The WWE European Championship Was Introduced 19 Years Ago Today

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the European Championship on WWE programming. But we all remember it well. The title has a rich and storied history and that history began on this date, February 26, 19 years ago.

During a Raw taping in Germany the British Bulldog defeated Owen Hart in the finals of a tournament to become the first ever WWE European Champion. The match would air on the March 3 episode of Raw and The Bulldog would go onto be the longest reigning European Champion of all time with a 206 day reign. In the years that followed the title was held by many of the greats such as Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle just to name a few.

The belt was featured on WWE television from 1997 until 1999 when Shane McMahon won the belt and retired it. The belt was later awarded to Mideon in June of that year when he found it in Shane McMahon’s duffel bag. The title remained active until it was unified with the Intercontinental Championship in 2002.

The belt wasn’t around very long. But there were a handful of really great European Championship matches that took place during the title’s 5 year existence. You can relive a few of the European Championship’s best moments in the clips below.