List of WCW Hardcore Champions

Norman Smiley (right) was the first WCW Hardcore Champion.

The WCW Hardcore Championship was a professional wrestling Hardcore Championship contested for in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). During late—1999, WCW promoted various Hardcore matches, bouts where there were no disqualifications or countouts, that mainly involved Norman Smiley and Brian Knobbs. The developing rivalry between the two wrestlers led WCW to announce the creation of the WCW Hardcore Title in November 1999. In January 2001, the champion Meng signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after his WCW contract expired. Before leaving WCW Meng awarded the title on his final televised WCW appearance to Barbarian. after this the title was not defended again on WCW television and was largely adandoned with the belt only sporadicaaly appearing at house shows. Shortly afterwards, the promotion filed for bankruptcy and the WWF purchased all assets of WCW, and as a result, all WCW Championship copyrights were also property of the WWF. After the purchase, the WWF used the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship in the The Invasion storyline, in which former WCW wrestlers feuded with original WWF wrestlers before WCW's purchase, however, other WCW titles, including the WCW Hardcore Title, were not used. After The Invasion narrative, the WWF deactivated the WCW World Championship and the WCW Tag Team Championship, but World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the WWF's successor, adopted the WWE United States and Cruiserweight Championships, two former WCW titles. The WCW Hardcore Title, however, was not adopted because during this time, WWE operated its own Hardcore Championship.

Title reigns were determined by professional wrestling hardcore match types with wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripts feuds, plots and storylines or were awarded the title due to scripted circumstances. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a hardcore wrestling type match or series of matches for the championship. The inaugural champion was Norman Smiley, who defeated Brian Knobbs at WCW Mayhem (1999). Before the promotion's purchase, the title was vacant, though, Meng was the final wrestler to hold the championship. The title was won in Canadian municipalities and in American states. Smiley held the title the longest at 51 days, and at less than one day, Carl Oullete has the shortest title reign. Brian Knobbs has won the title on three occasions, the most in the championship's history; this also ties with the amount of times the title was vacated. Overall, there were 18 reigns.

History

#	Wrestler	Reigns	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
01 !1	Smiley, NormanNorman Smiley	01 !1	01999-11-21 November 21, 1999	&1000000000000005100000051	Toronto, Ontario	Mayhem (1999)	Defeated Brian Knobbs to win the title.
02 !2	Knobbs, BrianBrian Knobbs	01 !1	02000-01-12 January 12, 2000	&1000000000000002700000027	Erie, PA	Thunder	This title change aired on tape delay
03 !3	Bigelow, Bam BamBam Bam Bigelow	01 !1	02000-02-07 February 7, 2000	&1000000000000001300000013	Tulsa, OK	Nitro	Fit Finlay was the guest referee.
04 !4	Knobbs, BrianBrian Knobbs	02 !2	02000-02-20 February 20, 2000	&100000000000000080000008	San Francisco, CA	SuperBrawl (2000)
05 !5	Helms, ShaneShane Helms, Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore	01 !1	02000-02-28 February 28, 2000	&1000000000000002000000020	Minneapolis, MN	Nitro	Helms, Karagias, and Moore, known as the 3 Count stable, defeated Knobbs simultaneously in a match, and as a result, WCW allowed the freebird rule in which all three wrestlers were able to defend the title.
06 !6	Knobbs, BrianBrian Knobbs	03 !3	02000-03-19 March 19, 2000	&1000000000000002200000022	Miami, FL	Uncensored (2000)
06.5 !—	Vacated	01 !1	02000-04-10 April 10, 2000	&100000000000000060000006	Denver, CO	Nitro	WCW Presidents Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff vacated every WCW championship during WCW's reboot.
07 !7	Funk, TerryTerry Funk	01 !1	02000-04-16 April 16, 2000	&1000000000000003600000036	Chicago, IL	Spring Stampede (2000)	Defeated Norman Smiley to win vacant the title.
08 !8	Douglas, ShaneShane Douglas	01 !1	02000-05-22 May 22, 2000	&100000000000000010000001	Grand Rapids, MI	Nitro	Terry Funk was stripped by The New Blood. Chris Candido counted the pinfall to three.
09 !9	Funk, TerryTerry Funk	02 !2	02000-05-23 May 23, 2000	&1000000000000001300000013	Saginaw, MI	Thunder	Terry Funk Pinned Shane Douglas in a Handicap Match whit Norman Smiley.
10 !10	Bischoff, EricEric Bischoff	01 !1	02000-06-05 June 5, 2000	&100000000000000010000001	Atlanta, GA	Nitro
11 !11	Vito, BigBig Vito and Johnny the Bull	01 !1	02000-06-06 June 6, 2000	&100000000000000060000006	Knoxville, TN	Thunder	WCW President Eric Bischoff awarded Vito and Johnny the title, and he announced that the freebird rule was in effect for this title reign, allowing both wrestlers to defend the title. This title reign aired on tape delay.
12 !12	Vito, BigBig Vito	02 !2	02000-06-12 June 12, 2000	&1000000000000004200000042	Billings, MT	Thunder	Big Vito attacks Johnny Stamboli become the champion.
13 !13	Lance Storm	01 !1	02000-07-24 July 24, 2000	&1000000000000002100000021	Cleveland, OH	Nitro	Storm renames championship "Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title" shortly after winning it.
14	Ouellet, CarlCarl Ouellet	01 !1	02000-08-14 August 14, 2000	&100000000000000000000000	Kelowna, British Columbia	Nitro	Storm awarded Ouellet the title.
15	Smiley, NormanNorman Smiley	02 !2	02000-08-14 August 14, 2000	&1000000000000004200000042	Kelowna, British Columbia	Nitro
13.5 !—	Vacated	02 !2	02000-09-25 September 25, 2000	&100000000000000070000007	Uniondale, NY	Nitro	The title was vacated by WCW Commissioner Mike Sanders.
16	Reno !Reno	01 !1	02000-10-02 October 2, 2000	&1000000000000003700000037	San Francisco, CA	Nitro	Sgt. AWOL originally defeated Reno to win the title in a tournament final, however, Mike Sanders reversed the decision and awarded Reno the title.
17	Crowbar !Crowbar	01 !1	02000-11-08 November 8, 2000	&1000000000000003900000039	Chicago, IL	Thunder	This title change aired on tape delay
18	Funk, TerryTerry Funk	03 !3	02000-12-17 December 17, 2000	&1000000000000002800000028	Washington, D.C.	Starrcade (2000)
19	Meng !Meng	01 !1	02001-01-14 January 14, 2001	&100000000000000090000009	Indianapolis, IN	Sin	This was a triple threat match, also involving Crowbar.
20	Barbarian !Barbarian	01 !1	02001-01-22 January 22, 2001	&1000000000000006300000063	Winston-Salem, NC	Thunder	The Championship was awarded to Barbarian by Meng on the final episode Meng appeared on WCW television. The title was subsequently not defended again on WCW Television and was not continued by the WWF when WCW was purchased. This title change was also aired on January 24, 2001 on tape delay. |-

