Listing of professional wrestling champions for the Hardcore Championship
Mick Foley, who wrestled as "Mankind" in 1998, was the first Hardcore Champion
The WWE Hardcore Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in the United States–based World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before May 2002. The title was only contestable in matches under hardcore regulations, and could be won only by individual wrestlers. As a professional wrestling championship, it was introduced by the WWF on its television program Raw Is War on November 2, 1998, in which WWF chairman Mr. McMahon awarded Mankind the title. In 2000, the WWF instated the "24/7 rule", a regulation stating that the title could be defended anywhere at any time as long as a referee was present, which led to numerous title changes in shorter time periods; the rule was discontinued in 2002.[1] On the August 26, 2002 episode of Raw, Intercontinental ChampionRob Van Dam defeated Hardcore Champion Tommy Dreamer to unify both titles;[2] the Hardcore Championship was retired shortly thereafter. The title was reactivated on two occasions afterwards, although they are not considered official reigns by WWE according to their official title history. On the June 23, 2003 episode of Raw, Mick Foley (who was the first champion as "Mankind") was awarded the Hardcore Championship belt by the Rawbrandauthority figureStone Cold Steve Austin for his contributions in hardcore wrestling.[3]Edge and Foley then introduced themselves as co-holders of the championship in 2006, due to a storyline with alumni of the hardcore wrestling-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion.[4]
Over the course of the title's 3 year, 9 month, and 25 day history, there were 230 title reigns shared among 52 wrestlers. Raven has the most reigns as champion, with 26. Big Boss Man's fourth reign was the longest in the title's history, at 97 days. Steve Blackman ranks first in combined reigns by length, at 172 days in six reigns. Due to the "24/7 rule" numerous wrestlers held the title less than one day, and because the exact times at which each wrestler held the title is unknown, it is impossible to determine who had the shortest reign. Each reign was won at WWF/E-promoted events: pay-per-view events, house shows, and on televised events.
The 24/7 rule was applied to the championship; it could be won at any time and anywhere as long as a referee was present. Aired on tape delay on February 24, 2000.
Pinned Blackman during a title defense against Test. WWF CommissionerMick Foley suspended the 24/7 rule from August 24 to August 27 during Shane's reign.
The title changed hands after a successful defense in a triple threat hardcore match also involving Hardcore Holly. Aired on tape delay on December 25, 2000.
^ abcdefghijDue to inconsistent reports from WWE, these reigns are considered unofficial as they are not featured in their online history for the title, but are listed in the title's history in the "WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment" published in 2009.
Oliver, Earl; Westcott, Brian; Zadarnowski, Andrew; Solo, John; Dean, Joe. "WWF/WWE Hardcore Title History". Solie.org. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
Note: Used only to determine which programs title changes occurred on and when they aired
Specific
^ abBaines, Tim (August 25, 2002). "Brock is set to rock and roll". SLAM! Sports: Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2009. The hardcore division's 24/7 rule has been abolished, with Tommy Dreamer keeping the title in a free-for-all with several other former hardcore title holders on RAW{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ abMilner, John M.; Kapur, Bob; Kamchen, Richard (April 7, 2006). "Bio: Tommy Dreamer". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2009. Dreamer lost a Hardcore vs. Intercontinental title unification match vs. Rob Van Dam.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Keller, Wade (May 22, 2006). "Keller's WWE Raw report 5/22: Ongoing "virtual time" analysis of live show". PWTorch.com. Retrieved August 2, 2009. Foley presented Edge with the old Hardcore Title belt....He whispered something to Lilian. She announced they are the new co-holders of the WWE Hardcore Championship. Edge, Foley, and Lita held the belt up together.
^Nemer, Paul (May 28, 2001). "WWF RAW Is WAR results (May 28, 2001)". WrestleView.com. Retrieved August 3, 2009. Winner: New Hardcore Champion, Chris Jericho....Jericho was walking back on the entrance ramp and Rhyno comes out of nowhere and spears him and gets the pin and Rhyno wins the hardcore title. Winner: New Hardcore Champion, Rhyno
^Nemer, Paul (March 11, 2002). "WWF RAW results (March 11, 2002)". WrestleView.com. Retrieved August 3, 2009. Winner: New WWF Hardcore champion, Al Snow