| WWE European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Matt Hardy as European Champion alongside his brotherJeff, who also held the title | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWF/WWE | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | February 26, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | July 22, 2002 (unified with theWWE Intercontinental Championship) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | |||||||||||||||||||||
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TheWWE European Championship was aprofessional wrestlingchampionship competed for inWorld Wrestling Entertainment. During its history it generally served as a secondary title along with theWWE Intercontinental Championship at the time and was generally held by midcarders during its existence in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The title was generally considered more prestigious than theWWE Hardcore Championship after it was introduced in 1999 but was also considered less prestigious then the Intercontinental Championship .[1] Multiple wrestlers also held the European and WWE Intercontinental Championships within short spans of each other,[2][3] and three held both simultaneously, becoming "Eurocontinental champions".[4]
Established in February 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in April 1999 due to then-championShane McMahon's desire to retire as an "undefeated champion". The title returned in June 1999. It was renamed in May 2002 when the WWF became the WWE before finally being unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship in July that year. Despite its name, only two holders were actually from Europe: theBritish Bulldog, who was the inaugural and longest-reigning champion, andWilliam Regal. It became a prominent singles title of theAttitude Era, held by then-formerworld championShawn Michaels along withTriple H,Kurt Angle,Chris Jericho, andEddie Guerrero, among others.[2]
In 1997,the British Bulldog was crowned the firstWWF European Champion by winning a tournament that was held over several shows in Germany, culminating in a finals victory overOwen Hart. Upon winning the title,Shawn Michaels became the firstGrand Slam Champion in WWE. Michaels is the only wrestler to have held both theWWF World Heavyweight Championship and the European title at the same time.
After winning the European title, bothD'Lo Brown andAl Snow were billed from different parts of Europe each week while champion. During Snow's reign, he and "Head" dressed up as various ethnic stereotypes corresponding to the European location they were billed from, though not always in a politically or geographically correct manner. The title was retired briefly in April 1999 by then-championShane McMahon, who wanted to retire as an "undefeated champion". McMahon reintroduced the championship two months later and gave it toMideon, who saw the title belt in Shane's travel bag and asked if he could have it.[2]
| Quarterfinals Xpress Tour February 20–23, 1997 | Semifinals Xpress Tour February 24–25, 1997 | Final Monday Night Raw February 26, 1997 (Aired: March 3) | ||||||||||||
| The British Bulldog | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Mankind | — | |||||||||||||
| The British Bulldog | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Vader | — | |||||||||||||
| Vader | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Rocky Maivia | — | |||||||||||||
| The British Bulldog | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | 16:58 | |||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | Pinfall | |||||||||||||
| Flash Funk | — | |||||||||||||
| Owen Hart | Countout | |||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | 18:00 | |||||||||||||
| Bret Hart | Submission | |||||||||||||
| Hunter Hearst Helmsley | 9:00 | |||||||||||||
The term "Eurocontinental Champion" is aportmanteau of European and Intercontinental, used to describe wrestlers who held both titles simultaneously.[5] Three wrestlers accomplished this feat. The first wasD'Lo Brown, who defeatedMideon for the European title atFully Loaded in 1999 and two nights later at aMonday Night Raw taping, defeatedJeff Jarrett to win theIntercontinental Championship. A month later, atSummerSlam, Jarrett defeated Brown to win both titles but awarded the European Championship toMark Henry the following day.
On the February 10, 2000 edition ofSmackDown!,Kurt Angle defeatedVal Venis for the European Championship. Seventeen days later, atNo Way Out, Angle defeatedChris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship and became the third Eurocontinental Champion. Angle held the titles untilWrestleMania 2000, when he faced Jericho andChris Benoit in a two-fall triple threat match 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 thenunified with theWWE Intercontinental Championship in aladder match on the July 22, 2002 episode ofRaw, when Intercontinental ChampionRob Van Dam defeated European ChampionJeff Hardy, with Hardy being recognized as the final European Champion.[6]
The British Bulldog was the inaugural champion, and had the longest title reign at 206 days. William Regal andD'Lo Brown both had the most title reigns, each holding it four times. Final championJeff Hardy was the youngest to win it, doing so at the age of 24, whileDiamond Dallas Page was the oldest champion, winning the title at 45 years old. The title was retired on the July 22, 2002 episode ofMonday Night Raw whenRob Van Dam defeated Hardy in a ladder match to unify the European Championship into the Intercontinental Championship.[7][8]
The title appears in the video gamesWWF Attitude,WWF WrestleMania 2000,WWF No Mercy,WWF SmackDown!,WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role,WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It,WWE WrestleMania X8,WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth,WWE '12,WWE '13,WWE 2K14,WWE 2K15,WWE 2K16,WWE 2K17,WWE 2K18,WWE 2K19,WWE 2K20,WWE 2K22,WWE 2K23,WWE 2K24 andWWE 2K25
