5 Great Inaugural WWE Champions (And 5 That Sucked)

5 That Were Great...

5. Mankind - WWE Hardcore Champion

When it comes to unnecessary championship belts from the Attitude Era, none seemed more superfluous than the WWE Hardcore Championship. The company already had a host of titles (ranging from the important to the unimportant), and the soon-to-be established 24/7 rule didn't do any favours for anyone besides the originator, Crash Holly.

Nevertheless, there were some fun Hardcore Title matches in the belt's early days, giving men like Al Snow, The Big Boss Man, and Hardcore Holly something to do (and for fans who weren't watching then, plenty of current members of the WWE roster would be lucky to get reactions like they got).

It all had to start somewhere, though, and that somewhere was the perfect place: with Mick Foley.

Playing the Mankind character, Foley was aligned with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, and despite the fact that McMahon was a hated heel, Foley remained a popular babyface. When McMahon awarded his associate with the brand-new Hardcore Title, fans were pleased.

Though Foley's reign didn't last long (he was defeated by The Big Boss Man after McMahon turned on him), any legitimacy the belt had was thanks to him.