The History Of The WWE European Championship

Insurrextion on May 5, 2001 did not feature a European Title defence, with the belt considered to have less value than the Queen’s Cup, a trophy made up specifically for that show to give former Euro champs William Regal and Chris Jericho something to fight over. Hardy did not defend at Judgment Day either and at King of the Ring was relegated to the pre-show episode of Sunday Night Heat for a throwaway defence against Justin Credible. Hardy and his title were considered so inconsequential that he did not wrestle on the landmark WWF vs. WCW/ECW supershow Invasion in July either, placed instead in a manager role for brother Jeff Hardy’s Hardcore Title defence against Rob Van Dam.

Hardy’s long (125 days) but almost completely worthless run with the belt came to an end on August 27. WCW’s Shane Helms, a close real-life friend of Matt’s, donned superhero garb for the first time and became The Hurricane, defeating Hardy on Raw thanks to an assist from a crowbar-wielding Ivory.

The WWF’s acquisition of WCW and all of its title belts had rendered the European Championship irrelevant. The title slipped well down the pecking order, behind the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, the WCW United States belt and even the WCW Cruiserweight Title. With interest in the belt at perhaps its lowest ebb, the WWF essentially disregarded it. It still existed, but few watching had any emotional attachment or cared about who carried it.

Bradshaw was given a token 10-day reign in October 2001, the WWF’s way of saying thank you to him for policing the locker room amidst the arrival of so many new faces. The next title change was not even televised. Although filmed as part of the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Christian’s victory over Bradshaw was edited off the show due to time constraints. It was the ultimate ignominy for the unloved belt. That was quickly followed by another UK pay-per-view, Rebellion, going by without a title defence.

In the final WWF vs. WCW/ECW Alliance battle at Survivor Series, the European Title was up for grabs with Christian defending against former champ Al Snow. The pre-show stipulations stated that anyone associated with the losing side who was not a title holder would be fired. With the invaders coming up short that night, Alliance member Christian successfully retained, guaranteeing him his job. The rest of the card saw a number of title unification bouts, which seemingly bode well for the future of the WWF’s unloved accolade.

46-year old Diamond Dallas Page became the oldest man to wear the European strap when he defeated Christian on the January 31, 2002, SmackDown, drilling the champ with a Diamond Cutter to win the first and only WWF singles title of his career. Page beat the Big Boss Man via DQ on Sunday Night Heat prior to No Way Out, clearly demonstrating that despite the glut of championships that had populated the landscape in 2001 having dried up, the European belt was still way down the pecking order. Nevertheless, the title received a last hurrah at WrestleMania, on the line in one of 11 main show matches as Page successfully retained against Christian.

• European championship
• history
• UK championship
• wwe

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