Hardcore Championship - Who do you think of?

[The Crock]

Hardcore Championship​

I'm back with the latest installment in my series. Today I'll be covering the WWE(F) Hardcore Championship. The Hardcore Title was brought into the WWE on November 2, 1998. Vince McMahon rewarded the belt to Mankind, who was at the time the most well-known hardcore wrestler out there. The belt gained popularity quickly, and soon thereafter became quite an attraction to the fans. The title was at first traded between Big Bossman, Al Snow, and Hardcore Holly, but it hit its biggest surge of popularity when the 24/7 Rule came into effect when Crash Holly won his first Hardcore Title. The 24/7 Rule meant the the title could, in effect, be defended anywhere at any time, as long as a referee was present. This began one of the most beloved ongoing storylines in WWE history, as the title became the centerpiece for not only some excellent wrestling, but some hilarious comedy segments. The title ended its run on August 26, 2002, when Tommy Dreamer lost a Unification match to Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam, who had just a month earlier unified the Intercontinental and European Championships in a ladder match with Jeff Hardy. Even though the title only ran for a few short years, about 4 years (November 1998 - August 2002), it had many champions, and quite the history. So out of all those guys, who do you think of when you see the Hardcore Championship?

My choice was quite simple, one of the most hardcore guys to ever hold the belt. The "godfather" of the Hardcore Championship:

Crash Holly​

Crash Holly was a 22-time Hardcore Champion. The fact that he was predominantly a hardcore wrestler earned him the nickname "The Houdini of Hardcore". He undoubtedly had a huge impact on the belt. Whenever someone was competing for the Hardcore Title you could be sure that Crash was somewhere around there ready to snag the win and leave champion. He was fascinated with the Hardcore Title, it meant the world to him. Also, even though most of his 22 reigns were quite short, that is quite significant. Crash was always being attacked, thus he was always also plotting revenge. He participated in some of the most notable segments in the WWE Attitude Era, and is to this day a very well known character. He is by far the guy that comes to mind.

Who comes to mind for you guys?

 

[Fling_a_thong]

wwf's version? def mankind for me granted he only held it 3x. but im going to change my mind and say its crash holly. he made that title bearable to watch and brought entertainment with it.

 

[MancMark]

Well I suppose Mankind would be an obvious person to come to mind, if only for his hardcore nature as opposed to his long-term connection with the title.

I'd probably agree with Crash. The whole 24/7 thing with him being attacked all the time was great fun. I remember that making the Hardcore Championship a lot more interesting to me, because I never really gave a shit about it a lot of the time. I seem to remember him defending it against Thrasher and Mosh in a children's ball pit and the thought of that is making me chuckle.

An honourable mention would go to Road Dogg. Must have been his only semi-meaningful singles title reign. Can't remember how long he had it for though. Just remember him piledriving Al Snow through a few wood pallets in the snow.

 

[Serges]

When I think of the championship, I think of Raven. Why? Because he held it the most times. He also had a great run with it.

 

[P. Nut Butters]

It's safe to say that when you think of the Hardcore title, anybody is immediately going to think Mick Foley/Mankind. So him aside, the person that comes to mind is Rob Van Dam for me.

Sure hardcore matches used to be fun, exciting and hard-hitting, but Van Dam was so diverse that whenever he was in a hardcore match you knew it was going to be everything you'd expect and more.

He is the stand-out WWF Hardcore champion in my opinion for sure, not only because of his classic bouts with 'Taker and Jeff Hardy but because he made the hardcore belt and division truly awesome - not just a novelty. A fine line to walk in that division, but I think Van Dam pulled it off.

 

[wwetv21]

i think rob van dam, he was so well established with all weapons and every thing he could find and would hurt him self badly just for a cool move. I think he is the best ecw hardcore guy their is, because even though he was extreme, he was or is a heck of a real wrestler and not just a stunt man.

 

[EEPunk]

Road Dogg. He had some really good hardcore matches. And Bradshaw, the Hardcore division really was Bradshaw/JBL's real first chance to shine as a singles star in WWF/E

 

[takerfan24]

CRASH HOLLY
this guy defended it 24/7!it was crazy with everybody running around with their own referee and facing him any time, facing him 24/7he was great and funny. RIP

 

[The Crock]

When I think of the championship, I think of Raven. Why? Because he held it the most times. He also had a great run with it.

That's another great choice. Raven was a 26-time Hardcore Champion, he was another one of those guys who epitomized the division. He was a VERY hardcore wrestler, and was great at improvization. There's one thing that hurts him though, he didn't really have that many great moments with the belt. It always seemed to me that he was using the title as a stepping stone. I always envisioned him doing bigger better things, so for some reason he just doesn't come to mind. He also didn't have as many memorable segments as Crash, that doesn't help him either.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I also think of Raven when I think of the Hardcore Championship he was a 26 time champion which is the most reigns with the belt I just think to me he epitomizes Hardcore Wrestling. The second guy I think of his RVD while he only had 4 reigns held the belt for the third longest amount of days at 134.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Man, I loved the Hardcore title, and their are a few that really spring to mind.

Raven 26x Champion, and the title really suited his style of wrestling. He deserved more than just being wasted in the hardcore division, but I think he carried the belt well. The matches with Rhyno (where Rhyno ended up goring a shopping cart), and Big Show & Kane at Wrestlemania (with Raven getting thrown through glass and the golf buggy being used) were great.