List of individual reigns

Wrestler	Days held	Date won	Date lost
Barbarian	63	January 22, 2001	March 26, 2001
Norman Smiley	51	November 21, 1999	January 11, 2000
Norman Smiley	42	August 14, 2000	September 25, 2000
Terry Funk	36	April 16, 2000	May 22, 2000
Big Vito	35	June 19, 2000	July 24, 2000
Reno	35	October 2, 2000	November 6, 2000
Crowbar	31	November 6, 2000	December 17, 2000
Terry Funk	28	December 17, 2000	January 14, 2001
Brian Knobbs	27	January 11, 2000	February 7, 2000
Brian Knobbs	22	March 19, 2000	April 10, 2000
Lance Storm	21	July 24, 2000	August 14, 2000
"3 Count" (Evan Karagias, Shannon Moore & Shane Helms)	20	February 28, 2000	March 19, 2000
Bam Bam Bigelow	13	February 7, 2000	February 20, 2000
"The Mamalukes" (Johnny the Bull & Big Vito)	13	June 6, 2000	June 19, 2000
Brian Knobbs	8	February 20, 2000	February 28, 2000
Meng	7	January 14, 2001	January 22, 2001
Shane Douglas	1	May 22, 2000	May 23, 2000
Eric Bischoff	1	June 5, 2000	June 6, 2000
Carl Ouellet	<1	August 14, 2000

List of combined reigns

Rank	Wrestler	# of reigns	Combined days
1.	Norman Smiley	2	93
2.	Terry Funk	2	81
3.	Barbarian	1	59
4.	Brian Knobbs	3	57
5.	Big Vito	2	48
6.	Reno	1	35
7.	Crowbar	1	31
8.	Lance Storm	1	21
9.	Evan Karagias	1	20
9.	Shane Helms	1	20
9.	Shannon Moore	1	20
12.	Bam Bam Bigelow	1	13
12.	Johnny the Bull	1	13
14.	Meng	1	7
15.	Shane Douglas	1	1
16.	Eric Bischoff	1	1
17.	Carl Ouellet	1	<1

See also

• WCW Hardcore Championship
• World Championship Wrestling

References

General

• "WCW Hardcore Championship History". Wrestling Title Histories by Royal Duncan and Gary Will. Solie.org. http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/hrdcrwcw.html. 
• "Saskatchewan* Hardcore International Title History". WCW.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20000817233625/http://www.wcw.com/2000/superstars/hardcore/. 

Specific

External links

• Wrestling-Titles.com
• Online World of Wrestling.com