WWE European Championship
| WWE European Championship | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Matt Hardy as European Champion alongside his brother Jeff, who also held the title | |||||
| Details | |||||
| Promotion | WWF | ||||
| Date established | February 26, 1997 | ||||
| Date retired | July 22, 2002 | ||||
| Other name(s) | |||||
| |||||
| |||||
The WWE European Championship was a
Established in February 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in April 1999 due to then-champion
History
In 1997, the British Bulldog was crowned the first WWF European Champion by winning a tournament that was held over several shows in Germany, culminating in a finals victory over Owen Hart. Upon winning the title, Shawn Michaels became the first Grand Slam Champion in WWE. Michaels is the only wrestler to have held both the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and the European title at the same time.
After winning the European title, both
Inaugural tournament
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| The British Bulldog | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Mankind | ||||||||||||||
| The British Bulldog | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Vader | ||||||||||||||
| Vader | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Rocky Maivia | ||||||||||||||
| The British Bulldog | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | ||||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | ||||||||||||||
Flash Funk
| ||||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | CO | |||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | ||||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Hunter Hearst Helmsley | ||||||||||||||
Eurocontinental Champions and unification
The term "Eurocontinental Champion" is a
On the February 10, 2000 edition of SmackDown! Kurt Angle defeated Val Venis for the European Championship. Seventeen days later, at No Way Out, Angle defeated Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship and became the third Eurocontinental Champion. Angle held the titles until WrestleMania 2000, when he faced Jericho and Chris Benoit in a three-way dance for both titles. In a rarity, Angle lost both of his championships without being pinned or forced to submit; Benoit defeated Jericho in the first fall for the Intercontinental Championship and Jericho defeated Benoit in the second fall to take the European Championship.
In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to WWE and the title was renamed accordingly, though the physical belt was not updated to reflect the name change. The title was then unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match on the July 22, 2002 episode of Raw, when Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam defeated European Champion Jeff Hardy.[5]
Reigns
The British Bulldog was the inaugural champion, and had the longest title reign at 206 days. William Regal and D'Lo Brown both had the most title reigns, each holding it four times. Jeff Hardy was the youngest champion at 24, while Diamond Dallas Page was the oldest champion at 45. Jeff Hardy was the final champion. The title was retired on the July 22, 2002 episode of Monday Night Raw when WWE Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam defeated European Champion Jeff Hardy in a ladder match to unify the European title into the Intercontinental title.[6][7]
Other media
The title appears in the video games .
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "WWE European Championship: official history". WWE. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ WWE.com: "History of the Intercontinental Championship"
- ^ "Wrestlers Who Reigned As Euro-Continental Champion". Inside the Ropes. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ "This Day In History: Foley's (First) Retirement, Angle Becomes 'Eurocontinental' Champion, Hornswoggle Gets His Name And More". PWInsider.com. 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the originalon 16 June 2012. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "WWE RAW #478". CAGEMATCH: The Internet Wrestling Database. 22 June 2002. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
