The confusing lineage of the RAW Tag Team titles

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You know what can be confusing for fans who just started watching the WWE?

The lineage of the RAW Tag Team Championship.



They were created in 2002 as the WWE Tag Team Championship and were exclusive to the Smackdown roster...



...in order to compete against the RAW exclusive World Tag Team Championship (previously known as the WWF Tag Team Championship, and the WWE Tag Team Championship after the company renamed in May of 2002)



Who were the champions at the time?

Well, The Un-Americans - Christian and Lance Storm* held the "tag team titles" (World Tag Team Championship) on RAW.



What about the newly minted WWE Tag Team titles? Who were the inaugural champions?


None other than "2017 WWE Hall of Fame inductee and the only olympic gold medalist in the history of the WWE" - Kurt Angle and "The Rabid Wolverine" Chris Benoit!



In November of 2008, the team of "John Morrison and The Miz" became the first ECW superstars to win the Smackdown exclusive WWE Tag Team Championship.



Their reign as champions would come to an end in July of 2008 as the belts would "return" to Smackdown with Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.



In September of 2008, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins would lose the belts to Carlito and Primo Colon.



The WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo would go on to face the World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz at the pre-show of Wrestlemania 25 in a title unification match.



The Colons would create history and become the first ever Unified Tag Team Champions.



Future winners of the Unified Tag Team titles would be recognized as both the WWE Tag Team Champions and the World Tag Team Champions.

The last team to be recognized as the Unified Tag Team Champions was The Hart Dynasty.



In August of 2010, Bret Hart presented a brand new set of belts to The Hart Dynasty.



Subsequently, the World Tag Team Championship was retired and The Hart Dynasty were simply recognized as the WWE Tag Team Champions.



After the 2016 draft, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day were recognized as the RAW Tag Team Champions with the creation of the new Smackdown Tag Team Championship.