WWE European Championship

WWE European Championship
Matt Hardy as European Champion alongside his brother Jeff, who also held the title
Details
Promotion	WWF
Date established	February 26, 1997
Date retired	July 22, 2002
Other name(s)
WWF European Championship (1997–2002) WWE European Championship (2002)
Statistics First champion(s) The British Bulldog Final champion(s) Rob Van Dam Most reigns William Regal, D'Lo Brown (4 reigns) Longest reign The British Bulldog (206 days) Shortest reign Chris Jericho and Jeff Jarrett (<1 day) Oldest champion Diamond Dallas Page (46 years, 302 days) Youngest champion Jeff Hardy (24 years, 311 days) Heaviest champion Mark Henry (392 lb (178 kg)) Lightest champion Spike Dudley (150 lb (68 kg))

The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short spans of each other,^[1][2] and four held both simultaneously, becoming "Eurocontinental champions".^[3]

Established in February 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in April 1999 due to then-champion Shane McMahon's desire to retire as an "undefeated champion". The title returned in June 1999. 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. Despite its name, only two holders were actually from Europe: the British Bulldog, who was the inaugural and longest-reigning champion, and William Regal. It became a prominent singles title of the Attitude Era, held by then-former world champions Shawn Michaels and Diamond Dallas Page, along with Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Eddie Guerrero, among others.^[1]