Who's the greatest WWF/E Hardcore Champion of all-time?

[Savion83]

The WWF/E Hardcore title was brought into the company as a joke at first in 1998. but later got respected for the classic matches the belt helped bring out by the rules alone. But then all of a sudden (before the WWE PG rating) the title was defaulted in 2002 after Rob Van Dam beat Tommy Dreamer for the title in New York and "merged" it with the IC championship.

So in those short four years, who was the grestest WWF/E hardcore champion of all time? Let's look at the canidates...

1. Hardcore & Crash (R.I.P.) Holly-How many times put together have had the Hollys had the hardcore championship? Both guys has had extreme matches with and against each other over that belt. Both had some entertaining matches with other superstars like Raven, Rhyno, Test & Albert. With Crash Holly invoking the infamous "24/7 Rule".

2. Steve Blackman-The lethal weapon of the WWF at that time made you seem like a hardcore title defense was a show and not just a wrestling match. With his karate skills Steve Blackman was the John Cena of the hardcore division...the hardcore championship was his life!

3. Rob Van Dam-Already with his EXTREME wrestling style, RVD had the skills to carry the hardcore division and make the title look and seem important. Rob Van Dam won the hardcore championship his first shot against Jeff Hardy in '01. And like Steve Blackman put on a "five star" show in his matches.

4. The Big Boss Man (R.I.P.)-The Big Boss Man and the hardcore championship were made for each other. The hardcore title helped bring out the bossman's charactor in the ring while the bossman was serving out "hard times" during his matches.

So my question is, who is really the grestest hardcore champ of all time???

 

[Hawkeye]

Hands down,it's got to be Crash.He was the only guy brave(dumb?) enough to make a 24/7 rule.This was a gold mine on creative's part and put that title in the spot light.People were gettin pinned in their sleep while out in public,and i'll never forget when they chased Crash around that play place One of the Godfather's Hos was Hardcore champion,so it added to the unpredictability that was prevalent in the attitude era.Had Crash not created that rule,the hardcore division would have been another flash in the pan moment in wrestling history

 

[C.Msupporter]

You cannot deny how much the Hardcore title made this man a great competitor and a great man (R.I.P) but if you had to put anybody but Crash, Sorry your wrong.

Crash made the Hardcore Championship not a joke, but one of the greatest Titles around, his 24/7 rule suited him perfectly and made him one of the Greats of Hardcore wrestling. If you have to pick the best Hardcore Champion you can't go past the "Houdini of Hardcore".

 

[klunderbunker]

Yeah it has to be Crash. He made a career out of stupid hardcore match skits. It was a great source of comic relief as the hardcore matches had some of the least amount of violence on the whole show. The belt wasn't taken seriously and it wasn't supposed to. Crash kept a job because of this and that's just fine. He was having fun with it and he gave us some funny jokes and lines out of it so I can't complain at all. That and he was hilarious.

 

[SyndicateSaint]

GOOOOOD QUESTION!

I've got a few views that kinda capture my pick. Let me list my pics and the points.

1.Crash. With EASILY the most wins, most of the time he'd win it after the "real" match happened already. Very resourceful.

2.Steve Blackman. He was MADE for the HC title. Using Martial Arts during matches, he became a kind of "technical brawler". He probably has had the first real matches during his defenses.

3.Rob Van Dam. Just like Blackman, he used Martial Arts in matches. RVD has probably had the best matches in the division. Every HC match with Van Dam was going to be entertaining.

4.The Undertaker. While his reigns were short compared to the others, it refreshed the division and Taker's career. His star power brought credibility to the division.


In the end though I have to go with Van Dam.

He came from ECW and brought that style *in match form* to the WWE, and at the same time made his HC matches some of the best matches on the entire card.

so RVD is my pic for the greatest Hardcore Champion of all time.

 

[Decarow]

I think it's already stated that Crash is the greatest, so I'm going to move this forward.

I really think Bradshaw (who became JBL) could have been one of the greatest hardcore champions. He has the fourth most reigns (17), and all of them were in the summer of 2002! Plus he kept that hardcore beat-your-ass attitude with his career. Watch his WWE championship defenses and you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

[peep4life]

mine would be THE AMERICAN BADASS BIG EVIL UNDERTAKER like someone else said his reigns might have been short but not alot of people held that title over a month while CRASH HOLY made the famous 24/7 rule and had some entertaining matches i just liked UNDERTAKER's hardcore matches with his biker gimmick[which is my FAVORITE hopping he goes back to it] but i rember watching one of his hardcore matches and he tried to run over someone with his bike i loved it and i loved seeing him as HARDCORE CHAMP and can someone help how many reigns did TAKER have i think 10 but not sure and who had the most reigns

 

[#1HHHfan28]

I'm going to have to go with Raven. The man won the hardcore championship 26 times, and didn't even win his first until december 22, 2000. Crash won his first exactly ten months earlier on february 22.

