Our Olympic Hero
When the belt came out of retirement, it passed back and forth the lower card a few times at the end of 1999. Heading into 2000, it needed a hero to restore its former glory. What it got was an Olympic hero, someone who had taken on Europe and beaten them before. In February 2000, a rookie Kurt Angle pinned Val Venis on Smackdown to become European Champion, then weeks later beat Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Title. Proclaiming himself the "first ever" Eurocontinental Champion, since "no one cares about D'Lo Brown." Kurt's win started somewhat of a new era for the title, in which it went through a bit of rejuvenation. In the space of a year, WWE picked up and developed some of the most talented stars in the world. Most famously, the belt was again defended at Wrestlemania, this time in a Triple Threat match between Kurt, Jericho and Chris Benoit. Another of Wrestlemania's great matches that has disappeared into the archives, due to Benoit's insane murder/suicide. But then, you could fill a book with classic Chris Benoit matches we might never see again. The story going into the match was that Kurt's mentor, Bob "knee walk" Backlund had made sure both titles were on the line due to the blind faith he had in Kurt being able to win. What followed was a great Wrestlemania match between three of the best there's ever been. With all men competing in their first Wrestlemania, strangely the first fall would be for the more important IC title, with the European belt left til last. Despite not having much of a storyline buildup between the three, it was a fun match that will be remembered for Kurt losing both title belts without being pinned. All three would go on to have better matches, but this one let the Euro title shine for once. With Chris Jericho as new Champion, the belt was in good hands. But he didn't hold it long... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdXqpHtw6Ns