- This article deals with the achievement as understood in professional wrestling in the United States. For the Japanese championship, which is counted as a single title, see AJPW Triple Crown Championship. For the horse racing term, see Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. For other uses of Triple Crown, see Triple Crown.
In professional wrestling, a Triple Crown Champion is a term describing a wrestler who has won the three most prestigious belts of their promotion - typically a heavyweight belt, a tag team belt, and a second-tier belt. A "multiple triple crown" distinction also exists, with having won the three constituent titles at least a specified number of times.
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WWF/E Triple Crown
In World Wrestling Entertainment, the term Triple Crown Champion has traditionally been used to describe a wrestler who has won the WWF/E Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the Tag Team Championship. For a span of nearly 18 years, from 1979 up through 1997, these were the three championships of the WWF, and a wrestler who had won all three championships (not necessarily concurrently) was considered a "triple crown champion." [1] In 1997, a fourth title, the European Championship was introduced. The European Championship, a singles title beneath the World and Intercontinental titles, did not count for the purposes of designating triple crown champions, although a wrestler who had won all three primary titles and the European Championship would be recognized as a Grand Slam Champion. Following the brand extension in 2002, the World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship are alternate titles that can compose part of the Triple Crown.
Official List of WWE Triple Crown Champions
The following is a list of WWE Triple Crown Champions, in the most general form. Only the WWE-era World Heavyweight Championship reigns are considered as part of the WWE Triple Crown. Only the date in which the wrestler's first title was won is indicated. Dates in bold indicate the title that was used to complete the Triple Crown. Championships in italics indicate that they are alternate titles, not part of the original definition. Dates in italics indicate that the wrestler has won the title, but does not contribute to their Triple Crown, because they had already won a title at that level. Names in bold are also Grand Slam Champions.
- --won Triple Crown under the original definition
- --won Triple Crown with an alternate title
- White indicates Triple Crown was won before brand extension
- --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.
Notes
- Even though Edge won the World Heavyweight Championship on SmackDown!, he was a member of the RAW brand when cashing in his Money In The Bank opportunity against then champion, The Undertaker. Upon winning the World Heavyweight Championship, he became a member of the SmackDown! brand in similar fashion to Kurt Angle's World Title win on SmackDown! in January 2006.
Potential Champions
As of December 2007, the following active (or semi-active) wrestlers are potential Triple Crown Champions, all having previously possessed two major titles: Wrestlers currently working for or making appearances in WWE:
- Shelton Benjamin, Val Venis, Jeff Hardy, William Regal and John Morrison all need a WWE or World title reign.
- The Undertaker, Batista, Mick Foley, Rey Mysterio, John Cena and John "Bradshaw" Layfield all need an Intercontinental title reign
TNA Triple Crown
In Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), the TNA Triple Crown was an accolade bestowed upon those who won (not necessarily concurrently) all three championships regularly contested in TNA between 2002 and 2007 - the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the TNA X Division Championship and (one-half of) the NWA World Tag Team Championship. [2] In May 2007, TNA lost the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship and introduced the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On July 8, 2007, TNA stated that, should the then-TNA X Division Champion win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, this would leave them "just one step shy of becoming only the second Triple Crown Champion". This indicates that the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship are part of the existing Triple Crown accolade. [3]
List of TNA Triple Crown winners
As of September 2007, there have been two TNA Triple Crown winners: A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle. In TNA, it is possible to be a multi-time Triple Crown Champion, as evidenced by commentators Mike Tenay and Don West referring to Styles as 3-time Triple Crown Champion. Styles is a 3-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 6-time TNA X Division Champion, 4-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, and 1-time TNA World Tag Team Champion, making him a three-time Triple Crown winner. He completed his first Triple Crown on June 11, 2003 upon winning his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship. [4] [5]
| Name | World Championship | Tag team Championship | X-Division Championship | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
TNA World Heavyweight Championship |
NWA World Tag Team Championship |
TNA World Tag Team Championship |
TNA X Division Championship |
|
| A.J. Styles | June 11, 2003 | July 3, 2002 (with Jerry Lynn) |
June 19, 2002 | ||
| A.J. Styles | April 21, 2004 | February 4, 2004 (with Abyss) |
October 23, 2002 | ||
| A.J. Styles | May 15, 2005 | June 18, 2006 (with Christopher Daniels) |
June 9, 2004 | ||
| Kurt Angle | May 13,2007 | August 12, 2007 | August 12, 2007 | ||
Potential champions
As of January 2008, the following TNA-contracted wrestlers required one more title in order to be awarded a Triple Crown:
- Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels need a TNA World Heavyweight Championship reign.
- Abyss and Sting need a TNA X Division Championship reign.
Notes
- ^ Pedro Morales. WWE.com. Retrieved on June 3, 2007. “Pedro Morales [defeated] Ivan Koloff for the [WWF] Championship...Morales would also go on to become the first Triple Crown winner [upon winning] the Intercontinental Championship and World Tag Team Championship.”
- ^ Banks, B. (March 30, 2007). Ask TNAwrestling.com: New Titles, Great Muta, DVDs & More. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on May 14, 2007. “Who do you think will be the 2nd man to win the TNA Triple Crown?...Obviously, AJ Styles was the first to accomplish the feat, capturing the X, Tag Team and World Titles...”
- ^ Jevec, R. (July 8, 2007). The TNA Championship Scenarios At Sunday's Victory Road. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on July 19, 2007. “[Samoa Joe] has been a multi-time X Division Champion...A victory over Team 3D will put yet another championship title around his waist, leaving him just one step shy of becoming only the second Triple Crown Champion in TNA Wrestling history”
- ^ Finch, B. (December 9, 2006). Understanding "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on May 14, 2007. “A.J. Styles is a TNA Triple Crown champion. He has held the NWA World Title three times, the X-Division Title an incredible six times, is a four-time NWA World Tag-Team Champion as well as being the one half of the current TNA Tag Team Champions”
- ^ Cygy, M. (June 15, 2006). Official Results From Thursday's "iMPACT!" On SpikeTV. TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on May 14, 2007. “AJ will also be a 3-time Triple Crown Winner in TNA”
