5 Great Inaugural WWE Champions (And 5 That Sucked)
1. British Bulldog - WWE European Champion
A third singles title may have seemed like overkill in 1997, but it made sense to honour WWE's growing European market with a title that was (at least initially) intended to represent the continent.
Furthermore, the tournament to crown the initial champion boasted a murderer's row of talent: Bret Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Flash Funk, Vader, Rocky Maivia, Mankind, and Triple H were all vying for the brand-new belt.
The tournament came down to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog, who just so happened to be the reigning World Tag Team Champions. Nevertheless, they were often at odds and happy to fight each other for the right to be called the first European Champion.
Their bout, which took place in Berlin, Germany, is fondly remembered as one of the best matches in Raw history. Owen fought his hardest, kicking out of the Running Powerslam but, in the end, Bulldog was victorious, claiming his first singles title since defeating Bret Hart at SummerSlam 1992.
There could be no better man to inaugurate the European Championship.
And now for the 5 that sucked...