The
WWE European Championship
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 WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...
was a
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
competed for in
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
(WWE). The title was created on February 26, 1997.
The first champion was
The British Bulldog
David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...
who defeated
Owen Hart
Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wres ...
in a tournament final.
The title was retired briefly in April 1999 by then-champion
Shane McMahon
Shane Brandon McMahon (; born January 15, 1970) is an American businessman and professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he was a wrestler, producer and minority owner. He is the founder and executive chairman of Idean ...
, 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.
The title was retired on the July 22, 2002 episode of Monday Night Raw when
WWE Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
defeated European Champion
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and musician. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Hardy is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time and is regarded ...
in a ladder match to unify the European title into the Intercontinental title.
There have been a total of 26 recognized champions who have had a combined 36 official reigns. This is a chronological list of wrestlers that have been WWE European Champion by
ring name
A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or project ...
.
Reigns
Names
Reigns
Combined reigns
See also
*
List of former championships in WWE
References
External links
Official European Championship Title History
{{WWE Championships
WWE championships lists