This article is about the wrestling term. For the hip-hop band, see Tag Team. This article refers to the band For the wrestling term see Tag team.

Action in a triple threat tag team match for the WWE World Tag Team Championship. World Wrestling Entertainment Inc ( WWE) is a publicly traded privately controlled integrated media (focusing in Television, Internet, The World Tag Team Championship is a Professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. Shelton Benjamin (on the mat) from The World's Greatest Tag Team has been isolated in the corner of champions Cade and Murdoch, well away from partner Charlie Haas; either of these teams can tag in the third team, The Highlanders. Shelton Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE working The (Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team was a Professional wrestling Tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch were a Professional wrestling Tag team that performed for World Wrestling Entertainment on its Charles Doyle "Charlie" Haas II (born on March 27 1972 is an American professional wrestler and former Amateur wrestler currently signed to

In professional wrestling, a tag team consists of two or more wrestlers who are working together as a team. Professional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is a non-competitive professional Sport, where all matches are scripted by the promotion's booking staff Often they are close partners and backstage friends who team with each other almost exclusively, while other times they are singles competitors who are booked together for just one match.

They usually wrestle against a like number of opponents on the other team or teams, however in the occasional "handicap match" there may be an unequal number of competitors on the different teams, for example André the Giant was often pitted against two or more opponents. André René Roussimoff (May 19 1946 &ndash January 27 1993 best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and Actor

The term "tag team" has since become used in a metaphorical sense in common language for two or more people who alternate or cooperate in participation in an activity, and "tag-teaming" for the act of alternating with an ally, e. g. a couple tag-teaming in an argument with another person.

According to the rules of pro wrestling, only one competitor per team is allowed in the ring at a time, and the only way that a wrestler can change places with a partner is for the competitor in the ring to "tag" him or touch him on some part of his body (usually the hand). The referee must also see a tag for it to be legal. Given the nature of pro wrestling, the "rules" are seldom adhered to and exist as part of kayfabe, the suspension of disbelief required for pro wrestling to work as entertainment. In Professional wrestling, kayfabe (ˈkeɪfeɪb KAY-fayb) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" that is the portrayal of professional This means that often both members of teams, especially heel teams, are in the ring simultaneously with only one member of an ostensibly rule-abiding face team. In Professional wrestling, a heel is a Villain character In non-wrestling jargon heels are the "bad guys" in pro wrestling storylines. In Professional wrestling, a face or babyface is a character who is portrayed as Heroic relative to the heel wrestlers who are analogous to villains A "bookend" tag team is a (usually derogatory) term for a tag team where the members look and/or dress alike (eg, The Killer Bees, British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation et al). The Killer Bees was a tag team comprised of "Jumpin" Jim Brunzell and B Bookends are common in North America, Europe and Mexico, but not at all in Japan since promotion of wrestlers to singles championships is based (in a large part) on tag team results, as no secondary singles championships exist. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris, James Storm and valet Gail Kim), a former Tag team that wrestled for TNA. America's Most Wanted (usually shortened to AMW) was a Professional wrestling Tag team consisting of "Wildcat" Chris Harris and Chris Harris (born December 25, 1973) is an American Professional wrestler. James Allan Black (born June 1, 1975) In wrestling Finishing and signature moves * Gail Kim (born February 20 1976 is a Canadian professional wrestler of Korean descent valet, model, and actress. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA) is an American Professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett

A frequent storyline is former tag team partners turning on each other, which will invariably ignite a feud. A Professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or factions of wrestlers This can be used when one member is being called on to develop a new gimmick.

In 1901 the first tag team match was held in the United States, in San Francisco. San Francisco promoters introduced tag team wrestling as a way of improving the sport’s entertainment value. While tag team wrestling is now almost traditional in American professional wrestling, the innovation didn't become especially popular outside San Francisco until the 1930s. The first "World" tag team championship was also crowned in San Francisco in the early 1950's.

