Triple Crown Championship

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This article deals with the achievement as understood in professional wrestling in the United States. For the Japanese championship, which is counted as a single title, see AJPW Triple Crown Championship. For the horse racing term, see Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. For other uses of Triple Crown, see Triple Crown.

In professional wrestling, a Triple Crown Champion is a term describing a wrestler who has won the three most prestigious belts of their promotion - typically a heavyweight belt, a tag team belt, and a second-tier belt. A "multiple triple crown" distinction also exists, with having won the three constituent titles at least a specified number of times.

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[edit] WWF/E Triple Crown

In World Wrestling Entertainment, the term Triple Crown Champion has traditionally been used to describe a wrestler who has won the WWF/E Championship, the WWF/E Intercontinental Championship, and the Tag Team Championship.[1] For a span of nearly eighteen years, from 1979 up through 1997, these were the three championships of the WWF, and a wrestler who had won all three championships (not necessarily concurrently) was considered a "triple crown champion."[1][2]

In 1997, a fourth title, the European Championship was introduced. The European Championship, a singles title beneath the World and Intercontinental titles, did not count for the purposes of designating triple crown champions, although a wrestler who had won all three primary titles and the European Championship would be recognized as a Grand Slam Champion. Following the brand extension in 2002, the World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship are alternate titles that can compose part of the Triple Crown.

[edit] Official list of WWE Triple Crown champions

The following is a list of WWE Triple Crown Champions, in the most general form. Only the WWE-era World Heavyweight Championship reigns are considered as part of the WWE Triple Crown.

Only the date in which the wrestler's first title was won is indicated. Dates in bold indicate the title that was used to complete the Triple Crown. Championships in italics indicate that they are alternate titles, not part of the original definition. Dates in italics indicate that the wrestler has won the title, but does not contribute to their Triple Crown, because they had already won a title at that level. Names in bold are also Grand Slam Champions.

Name World Championship Tag Team Championship Second-Tier Championship
WWE
Championship		 World
Heavyweight
Championship		 World Tag Team
Championship		 WWE Tag Team
Championship		 WWE Intercontinental Championship
Pedro Morales February 8, 1971 August 9, 1980
(with Bob Backlund)		 December 8, 1980[1]
Bret Hart October 12, 1992 January 26, 1987
(with Jim Neidhart)		 August 26, 1991
Diesel November 26, 1994 August 28, 1994
(with Shawn Michaels)		 April 13, 1994
Shawn Michaels March 31, 1996 November 17, 2002 August 28, 1994
(with Diesel)		 October 27, 1992
Steve Austin March 29, 1998 May 26, 1997
(with Shawn Michaels)		 August 3, 1997
The Rock November 15, 1998 August 30, 1999
(with Mankind)		 February 13, 1997
Triple H August 23, 1999 September 2, 2002 April 29, 2001
(with Steve Austin)		 October 21, 1996
Kane June 28, 1998 July 13, 1998 (with Mankind) May 20, 2001
Chris Jericho December 9, 2001 May 21, 2001
(with Chris Benoit)		 December 12, 1999
Kurt Angle October 22, 2000 January 10, 2006 October 20, 2002
(with Chris Benoit)		 February 27, 2000
Eddie Guerrero February 15, 2004 November 17, 2002
(with Chavo Guerrero)		 September 5, 2000
Chris Benoit March 14, 2004 May 21, 2001
(with Chris Jericho)		 October 20, 2002
(with Kurt Angle)		 April 2, 2000
Ric Flair January 19, 1992 December 14, 2003
(with Batista)		 September 18, 2005
Edge January 8, 2006 May 8, 2007 April 2, 2000
(with Christian)		 November 5,
2002
(with Rey Mysterio)		 July 24, 1999
Rob Van Dam June 11, 2006 March 31, 2003
(with Kane)		 December 7, 2004
(with Rey Mysterio)		 March 17, 2002
Booker T July 23, 2006 November 1, 2001
(with Test)		 July 7, 2003
Randy Orton October 7, 2007 August 15, 2004 November 13, 2006
(with Edge)		 December 14, 2003
    --won Triple Crown under the original definition
    --won Triple Crown with an alternate title
    --originally won Triple Crown with an alternate title, but has since accomplished the feat under the original definition
    --Won title as a member of the RAW brand.
    --Won title as a member of the SmackDown! brand.
    --Won title as a member of the ECW brand.
White indicates Triple Crown was won before brand extension

