10 Best WWE European Champions Ever, Ranked
The WWE European Championship is best remembered in the Attitude Era. WWE already had the WWE and Intercontinental Championships as the two major championships on the roster, but they added the European Championship to their collection of championships. The European Championship ceased to exist in July 2002 when Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy to unify the European Championship alongside the Intercontinental Championship.
Whilst, the European Championship was never viewed on the same level as the Intercontinental Championship, it didn't stop some of the very best in the business to clinch the title. Some wrestlers benefited from winning it as they became Grand Slam Champions and some were double champions. The best wrestlers to hold the European Championship made the title feel important during their time as champions.
10 Christian
Christian defeated Bradshaw to win the WWE European Championship in the fall of 2001. He turned heel after he betrayed Edge, and had a chance to become a double champion as he challenged Edge for the Intercontinental Championship at Rebellion, but he came up short.
Christian did a decent job as European Champion, and he defended the title on pay-per-view once. He retained the title against Al Snow at Survivor Series 2001 which preserved his status on the roster as the Alliance went down to WWE on that show. He dropped the title to DDP in January 2002, and he failed to reclaim it at WrestleMania 18.
9 Owen Hart
After the Montreal Screwjob took place at Survivor Series 1997, Owen Hart stuck around. He feuded with D-Generation X. Most notably he attempted to take the WWE Championship away from Shawn Michaels but came up short. However, the King of Harts managed to clinch the European Championship for the first time at Triple H's expense.
He defended the gold on several episodes on Raw, but Hart was destined for bigger things than the European Championship. Ultimately, he failed to walk into WrestleMania 14 as European Champion as Triple H defeated him for the title.
8 Triple H
Triple H became the third man in WWE history to hold the European Championship. However, his title reign was kickstarted in a farcical manner. His DX ally Shawn Michaels laid to the mat whilst Triple H pinned him to score an easy championship victory.
Nevertheless, Triple H was the first competitor twice after he regained the title from Owen Hart. He went on to beat Hart in two pay-per-view matches to successfully retain the title but D'Lo Brown ended his time as champion all thanks to The Rock.
7 Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and his European Championship victory was significant as he became the first man in WWE history to be a Grand Slam Champion. Michaels hardly did anything to elevate the European Championship in truth.
He held the European Championship alongside the WWE Championship after he controversially beat Bret Hart for the title at Survivor Series 1997. Michaels was a double champion for a month, and the European Championship went further down the pecking order when he was the reigning WWE Champion as it became an afterthought.
6 Eddie Guerrero
On the Raw after WrestleMania 2000, Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Jericho for the European Championship. It was Latino Heat's first championship in WWE, and he had a decent run as champion. He defeated the likes of Essa Rios, Jericho, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko in pay-per-view championship matches.
Guerrero's reign was ended by his former Radicalz stablemate Perry Saturn at Fully Loaded. Eddie made the European Championship feel meaningful, and he won the title for the second time at WrestleMania 17 when he overcame Test for the gold. His second time around as European Champion wasn't as good as his first run with the championship.
5 Matt Hardy
The Hardy Boyz had been teaming up consistently in WWE, but that did not stop them from winning singles championships in WWE. In April 2001, Matt Hardy defeated Eddie Guerrero for the European Championship.
Matt excelled as European Champion, and he is the longest-reigning American-born man to hold the European Championship. He defended the title regularly, but his real-life close friend The Hurricane curtailed his championship run in August.
4 X-Pac
X-Pac rejoined WWE on the Raw after WrestleMania 14, and he was a member of D-Generation X. X-Pac moved into the European Championship picture in the fall of 1998. He defeated D'Lo Brown for the European Championship in September 1998 which was his first singles title run in WWE.
His European Championship reign lasted just two weeks, but he quickly recaptured the title from D'Lo Brown at Judgment Day: In Your House. X-Pac thrived as European Champion and Shane McMahon was the man responsible to beat him for the title in a tag team match in February 1999.
3 D'Lo Brown
D'Lo Brown held the European Championship with pride whenever he got his hands on the championship. D'Lo was a member of the Nation when he won the European Championship twice in 1998.
D'Lo would hold the European Championship a total of four times, becoming the first man to achieve that feat. Moreover, he was the first man to hold both the European and Intercontinental Championship simultaneously. He's one of the greatest European Champions in history and deserves to be recognized for his contributions to the title.
2 William Regal
The European Championship was tailor-made for William Regal considering he was British. Regal wasted no time winning the European Championship for the first time at Al Snow's expense in October 2000.
He ties D'Lo Brown for becoming the second man to hold the European Championship four times. However, Regal suffered some eyebrow-raising losses as European Champion with the likes of Crash Holly and Spike Dudley managing to beat him for the title. Nevertheless, Regal's time as European Champion allowed him to win some bigger accolades.
1 The British Bulldog
The British Bulldog defeated his brother-in-law and tag team partner Owen Hart in February 1997 to become the inaugural European Champion. Bulldog is unquestionably the greatest European Champion in WWE history. Moreover, no man has held the European Championship longer than him with his maiden reign lasting a record 206 days.
A two-time European Champion in his own right, his first reign as European Champion lasted six months. Bulldog was a double champion for parts of his first reign as European Champion as he was the co-holder of the WWE Tag Team Championship with the King of Harts.
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