Tag team match rules

A tag team match in progress - Jeff Hardy kicks Umaga, while their respective partners, Triple H and Randy Orton, encourage them and reach for the tags. Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler on the SmackDown brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE Edward 'Eddie' Fatu (born March 28 1973 His two older brothers Sam (better known as Tonga Kid and Tama and Solofa Jr Paul Michael Levesque better known by his Ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of his former ring name Hunter Hearst Helmsley Randal "Randy" Keith Orton (born on April 1 1980 Before being promoted to the main WWE roster Orton trained in and wrestled for Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern

Further information: Professional wrestling tag team match types

The basic tag team has two teams of two wrestlers facing off against each other. Much like singles matches, Tag team Professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms Only one wrestler from each team is allowed in the ring at a time, though heels will often break this rule and gang up on a single opponent. In Professional wrestling, a heel is a Villain character In non-wrestling jargon heels are the "bad guys" in pro wrestling storylines. The other(s) wait on the apron outside the ropes in a specified corner adjacent to the other team.

Offensive cooperation from a team member can happen as long as they are within the referee's count of five and after an official tag. In a "Tornado" tag match there is no time limit for how long your partner can stay in the ring often making these matches a 2 on 2 battle.

A tag team match involving more than two wrestlers per team is often referred to by the total number of people involved (eg. a six-man tag team match involves two teams of three), while a tag team match involving more than two teams is referred to by normal qualifiers (eg. a triple threat tag team match involves three teams of two).

A wrestler must do the following in order to make a legal tag:

• Both feet of the wrestler on the outside must be flat on the apron.
• The wrestler outside the ring must hold on to the tag rope tied in the corner.
• Tags are legal as long as the two team members touch.
• The referee has to actually see the contact between the two wrestlers in order to make the tag legal.

A referee can be allowed to overlook any of these tag rules at his discretion. All standard match rules apply but the legal man must make a pin or submission on another legal man to win. Only legal men can be counted out but either team can be disqualified regardless if a team member is legal or not.

In lucha libre, the basic tag team match is referred to as Lucha de Parejas (Doubles Fight), a six-man match as a Lucha de Trios, and an eight-man match as a Lucha Atómica (Atomic Fight). Lucha libre ( Spanish for "free wrestling" is a term used in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking areas to refer to a certain form of Professional wrestling

Types of tags

In independent discussion and analysis of matches, certain terms are used to describe specific scenarios involving tag team matches. These are planned and timed to inject drama into a match.

One spot that occurs in practically every tag team match is the hot tag. One member of the face team is in the ring, too weakened to move or otherwise impaired, while his partner watches helplessly, struggling to reach him for a tag. The tension builds as the legal man is unable to tag out, until something happens (a second wind, miscommunication between the heel wrestlers, or another stroke of luck) that allows the faces to tag and reverse the momentum of the match in their favor. When done well, this results in a large audience reaction, and was the typical climax of tag matches for decades.

A common variation on the hot tag sees both wrestlers from the heel team attacking a face, while his partner protests to the referee about this bending of the rules (and therefore, unintentionally "distracting" the referee away from the heels). Eventually the weakened face wrestler does make the tag to his partner, who comes in as the fresh man and is able to take on both opponents quite easily. Ricky Morton, of the tag team Rock 'N Roll Express, would often play the "face in peril", who got beaten up in the ring while his partner Robert Gibson, looked on helplessly. Richard Wendell "Ricky" Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler. The Rock 'n' Roll Express was a Professional wrestling tag team comprised of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson that was popular in the 1980s Robert Gibson (born Ruben Cain, July 19 1958) is a Professional wrestler. Thus, the tag partner in the ring being beaten is often said to "play Ricky Morton".

A blind tag is a legal tag made without the referee's knowledge. This typically results in the legal man being forced to leave the ring once the referee sees him inside -- thus giving the audience cause to feel injustice.

The word blind tag is sometimes used when the outside wrestler makes the tag without a request from his partner. For example, he can pat on his partner's shoulder when he bounces into the ropes or has his back turned. Usually, the opponent will not see it either, so typically, he will either be attacked from behind by the newly legal wrestler, or try a pin on the inside wrestler, but it will not count since he is no longer legal. This is actually a self tag.

A phantom tag is when a legal wrestler is replaced by his partner without making a legal tag, also without the referee's knowledge. These will, however, be allowed, thus giving this cheating team an advantage; another source of injustice. A wrestler will sometimes clap his hands together for a phantom tag, helping him to convince the referee that a legal tag took place.

See also

• List of tag team championships