WWE European Championship

The WWE European Championship is an inactive title competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. Despite its name, only two holders of the WWF/WWE version of European Championship were actually from Europe: the British Bulldog and William Regal.

History
The title was first seen in 1963, a few months after the company's birth when it was known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation. It was a fictitious title, awarded to newcomer Hans Mortier (of German origin) in order to elevate his status and get him over. The title was rarely defended, and finally abandoned in early 1964. This version of the European Championship is not recognized in the title history of the belt.

The next time the belt came into existence was in order to create more belts for wrestlers to compete for. The European Championship was placed below the coveted WWE Intercontinental Championship, and therefore seen as a "stepping stone" towards the IC title and beyond. Many people saw it as WWE's version of the WCW World Television Championship, though unlike that belt, the European title was competed for during house shows, and not typically featured in matches with time limits. Four wrestlers have won both the European and WCW Television championships: William Regal (as "Lord Steven Regal" in WCW), Diamond Dallas Page, Perry Saturn, and Chris Jericho. Three people would hold the European and Intercontinental Championships at the same time: D'Lo Brown, Jeff Jarrett, and Kurt Angle.

The WWF European Championship, as it was then known, emerged in 1997 when The British Bulldog became the first Champion after winning a tournament that was held over several shows in Germany. Shawn Michaels's winning the belt made him the first Grand Slam Champion in the WWE. Michaels is the only wrestler to have held both the WWF/WWE title 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 current 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.

The WWE European Championship, as it was next known, was retired in a ladder match on July 22, 2002 when Rob Van Dam put his WWE Intercontinental Championship on the line, along with Jeff Hardy's European Championship. By winning that match, Rob Van Dam merged the two titles together, and continued to hold the Intercontinental Title.

European Championship tournament
The tournament was held from February 20 through 26, 1997 in Germany. The first two rounds were held at various house shows in the country through February 25, with the finals coming at a Monday Night RAW taping on February 26. The episode of RAW with the final match aired on March 3 1997.

Reference

 * The History of WWE (for European title tournament results)