Verne Gagne, in particular, was a hated rival of the team and recruited many different partners to try to defeat Race and Hennig during their AWA run. Gagne and Crusher won the titles from them six months after Race and Hennig's first reign but lost them back on August 7, 1965. The team retained the titles until May 1966 when they lost to Bruiser and Crusher. They then embarked on a tour through New Zealand, Japan, and Australia where they became the first Tag Team Champions of Australia's World Championship Wrestling in June. Just before leaving to Japan, they dropped the titles to Mark Lewin and Dominic DeNucci.