Undid revision 869576742 by Sharonaj (talk) As I have explained to you already, this is a standard way this is handled which you are NOT following. You need to bring this back to Wikiproject to finish discussion so you can understand that, if you revert again I will report you to at WP:ANEW Tag: Undo |
m Rv per blatant WP:OWN violation. Rob Van Dam *does not appear* in any official WWE listing of former European Champions. Tag: Undo |
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|image = WWF European Championship with all 5 plates.jpg |
|image = WWF European Championship with all 5 plates.jpg |
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|image_size = 250px |
|image_size = 250px |
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|caption = The WWF/WWE European Championship belt's final design with the WWF scratch logo{{ |
|caption = The WWF/WWE European Championship belt's final design with the WWF scratch logo{{refn|group=note|name=first|A WWE version of the belt never existed beyond replicas.}}<br/>(circa 2002) |
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|promotion = [[WWE]] |
|promotion = [[WWE]] |
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|created = February 26, 1997 |
|created = February 26, 1997 |
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|mostreigns = [[Darren Matthews|William Regal]], [[D'Lo Brown]] ([[List of WWE European Champions|4 reigns]]) |
|mostreigns = [[Darren Matthews|William Regal]], [[D'Lo Brown]] ([[List of WWE European Champions|4 reigns]]) |
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|firstchamp = [[Davey Boy Smith|The British Bulldog]] |
|firstchamp = [[Davey Boy Smith|The British Bulldog]] |
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|finalchamp = [[Rob Van Dam]] |
|finalchamp = [[Rob Van Dam]]{{refn|group=note|name=second}} |
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|longestreign = The British Bulldog ([[List of WWE European Champions|206 days]]) |
|longestreign = The British Bulldog ([[List of WWE European Champions|206 days]]) |
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|shortestreign = [[Chris Jericho]] and [[Jeff Jarrett]] (23 hours) |
|shortestreign = [[Chris Jericho]] and [[Jeff Jarrett]] (23 hours) |
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The '''WWE European Championship''' was a [[professional wrestling]] [[championship (professional wrestling)|championship]] competed for in [[World Wrestling Entertainment]]. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and [[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]s within short spans of each other,<ref name=ohistory/><ref>[http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/intercontinental/ WWE.com: "History of the Intercontinental Championship"]</ref> and three held both simultaneously, becoming "Eurocontinental champions".<ref name="eurocontinental"/> |
The '''WWE European Championship''' was a [[professional wrestling]] [[championship (professional wrestling)|championship]] competed for in [[World Wrestling Entertainment]]. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and [[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]s within short spans of each other,<ref name=ohistory/><ref>[http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/intercontinental/ WWE.com: "History of the Intercontinental Championship"]</ref> and three held both simultaneously, becoming "Eurocontinental champions".<ref name="eurocontinental"/> |
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Established in 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in 1999 due to then-champion [[Shane McMahon]]'s desire to retire as an "undefeated champion". 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 by [[Rob Van Dam]], making him the final European Champion. Despite its name, only two holders were actually from Europe: the [[Davey Boy Smith|British Bulldog]], who was the inaugural and longest-reigning champion, and [[William Regal]]. It became a prominent singles title of the [[The Attitude Era|Attitude Era]], held by then-former [[Professional wrestling championship#World championships|world champion]]s [[Shawn Michaels]] and [[Diamond Dallas Page]], along with [[Triple H]], [[Kurt Angle]], [[Chris Jericho]] and [[Eddie Guerrero]], among others.<ref name=ohistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/euro/|accessdate=2008-09-12|title=WWE European |
Established in 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in 1999 due to then-champion [[Shane McMahon]]'s desire to retire as an "undefeated champion". 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 by [[Rob Van Dam]], making him the final European Champion.{{refn|group=note|name=second}} Despite its name, only two holders were actually from Europe: the [[Davey Boy Smith|British Bulldog]], who was the inaugural and longest-reigning champion, and [[William Regal]]. It became a prominent singles title of the [[The Attitude Era|Attitude Era]], held by then-former [[Professional wrestling championship#World championships|world champion]]s [[Shawn Michaels]] and [[Diamond Dallas Page]], along with [[Triple H]], [[Kurt Angle]], [[Chris Jericho]] and [[Eddie Guerrero]], among others.<ref name=ohistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/euro/|accessdate=2008-09-12|title=WWE European Championship: official history|publisher=[[WWE]]}}</ref> It was contested in the main event of the ''[[WWF One Night Only|One Night Only]]'' pay-per-view in September 1997. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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On the February 10, 2000 edition of ''SmackDown'' [[Kurt Angle]] defeated [[Val Venis]] for the European Championship. Seventeen days later, at [[No Way Out (2000)|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 returned the favor in the second fall to take the European Championship. |
