10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The Hardcore Title
4. WWE Merged It With The Intercontinental Title
To this day, the Hardcore Title is still part of WWE's product. That may come as a shock, especially because the title hasn't been defended since Tommy Dreamer valiantly fought Rob Van Dam on the 26 August 2002 edition of Raw. Afterwards, the Hardcore belt was merged with Van Dam's Intercontinental Title.
WWE haven't made any mention of this since, keeping the Hardcore part of IC history a secret to fans not watching almost 15 years ago. History dictates that the Hardcore Title was swallowed up by the more prestigious second-string championship though, and that's something to keep in mind should WWE ever bring back Hardcore.
After RVD won the thing, WWE abandoned all talk of the Hardcore Title. Van Dam didn't even carry the belt around; it was as though the title had never existed. In fact, the Hardcore belt wouldn't be seen again until Mick Foley and Edge randomly declared themselves co-champions (for a defunct title) in 2006.
Work that one out.