[edit] Potential champions

As of June 2008, the following active (or semi-active) wrestlers are potential Triple Crown Champions, all having previously possessed two major titles:

[edit] TNA Triple Crown

In Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), the TNA Triple Crown was an accolade bestowed upon those who won (not necessarily concurrently) all three championships regularly contested in TNA between 2002 and 2007 - the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the TNA X Division Championship and (one-half of) the NWA World Tag Team Championship. [3]

In May 2007, TNA lost the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship and introduced the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On July 8, 2007, TNA stated that, should the then-TNA X Division Champion win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, this would leave them "just one step shy of becoming only the second Triple Crown Champion". This indicates that the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship are part of the existing Triple Crown accolade. [4]

[edit] List of TNA Triple Crown winners

As of April 2008, there have been three TNA Triple Crown winners: A.J. Styles, Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. In TNA, it is possible to be a multi-time Triple Crown Champion, as evidenced by commentators Mike Tenay and Don West referring to Styles as 3-time Triple Crown Champion. Styles is a 3-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 6-time TNA X Division Champion, 4-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, and 1-time TNA World Tag Team Champion, making him a three-time Triple Crown winner. He completed his first Triple Crown on June 11, 2003 upon winning his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship. [5] [6]

Name World Championship Tag team Championship X Division Championship
NWA World
Heavyweight
Championship		 TNA World
Heavyweight
Championship		 NWA World
Tag Team
Championship		 TNA World
Tag Team
Championship		 TNA X Division
Championship
A.J. Styles June 11, 2003 July 3, 2002
(with Jerry Lynn)		 June 19, 2002
A.J. Styles April 21, 2004 February 4, 2004
(with Abyss)		 October 23, 2002
A.J. Styles May 15, 2005 June 18, 2006
(with Christopher Daniels)		 June 9, 2004
Kurt Angle June 17, 2007 August 12, 2007 August 12, 2007
Samoa Joe April 13, 2008 July 15, 2007 December 11, 2005

[edit] Potential champions

As of January 2008, the following TNA-contracted wrestlers required one more title in order to be awarded a Triple Crown:

  • Curry Man needs a TNA World Heavyweight Championship reign.
  • Abyss and Sting need a TNA X Division Championship reign.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Brian Shields (4th Edition 2006). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s. Pocket Books, 199. ISBN 9781416532576. 
  2. ^ Pedro Morales. WWE.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2007. “Pedro Morales [defeated] Ivan Koloff for the [WWF] Championship...Morales would also go on to become the first Triple Crown winner [upon winning] the Intercontinental Championship and World Tag Team Championship.”
  3. ^ Banks, B. (March 30, 2007). Ask TNAwrestling.com: New Titles, Great Muta, DVDs & More. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on May 14, 2007. “Who do you think will be the 2nd man to win the TNA Triple Crown?...Obviously, AJ Styles was the first to accomplish the feat, capturing the X, Tag Team and World Titles...”
  4. ^ Jevec, R. (July 8, 2007). The TNA Championship Scenarios At Sunday's Victory Road. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on July 19, 2007. “[Samoa Joe] has been a multi-time X Division Champion...A victory over Team 3D will put yet another championship title around his waist, leaving him just one step shy of becoming only the second Triple Crown Champion in TNA Wrestling history”
  5. ^ Finch, B. (December 9, 2006). Understanding "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on May 14, 2007. “A.J. Styles is a TNA Triple Crown champion. He has held the NWA World Title three times, the X-Division Title an incredible six times, is a four-time NWA World Tag-Team Champion as well as being the one half of the current TNA Tag Team Champions”
  6. ^ Cygy, M. (June 15, 2006). Official Results From Thursday's "iMPACT!" On SpikeTV. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on May 14, 2007. “AJ will also be a 3-time Triple Crown Winner in TNA”