On the February 10, 2000 edition of ''SmackDown'' [[Kurt Angle]] defeated [[Val Venis]] for the European Championship. Seventeen days later, at [[No Way Out (2000)|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 returned the favor in the second fall to take the European Championship. |
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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 [[Championship unification|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/euro/358594|accessdate=2008-09-21|title=Jeff Hardy's Europen Championship reign|publisher=[[World Wrestling Entertainment]]}}</ref> |
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 [[Championship unification|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]].{{refn|group=note|name=second|Van Dam is not recognized by WWE's official list of European Champions, either on their website<ref name=ohistory/> or in their encyclopedia.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shields|first1=Brian|last2=Sullivan|first2=Kevin|date=2009|title=WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|page=94|isbn=978-0756641900}}</ref> Retrospective WWE.com articles have added the European Championship to his resume;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wwe.com/inside/top-25-superstars-of-the-new-millennium|title=The top 25 Superstars of the new millennium|last=Laboon|first=Jeff|date=June 24, 2015|publisher=[[WWE]]|access-date=November 16, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The new Grand Slam winners: The six Superstars who have won every active championship|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/new-grand-slam-winners|publisher=[[WWE]]|date=August 10, 2015|archivedate=August 12, 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812230506/http://www.wwe.com/inside/new-grand-slam-winners|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref> it was not mentioned in his WWE.com profile<ref>{{cite web|title=Rob Van Dam: Profile (January 27, 2006)|url=https://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/robvandam/profile/|publisher=[[WWE]]|archivedate=January 27, 2006|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060127000820/http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/robvandam/profile/|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref> until early 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rob Van Dam: Profile (February 3, 2006)|url=https://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/robvandam/profile/|publisher=[[WWE]]|archivedate=February 3, 2006|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060203043224/http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/robvandam/profile/|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/euro/358594|accessdate=2008-09-21|title=Jeff Hardy's Europen Championship reign|publisher=[[World Wrestling Entertainment]]}}</ref> |
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==Reigns== |
==Reigns== |
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The British Bulldog was the inaugural champion and had the longest title reign with 206 days. William Regal and [[D'Lo Brown]] both had the most title reigns, each holding it four times. |
The British Bulldog was the inaugural champion and had the longest title reign with 206 days. William Regal and [[D'Lo Brown]] both had the most title reigns, each holding it four times. |
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The shortest reigns as European Champion were those of Jeff Jarrett and Chris Jericho, who each held the championship for roughly one day. Jeff Jarrett defeated D'Lo Brown for the European Championship (along with the Intercontinental Championship) at Summerslam 1999 and gave it to Mark Henry the following night on ''Raw''. Chris Jericho defeated Kurt Angle in a triple threat match at [[Wrestlemania 2000]] and lost the title to Eddie Guerrero on ''Raw'' the night after. [[Jeff Hardy]] was the youngest champion at 24, while [[Diamond Dallas Page]] was the oldest champion at 46. [[Rob Van Dam]] was the final champion. |
The shortest reigns as European Champion were those of Jeff Jarrett and Chris Jericho, who each held the championship for roughly one day. Jeff Jarrett defeated D'Lo Brown for the European Championship (along with the Intercontinental Championship) at Summerslam 1999 and gave it to Mark Henry the following night on ''Raw''. Chris Jericho defeated Kurt Angle in a triple threat match at [[Wrestlemania 2000]] and lost the title to Eddie Guerrero on ''Raw'' the night after. [[Jeff Hardy]] was the youngest champion at 24, while [[Diamond Dallas Page]] was the oldest champion at 46. [[Rob Van Dam]] was the final champion.{{refn|group=note|name=second}} |
