This proved to be the final nail in the coffin. Having put WCW out of business in March of 2001, the WWE began recruiting the organisations free agents and building a roster of talent bigger than ever before. But it wasnt just wrestlers that the acquisition providedchampionships arrived as well. WCWs World Heavyweight Championship, Tag Team Championships, Cruiserweight Championship and United States Championship soon became part of WWE programming, meaning that for all the new talent that the company had recruited, the ratio of wrestlers-to-titles was arguably even lower than before. This prompted a series of quick-fire title reigns which truth be told did little to the value of any of the belts, until the WWE decided to begin unifying various championships. And though the European Championship survived the original unification process, by the time of the 2002 brand expansion the titles time was up. WWE chose to merge the strap with the Intercontinental title and resurrected the United States Championship for SmackDownpresumably thanks to the latters much lengthier history and tradition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx-2PcAzTIM Its now been well over twelve years since we saw the European Championship defended in the WWE. And the chances of that hiatus ending appear slim to say the least, given that the US title has essentially taken the Europeans place. Perhaps it could be revived on the basis that it stays true to its nameonly being defended on the handful of occasions that the WWE visits Europe each year, or even being reserved exclusively for the companys expanding pool of talent from the continent. Either way, a return would have to be handled much better than the titles first run. In just a few short years the belt went from the waist of one of the greatest wrestlers of all time to a position of total irrelevance. In a world where todays stars could so easily be gone tomorrow, there are few who can match the demise of the European Championship.