Crash- The Houdini of Hardcore. He was never reallllly a hradcore wrestler but he was so much fun to watch as the champion, always managing to sneak away with the belt...pinning people while they slept. He was brilliant

Rob Van Dam- During the Alliance period, he was a great hardcore champion, putting on awesome matches which were not just the random weapon shots of the usual WWF hardcore matches. His feud with Jeff Hardy, including the Van Daminator off the stage at Invasion was great. Also, it was great seeing him feud with Undertaker for the title too.

But my main pick in this can only be one man

The Lethal Weapon Steve Blackman

The belt was made for Blackman. He was awesome. Although he didnt make use of many of the traditional hardcore weapons used in these matches, they allowed him to use his martial arts sticks and kendo stick, and literally smack his opponent all over with these weapons. Blackman looked like a beast, he was in great shape, he was so fast and looked brutal with some of his shots with those sticks.

I will never forget him knocking Shane McMahon off the titantron with Shane falling faaaaaaaar down. It was so shocking at time and so risky. But it looked great. Plus Blackman had that awesome music.

 

[Xtreme_Animlas2314]

For my first pick would have to be Mankind/Mick Foley. The ones that helped the title to actually mean something at least would be Raven, Jeff Hardy, and Rob Van Dam.

Guys like Kane, Big Show, Bradshaw, Undertaker, Bubba Ray, and Road Dogg all brought something different to the ring if it was for entertainment or brawling type style for this title.

Crash was fine here and their but it just made the belt a comedy act. I like crash and the 24/7 thing it just really to comedy if you sit back and really look at it. I give him props though.


What would had happen if you brought in and used guys like Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Jeff Hardy, Rhino, RVD, and few others. That are based on extreme wrestling like the entire ECW roster for to say plus add in all the high flyers at the time into the mix.

Then this title would've been huge.

Like someone stated before the matches that stands out in my mind are RVD vs Jeff Hardy or Undertaker.

This was mostly duing the invasion and Vince could've used the Hardcore Title as some type of platform and making in ECW theme title or something. Just like WWE does is they mess some good things up especially coming to the lower titles for sure.

 

[MancMark]

Steve Blackman is a great suggestion. Don't know why I ever liked him, but I really liked him. His run with the title was top, and the Shane incident was phenomenal at the time.

 

[Theo Mays]

When I think of hardcore in the WWE Mick Foley comes to mind, but when it comes to the Hardcore title I think of three people. The first being Crash Holly. I loved Crash and always enjoyed whatever work he put into being the Hardcore champion. He instituted the 24/7 rule which is what many people think of when they think of the Hardcore title. Next person would be Road Dogg. RD was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up, so seeing him as a champion of any sorts made me happy, but I remember him being the hardcore champion more so than others. And finally Al Snow. Snow was just an oddball who had some decent hardcore matches and could take a beating with the best of them.

 

[Trivia247]

I would say Steve Blackman, it was the one thing that got the man over he was one of the strongest and longest holding Hardcore champion. Just because a wrestler holds the belt twenty plus times doesnt mean he has a long duration. just means he lost it twenty plus times to win it twenty plus times.

 

[King Patrick Star]

When I think of the WWE Hardcore Championship, the Superstars that come to mind are Mankind for being the first Hardcore Champion, Raven for winning the Title 26 times, and Steve Blackman for holding the Title for a combined 172 days.

 

[Tougie]

First person I think of is Raven. He is the Hardcore title. And the fact he came over from ECW and continued to wrestle that hardcore style, against other former ECW guys like Rhyno was fun to watch. Secondly would be Crash Holly. God damn he was hilarious.

 

[RJJ]

3 Wrestlers

1- Mankind:For being the first hardcore chmapion.

2- RVD: IMO he is the greatest hardcore chmapion ever. During the invasion, the guy was on fire, he successfully defended his title against guys like taker, edge, jeff hardy, rock, angle, That's amazing, not to mention his great performances in those matches(vs jeff in invasion comes to my mind).

3- The Undertaker: Yes, undertaker. When he took the title away from RVD in vengaence, he raised nothing but hell. Yeah i know, he barely defended that title, but he has alot of memorble mements(Last riding jeff hardy off the stage, throwing lita off the stage right after that. Chokeslamming spike to outside the ring. Chokeslamming RVD off the stage). By far the most evil hardcore champion.

 

[Eyebrows]

I think guys like Blackman, RVD and Raven made the title less of a "joke" title as when Crash had it but it is Crash who came to mind immediately after reading the thread title. He was genuinely funny, coming out with his scales, and it was fun to watch how he'd manage to escape with the title.

 

[The Raven's Epitaph]

He seems to be the popular choice, but I always think of Raven when I see the Hardcore Championship. His character was hardcore and he had the rough-looking vibe to him. He stood up against people like Kane and Big Show in the same match, despite not winning, you gotta give him credit for having balls.

Not to mention that he held that championship the most times out of anybody, 26 times to my count. He was one of my favourite WWF superstars back in the day. Just a shame that he isn't really as good as he used to be anymore. But I suppose age and injuries fall into that problem aswell, not just being in TNA.

Stevie Richards, Bradshaw, Tommy Dreamer and Tazz all come to mind aswell. Nothing beats the Hardcore Battle Royal from Wrestlemania 16. Awesome stuff right there. Classic attitude.