10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The Hardcore Title

4. WWE Merged It With The Intercontinental Title

Rob Van Dam Hardcore Title
WWE.com

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.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.