List of WCW Hardcore Champions

The WCW Hardcore Championship was a professional wrestling Hardcore Championship contested for in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). During late—1999, WCW promoted various Hardcore matches, bouts where there were no disqualifications or countouts, that mainly involved Norman Smiley and Brian Knobbs. The developing rivalry between the two wrestlers led WCW to announce the creation of the WCW Hardcore Title in November 1999.[1] In January 2001, the champion Meng signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after his WCW contract expired.[2] Before leaving WCW Meng awarded the title on his final televised WCW appearance to Barbarian. after this the title was not defended again on WCW television and was largely adandoned with the belt only sporadicaaly appearing at house shows. Shortly afterwards, the promotion filed for bankruptcy and the WWF purchased all assets of WCW, and as a result, all WCW Championship copyrights were also property of the WWF. After the purchase, the WWF used the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship in the The Invasion storyline, in which former WCW wrestlers feuded with original WWF wrestlers before WCW's purchase, however, other WCW titles, including the WCW Hardcore Title, were not used.[3] After The Invasion narrative, the WWF deactivated the WCW World Championship and the WCW Tag Team Championship, but World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the WWF's successor, adopted the WWE United States and Cruiserweight Championships, two former WCW titles.[4][5] The WCW Hardcore Title, however, was not adopted because during this time, WWE operated its own Hardcore Championship.[6]

Title reigns were determined by professional wrestling hardcore match types with wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripts feuds, plots and storylines or were awarded the title due to scripted circumstances. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a hardcore wrestling type match or series of matches for the championship.[7] The inaugural champion was Norman Smiley, who defeated Brian Knobbs at WCW Mayhem (1999). Before the promotion's purchase, the title was vacant, though, Meng was the final wrestler to hold the championship. The title was won in Canadian municipalities and in American states. Smiley held the title the longest at 51 days, and at less than one day, Carl Oullete has the shortest title reign. Brian Knobbs has won the title on three occasions, the most in the championship's history; this also ties with the amount of times the title was vacated. Overall, there were 18 reigns.

Contents

History

# Wrestler Reigns Date Days
held		 Location Event Notes
1 Smiley, NormanNorman Smiley 1 01999-11-21 November 21, 1999 &1000000000000005100000051 Toronto, Ontario Mayhem (1999) Defeated Brian Knobbs to win the title.
2 Knobbs, BrianBrian Knobbs 1 02000-01-12 January 12, 2000 &1000000000000002700000027 Erie, PA Thunder This title change aired on tape delay
3 Bigelow, Bam BamBam Bam Bigelow 1 02000-02-07 February 7, 2000 &1000000000000001300000013 Tulsa, OK Nitro Fit Finlay was the guest referee.
4 Knobbs, BrianBrian Knobbs 2 02000-02-20 February 20, 2000 &100000000000000080000008 San Francisco, CA SuperBrawl (2000)
5 Helms, ShaneShane Helms, Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore 1 02000-02-28 February 28, 2000 &1000000000000002000000020 Minneapolis, MN Nitro Helms, Karagias, and Moore, known as the 3 Count stable, defeated Knobbs simultaneously in a match, and as a result, WCW allowed the freebird rule in which all three wrestlers were able to defend the title.
6 Knobbs, BrianBrian Knobbs 3 02000-03-19 March 19, 2000 &1000000000000002200000022 Miami, FL Uncensored (2000)
— Vacated 1 02000-04-10 April 10, 2000 &100000000000000060000006 Denver, CO Nitro WCW Presidents Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff vacated every WCW championship during WCW's reboot.
7 Funk, TerryTerry Funk 1 02000-04-16 April 16, 2000 &1000000000000003600000036 Chicago, IL Spring Stampede (2000) Defeated Norman Smiley to win vacant the title.
8 Douglas, ShaneShane Douglas 1 02000-05-22 May 22, 2000 &100000000000000010000001 Grand Rapids, MI Nitro Terry Funk was stripped by The New Blood. Chris Candido counted the pinfall to three.
9 Funk, TerryTerry Funk 2 02000-05-23 May 23, 2000 &1000000000000001300000013 Saginaw, MI Thunder Terry Funk Pinned Shane Douglas in a Handicap Match whit Norman Smiley.
10 Bischoff, EricEric Bischoff 1 02000-06-05 June 5, 2000 &100000000000000010000001 Atlanta, GA Nitro
11 Vito, BigBig Vito and Johnny the Bull 1 02000-06-06 June 6, 2000 &100000000000000060000006 Knoxville, TN Thunder WCW President Eric Bischoff awarded Vito and Johnny the title, and he announced that the freebird rule was in effect for this title reign, allowing both wrestlers to defend the title. This title reign aired on tape delay.
12 Vito, BigBig Vito 2 02000-06-12 June 12, 2000 &1000000000000004200000042 Billings, MT Thunder Big Vito attacks Johnny Stamboli become the champion.
13 Lance Storm 1 02000-07-24 July 24, 2000 &1000000000000002100000021 Cleveland, OH Nitro Storm renames championship "Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title" shortly after winning it.
14 Ouellet, CarlCarl Ouellet 1 02000-08-14 August 14, 2000 &100000000000000000000000 Kelowna, British Columbia Nitro Storm awarded Ouellet the title.
15 Smiley, NormanNorman Smiley 2 02000-08-14 August 14, 2000 &1000000000000004200000042 Kelowna, British Columbia Nitro
— Vacated 2 02000-09-25 September 25, 2000 &100000000000000070000007 Uniondale, NY Nitro The title was vacated by WCW Commissioner Mike Sanders.
16 Reno 1 02000-10-02 October 2, 2000 &1000000000000003700000037 San Francisco, CA Nitro Sgt. AWOL originally defeated Reno to win the title in a tournament final, however, Mike Sanders reversed the decision and awarded Reno the title.
17 Crowbar 1 02000-11-08 November 8, 2000 &1000000000000003900000039 Chicago, IL Thunder This title change aired on tape delay
18 Funk, TerryTerry Funk 3 02000-12-17 December 17, 2000 &1000000000000002800000028 Washington, D.C. Starrcade (2000)
19 Meng 1 02001-01-14 January 14, 2001 &100000000000000090000009 Indianapolis, IN Sin This was a triple threat match, also involving Crowbar.
20 Barbarian 1 02001-01-22 January 22, 2001 &1000000000000006300000063 Winston-Salem, NC Thunder The Championship was awarded to Barbarian by Meng on the final episode Meng appeared on WCW television. The title was subsequently not defended again on WCW Television and was not continued by the WWF when WCW was purchased. This title change was also aired on January 24, 2001 on tape delay. |-

