WWE European Championship
The WWE European Championship is an inactive title competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. Despite its name, only two holders of the WWF/WWE version of European Championship were actually European: the British Bulldog and William Regal.
History
The title was first seen in 1963, a few months after the company's birth when it was known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation. It was a fictitious title, awarded to newcomer Hans Mortier (of German origin) in order to elevate his status and get him over. The title was rarely defended, and finally abandoned in early 1964. This version of the European Championship is not recognized in the title history of the belt.
The next time the belt came into existence was in order to create more belts for wrestlers to compete for. The European Championship was placed below the coveted WWE Intercontinental Championship, and therefore seen as a "stepping stone" towards the IC title and beyond. Many people saw it as WWE's version of the WCW World Television Title, though unlike that belt, the European title was competed for during house shows, and not typically featured in matches with time limits. Four wrestlers have won both the European and WCW Television championships: William Regal (as "Lord Steven Regal" in WCW), Diamond Dallas Page, Perry Saturn, and Chris Jericho. Three people would hold the European and Intercontinental Championships at the same time. The first person was D'Lo Brown, Jeff Jarrett followed, and then Kurt Angle. It was believed that WWE would use the title to make their European tours more special.
The WWF European Championship, as it was then known, emerged in 1997 when the British Bulldog became the first Champion after winning a tournament that ended in Germany. Shawn Michaels's winning the belt made him the first Grand Slam Champion in the WWE. Michaels is the only wrestler to have held both the World title 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 belt was retired briefly in April 1999 by then current champion, Shane McMahon. Shane McMahon reintroduced the belt only two months later and gave it to Mideon.
The WWE European Championship, as it was next known, was retired in a ladder match on July 22, 2002 when Rob Van Dam put his WWE Intercontinental Championship on the line, along with Jeff Hardy's European Championship. By winning that match, Rob Van Dam merged the two titles together, and continued to hold the Intercontinental Title.
Statistics
| Record: | Record holder: | Record number: | Notes: |
| Most reigns | D'Lo Brown & William Regal | Four | Brown originally took this record after winning the title for a 3rd time from Mideon on July 25, 1999. His 4th title win came on September 26 of that year, by defeating Mark Henry. Regal tied the record on May 6, 2002, after beating Spike Dudley. |
| Longest reign | The British Bulldog | 206 days | The Bulldog became the inaugural European champ after beating Owen Hart in the tournament finals on February 26, 1997. He held the title until September 20, 1997, when he lost it to Shawn Michaels. |
| Shortest reign | Rob Van Dam | ca. 1 second | Van Dam beat Jeff Hardy on July 22, 2002, in a ladder match, to unify the European and Intercontinental championships. This technically means that Van Dam's reign as champion ended as soon as he won the title. If discounted, Jeff Jarrett and Chris Jericho would share the record, both of which were champions for only 1 day. |
| Oldest champion | Diamond Dallas Page | 45 years | DDP won the title from Christian on January 29, 2002. He would lose the title to William Regal on March 19, 2002. |
| Youngest champion | Jeff Hardy | 24 years | Won from William Regal on July 8, 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 53 days before Hardy's 25th birthday. |
| Heaviest champion | Mark Henry | 400 lbs | Henry was awarded the belt by Jeff Jarrett on August 23, 1999, for helping Jarrett beat D'Lo Brown for the Intercontinental and European titles. He lost the title to Brown on September 26 of that year. |
| Shortest and lightest champion | Spike Dudley | 5 ft 7 in; 135 lbs | Dudley won the title from William Regal on April 8, 2002. He lost it back to Regal on May 6 of that year. |
| Tallest champion | Test & Bradshaw | 6 ft 6 in | Test beat William Regal on January 22, 2001 for the title, and lost it to Eddie Guerrero on April 1 of that year. Bradshaw beat The Hurricane on October 22, 2001, and lost it to Christian 8 days later. |