WWE European Championship
| WWE European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The WWF/WWE European Championship belt's final design with the WWF scratch logo
(circa 2002) |
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| Details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | February 26, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | July 22, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| First champion(s) | The British Bulldog |
| Final champion(s) | Rob Van Dam |
| Most reigns | William Regal, D'Lo Brown (4 reigns) |
| Longest reign | The British Bulldog (206 days) |
| Shortest reign | Chris Jericho and Jeff Jarrett (23 hours) |
| Oldest winner | Diamond Dallas Page (46 years, 302 days) |
| Youngest winner | Jeff Hardy (24 years, 7 days) |
| Heaviest champion | Mark Henry (392 lb (178 kg)) |
| Lightest champion | Spike Dudley (150 lb (68 kg)) |
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, and three held both simultaneously, becoming "Eurocontinental champions".
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 British Bulldog, who was the inaugural champion, and William Regal. It became a prominent singles title of the Attitude Era, held by Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and others. It was contested in the main event of the One Night Only pay-per-view in 1997.
The WWE European Championship was originally known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) European Championship. It emerged in 1997 when The British Bulldog became the first Champion after winning a tournament that was held over several shows in Germany, culminating in a finals victory over Owen Hart. Upon winning the belt, 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.
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