Grand Slam Championship
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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. As a result, a Grand Slam Champion is also inherently a Triple Crown Champion, which consists of only two levels of singles titles and a tag team title. World Wrestling Entertainment
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World Wrestling Entertainment
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In World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the 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 Champion and Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Championship with Diesel.[1]
In 2001, 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 WWE Great American Bash 2006. Booker has held the World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and Hardcore titles[6]
As of September 20, 2010, ten wrestlers have held a combination of the four championships to complete the Grand Slam (six of them holding a modified version, as compared to the original definition). As the European Championship and Hardcore Championships were unified with the Intercontinental Championship on July 22 and August 27, 2002, respectively, the number of future potential Grand Slam Champions is limited to wrestlers who have held the European or Hardcore Championships.
A interesting note is that Pedro Morales won four championship during his WWWF/WWF/WWE career (those four being the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, the WWWF United States Championship, the WWF Tag Team Championship, and the WWE Intercontinental Championship), but is not considered a Grand Slam Champion. More importantly he did so 17 years before Michaels did, this may in fact be the reason why as the term was not yet made.
List of WWE Grand Slam ChampionsEdit
| Name | World Championship | Tag Team Championship | Second-Tier Championship | Tertiary Championships | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWE | World Heavyweight | World Tag Team | WWE Tag Team | Intercontinental | European | Hardcore | |
| Shawn Michaels | 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 | August 23, 1999 | September 2, 2002 | April 29, 2001 (with Stone Cold Steve Austin) | December 13, 2009 (with Shawn Michaels) | October 21, 1996 | December 11, 1997 | no future reign possible1 |
| Kane | 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 | 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 | June 11, 2006 | no future reign possible3 | March 31, 2003 (with Kane) | December 7, 2004 (with Rey Mysterio) | March 17, 2002 | July 22, 2002 | July 22, 2001 |
| Booker T | July 23, 2006 | October 30, 2001 (with Test) | July 7, 2003 | no future reign possible2 | May 4, 2002 | ||
| Jeff Hardy | December 14, 2008 | June 7, 2009 | June 29, 1999 (with Matt Hardy) | no future reign possible3 | April 10, 2001 | July 8, 2002 | July 12, 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 20, 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. |
| no future reign possible | The wrestler cannot have a reign with this championship belt. |
| Name colors | |
| Won the Grand Slam under the original definition. | |
| Won the Grand Slam with an alternate title. | |
| Won the Grand Slam with an alternate title but has won all the titles under the original definition. | |
| 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 World Wrestling Entertainment, so future reigns are not currently possible. | |
| 4 ^ The wrestler is deceased, so future reigns are not possible. | |
Total Nonstop Action WrestlingEdit
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.
List of TNA Grand Slam ChampionsEdit
| Champion | Primary Championships | Tag Team Championships | Secondary 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 | June 11, 2003 | September 20, 2009 | July 3, 2002
(with Jerry Lynn) | October 14, 2007
(with Tomko) | June 19, 2002 | March 15, 2009 |
| 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. |
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