Grand Slam Championship

&nbsp The Grand Slam Championship is an accomplishment in professional wrestling. It is a distinction made to a professional wrestler who has won four specific championships in World Wrestling Entertainment or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The four titles typically feature three levels of singles championships and a tag team championship. As a result, a Grand Slam Champion is also inherently a Triple Crown Champion, which consists of only two levels of singles titles and a tag team title. World Wrestling Entertainment

In World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation) the term "Grand Slam Champion" was originally used by Shawn Michaels to describe himself upon winning the European Championship on September 20, 1997. Michaels previously held the WWF Champion and Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Championship with Diesel.[1]

In 2001, WWF.com indicated that the Hardcore Championship was an acceptable substitute for the European Championship in the Grand Slam. Kane, who had defeated Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship at Judgment Day on May 20, 2001,[2] was acknowledged as a Grand Slam Champion as he had "become the only superstar in World Wrestling Federation history that has held the Intercontinental title as well as the Hardcore, Tag Team and WWF titles".[3] [4]

In April 2006, Kurt Angle was noted as being a former Grand Slam Champion on WWE.com, having won the WWE, WWE Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship, indicating that WWE considers the WWE Tag Team Championship to be an acceptable substitute for the World Tag Team Championship.[5] In August 2007, WWE.com published an article listing Shawn Michaels' championship reigns that completed the Grand Slam Championship. They included the WWE, World Heavyweight, World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship. The inclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship indicated that WWE considers the title to be an acceptable substitute for the WWE Championship in completing the Grand Slam.[1]

At ECW One Night Stand in 2006, Rob Van Dam became the first superstar acquired by WWE after the purchase of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001 to complete the Grand Slam. Booker T became the second star acquired by the purchase to complete the Grand Slam when he defeated Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Great American Bash 2006. Booker has held the World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and Hardcore titles[6]

As of September 20, 2010, ten wrestlers have held a combination of the four championships to complete the Grand Slam (six of them holding a modified version, as compared to the original definition). As the European Championship and Hardcore Championships were unified with the Intercontinental Championship on July 22 and August 27, 2002, respectively, the number of future potential Grand Slam Champions is limited to wrestlers who have held the European or Hardcore Championships.

A interesting note is that Pedro Morales won four championship during his WWWF/WWF/WWE career (those four being the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, the WWWF United States Championship, the WWF Tag Team Championship, and the WWE Intercontinental Championship), but is not considered a Grand Slam Champion. More importantly he did so 17 years before Michaels did, this may in fact be the reason why as the term was not yet made.