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. 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. 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. 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). 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.
A spot that occurs in practically every tag team match is the hot tag. One member of the face team would be in the ring taking a beating from one of his heel opponents. Occasionally, both wrestlers from the heel team would attack him, while his partner protests to the referee about this bending of the rules (and therefore, unintentionally "distracting" the referee on behalf of 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. Thus, the tag partner in the ring being destroyed is often said to "play Ricky Morton".
A frequent storyline is former tag team partners turning on each other, which will invariably ignite a feud. This can be used when one member is being called on to develop a new gimmick.
In 1901 the first tag team matches are held in the United States, in San Francisco. San Francisco promoters introduce 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 basic tag team has two teams of two wrestlers facing off against each other. 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. 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.
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).