Back in 1998 the WWE Hardcore Championship was officially introduced when Mr. McMahon awarded the title to Mankind. The belt was eventually retired in 2002, and Rob Van Dam was the last person to win the title when he unified it with the Intercontinental Championship.
During a recent episode of his 1 Of A Kind podcast Rob Van Dam discussed his history with the Hardcore Championship and he claimed that WWE retired the belt because he made it mean more than they wanted it to.
“For sure, I made that belt mean way more than they ever wanted it to. That’s why they got rid of it.”
The WWE Hall of Famer also went on to talk about his matches with Jeff Hardy when he added, “I love wrestling him, but it seems like every single match it seemed like I always won. Like, over and over, and I always wondered, ‘Is that the right way to do things? Like, should we throw him a bone? I mean, he’s Jeff Hardy. He’s not like,’ you know. I mean we had great matches, but I don’t remember it ever being the other way around. And I was — I don’t know, [I] start getting personal thoughts, like, wondering how Jeff feels about that and this and that.”
H/T 411Mania.com
