WWE Tag Team Championship (2002)

Earlier in the night, The Dudley Boyz were supposed to be the challengers for The Hardy Boyz’ tag titles, but Edge and Christian claimed the Dudleys were not in the building and took the match instead. When Bubba Ray and D-Von arrived later on Raw, they went to Commissioner William Regal and argued that they had been promised the title shot. Regal eventually granted them a match against the new champions, and the Dudleys defeated Edge and Christian that same night to begin this reign.

The Hardy Boyz were expecting to defend the titles against The Dudley Boyz, but Edge and Christian came out first and claimed the Dudleys were not at the arena. The Hardys accepted the switch, and Edge and Christian won the championship after Rhyno interfered and hit Jeff Hardy with a Gore.

This match used “Dark Side Rules”, which meant anyone from The Ministry of Darkness could participate.

Kane left Mankind to defend the titles by himself

After Shawn Michaels was stripped of his half of the WWF Tag Team Championship on June 16, 1997, the WWF held an eight-team tournament to decide who would earn a shot at the vacant titles against Stone Cold Steve Austin and a partner of his choosing. The tournament final took place on July 7, 1997, when Owen Hart and The British Bulldog defeated Faarooq and D-Lo Brown of the Nation of Domination, setting up the title match on Raw is War the following week. Austin appeared ready to go it alone, but Dude Love appeared on the Titantron and inserted himself as Austin’s partner, helping Austin defeat Hart and Bulldog to win the vacant championships. However, their reign was short-lived because Austin’s neck injury at SummerSlam 1997 forced him to step away, and the team later relinquished the titles, sending them back to vacancy.

On June 16, 1997, WWF announced that Shawn Michaels was being stripped of his half of the titles after he was taken off TV with an injury explanation (following a backstage incident with Bret Hart), which led to an 8-team tournament to determine who would face Stone Cold Steve Austin and a partner of his choice for the titles. The titles were ultimately vacated on July 14, 1997, when the tournament winners, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog, faced Steve Austin and Dude Love.

The titles were returned to Owen Hart and Yokozuna the following night because Hart wasn’t an official participant when Diesel pinned him.

Diesel and Shawn Michaels won the titles after Diesel pinned Owen Hart, who entered the match even though the British Bulldog had officially replaced him as Yokozuna’s partner before the match started.

The Rockers defeated The Hart Foundation during the taping of The Main Event IV and defended the titles several times afterward. However, WWF later decided not to air the title change, returned the championships to The Hart Foundation, and never acknowledged The Rockers’ reign.