Crash was a great competitor when it came to the hardcore title. He is primarily recognized as being one of the greatest hardcore champions of all-time. May he rest in peace.

Raven never really held the title for that long, but winning it 26 times is remarkable.

 

[daddyJ_t]

have to ay raven also, if nothing else for his defense against kane and big show at the same time. other then that, possibly al snow. who else besides snow would defend the title against himself and put himself through a table off the top rope?

 

[Vintage]

Bradshaw. Remember when he changed it to the Texas Hardcore Championship and he changed the belt to have a texas flag and bull horns? lol

I also very much enjoyed steve blackman during this time but the best match of all time was the hardcore battle royal. there had to be like 80 title changes lol

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Raven had 26 reigns...but consider the fact that that doesn't matter because they will equal to like 84 days...and the longest reign which goes to Bossman who had 97 days...

Anyways stats can't decide who is the best champion, when it comes to Hardcore champion....

My pick is simply, Crash Holly (RIP), i mean he was born to have that title....i think back in 99' the title had more value, but when the 24/7 rule was added by crash, that was like the best thing ever...it made the show more funny whether it be Raw or Smackdown!, you have people sneaking backstage with a referee attacking their own partners, even women....Crash got all the credit for the 24/7 rule...so he gets ma vote!!

 

[Judah's Lion]

lots of good names have already been posted in response and all rightfully so.

Crash is just epic with the "Houdini of Hardcore" gimmick and the 24/7 rule. his matches were always fun to watch. and the crowd chanting for "Elroy" was pretty funny too.

RVD and Raven both were awesome just because they were so hardcore before being in that division with their time in ECW. great matches and weapons use. Raven bringing out the shopping cart filled with weapons and RVD using the ladder were great. anyone remember RVD vs. Jeff Hardy in a ladder match for the hardcore title at Summer Slam?

Undertaker really did add some credibility to the title and it even jump started his career a little. any time this guy has gold around his waist, it's a good thing. same goes for Kane. and when either one of these two guys held this title, it was always a brutal war with the monster just being dominant.

Steve Blackman was fantastic. his use of the sticks was great and his match with Shane McMahon and that fall from the titan tron was freaking crazy! one of the greatest spots in the history of the business!

Boss Man and Al Snow both were great, except for the Kennel in Hell match. Al Snow defending the title against himself was classic.

But after all of those names, still one rings out louder and stands out from the rest, and that's the Road Dogg Jesse James. i just personally loved his character, his mic work and his matches. his run as the champ and chase for the belt was always good and his grudge matches were always believable to me.

 

[Buster]

I'm going to have to agree with the people who have posted Raven.

Despite losing the title many times Raven brought stability to the hardcore title. Before Raven won his first it almost felt that the Hardcore title was something anyone could and probably would win, almost a non title, more of a spectacle or a bottom of the card comedy charity.

Through Raven's reigns, especially considering his ECW and WCW history, the title was given more credibility, almost elevated to a level more associated with the Intercontinental title.

See the talent that was introduced to the Hardcore title through Raven's reigns, for example Hardcore Holly, Big Show, Kane and a recent ECW champion in Rhyno.

All a much higher calibre of talent.

As for Raven's style and gimmick, these matched and complimented the Harcore title perfectly.

I loved the way he would bring a trolley of weapons to the ring, it felt almost as if he was some homeless guy who was ready to defend/attack at any time or a hardcore expert. And as for his grungy look it seemed like the title was created for him.

Not to mention his mic skills which we all know he has.

Could you imagine Crash Holly, Steve Blackman, Perry Saturn (no offence Perry wherever you are) or Al Snow going up against Big Show and Kane at Wrestlemania? I completely marked out at Raven being chucked through that glass window.

Just the fact that Raven was put into that Wrestlemania match was compliment enough that he was the best Hardcore champion.

 

[rammsteiner]

If only Raven was in the WWF/E Hardcore Title picture when the title was actually meaningful

I'm going to have to go with either Crash or Hardcore Holly though. Pretty much their careers were built around that one single title. Yeah, they had some little success without it. But it seemed almost like when they disappeared, the Hardcore Title kind of lost meaning to it (except for the few meaningful feuds over it).

