10 Longest WWE European Championship Reigns Ever
WWE's champions of Europe who spent the most time with the belt.
Continuing my quest to document the longest reigns of each title in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment, this month I'll take a look at one of the least important titles ever to be introduced into the company. Yes, I'm talking of course about the European Championship. Introduced in 1997, it would last only five years before being consigned to the bin of history. The British Bulldog won the initial title, beating Owen Hart in a tournament final in Germany, and over the next five years 27 men would share 37 reigns with the strap.
Maybe I'm being a little harsh on the title. In its five year history some of the greatest names in modern wrestling held it, everyone from Triple H to Eddie Guerrero to Kurt Angle to Mideon. Mideon? Yeah, Mideon. In all fairness, he didn't actually win the belt, more he was awarded it by Shane McMahon for noticing it in McMahon's bag. Actually, I take it back, I'm not being harsh on it at all.
So who had the longest reign with the belt? Well, I can tell you that two men, Jeff Jarrett and Chris Jericho, had championship reigns that lasted less than 24 hours. D-Lo Brown and William Regal would have the most amount of reigns at four each. The belt was put to rest when Rob Van Dam unified it with his Intercontinental Title on July 22, 2002. The final champion was Jeff Hardy.
Enough wafflin', here's the list!
10. William Regal - 63 Days
I'll start with one of only two Europeans to hold the title, Britain's very own William Regal. Regal's fourth and final run with the title was also the penultimate reign of the belt itself.
Lasting 63 days, it began by defeating Spike Dudley on May 6th 2002. Spike was actually the man in possession of the belt when the WWF became the WWE.
Jeff Hardy would bring the reign to an end, ostensibly as a way to set up the Hardy/RVD ladder match to unify the titles.