The WWE European Championship is a former professional wrestling title competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The title was created on February 26, 1997.[1] The first champion was The British Bulldog who defeated Owen Hart in a tournament final.[2] 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.[3][4] The title was finally retired on July 22, 2002, when WWE Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam defeated European Champion Jeff Hardy to unify the European title into the Intercontinental title.[5] Over the title's 5 year, 4 month, and 26 day history there have been a total of 27 recognized champions who were a combined 37 official reigns among 27 different wrestlers. This is a chronological list of wrestlers that have been WWE European Champion by ring name.

Reigns

Names

Name Years
WWF European Championship February 26, 1997 – May 6, 2002
WWE European Championship May 6, 2002 – July 22, 2002

Reigns

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days recog. Number of days held recognized by the promotion
Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDays recog.
World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
1 The British Bulldog February 26, 1997[1] Raw Berlin, Germany 1 206205 Defeated Owen Hart in a tournament final to become the first champion. Aired on March 3, when the following episode aired on tape delay. [2][6]
2 Shawn Michaels September 20, 1997 One Night Only Birmingham, England 1 8292 WWE recognizes Michaels' reign as ending on December 22, when the following episode aired on tape delay. [7][8][9]
3 Triple H December 11, 1997 Raw Lowell, MA 1 4030 Michaels was ordered to defend the title against Helmsley by WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Michaels intentionally lost the match, because he also held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship having won that title on November 9, 1997. Aired December 22. WWE recognizes Triple H's reign as beginning on December 22, when the episode aired on tape delay. [10][11]
4 Owen Hart January 20, 1998 Raw Davis, CA 1 5552 Defeated The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust, who was dressed as Triple H. Commissioner Slaughter awards the title to Hart considering Goldust as a substitution for Triple H. WWE recognizes Hart's reign as beginning on January 22, when the episode aired on tape delay. [12][13]
5 Triple H March 16, 1998 Raw Phoenix, AZ 2 120119 Defeated an injured Owen Hart in an impromptu match originally scheduled for WrestleMania XIV. [14][15]
6 D'Lo Brown July 14, 1998 Raw Binghamton, NY 1 6356 WWE recognizes Brown's reign as beginning on July 20, when the episode aired on tape delay.[16]
WWE recognizes Brown's reigns as lasting 57 days.
[17][18]
7 X-Pac September 15, 1998 Raw Sacramento, CA 1 1413 WWE recognizes X-Pac's reign as beginning on September 21 and as ending on October 5, when the following episodes aired on tape delay. [19][20]
8 D'Lo Brown September 29, 1998 Raw East Lansing, MI 2 1912 WWE recognizes Brown's reign as beginning on October 5, when the episode aired on tape delay. [21][22]
9 X-Pac October 18, 1998 Judgment Day: In Your House Rosemont, IL 2 120120 [23][24]
10 Shane McMahon February 15, 1999 Raw Birmingham, AL 1 4347 Defeated X-Pac in a tag team match with Shane McMahon and Kane vs. Triple H and X-Pac.
WWE recognizes McMahon's reign as ending on April 4, when the episode aired on tape delay.
[3][25]
Deactivated March 30, 1999 Sunday Night Heat Uniondale, NY Shane McMahon "retired as champion." Aired April 4, when the episode on tape delay. [3]
11 Mideon June 21, 1999 Raw Memphis, TN 1 3433 Shane McMahon awarded Mideon the title after he found it in McMahon's travel bag. [4]
12 D'Lo Brown July 25, 1999 Fully Loaded Buffalo, NY 3 2827 [26][27]
13 Jeff Jarrett August 22, 1999 SummerSlam Minneapolis, MN 1 1<1 This was also for D'Lo Brown's Intercontinental Championship. [28][29]
14 Mark Henry August 23, 1999 Raw Ames, IA 1 3433 Jeff Jarrett gave the title to Henry as a gift for his assisting Jarrett in defeating D'lo Brown at SummerSlam. [30]
15 D'Lo Brown September 26, 1999 Unforgiven Charlotte, NC 4 3031 WWE recognizes Brown's reign as ending on October 28. [31][32]
16 The British Bulldog October 26, 1999 SmackDown! Springfield, MA 2 4744 WWE recognizes Bulldog's reign as beginning on October 28, when the episode aired on tape delay. [33][34]
17 Val Venis December 12, 1999 Armageddon Sunrise, FL 1 5859 This was a triple threat match also involving D'Lo Brown. [35][36]
18 Kurt Angle February 8, 2000 SmackDown! Austin, TX 1 5451 WWE recognizes Angle's reign as beginning on February 10, when the episode aired on tape delay. [37][38]
19 Chris Jericho April 2, 2000 WrestleMania 2000 Anaheim, CA 1 1<1 Won second fall of two-fall triple threat match also involving Chris Benoit (first fall was for Intercontinental Championship); pinned Benoit to claim championship. [39][40]
20 Eddie Guerrero April 3, 2000 Raw Los Angeles, CA 1 111110 [41][42]
21 Perry Saturn July 23, 2000 Fully Loaded Dallas, TX 1 3738 [43]
22 Al Snow August 29, 2000 SmackDown! Fayetteville, NC 1 4845 WWE recognizes Snow's reign as beginning on August 31, when the episode aired on tape delay. [44]
23 William Regal October 16, 2000 Raw Detroit, MI 1 4746 [45]
24 Crash Holly December 2, 2000 Rebellion Sheffield, England 1 21 [46]
25 William Regal December 4, 2000 Raw East Rutherford, NJ 2 4948 [47]
26 Test January 22, 2001 Raw Lafayette, LA 1 6968 [48]
27 Eddie Guerrero April 1, 2001 WrestleMania X-Seven Houston, TX 2 2324 WWE recognizes Guerrero's reign as ending on April 26, when the following episode aired on tape delay. [49]
28 Matt Hardy April 24, 2001 SmackDown! Denver, CO 1 125122 WWE recognizes Hardy's reign as beginning on April 26, when the episode aired on tape delay. [50]
29 The Hurricane August 27, 2001 Raw Grand Rapids, MI 1 5655 [51]
30 Bradshaw October 22, 2001 Raw Kansas City, MO 1 89 [52]
31 Christian October 30, 2001 SmackDown! Cincinnati, OH 1 9190 WWE recognizes Christian's reign as beginning on November 1, when the episode aired on tape delay. [53]
32 Diamond Dallas Page January 29, 2002 SmackDown! Norfolk, VA 1 4948 WWE recognizes Page's reign as beginning on January 31, when the episode aired on tape delay. [54]
World Wrestling Federation (WWF): Raw
33 William Regal March 19, 2002 SmackDown! Ottawa, ON 3 2017 WWE recognizes Regal's reign as beginning on March 21, when the episode aired on tape delay. The championship became exclusive to Raw when Regal was drafted to the Raw brand on March 26, 2002. [55]
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE): Raw
34 Spike Dudley April 8, 2002 Raw Phoenix, AZ 1 2827 Renamed the WWE European Championship on May 5, 2002 [56][57]
35 William Regal May 6, 2002 Raw Hartford, CT 4 6362 [58]
36 Jeff Hardy July 8, 2002 Raw Philadelphia, PA 1 1413 WWE mistakenly recognizes Hardy's reign as ending on July 21. [5]
37 Rob Van Dam July 22, 2002 Raw Grand Rapids, MI 1 <1<1 This was a unification match for Van Dam's WWE Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match. The reign is not recognized in WWE's official European Champion listings, but his wwe.com profile and the official WWE encyclopedia list him as European Champion. [59][60]
Unified July 22, 2002 Raw Grand Rapids, MI Unified with the Intercontinental Championship.

