13 Wrestling Matches That Cost Wrestlers Their Custom Belts

Bradshaw won his first Hardcore Championship on Raw (3 June 2002) defeating Steven Richards. He continued to lose and regain the championship during house shows. By the time he appeared with the championship on TV twelve days later, Bradshaw was a ten-time champion. He lost the championship to Johnny Stamboli that night but regained it before Raw ended. The Hardcore championship was again passed between lower mid-carders on the house show circuit. The 24/7 stipulation was particularly erratic in the belt’s final year.

Bradshaw (c) vs. Jeff Hardy

Monday Night Raw (29 July 2002)

Bradshaw debuted his custom belt, which he dubbed the Texas Hardcore Championship. It featured the Texas state flag and mini bull horns on top off a Smoking Skull title plate. Bradshaw looked dominant against Hardy as a hard-hitting brawler worthy of a Hardcore reign. However, when Hardy introduced ladders into the match, the tide turned. Hardy scored the pin with an impressive Swanton Bomb from a ladder. Jeff didn’t get to celebrate with the custom belt before Stamboli nailed him with a spinebuster and successful pin. Bradshaw hit the new champion with a Clothesline from Hell, but Tommy Dreamer took Bradshaw out with a Singapore cane, pinning Stamboli himself.