European championship
 

This was created in 97 but what was the story behind it?

don't really remember a story tbh. Just announced they were going to have a new belt and a tournament was born...

remember when Dlo Brown first won the title, he came out on Heat and announced that EuroDisneyland had just named two rides after him in his honor: the "skyhigh" and the "low down". my best memory of that championship.

They made it quite prestigious when it first came out. Twas good when Bulldog had it but he lost it to Michaels :(

I loved when D Lo had the European belt.

yea, that's how you book a title and make your undercard seem important. One of the best feuds of the attitude era came from the European Title. X-pac/Shane had a shit load of heat and involved a number of players. A simple feud that worked great over the fucking Euro title

Al Snow as European Champion. :D :rofl:

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I remember RAW was being held in Germany back in Feb 1997 I believe (it was the week after the RAW in the Manhattan Center when ECW first invaded, a week before RAW is WAR and the titantron debuted).

It was at that RAW in Germany that they debuted The European Championship, with The British Bulldog defeating Owen Hart in the finals for the belt.

One of my favorite memories was Al Snow calling it The Europenis (you're-a-penis) Championship

One of my favorite memories was the EuroContinental Champion. ;)

I always thought they should bring it back, to give the undercard some meaning.

I agree, thats why I would love to see the Hardcore title back, it made the undercard fun, and added I dont know, spontaneousness to the undercard, because just about anyone could win it.

European would be quite good as the 3rd rung title, and possibly to have a dual champion again. \

The Champion of Europa was hilarious.

If memory serves, didn't HBK win the Euro title from Bulldog in London

The really shitty thing about this was that Bulldog had dedicated the match do his dying sister (or some relative) as he was meant to go over and look like a god

HBK lost that dam smile of his again and decided that he wasn't going to lose, infact, he was going to win the Euro title, so after Davey Boy had cut that promo, HBK went to Vince and bitched and moaned about the match, until the outcome changed.

Then HBK found religion, left for a while and everyone forgot how much of a prick he used to be

I think it was meant to be a reward for the Bulldog and try to encourage more fans from Germany and England. Youell sums up the rest

I love the probable thought process behind it.

Bulldog you're good but not World title good. Instead we are going to make up a new title which by it's very name is meant to sound less prestigious that the World Title. Thank you for all you hard work *hand over title*

Next week:

Bulldog, you've made the title look too good we're going to give it to Shawn Michaels for no good reason other than to make him feel better, please don't hurt his feelings again. If we decide to make a Bulldog title, you'll be first in line for consideration.

It was One Night Only in Manchester. I was there. Michaels held a figure-4 for like, 10 minutes, then the ref called the submission.

The ring got more filled with crap than i've ever seen. Michaels and HHH just had to run very quickly to the back.

Key phrase: used to be. People change, if you let them...

Agreed.

The hardcore could do well on ECW and Smackdown, giving the lower carders something to fight over...

agreed. Which is why it will never happen.

If they did it with the falls count anywhere rule, so they could have say 4 or 5 segments of Hardcore title battles within the show, it would rule.

Some of my favorite matches were those time limit title matches for the hardcore strap.

Fallen Angel, that is the probably the smartest suggestion I've heard for improving ECW, ever. It does indeed make too much sense. Why not resurrect the Hardcore title for ECW? They could bring back the no-rules part of the old ECW that made it what it was, without losing the WWE-ness that Vince needs so much with DQs and countdouts.

I can't believe how much sense bringing back the hardcore title and using it in ECW makes.

How has it not been brought up on TPWW until now?

With the Hardcore title and Adamle commentating, I might actually watch ECW.

OMG TOMMY CLEANER WINS THE HARDCORE HOLLY TITLE BY PINFAULT AGAINST MIKE THE MIZ USING THE TWO-BY-FOUR SEVEN RULE!

I actually agree. Even if they just stick it on Heat, it gives guys like Charlie Haas something to hold while he runs around in a mask. Val Venis could build up more of an under-card resume, so it looks more impressive when someone beats him. DH Smith could be pretty over with the European Championship, I believe. Brian Kendrick could have even won the belt while Paul London was out.

I'm not as big on the Hardcore Championship coming back. Not unless it is contested under "Extreme Rules" like classic ECW matches, and doesn't have that 24/7 stuff. I was not a condemner of it back then, but things get way too confusing when Stevie Richards can lay claim to being a 22-time Hardcore Champion from house show victories. I liked the belt when The Undertaker was holding it as a heel, and Rob Van Dam was feuding with him.

Both of the belts could be brought back and bring a good amount of entertainment and more prestige to the undercard. DH Smith would obviously be European champion in no time. They'd only be worth bringing back if the WWE was gonna use them properly and booked it right.

But, good booking from WWE writers is like ejaculating whilst drunk - it just doesn't happen.

The Euro belt on Heat actually sounds good and would give more credibility to Heat, and make it watchable. Even better, it could be a Heat-only title. Maybe not so better. Dunno.

Its unusual to see that much shit tossed into a wwe ring. Wcw it semed to be a weekly occurance.

No, YOU'RE a peon!

Well if the european tours are so successful lately, it just shows what a cock Vince is.

With Regal as KotR, he should cut a promo like "I'm the GM and KotR, so along with my crown, I'm going to add another jewel... I declare myself the NEW European Champion". -

Makes sense cos he's European too (which strikes a chord with the reasoning and is a nod to Davey boy back in the day)

Of course after this I'd love to see Regal start a EURO stable of some sort. But again, not happenin.

Stables rule too much for it to happen.

Holy fucking shit. This makes TWO super-obvious things that should happen:

1. Hardcore title brought back as an ECW titletitle
2. European title brought back by William Regal, on a power trip

If either of those happened (never mind both), I'd shit myself and convulse happily.

If you were there, you'd be in Birmingham. Know what I'm saying mofo?

LOL

I thought of that, too, actually. It'd make Regal the only five-time European Champion, which would be a good boost for him. He currently shares the record with D'Lo Brown.

My only concern with it, is that Regal will be held down by the title, more than raise it up. Regal should hopefully be moving up to the main event, and although in a perfect world, you could have a European Championship treated with dignity and respect, I can't help but see it as another Chris Jericho holding the IC Title situation.

Regal should definitely form a stable, though. I'd like to see Paul Burchill, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas join as his "Royal Knights". Katie Lea Burchill would then been added, because of Paul Burchill. Although they share the same first name, so WWE fans will obviously get confused, Paul London & Brian Kendrick could make "Court Jesters" to Regal. Brian Kendrick, at the very least, seems to be heading down a more heelish path.

I think, if done right, Regal could raise the title up to Intercontinental-like status. But then that would make two secondary titles, wouldn't it? Hmm... moving him and the title to ECW would be a mistake. Maybe move the I/C title to ECW? Or swap the I/C and US titles and move the US to ECW?

There has to be a way to make it work. Let's sit down and have a cup of coffee and discuss things rationally, there's a way for this to work out...

Wait a minute, is this true?

Pretty much.

Story goes that Bulldog was set to win but at the last minute Michaels and Tripple H convinced Vince to give the win to Michaels, building interest in a rematch in the states where Bulldog would get the belt back.

Of course, we all know *that* never happened.

And yeah, One Night Only was in Birmingham, not London or Manchester