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==Other media== |
==Other media== |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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{{reflist|group=note}} |
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{{notelist}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 14:05, 19 November 2018
WWE European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
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File:WWF European Championship with all 5 plates.jpg The WWF/WWE European Championship belt's final design with the WWF scratch logo[note 1] (circa 2002) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Details | |||||||||||||||||||||
Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||||
Date established | February 26, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Date retired | July 22, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWE Intercontinental Championships within short spans of each other,[1][2] and three held both simultaneously, becoming "Eurocontinental champions".[3]
Established in 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in 1999 due to then-champion Shane McMahon's desire to retire as an "undefeated champion". 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 by Rob Van Dam, making him the final European Champion.[note 2] Despite its name, only two holders were actually from Europe: the British Bulldog, who was the inaugural and longest-reigning champion, and William Regal. It became a prominent singles title of the Attitude Era, held by then-former world champions Shawn Michaels and Diamond Dallas Page, along with Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero, among others.[1] It was contested in the main event of the One Night Only pay-per-view in September 1997.
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 D'Lo Brown and Al 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-champion Shane McMahon, who wanted to retire as an "undefeated champion". McMahon reintroduced the championship two months later and gave it to Mideon, who saw the title belt in Shane's travel bag and asked if he could have it.[1]
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 portmanteau of European and Intercontinental, used to describe wrestlers who held both titles simultaneously.[3] Three wrestlers accomplished this feat. The first was D'Lo Brown, who defeated Mideon for the European title at Fully Loaded in 1999 and two nights later at a Monday Night Raw taping, defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the Intercontinental Championship. A month later at SummerSlam Jarrett defeated Brown to win both titles but awarded the European Championship to Mark Henry the following day.
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 returned the favor 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.[note 2][9]
Reigns
The British Bulldog was the inaugural champion and had the longest title reign with 206 days. William Regal and D'Lo Brown both had the most title reigns, each holding it four times.
The shortest reigns as European Champion were those of Jeff Jarrett and Chris Jericho, who each held the championship for roughly one day. Jeff Jarrett defeated D'Lo Brown for the European Championship (along with the Intercontinental Championship) at Summerslam 1999 and gave it to Mark Henry the following night on Raw. Chris Jericho defeated Kurt Angle in a triple threat match at Wrestlemania 2000 and lost the title to Eddie Guerrero on Raw the night after. Jeff Hardy was the youngest champion at 24, while Diamond Dallas Page was the oldest champion at 46. Rob Van Dam was the final champion.[note 2]
Other media
The title appears in the video games WWF No Mercy, 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 and WWE 2K19.
See also
Notes
- ^ A WWE version of the belt never existed beyond replicas.
- ^ a b c d Van Dam is not recognized by WWE's official list of European Champions, either on their website[1] or in their encyclopedia.[4] Retrospective WWE.com articles have added the European Championship to his resume;[5][6] it was not mentioned in his WWE.com profile[7] until early 2006.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d "WWE European Championship: official history". WWE. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ WWE.com: "History of the Intercontinental Championship"
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment. Dorling Kindersley. p. 94. ISBN 978-0756641900.
- ^ Laboon, Jeff (June 24, 2015). "The top 25 Superstars of the new millennium". WWE. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ^ "The new Grand Slam winners: The six Superstars who have won every active championship". WWE. August 10, 2015. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Rob Van Dam: Profile (January 27, 2006)". WWE. Archived from the original on January 27, 2006.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Rob Van Dam: Profile (February 3, 2006)". WWE. Archived from the original on February 3, 2006.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Jeff Hardy's Europen Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-09-21.