Grand Slam Championship
The Grand Slam Championship is an accomplishment in professional wrestling. It is a distinction made to a professional wrestler who has won four specific championships in World Wrestling Entertainment or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The four titles typically feature three levels of singles championships and a tag team championship. These singles championships include a primary, secondary, and tertiary championship. As a result, a Grand Slam Champion is also inherently a Triple Crown Champion, which consists of only two levels of singles titles (primary and secondary) and a tag team title.
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[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment
In World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly World Wrestling Federation) the term "Grand Slam Champion" was originally used by Shawn Michaels to describe himself upon winning the European Championship on September 20, 1997. Michaels previously held the WWF Championship and Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Championship with Diesel.[1]
In May 2001, the then WWF.com indicated that the Hardcore Championship was an acceptable substitute for the European Championship in the Grand Slam. Kane, who had defeated Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship at Judgment Day on May 20, 2001,[2] was acknowledged as a Grand Slam Champion as he had "become the only superstar in World Wrestling Federation history that has held the Intercontinental title as well as the Hardcore, Tag Team and WWF titles".[3][4]
In April 2006, Kurt Angle was noted as being a former Grand Slam Champion on WWE.com, having won the WWE, WWE Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship, indicating that WWE considers the WWE Tag Team Championship to be an acceptable substitute for the World Tag Team Championship.[5] In August 2007, WWE.com published an article listing Shawn Michaels' championship reigns that completed the Grand Slam Championship. They included the WWE, World Heavyweight, World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship. The inclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship indicated that WWE considers the title to be an acceptable substitute for the WWE Championship in completing the Grand Slam.[1]
At ECW One Night Stand in 2006, Rob Van Dam became the first superstar acquired by WWE after the purchase of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001 to complete the Grand Slam. Booker T became the second star acquired by the purchase to complete the Grand Slam when he defeated Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash (2006). Booker has held the World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and Hardcore titles[6]
WWE has yet to officially recognize any other singles titles as Grand Slam components currently or previously active. This includes the United States Championship (though John "Bradshaw" Layfield in 2006, claimed Grand Slam status on the basis of his U.S. Championship reigns).
As of March 12, 2012, eleven wrestlers have held a combination of the four championships to complete the Grand Slam. As the European Championship and Hardcore Championships were unified with the Intercontinental Championship on July 22 and August 26, 2002 respectively and subsequently retired, the number of future potential Grand Slam Champions is limited to former European or Hardcore Champions.
Chris Jericho is the only Grand Slam Winner to hold all the eligible Championships.
As of 2012, only six active WWE competitors are eligible to become a Grand Slam Champion, four of which are one title win away from the recognition:
- Big Show and The Undertaker each need the Intercontinental Championship.
- William Regal and Goldust need a primary (WWE or World) championship.
- Mark Henry has won a primary (World) and tertiary (European) championship, he needs a tag team and Intercontinental Championship.
- R-Truth has won a tertiary (Hardcore) championship. He needs a primary (WWE or World), a tag team, and an Intercontinental Championship for a Grand Slam.
[edit] List of WWE Grand Slam Champions
| Champion | Primary Championships | Tag Team Championships | Secondary Championships | Tertiary Championships | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWE | World Heavyweight |
World Tag Team |
WWE Tag Team |
Intercontinental | European | Hardcore | |
| Shawn Michaels[1] | March 31, 1996 | November 17, 2002 | August 28, 1994 (with Diesel) |
December 13, 2009 (with Triple H) |
October 27, 1992 | September 20, 1997 | no future reign possible1 |
| Triple H[7] | August 23, 1999 | September 2, 2002 | April 29, 2001 (with Steve Austin) |
December 13, 2009 (with Shawn Michaels) |
October 21, 1996 | December 11, 1997 | no future reign possible1 |
| Kane[3][4] | June 28, 1998 | July 18, 2010 | July 13, 1998 (with Mankind) |
April 19, 2011 (with Big Show) |
May 20, 2001 | no future reign possible2 | April 1, 2001 |
| Chris Jericho | December 9, 2001 | September 7, 2008 | May 21, 2001 (with Chris Benoit) |
June 28, 2009 (with Edge) |
December 12, 1999 | April 2, 2000 | May 28, 2001 |
| Kurt Angle[5] | October 22, 2000 | January 10, 2006 | no future reign possible3 | October 20, 2002 (with Chris Benoit) |
February 27, 2000 | February 8, 2000 | September 10, 2001 |
| Eddie Guerrero | February 15, 2004 | no future reign possible4 | no future reign possible4 | November 17, 2002 (with Chavo Guerrero) |
September 5, 2000 | April 3, 2000 | no future reign possible4 |
| Rob Van Dam[6] | June 11, 2006 | no future reign possible3 | March 31, 2003 (with Kane) |
December 7, 2004 (with Rey Mysterio) |
March 17, 2002 | July 22, 20022 | July 22, 2001 |
| Booker T | July 23, 2006 | October 30, 2001 (with Test) |
July 7, 2003 | May 4, 2002 | |||
| Jeff Hardy | December 14, 2008 | June 7, 2009 | June 29, 1999 (with Matt Hardy) |
July 8, 2002 | July 10, 2001 | ||
| John "Bradshaw" Layfield | June 27, 2004 | no future reign possible3 | May 25, 1999 (with Faarooq) |