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It has be one of 4- RVD, Crash, Raven or Blackman.

The other 3 were more suited to and produced better matches for the Hardcore division, but for pure entertainment (and bear in mind Raven is my favourite wrestler), I would have to say Crash

The hardcore 24/7 title changes were perfect for the attitude era, and were usually one of the most entertaining thing on the show, which is no mean feat! I loved the time limit matches with the title changing hands over n over, perfect for the Hardcore title at that time!

Damm i miss the hardcore belt!

 

[DL23]

Between 1998-2001 they're was so amazing Hardcore champions guys who were known as tough guys backstage and their hardcore matches show it.

Mankind, First champion was on the edge of a World title run WWE never had any time to give the Hardcore title after his first stint, had Mick not of been planning a retirement and went back to the Hardcore division I'd of liked to have seen what he could of done with guys like Snow, Holly, Bossman even Big Show before he retired.

Al Snow, I'm not hating on the guy he was a skilled wrestler but he was vastly overated as far as Hardcore wrestling goes, respect has to be given the guy had 5 Hardcore matches I consider to be in the top 10 greatest WWF/E hardcore matches of all time, (Road Dogg on RAW, Holly at St Vantines Day Massacre, Backlash and the forgotten match at Over the edge 99, along with a good hardcore match at Summerslam 99.

Hardcore Holly, this guy was born for the hardcore division, he had to be one of my favorite guys in the division, his matches were brutal, they actually meant something to him, even in non-title hardcore matches he give it his all (Bossman/Big Show)

Big Bossman, same as above with Holly he was born to be in the hardcore division he had long runs with the belt a few times when it was the 24/7 rule which helped him look badass, in 99 his feud with Snow and Big Show were classics, in 2000 and the 24/7 rule he seemed to move away from the Hardcore title which was a shame as he was one of the best champions they had.

Crash, loved his style and loved to watch him in the hardcore division but i hated the 24/7 rule after two month, it made it the belt look weak but it did make for some great TV for crash.

Others I believe were good champions had great matches, Raven, Kane, Tazz, The Hardy's, Blackman, Saturn and Dreamer, all guys that looked good in hardcore matches but the 24/7 rule IMO hurt them, Undertaker, Van Dam and even Kurt Angle had styles that give the hardcore style a different concept but Kurt wasn't given the chance to run with it, Undertaker all bust abandond his title and Van Dam wasn't really given the chance of a long runs with the belt that suited his style, sure he had great matches with Jeff Hardy, Jericho, Big Show, Kurt Angle and Undertaker but he had way more to offer IF WWE had of ran with him in 2002 rather then give him the IC Title.

I've always wished the belt would be brought back as it could help a few of the lower card guys get some TV time and show what they have to offer like it did for Road dogg, Gangrel, Snow, Holly, Crash, Raven, Rhyno, Blackman and the list goes on etc etc etc.

 

[TheAnimal]

Gotta be Crash Holly. The 24/7 rule made it different and he was a great champ facing all comers. The division became so exciting too because of it, it was actually a very coveted and sought after title.

 

[Lee]

Beating former ECW champion Tommy Dreamer, former multiple tag title winner Bubba Ray Dudley, former IC champion Goldust, the so called greatest Hardcore champion of all time in Crash Holly, former five time wcw champion Booker T, former womens champion Trish Stratus, former ECW and NWA champion Raven, former WWE champion JBL,
plus a lot of Shawn Stasiak.

I am of course talking about Stevie Richards, the man who just a year ago was on a quest AGAINST hardcore wrestling went on to become a 22 time champion, with a load of classic skits and wins over a lot of former big players.

 

[Captain America]

1. Mick Foley- he was the first champion and he gave the belt instant credibility by being the first champ.

2. Crash Holly- What more can be said that hasn't already been said? If the Hardcore title wasn't call the Hardcore title, perhaps it would be called the Crash Holly title.

3. The Undertaker- This belt went great with his sadistic biker gimmick and it also gave more legitimacy to the title.

4. Steve Blackman- His martial arts skills made his matches unique and exciting.

5. Road Dogg- It was cool to see him involved in singles hardcore matches considering his status as 1 half of the best tag-team of the attitude era. Plus his hardcore match with Al Snow on Raw (where it went out into the snow) was very unique at the time and helped to put hardcore wrestling in the WWF over.