PW Boards European Championship Tournament

Omackeral · 13-09-2014 11:43pm #1

Thought I might as well go ahead and round off the series with a lesser prestigious title but one that was around for the duration of the hottest periods in wrestling, the Attitude Era. Debuting on February 26, 1997 after an 8 man single-elimination tournament in Germany after a series of WWF television tapings, the British Bulldog defeated Owen Hart in a classic to become the first European champion. This would start a 5 1/2 year existence of the belt dedicated to the continent of Europe. There have been 27 overall champions of this belt with 37 reigns altogether. Some of the greatest names in the modern era have held the title including Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero and, erm, Mideon.

Since number-wise we have an unfriendly amount of tournament participants, all multiple time champions will receive a bye into the quarter finals.

Rules for Round 1

*All draws are made using a random number generator.

*First to attain 3 votes will progress.

Omackeral · 13-09-2014 11:43pm

Round 1 Match

Shawn Michaels

The First Ever Grand Slam Champion

vs

Owen Hart

The Black Hart

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 12:23am

I'll kick us off by casting a vote for Owen Hart. Had a decent feud with Hunter for the title and competed for it at WrestleMania 14. Also had a cracker of a match for the belt in Germany vs Davey Boy in the tournament final.

gerrybbadd · 14-09-2014 10:05am

Always pissed me right off that the Irish flag wasn't on the bedlt, but the Italian flag is there twice!

Owen for me. Shawn had no interest in the belt and took it off Davey to annoy him. Owen was a far better champ

Blue_Dabadee · 14-09-2014 10:27am

Owen Hart

connemara man · 14-09-2014 10:29am

Owen Hart just because

brianregan09 · 14-09-2014 12:03pm

Owen Hart mostly because of his feuds with HHH

Angron · 14-09-2014 12:06pm

Owen for me. My main memory of HBK with the title was farcically dropping it to HHH.

Moneymaker · 14-09-2014 12:44pm

Shawn because that "match" with Hunter cracked me up.

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 1:01pm

The Hart Foundation triumphs over D-Generation X as the Sole Survivor topples the Showstopper. Next up it's one underachiever vs one over achiever.

Test

The T in T&A

vs

Diamond Dallas Page

''That's Not a Bad Thing. That's a... Good Thing!''

diamond-dallas-page-tumblrm83nu6psv21qzx70zo1500-1364225805.jpg

Moneymaker · 14-09-2014 1:28pm

Neither set the world on fire, but i'll go for Test as the feud and matches with Eddie were pretty solid.

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 2:15pm

Think I'll go with Test myself, have an irrational dislike of DDP from back then (felt he was a pure mark) as evidenced when he jumped into the crowd after beating Christian at WM X8. Test defended the title on possibly the greatest ever Wrestling card of all time at Mania 17. Agree with MM though, neither will win this.

brianregan09 · 14-09-2014 3:32pm

To be honest i don't even remember Page with that title so Test for me

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 3:41pm

DDP fails to pass the Test and feels the bang at the first hurdle. Next up we have the last ever European champion (who unified it with the IC strap and essesntially retired it) vs a man that won it at WrestleMania 2000 without pinning the defending champion!

Rob Van Dam

Mr Unification

vs

Chris Jericho

Break The (Berlin) Walls Down

brianregan09 · 14-09-2014 3:42pm

Rob Van Dam simply because i felt Y2J was way too good for that title and should have never held it

CSF · 14-09-2014 3:54pm

Y2J every time. I hate RVD!!

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 4:01pm

I'm gonna go with Y2J also. RVD never really even had the belt, just unified it. Some say he's not even recognised. Also, it looked good on Jericho as per the above picture.

Blue_Dabadee · 14-09-2014 4:03pm

Y2J as well

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 4:11pm

RVD cant overcome the Y2J problem and is quickly dispatched by the Millennium Man. Next up......

Perry Saturn

The Forgotten Radical

vs

Val Venis

Bonjour......Ladies

ValVenis_display_image.jpg?1320851064

ShagNastii · 14-09-2014 4:17pm

Val Venis for sure. He always was one of the guys that never was world title level but lower-mid card title suited him to a tee.

Blue_Dabadee · 14-09-2014 4:18pm

Val Venis for me.

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 4:21pm

I'm going to admit it, I was a Saturn mark. Ever since I saw his stuff in ECW I was mesmerised. He was agile as hell back then. In WCW he piled on the bulk and could do some awesome throws etc. I feel like he was a little under utilised in WWE but obviously was outshone by Chris and Eddie. I'm voting for Saturn.

Venis was a great Euro guy though, loved his match at Summerslam vs D'Lo with the chest protector.

Angron · 14-09-2014 4:34pm

The big Valbowski gets my vote. Most of what I remember of Saturn involves Moppy, not a title.

