The European Championship was a staple of WWF programming from February of 1997 through its retirement in July of 2002. Outside of that time Mideon became European Champ simply because he asked Shane McMahon if he could have it, there’s actually a rich history of superstars who carried the belt similarly to how the Intercontinental Championship was carried. And, besides that, the damn thing was, plain and simple, a thing of beauty.
So, I’m responding to mailbag questions last week, and noted #FriendoftheBrand, Righteous Jesse, asks who the greatest WWF European Champ of all time is. I got to thinking about it, and decided to eventually dig into the lineage of the title. It’s one of those things all wrestling fans remember – after all, the title design is one of the best in wrestling history – but probably don’t remember a lot of the details of its history, the matches held for it, so on and so forth. So, here we are.
Top 10 WWF European Champions
10. Christian/Diamond Dallas Page (tie) – I couldn’t pick one over the other, especially when this program highlighted the European Championship heading into WrestleMania X-8. It was a fun little mid-card bout, and this came as Christian was finding his footing as a singles performer. These guys, combined, held the European Championship for 140 straight days from October of 2001 to March of 2002.
9. Matt Hardy – I vaguely remember Hardy’s run as European Champ, so I’m not going to sit here and pretend to know all about it. I’m just putting him here because he had a single run of 125 days, and if you held this belt for that long, you deserve a spot in the top 10.
8. Kurt Angle – The obnoxious “Euro-continental” championship reign came within six months of Angle’s debut with the WWE, and each title served its purpose as a stepping stone to bigger and better things for the Olympic Champion.
7. X-Pac – Let’s face it – nobody was ever going to buy X-Pac as WWE Champion in the Attitude Era. So, for him, having a nice little role carved out as European Champion was awesome. Plus, he had some great feuds with D-Lo Brown and Shane McMahon while champion. He was one of the first two guys I thought of without looking at the history of the title, and held the European Championship twice for a cumulative 134-day reign.
6. Owen Hart – He only had one reign for 55 days as champion, but it was the early days of the belt, and it simply meant more back then. Plus, he carried it into an awesome program with Triple H that saw the two face off for the gold in a fun WrestleMania XIV match.
5. Triple H – Having this series of guys – Bulldog, Michaels, Owen Hart, and Triple H – carry the belt in the early days of its inception made it seem like this was going to be a veritable world championship. Triple H held the gold twice for a cumulative 160 days (third most).
4. William Regal – In a number of ways, the European Championship was tailor made for a guy like Regal, intentional or not. Regal held the title a record four times, for a combined 179 days.
3. British Bulldog – He was the first European Champion and with his two reigns combining for 253 days, he was the longest reigning European Champion ever. But, for all that time, he sure didn’t do too much with the belt.
2. Eddie Guerrero – I loved Guerrero as European Champion. When he held the title, it didn’t feel any different than the Intercontinental Championship. His two reigns at 134 days combined has him in the top five. But, the way he was booked with the belt is a fine example of how it should have been utilized.
1. D-Lo Brown – I mean, come on. Who else could’ve topped this list? Only one man is as synonymous with the European Championship as The Miz is with the Intercontinental Championship. His four reigns ties Regal for the most all-time. He held the championship for 140 days, had memorable programs with X-Pac and Jeff Jarrett to name a couple. And, the chest protector made for one of the most memorable gimmicks of a time when plenty of crazy and unique things were happening. It’s D-Lo all the way.
All in all, I always thought the European Championship was a fun little third-tier title. Outside of D-Lo, I don’t think the title ever really “made stars” the way the Intercontinental Championship did. But, to be fair, it was the Attitude Era. Every championship in the WWF was changing hands every week, or so it felt. You can’t help but wonder what this title would’ve been like in the early 90s. Or, hell – what about the modern era? I’d love to see ’em bring it back, and help give guys like Aiden English, Tyler Breeze, Heath Slater, Chad Gable, Apollo Crews, and Tye Dillinger something to fight over.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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