. The Revival were
11160-643: The match to become the NXT Tag Team Champions for the first time. They made their first successful title defense two weeks later, defeating The Vaudevillians in a rematch. Afterwards, they successfully defended their titles against Amore and Cassady at NXT TakeOver: London . Beginning in February 2016, Dash and Dawson began performing under the team name The Revival. The Revival made their first appearance on WWE's main roster at Roadblock , successfully defending their championships against Amore and Cassady. On April 1 at NXT TakeOver: Dallas , The Revival lost
11284-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
11408-437: The more high flying style of some contemporary teams. They are the first team to have won WWE's Raw Tag Team Championship ( held twice ), SmackDown Tag Team Championship ( once ), and NXT Tag Team Championship ( twice ), and are recognized by WWE as being the company's first-ever WWE Tag Team Triple Crown winners . After being released by WWE in April 2020, and signing with AEW the next month, they made their AEW debut on
11532-495: The name The Revival in 2016, referencing reviving the classic tag-team wrestling style of the 1980s, which has led to the two being compared favorably to the Brain Busters ( Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard ) and The Midnight Express , particularly the Condrey / Eaton version, two of the top teams of all time. The team uses the phrase "No flips, just fists" to convey their more traditional, mat based in-ring style in contrast to
11656-438: The next two weeks, The Revival faced Bobby Roode and Chad Gable for the titles, but Dawson and Wilder were unsuccessful in winning the titles in controversial fashion each time. Shortly after, Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer reported that the duo asked for their release from their WWE contracts. This information was reported following their bout against Lucha House Party on the January 14, 2019 episode of Raw . On
11780-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
11904-672: The process. They made their in-ring debut on the June 10 episode of Dynamite , where they defeated The Butcher and The Blade. During the following weeks, FTR had interactions with The Young Bucks and the AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page , including a match at Fyter Fest where FTR and The Young Bucks were defeated by The Lucha Bros and The Butcher and The Blade in an eight-man tag team match . In July 2020, after appearing on AEW television for two months without signing contracts, Harwood and Wheeler signed multi-year contracts with AEW. On
12028-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
12152-565: The rest of the summer facing them in May at Double or Nothing in an Anarchy in the Arena match , and in August at All In in a three-way tag team match for the tag titles, also involving The Acclaimed , both ended in defeat for FTR. After winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door , FTR made their first appearance for New Japan Pro-Wrestling , at Music City Mayhem, where they teamed with Alex Zayne , in
12276-536: The same year) was a result of it, even after they repeatedly insisted that they did not want to win titles because they believed WWE's tag team championships were meaningless. During the two's last months in the company, Vince McMahon personally designed an entirely new gimmick for The Revival. However, the duo found the proposed characters "less than flattering", with Wilder stating that he laughed out loud when McMahon gave them pictures displaying their offered new looks. The designs, which have since leaked online, had
12400-611: The second episode of Dynamite in Boston, Massachusetts . It was later announced that the semifinals for the tournament would take place on the October 23 episode in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , with the finals on the October 30 episode in Charleston, West Virginia . On October 30, SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) defeated the Lucha Brothers ( Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix ) in
12524-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
12648-531: The tag team approach to wrestling is having boundaries and rules and work with them, usually breaking them. Pro wrestling booker and manager Jim Cornette , known for his old-school approach, has praised the team on several occasions. The team uses the phrase "No flips, just fists" to convey their more traditional, mat based in-ring style in contrast to the more high flying style of some contemporary teams. The duo said that they were modeled after The Brain Busters and
12772-475: The team name was changed to "Dash and Dawson". On the October 28 episode of NXT , Dash and Dawson attacked Amore and Cassady before their match, completely laying out Amore while decimating Cass' knee, leaving him unable to compete. Due to an earlier non-title victory over the NXT Tag Team Champions , The Vaudevillains , Dash and Dawson earned a title match on the November 11 episode of NXT , and won
12896-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
13020-417: The title in September 2020, the belts received a minor update with a relief AEW logo on the center plate. As of November 24, 2024, there have been 15 reigns between 12 teams composed of 24 individual champions and one vacancy. The inaugural champions were SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky). The Young Bucks (Matt/Matthew Jackson and Nick/Nicholas Jackson) have the most reigns at three, both as