Moneymaker · 14-09-2014 4:49pm

Val. He had plenty of good matches for the title and it fit him well.

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 4:50pm

Venis beats Saturn in a th.... wait a minute. That's brilliant. Venis. Saturn. They should've tagged. Missed intergalactic opportunity right there.

Spike Dudley

The Runt of the Litter

vs

Christian

For now... You're On Your Own!

Moneymaker · 14-09-2014 4:54pm

Christian. I don't even remember Spike holding the title.

Garseys · 14-09-2014 4:55pm

Hands Down Christian. He had a great run with the belt and I loved his tantrums during the same period with the title!

Angron · 14-09-2014 4:55pm

Christian, like Moneymaker I don't remember Spike being champ at all.

Blue_Dabadee · 14-09-2014 4:56pm

Christian for me as well.

Sirsok · 14-09-2014 4:59pm

Christian 100% great fun during that period! Lost the title to DDP (I think) failed to reclaim it at mania 18 but then goes on to capture the hardcore title that night!

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 5:10pm

Captain Charisma with an absolute whitewash of Little Spike Dudley. I'm not even gonna try hide this, the next match is a total dud....

Bradshaw

Don't Mess With Texas

Bradshaw_vs_The_Huricane_C_WWF_European_Championship_match_0001.jpg

vs

Mark Henry

Sexual Chocolate

Garseys · 14-09-2014 5:11pm

I didn't even know they both held it

Gonna go with Bradshaw... Maggle

Blue_Dabadee · 14-09-2014 5:12pm

Mark Henry for me, he held the belt longer than Bradshaw.

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 5:20pm

This is a truly horrible match up. Bradshaw held it for a paltry 8 days and Mark Henry didn't even win a match to get it, it was given to him by Jeff Jarrett. I'll go with Henry though as at least it was part of a storyline and he defended it on a PPV.

Angron · 14-09-2014 5:42pm

Bradshaw, cause I flipped a coin :pac:

Zemuppet · 14-09-2014 8:22pm

Mark Henry as I can't remember Bradshaw's reign

CSF · 14-09-2014 10:29pm

Mark Henry because he's Mark Henry, no but really I enjoyed his unification thing v D-Lo

Omackeral · 14-09-2014 11:48pm

Sexual Chocolate advances past the former Acolyte in a dull enough encounter. This next match up features guys you would associate with an entirely different division. Let's get to it.

Crash Holly

Elroy goes European

vs

Al Snow

The Walking Talking Stereotype

AlSnow_display_image.jpg?1320852574

Angron · 14-09-2014 11:52pm

Al Snow. That picture reminded me of his silly stuff with the title, it was an enjoyable enough gimmick while it lasted.

Omackeral · 15-09-2014 12:09am

Al Snow for me too. Loved when he came out representing Greece but was dressed as someone from Grease. Classic.

Zemuppet · 15-09-2014 12:37am

Al Snow to win the whole tournament. Loved his reign with his comedic elements

brianregan09 · 15-09-2014 12:51am

Al Snow to win this contest but nowhere near the tournament which has to be DLO Brown

Omackeral · 15-09-2014 1:38am

The Snowman ploughs through to the quarter finals with his much loved stereotype parody gimmick. Next up is a pretty interesting bout...

Jeff Hardy

Team Xtreme's Dare Devil

vs

Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy Version0.5

matt_hardy_wwf_european_champ_by_windows8osx-d5aj1b5.jpg

Zemuppet · 15-09-2014 1:55am

I'm a big Jeff Hardy fan but I have to give to Matt because he had a longer title run.

Omackeral · 15-09-2014 3:14am

I agree. Wasn't he the longest reigning American born a European Champion ever actually. So yeah Matt gets my vote here too.

Zemuppet · 15-09-2014 3:33am

Omackeral wrote: »

I agree. Wasn't he the longest reigning American born a European Champion ever actually. So yeah Matt gets my vote here too.

You're right, longest single reign by a US wrestler by 125 days, 5 more than HHH's second reign.

CIARAN_BOYLE · 15-09-2014 6:52am

Has to be matt just on length of reign.

Angron · 15-09-2014 7:46am

Jeff, he made poor William Regal cry :P

ShagNastii · 15-09-2014 9:33am

Chalk down another vote for Matt. Wasn't his reign during Mattitude?

Omackeral · 15-09-2014 10:03am

Fun fact: The Hardys are the only pair of brothers to hold the European Championship. Only one can advance though and it's Matt's longevity which sees him prevail over his younger brother. Next up is our penultimate bout of Round 1.

Kurt Angle

Your Euro-Continental Champion...It's True, It's True

vs

The Hurricane

Le SuperHero

ShagNastii · 15-09-2014 10:21am

Kurt. The euro-continental thing was memorable.

PW Boards European Championship Tournament

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