List of individual reigns

Wrestler Days held Date won Date lost
Barbarian 63 January 22, 2001 March 26, 2001
Norman Smiley 51 November 21, 1999 January 11, 2000
Norman Smiley 42 August 14, 2000 September 25, 2000
Terry Funk 36 April 16, 2000 May 22, 2000
Big Vito 35 June 19, 2000 July 24, 2000
Reno 35 October 2, 2000 November 6, 2000
Crowbar 31 November 6, 2000 December 17, 2000
Terry Funk 28 December 17, 2000 January 14, 2001
Brian Knobbs 27 January 11, 2000 February 7, 2000
Brian Knobbs 22 March 19, 2000 April 10, 2000
Lance Storm 21 July 24, 2000 August 14, 2000
"3 Count" (Evan Karagias, Shannon Moore & Shane Helms) 20 February 28, 2000 March 19, 2000
Bam Bam Bigelow 13 February 7, 2000 February 20, 2000
"The Mamalukes" (Johnny the Bull & Big Vito) 13 June 6, 2000 June 19, 2000
Brian Knobbs 8 February 20, 2000 February 28, 2000
Meng 7 January 14, 2001 January 22, 2001
Shane Douglas 1 May 22, 2000 May 23, 2000
Eric Bischoff 1 June 5, 2000 June 6, 2000
Carl Ouellet <1 August 14, 2000

List of combined reigns

Rank Wrestler # of reigns Combined days
1. Norman Smiley 2 93
2. Terry Funk 2 81
3. Barbarian 1 59
4. Brian Knobbs 3 57
5. Big Vito 2 48
6. Reno 1 35
7. Crowbar 1 31
8. Lance Storm 1 21
9. Evan Karagias 1 20
9. Shane Helms 1 20
9. Shannon Moore 1 20
12. Bam Bam Bigelow 1 13
12. Johnny the Bull 1 13
14. Meng 1 7
15. Shane Douglas 1 1
16. Eric Bischoff 1 1
17. Carl Ouellet 1 <1

See also

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "WCW Hardcore Championship History". Wrestling Title Histories by Royal Duncan and Gary Will. Solie.org. http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/hrdcrwcw.html. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  2. ^ Powell, John. "Surprises dominate Rumble 2001". SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingPPV/jan22_rumble-can.html. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  3. ^ "WWE Entertainment, Inc. acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2001-03-23. http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2001/2001_03_23.jsp. Retrieved 2008-05-24. 
  4. ^ "WWE United States Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/unitedstates/. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  5. ^ "WWE Cruiserweight Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/cruiser/. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  6. ^ "WWE Hardcore Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/hard/. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
  7. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/pro-wrestling.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 

External links

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Secondary
World Television (Reigns) (1991–2000) · United States (Reigns) (1991–2001)
Tag Team
Divisional
Cruiserweight/Light Heavyweight (Reigns) (1991–1992; 1996–2001) · Women's (Reigns) (1996–1997) · Women's Cruiserweight (Reigns) (1997)
Other

Hardcore (Reigns) (1999–2001) · Triple Crown
WCW Hardcore Champions
Norman Smiley  · Brian Knobbs  · Bam Bam Bigelow  · Shane Helms (joint holder) · Evan Karagias (joint holder) · Shannon Moore (joint holder) · Terry Funk
Eric Bischoff  · Big Vito  · Jonny the Bull (joint holder)  · Lance Storm  · Carl Ouellet  · Reno  · Crowbar  · Meng  · Barbarian