The History Of The WWE European Championship

Angle became the third Eurocontinental Champion when he downed Chris Jericho at No Way Out, only this time the combining of the belts was a welcome boon for the ailing Euro strap. He defended both belts in a two falls triple-threat match against Jericho and Chris Benoit at WrestleMania 2000. Curiously, the IC strap was on the line first, which further elevated the worth of the European Title. Angle lost both of his belts without dropping a fall. Benoit pinned Jericho following a diving headbutt to lift the IC title and Jericho returned the favour with a Lionsault to capture the European belt.

The hot potato continued the next night on Raw when Eddie Guerrero beat the new champion courtesy of interference from Chyna. Although Jericho’s short run was exactly the opposite of what the title needed, Guerrero was the perfect man to immediately restore its credibility. A supremely gifted worker capable of excellent promos, Guerrero made the European Title seem like a prize he was proud of carrying. Guerrero even restored the idea of defending the title in Europe, defeating Jericho in a rematch at Insurrextion.

With Guerrero at the helm, the WWF allowed the European belt to feature regularly on television and pay-per-views. Guerrero defended the title in cracking scraps with Essa Rios at Backlash and in a fun triple threat with Radicalz teammates Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko at Judgment Day, before dropping it to Saturn in a somewhat disappointing bout at Fully Loaded.

Guerrero’s stellar work to make the European Title feel important again was quickly undone when Al Snow got his hands on the belt in August and it was once again used as a catalyst for lowbrow comedy. Snow took to entering the ring billed from a different European country each week, walking the aisle to a nation-specific theme while dressed in stereotypical native garb. Although entertaining in its own right due to Snow thrusting himself into the gimmick, it was a far cry from the well-worked wrestling-orientated performances from Messrs Angle, Jericho, and Guerrero. Snow’s run simply reinforced that the European title was a go-to prop for the writers’ zany sides.

Step forward British mat veteran William Regal, who had recently returned to the promotion from WCW. Dropping the disastrous ‘Real Man’s Man’ gimmick that he had portrayed in the WWF during his first run in 1998, Regal became a stereotypical British snob, a role he was very accustomed to after years competing as blue-blooded aristocrat Lord Steven Regal in WCW. Regal ended the Al Snow silliness on October 16, 2000, putting away the champion in just 3:39 on Raw with his Regal Stretch submission finisher to become only the second European to ever wear the belt.

Unfortunately, his first pay-per-view challenger was Mideon, with the former champion now doing a gimmick called Naked Mideon that saw him wrestle clad in just a thong, a fanny pack and a pair of boots. The pairing was designed entirely around having Regal emote disgusted facial expressions as he tied up with the nude buffoon. Once again, WWF writers had resorted to cheap comedy antics rather than allowing Regal––a gifted mat technician in his own right––to demonstrate his wrestling skill-set.

• European championship
• history
• UK championship
• wwe

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