no future reign possible3 | March 9, 2009 | October 22, 2001 | June 3, 2002 |
| Christian | May 1, 2011 | April 2, 2000 (with Edge) |
September 23, 2001 | October 30, 2001 | March 17, 2002 | ||
| Text | |
|---|---|
| Championships in italics | The title is an alternate title from the original definition of a Grand Slam Championship. |
| Dates | A date indicates the wrestlers first reign with that championship. |
| Dates in bold | The date the wrestler became a Grand Slam champion. |
| Dates in italics | The wrestler has won that title, but does not contribute to their Grand Slam because they had already won the Grand Slam or they had already won a title at that the same level. |
| Date colors | |
| Won title as a member of the Raw brand. | |
| Won title as a member of the ECW brand. | |
| Won title as a member of the SmackDown brand. | |
| Won title before the WWE Brand Extension. | |
| Notes | |
| 1 ^ The Hardcore Championship was unified with the Intercontinental Championship on August 27, 2002, so future reigns with this championship are not possible. | |
| 2 ^ The European Championship was unified with the Intercontinental Championship on July 22, 2002, so future reigns with this championship are not possible. | |
| 3 ^ The wrestler is no longer employed by WWE, so future reigns are not currently possible. | |
| 4 ^ The wrestler is deceased, so future reigns are not possible. | |
[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
The first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) Grand Slam champion was crowned on March 15, 2009 at TNA's Destination X pay-per-view event. At said event, then three-time TNA Triple Crown champion A.J. Styles defeated Booker T for the TNA Legends Championship. On the March 19 episode of TNA's primary television program, TNA Impact!, Impact! TV announcer Mike Tenay stated that Styles had become the first TNA Grand Slam champion by capturing the World Heavyweight (NWA or TNA), World Tag Team (NWA or TNA), TNA X Division, and TNA Legends/Global/Television Championships.[8][9] Beginning in August 2011, a 225 lb. weight limit was imposed on the X Division Championship.
[edit] List of TNA Grand Slam Champions
The following is a list of TNA Grand Slam Champions with dates indicating the wrestler's first reign with the respective championship. Under TNA's definition of the Grand Slam Championship, wrestlers are eligible to be a multiple Grand Slam champion each time they complete a new circuit. So far, only A.J. Styles has won the Grand Slam on more than one occasion.
Current TNA wrestlers who are one step away from Grand Slam status include:
- Triple Crown winners Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe, who each need to win the TNA Television Championship (this would make Angle the only wrestler to win both the TNA and WWE Grand Slam)
- Eric Young and Douglas Williams each need to win the TNA World Championship (as the NWA World Title is no longer under TNA control).
| Champion | Primary Championships | Tag Team Championships | Secondary Championships | Tertiary Championships | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWA World Heavyweight |
TNA World Heavyweight |
NWA World Tag Team |
TNA World Tag Team |
TNA X Division |
TNA Legends/Global/Television |
|
| A.J. Styles[8] | June 11, 2003 | July 3, 2002 (with Jerry Lynn) |
June 19, 2002 | March 15, 2009 | ||
| April 21, 2004 | February 4, 2004 (with Abyss) |
October 23, 2002 | July 13, 2010 | |||
| Abyss | November 19, 2006 | February 4, 2004 (with A.J. Styles) |
May 16, 2011 | January 9, 2011 | ||
| Text | |
|---|---|
| Championships in italics | The title is an alternate title from the original definition of a Grand Slam Championship. |
| Dates | A date indicates the wrestlers first reign with that championship. |
| Dates in bold | The date the wrestler became a Grand Slam champion. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Shawn Michaels". WWE.com. http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/2007/exclusives/superstarturningpoints. Retrieved 2007-07-17. "He would also become the first-ever WWE “Grand Slam”d Tag Team Title gold."
- ^ "Kane's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/intercontinental/322668. Retrieved 2007-04-16.
- ^ a b "WWF.com Headlines". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2001-05-26. Archived from the original on 2001-05-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20010526174428/http://www.wwf.com/news/headlines/. Retrieved 2009-03-11. "In a rare interview with WWF.com, Kane discussed the chain match Sunday at Judgment Day and his feelings on being the only "Grand Slam Champion" of his variety."
- ^ a b "Big Red Grand Slam". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.kanenite-central.com/print/200106bigredgrand.html. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
- ^ a b "Kurt Angle...". WWE.com. http://google.com/search?q=cache:ET8-c0RZBIQJ:auction.wwe.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay%3Fprrfnbr%3D64226926%26prmenbr%3D37460399%26aunbr%3D64573636/. Retrieved 2007-07-17. "While most fans of this former Grand Slam Champion..."
- ^ a b "Rob Van Dam". wwe.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20080331135747/http://www.wwe.com/superstars/wwealumni/rvd/bio/http://www.facebook.com/RealBookerT?sk=info. Retrieved 2008-06-28. "At ECW One Night Stand 2006, Rob Van Dam became the only person out of ECW, after its 2001 purchase to become a WWE Grand Slam Champion. At WWE Great American Bash 2006, Booker T became the second"
- ^ "Triple H". WWE.com. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/tripleh/bio/. Retrieved 2007-07-17. "Such dedication has provided him with the fortitude to become a Grand Slam champion."
- ^ a b "Total Nonstop Action Wrestling presents: TNA Impact!". TNA Impact!. Spike TV. 2009-03-19.
- ^ Boutwell, Josh (2009-03-20). "Impact results - 3/19/09". WrestleView.com. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2009/1237528436.php?style=dark. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
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