Whenever the conversation about the best titles come up, people seem to forget about the Hardcore title. The hardcore title was had a plethora of great and hard hitting moments. It captured the essence of ECW and the fans loved it. Especially after invasion where the ECW alum joined the WWF. So what we have here are this wrtiers top 10 Hardcore Champions.
10. Mick Foley:
Well, you're probably thinking "Seriously? Mick Foley this low?". Before you call this list crap, think about what he did as hardcore champion? Nothing really. If this was a list on the most hardcore people of all time, this list would have Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Mick Foley at the top three spots. But this isn't a lifetime achievement award. This is the best to hold the belt. Mick was the first to be "awarded" this belt it was probably to get the ball rolling and make the belt popular (especially since after he lost it to Big Boss Man he didn't try to recapture it). Regardless, the originator should always be acknowledged.
Hardcore Moment:
A personal favorite is Mick Foley chair elbow drop off the ring apron to the outside on the table.
9. Rhyno:
Rhyno could have easily been one of the greatest Hardcore Champions. He had the speed, power, and ECW experience to dominate in this division. But Rhyno spent a lot of time bouncing around the WWE. Sometimes he was fighting Tajiri for no reason at all and sometimes he was running through the Undertaker, The Rock, and RVD. Rhyno had a decent run but was still one of the top ten champs. Bad booking killed his run.
Hardcore Moment:
While the steel steps were set up in the ring, Rhyno ran up the steps and gored Big Show while he was holding a trashcan.
8. Big Show:
What do you get when you put the world's largest athlete and tell him he can do whatever he wants? You get a near unstoppable hardcore champion. Wht made Big Show so good was his size. He could take more chair shots and kendo stick hits to the back and mid-section then the average wrestler. Beyond his ability to take hits, his sheer stregnth allowed him to throw people through walls and toss steel steps like they were nothing. He ranks higher than Rhyno because of Rhyno's mistake of trying the same trick twice and got caught and lost.
Hardcore Moment:
Rhyno tried his running up the stairs Gore and Show caught him and took The Hardcore Belt back.
7. Kane:
Think of the Big Show and everything did and could do and add agility and you have Kane. Kane looked at home when he was Hardcore champion. He has always been one of the five most dominant wrestlers in the WWE of all time. And now you have given him the ability to attack people with weapons. He wasn't the most memorable, but his great moment earned him his spot.
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Hardcore Moment:
The "Hardcore Royal Rumble" is the probably the reason Kane got his shot at the Hardcore Title at WrestleMania. He dominated every hardcore competitor that entered the ring and beat them at their own game.
6. Hardcore Holly:
Seriously, his name is Hardcore Holly for crying out loud. Before the belt was defended twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, Hardcore Holly might have been defended his title more than anyone. Holly kept a great balance of creativity (using two trashcan lids and beating people on the head with them like a drum) and using wrestling skills to beat people. He was one of the few people who wasn't a one trick pony when it came to defending and keeping the title.
Hardcore Moment:
Even though Hardcore Holly wasn't supposed to win the hardcore battle royal at WrestleMania 2000, it was still a great moment for old Sparky Plug.
5. Al Snow:
While Al Snow wasn't the most recognized Hardcore champion, he was easily the most fun. Everything about Al Snow's approach to wrestling was to make his fans happy. When Al Snow would put on his bowling shirt, we knew it was time for the seven ten split. And when the mannequin head came out, we knew someone was about to get head. Al Snow wasn't the most decorated, but he was easily the funniest and played to crowd's sense of humor.
Hardcore Moment:
As corny as it sounds, everything Al Snow did for the Hardcore title was a great moment. It seemed like he loved the title like Hogan loved the world title.
4. "BIg Evil" The Undertaker:
Easily the most dominating hardcore champion of all time. It's one thing to fight the Undertaker when you're going after the world title, it's another when you're going after an Undertaker who was not only more ruthless than he has ever been who can now use weapons. Taker wasn't just beating people, he was using the dragon sleeper to choke people out and using chairs to crush his opponent's throats. No one was more feared holding that belt than Taker.
Hardcore Moment:
The first time Taker took a chair, put it on the guy's throat, and threw it made Vavel Editor and this writer jump out of our seats yelling "HOLY CRAP!!!". It was brutal.
3. Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam might be the most popular ECW wrestler of all time and all his chair shots, Van Daminators, Van Terminators, and Van Dam side kicks to the face with a chair...anators were a perfect way for the fans to get introduced to the Whole F'n Show. When RVD defended or fought for the Hardcore title, each match was like a mini pay per view match. Then when his Pay Per View matches were like WrestleMania matches. There was never a dull moment when RVD was in a Hardcore title match. It was hard not making him number one.
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Hardcore Moment:
Every Five Star Frog Splash RVD hit while someone was laying on a ladder or had a chair laying on them.
2. Raven:
Raven will forever hold the record for having won the hardcore title twenty-seven times. Granted, it was during the 24/7 era, it's still an accomplishment. Like Al Snow and RVD, Raven is an ECW alumni who knew how to be hardcore. Raven took a page out of Al Snow's book and started playing to the crowd. Raven would come down to the ring with a shopping cart full of weapons. Kendo sticks, trashcans, trashcan lids, chairs, plants, street signs, and all other sorts of things. Raven was best known for taking a beating and not staying down too long. Big Show threw him through a glass window and he was back on his feet sooner than he should have been. Raven epitomizes what a Hardcore champion should be.
Hardcore Moment:
Rhyno tried to Gore Raven and missed and went right into a shopping cart. Raven then proceeded to beat Rhyno with a chair while he was in the cart.
1. Crash Holly:
All hail the Houdini of Hardcore. The man who made the Hardcore title fun. Crash won the title and then told the world that he would defend the title twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. This led to some of the funniest moments in WWE/F history. Crash even defended the title in a Chucky Cheese type of atmosphere and gave someone a hurricanrana in a ball pit after swinging from a handlebar zip line thing. Announcers laughed, the audience laughed, and sometimes you'd catch his opponents smiling too. Crash set things up that kept people wondering who was going to snatch his title and when. It could literally happen anywhere. Someone tried to take his title while he was in his robe. Crash never took back the 24/7 rule and kept on defending his title. Crash Holly, the best Hardcore Champion of all time.
Hardcore Moment:
He announced that he would defend a title where you could get hit with a car and it's legal and said he would defend it anywhere. Does it get more hardcore than that?