8 years ago, the WWE has retired 3 of their traditional championships:
Light-Heavyweight Championship, European Heavyweight Championship and the Hardcore Championship
Sean Waltman was the last man to hold the WWE Light-Heavyweight Championship
Rob Van Dam was the last guy to hold the European Title and the Hardcore Title when he unified them w/the I-C Heavyweight Title
and the WWE has also retired the Cruiserweight Championship (that debut in WCW in 1996) and Hornswaggle became the last man to hold that belt
But this past Summer, the WWE has once again retired 2 of their traditional titles:
The WWE World Tag Team Championship and the WWE Women's Championship
The Hart Dynasty became the last team to hold the WWE World Tag Team Championship and Layla El became the last woman to hold the Women's Title in the WWE
The British Bulldog was the 1st European Heavyweight Champion in the WWE
D-Lo Brown and William Regal are tied w/the most reigns as European Champion with 4
Dean Malenko and Seasn Waltman has held the Light-Heavyweight Championship twice
Gillberg has held the belt longer than anyone else w/almost 65 weeks to his credit
Mick Foley was the 1st WWE Hardcore Champion in the WWE
Raven holds the record for the most reigns as Hardcore Champion holding the belt 27 times
Demolition holds the record for the longest reign as the WWE World Tag Team Champions holding the title for 68 weeks and 2 days
Edge holds the record for the most reigns as an individual holding the belts 12 times holding the titles 7 times w/Christian, twice w/Chris Benoit and once w/Randy Orton once w/Chris Jericho and once w/Hulk Hogan
The 3 Tag Teams w/the most reigns are The Tag Teams from the Attitude Era
The Dudleys, Edge and Christian and The Hardys
The Dudleys holds the record for the most reigns as a Tag Team holding the titles 8 times
Edge & Christian has the 2nd most reigns as a Tag Team holding the titles 7 times
The Hardys has the 3rd most reigns as a Tag Team holding the titles 6 times
Rey Mysterio holds the record for the most reigns as Cruiserweight Champion holding the title 8 times
Shane Helms holds the record of the single longest reign as CW Champion holding the title for 55 consecutive weeks
The WWE Women's Championship has been held by so many ladies:
The late Fabulous Moolah (the longest running Women's Champion in history), Wendi Richter, Lelani Kai, the late Sherri Martel, Madusa, Bull Nakano, the late Bertha Fae, Trish Stratus who holds the record w/7 reigns to her credit, Mickie James who holds the 2nd most reigns holding the title 5 times, Ivory, Lita, Jazz, Melina, Chyna, Molly Holly, Gail Kim who won the Women's Title in her very 1st match on RAW, Beth Phoenix and of course, the Vicious Vixen known as VICTORIA
and so, the WWE has the titles that debut on SD!:
WWE Tag Team Championship which has been around since 2002 and the WWE Divas Championship that has been around since 2008
Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit became the 1st team to hold the WWE Tag Team Titles and they are now in the hands of Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre
London & Kendrick holds the record for the longest reign as WWE Tag Team Champions holding almost a full year
MNM holds the record for the most reigns as a Tag Team holding the belt 3 times
and also, Michelle McCool was the 1st Divas Champion in the WWE and Maryse is thus far, the longest running Divas Champion in the WWE and Jillian Hall holds the record for the shortest reign as Divas Champion
There have been 4 women to hold both the Women's Championship and the Divas Championship:
Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Melina Perez and Layla El
and now, that leaves only 4 belts of as Linda McMahon once called it the Men's Championships that are currently active in the WWE:
The WWE I-C Heavyweight Championship
The WWE U.S. Heavyweight Championship
The Big Gold World Heavyweight Championship
and the traditional WWE Heavyweight Championship
The U.S. Heavyweight Championship has been around since 1975 and Harley Race was the 1st man to hold the U.S. Heavyweight Championship
It is also the only title to ever be defended in all 3 major companies: NWA, WCW and the WWE
The I-C Heavyweight Championship has been around since 1979 and Pat Patterson became the 1st man to hold the title when he unified the Northern Heavyweight Championship and the Southern Heavyweight Championship
The U.S. Heavyweight Championship was a stepping stone towards the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
The I-C Heavyweight Championship is a stepping stone towards the WWE Heavyweight Championship
The WWE Heavyweight Championship has been around since 1963 when the late Nature Boy Buddy Rogers became the 1st man to hold the title and Bruno Sammartino holds the record for the longest reign in the history of the WWWF/WWF/WWE
The World Heavyweight Championship has been around for 8 years since Labor Day 2002 when it debut on RAW
The current champions are as follows:
Dolph Ziggler-Current WWE I-C Heavyweight Champion
Daniel Bryan-Current WWE U.S. Heavyweight Champion
The Miz-Current WWE Heavyweight Champion
Edge-Current 6x World Heavyweight Champion
and there is also talk about unifying those titles as well
and so, the question is this:
Is the WWE Killing Their own Tradition as far as titles go?
and if the WWE Unifies the titles, will they still keep the I-C and WWE Belt or will they be retired for the U.S. and World Belt?
That's the Question!
Please share your thoughts on all of this
The British Bulldog; The 1st European Heavyweight Champion in the WWE
Christian winning the WWE Light-Heavyweight Championship in his very 1st match in the WWE
The Hardys holding the European Heavyweight Championship and the Light-Heavyweight Championship
Rob Van Dam holding the WWE Hardcore Championship
Demolition; The Longest Running World Tag Team Champions in WWE History
The Dudleys winning the WWE World Tag Team Titles for the very 1st time
The Dudleys winning their record setting 8th WWE World Tag Team Titles
Edge & Christian; 7x WWE World Tag Team Champions
The Hardys and Lita holding the WWE World Tag Team Championship and the WWE Women's Title
The Hardys; 6x WWE World Tag Team Champions
Madusa; 3x WWE Women's Champion and the 1st Female Cruiserweight Champion
Rey Mysterio; 8x Cruiserweight Champion
Gregory Helms; The Longest Running Cruiserweight Champion in the WWE
The Late Fabulous Moolah; The Longest Running Ladies Champion in Professional Wrestling
Lisa "Ivory" Moretti; AN AWESOME WWE Women's Champion
Jazz; The 1st WWE Women's Champion during the Brand Extension Era
Trish Stratus; 7x WWE Women's Champion
Mickie James; 5x WWE Women's Champion
Molly Holly who held the WWE Women's Title for a 2nd time for 29 weeks
Melina Perez; 3x WWE Women's Champion
Beth Phoenix "The Glamazon"; 3x WWE Women's Champion
Gail Kim winning the WWE Women's Championship in her very 1st match on RAW
VICTORIA; A TRUE WWE Women's Champion
