A Grand Slam Champion in professional wrestling is a distinction made to a professional wrestler who has won all of the major titles in a promotion. The Grand Slam typically consists of four titles, mirroring the grand slams found in golf and tennis. The four titles typically feature three tiers of heavyweight belts and a set of tag team belts. Because of this, a Grand Slam Champion is necessarily a Triple Crown Champion, which consists of the top two tiers of heavyweight belts and the tag team belts.
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World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
In the World Wrestling Federation (now known as "World Wrestling Entertainment") the term "Grand Slam Champion" was originally used by Shawn Michaels to describe himself upon winning the WWF Championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, the WWF European Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship. As of 2007, only four wrestlers have held all four of those titles. As the European Championship was discontinued on July 22, 2002, the number of future potential Grand Slam Champions is limited to wrestlers who have already held the European Championship (see list of WWE European Champions). In 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment stated, "Michaels was the first-ever Grand Slam Champion, capturing the European Championship once, the World Tag Team Championship four times, the Intercontinental Championship three times and the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships a total of four times." This indicates that WWE considers the World Heavyweight Championship to be an acceptable substitute for the WWF Championship (renamed the WWE Championship in 2002) in completing the Grand Slam. No wrestlers have completed the Grand Slam under this revised definition. [1] In April 2006, Kurt Angle was described as a "former Grand Slam Champion" on WWE.com, indicating that WWE considers the WWE Tag Team Championship to be an acceptable substitute for the World Tag Team Championship. Including Angle, two wrestlers have completed the Grand Slam under this revised definition. [2]
WWF/E Grand Slam Champions
The title wins stated below are the respective wrestlers' first wins of each title. In most cases, it is not the only time the wrestler has won that title. Dates in italics indicate that the wrestler has won that title, but does not contribute to their Grand Slam because they had already won a title at that level. Dates in bold represent the title which established the wrestler as a Grand Slam champion.
| Name | World Championship | Tag Team Championship | Second-Tier Championship | Third-Tier Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWF/E Championship |
World Heavyweight Championship |
World Tag Team Championship |
WWE Tag Team Championship |
Intercontinental Championship |
European Championship |
||
| Shawn Michaels [1] | March 31, 1996 | November 17, 2002 | August 28, 1994 (with Diesel) |
October 27, 1992 | September 20, 1997 | ||
| Triple H [3] | August 23, 1999 | September 2, 2002 | April 29, 2001 (with Stone Cold Steve Austin) |
October 21, 1996 | December 11, 1997 | ||
| Chris Jericho | December 9, 2001 | May 21, 2001 (with Chris Benoit) |
December 12, 1999 | April 2, 2000 | |||
| Kurt Angle [2] | October 22, 2000 | January 10, 2006 | October 20, 2002 (with Chris Benoit) |
February 27, 2000 | February 8, 2000 | ||
| Eddie Guerrero | February 15, 2004 | November 17, 2002 (with Chavo Guerrero) |
September 5, 2000 | April 3, 2000 | |||
| Rob Van Dam | June 11, 2006 | March 31, 2003 (with Kane) |
December 7, 2004 (with Rey Mysterio) |
March 17, 2002 | July 22, 2002 | ||
- -won Grand Slam under the original definition
- --won Grand Slam with an alternate title
- --Won title as a member of the RAW brand
- --Won title as a member of the SmackDown! brand
- --Won title as a member of the ECW brand
- White indicates title was won before brand extension
Potential champions
The following active (or semi-active) wrestlers are potential Grand Slam Champions, all having previously held three major titles: Wrestlers currently working for or making appearances in WWE
- Val Venis, William Regal and Jeff Hardy require a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship reign to complete the Grand Slam.
- John "Bradshaw" Layfield requires an Intercontinental Championship reign to complete the Grand Slam.
United States Championship
- If confirmed as a second-tier title, John "Bradshaw" Layfield would be considered a Grand Slam Champion, having won the WWE, United States, European, and World Tag Team Championships.
References
- ^ a b Shawn Michaels. WWE.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. “Michaels was the first-ever Grand Slam Champion, capturing the European Championship once, the World Tag Team Championship three times, the Intercontinental Championship three times and the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships a total of four times.”
- ^ a b Kurt Angle.... WWE.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. “While most fans of this former Grand Slam Champion...”
- ^ Triple H. WWE.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. “Such dedication has provided him with the fortitude to become a Grand Slam champion.”