13144-478: The titles to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a triple threat match that also involved the Usos, ending their second reign at 49 days. On the August 12, 2019 post-Summerslam episode of "Raw", during a scheduled tag team match where The Revival were facing Lucha House Party ( Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik , with Kalisto ), the 24/7 champion R-Truth ran out from backstage, being chased by several wrestlers. The match
13268-423: The tournament final to become the inaugural champions. The AEW World Tag Team Championship belts were designed by Ron Edwardsen of Red Leather Belts. They have five gold plates on a black leather strap. The center plate has a blue globe at its center. At the center of the globe is AEW's logo, below the logo is a black banner that says "TAG TEAM" in gold, and below that is a nameplate for the reigning champions. Above
13392-503: The tournament would occur on episodes of their TNT show, later revealed as Dynamite . During the Buy In pre-show of Fyter Fest, Best Friends defeated Private Party and SoCal Uncensored to earn their spot at All Out. On July 11, AEW's Executive Vice President and wrestler Matt Jackson announced a second three-way tag team match to take place at Fight for the Fallen on July 13 with the winners facing Best Friends at All Out. At Fight for
13516-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
13640-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
13764-447: The two asked for Jericho's approval to use the move, which he gave them. The duo confirmed after leaving WWE that they would change the move's name. As FTR, the duo renamed the move to the "Goodnight Express", an homage to The Midnight Express. They later renamed the move again to "Big Rig" after the late Brodie Lee before returning to the “Shatter Machine” name in 2023 at Revolution . FTR also uses an assisted spike piledriver called
13888-531: The two performing extensively at live events under the ring name The Mechanics. The duo resurfaced and picked up their first televised win on the July 29, 2015 episode of NXT , defeating Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. At NXT TakeOver: Respect , The Mechanics were defeated in the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic by eventual winners Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe . In the following weeks,
14012-477: The two wearing lipstick, bright colors and tassels and carrying glow sticks, with Wilder also wearing suspenders and a large "Shatter Machine" sign on a chain necklace. The duo stated that they had immediately told McMahon that these new characters were "bad", and that while they would portray them if WWE wanted, they would still leave the company once their contracts expired in June 2020. In the same May 2020 interview, Wheeler and Harwood stated their belief that this
14136-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
14260-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
14384-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
14508-558: Was called off and The Revival performed a " Hart Attack " on Truth and simultaneously pinned him to become the first co-champions of the 24/7 Championship . However, in the same night, R-Truth pinned Dawson, with the help of Carmella, to regain the title. Following SummerSlam , The Revival began to appear on SmackDown Live , aligning themselves with Randy Orton in a feud against The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston , and Xavier Woods ). On September 15 at Clash of Champions , The Revival defeated The New Day's Big E and Woods to capture
14632-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
14756-464: Was now using the first name he originally wanted in WWE). On May 10, 2020, the duo received a cease and desist letter over the usage of the name "The Revolt" by the attorney of Caleb Konley and Zane Riley, a duo who had been using the name on the independent circuit since 2015; the letter stated that "[Wheeler and Harwood's] conduct is not only unlawful, it is truly shameless that they would willfully steal
14880-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
15004-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
15128-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
15252-629: Was the moment McMahon and WWE executives realized that the two actually intended to leave the company; this resulted in The Revival being permanently taken off-television until their release. Following their departure from WWE, the team released a video on their social media pages using the new catchphrase "Fear The Revolt" (FTR); this resulted in their new ring name being largely reported to be The Revolt. Furthermore, Wilder changed his ring name to Cash Wheeler while Dawson changed his to Dax Harwood (with both now using their real-life last names, while Wheeler
15376-420: Was time for us to move on because money is great, and I am so fortunate and lucky to take care of my beautiful wife and perfect little six year old daughter because of professional wrestling, but that's what it's because of – professional wrestling." Wheeler stated "Once we got pulled from all of our dates on the main roster, it was down to NXT as the option and we talked to Hunter at length, there were offers on
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