10 Best 21st Century WWE Moments In Madison Square Garden
7. The Hardcore Title Is Retired - Monday Night Raw, August 26th 2002
First established in 1998, the Hardcore Championship was the source of many fond memories for wrestling fans during the Attitude Era. Whether it was Gerald Brisco pinning a sleeping Crash Holly, Mighty Molly clattering The Hurricane with a frying pan, or Shane McMahon falling to his doom at SummerSlam 2000, the title has dozens of iconic moments attached to it and its last ever moment came at Madison Square Garden.
In August 2002, then-Hardcore Champion Tommy Dreamer put his belt on the line in a winner-takes-all match against Intercontinental Champion, Rob Van Dam. These two ECW icons put on a hell of a bout on this episode of Raw, but it was Mr. Monday Night who came away with the win, pinning Dreamer to unify the belts and banish the Hardcore title to the history books forever.
Whilst it certainly was poetic that an icon of hardcore wrestling was the final ever Hardcore Champion, many fans were disappointed to see the battered old belt go. It had provided some amazing comedy relief over the years and was consistently one of the most entertaining parts of any show. Sadly the same could not be said for its olive-green successor...