Combined reigns

Record tying 4-time WWE European Champion D'Lo Brown
Rank Champion No. of
reigns
Combined
days
Combined days
recognized by WWE
1 The British Bulldog2253249
2 William Regal4179173
3 Triple H2160149
4 D'Lo Brown4140126
5 Eddie Guerrero2134134
X-Pac2134132
7 Matt Hardy1125122
8 Christian19190
9 Shawn Michaels18292
10 Test16968
11 Val Venis15859
12 The Hurricane15655
13 Owen Hart15552
14 Kurt Angle15451
15 Diamond Dallas Page14948
16 Al Snow14845
17 Shane McMahon14347
18 Perry Saturn13738
19 Mideon13433
Mark Henry13433
21 Spike Dudley12827
22 Jeff Hardy11412
23 Bradshaw189
24 Crash Holly121
25 Jeff Jarrett11<1
Chris Jericho11<1
27 Rob Van Dam1<1

See also

References

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  2. 1 2 "The British Bulldog's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  3. 1 2 3 "Shane McMahon's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  4. 1 2 "Mideon's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  5. 1 2 "Jeff Hardy's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  6. Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 26, 1997). "WWF Monday Night RAW #199". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  7. "Shawn Michaels' first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  8. Hoops, Brian (September 20, 2015). "On this date in pro wrestling history (9/20): Flair defeats McDaniel, Gagne beats Von Raschke". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  9. Kreikenbohm, Philip (September 20, 1997). "WWF One Night Only (1997)". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
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  13. Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 20, 1998). "WWF RAW is WAR #244". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
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  15. Kreikenbohm, Philip (March 16, 1998). "WWF RAW is WAR #251". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  16. Hoops, Brian (July 20, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: Brisco beats Race for NWA title, Gagne beats Crusher for AWA title, Robinson vs. Gagen". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
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  18. Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 14, 1998). "WWF RAW is WAR #269". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
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