| General |
| History |
| Title matches |
| |
| WWE European Championship | |
| Details | |
| Promotions: | WWE |
| Date established: | February 26, 1997 |
| Date retired: | July 22, 2002 (unified with the Intercontinental Championship) |
| Other name(s) | |
| Other name(s): | WWF European Championship (1997–2002) WWE European Championship (April 8, 2002-July 22, 2002) Unified WWE Intercontinental Championship (July 22, 2002) |
| Statistics | |
| First champion(s) | The British Bulldog |
| Most reigns | William Regal, D'Lo Brown (4 reigns) |
| Longest reign | The British Bulldog (206 days) |
| Shortest reign | Chris Jericho and Jeff Jarrett (23 hours) |
| Oldest champion | Diamond Dallas Page (46 years, 302 days) |
| Youngest champion | Jeff Hardy (24 years, 7 days) |
| Heaviest champion | Mark Henry (392 lb (178 kg)) |
| Lightest champion | Spike Dudley (150 lb (68 kg)) |
The WWE European Championship a professional wrestling championship competed for in WWE. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWE Intercontinental Championships within short spans of each other, and three held both simultaneously, becoming "Eurocontinental champions".
Established in 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in 1999 due to then-champion Shane McMahon's desire to retire as an "undefeated champion". It was renamed in May 2002 when the WWF became the WWE before finally being unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship in July that year by Rob Van Dam, making him the final European Champion. Despite its name, only two holders were actually from Europe: the British Bulldog, who was the inaugural champion, and William Regal. It became a prominent singles title of the Attitude Era, held by Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and others. It was contested in the main event of the One Night Only pay-per-view in 1997.
History[]
The WWE European Championship was originally known as the World Wrestling Federation European Championship. It emerged in 1997 when The British Bulldog became the first Champion after winning a tournament that was held over several shows in Germany, culminating in a finals victory over Owen Hart. Upon winning the belt, Shawn Michaels became the first Grand Slam Champion in WWE. Michaels is the only wrestler to have held both the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and the European title at the same time.
After winning the European title, both D'Lo Brown and Al Snow were billed from different parts of Europe each week while champion. During Snow's reign, he and "Head" dressed up as various ethnic stereotypes corresponding to the European location they were billed from, though not always in a politically or geographically correct manner. The belt was retired briefly in April 1999 by then-champion Shane McMahon, 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.