Becky Lynch is the most recent WWE superstar to hold two championship belts at the same time.
“The Man” strutted into Money in the Bank Sunday night with both the RAW women’s championship and the SmackDown women’s championship simultaneously. After successfully defending the RAW championship against Lacey Evans, Lynch then immediately lost the SmackDown championship to Charlotte Flair. While Lynch is no longer a WWE double champion she is still the women’s RAW champion. You may be familiar with some of wrestlings more notable double champions such as Brock Lesnar, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Seth Rollins but what about the other double champs? There are five wrestlers or tag teams that I bet you have either forgotten were double champions or maybe never even realized had accomplished this remarkable feat. Keep reading to see if this article jogs your memory about these double champions.
1. Bob Backlund
The first entry on the list is notable for being the first ever double champ as well as for the extremely abbreviated amount of time holding both titles. The first ever WWE double champion, Backlund was the reigning WWE champion after defeating Billy Graham in 1978. Backlund would hold this title for an astonishing five and a half years. He still holds the record for longest tenure of any WWE champion in history. During his title run he would partner with Pedro Morales to take on the Wild Samoans in a best 2-out-of-3 falls match for the tag team titles. This was a short lived double championship run as the WWE stripped Backlund and Morales of the title citing a rule which prohibited any competitor from simultaneously holding two titles at the same time. 11 years after his first WWE championship Backlund won a second title over Bret Hart when Helen Hart, attempting to protect her son, literally threw the towel in the ring at Survivor Series 1994. .
Bret Hart was unable to compete in a scheduled rematch so Backlund had the unenviable task of squaring off against the Diesel, Kevin Nash. Backlund was then involved in a second
2. D-Lo Brown
A second double champion you may have forgotten about is D-Lo Brown. Brown held both the WWE Intercontinental championship belt as well as the European championship during his tenure. The first WWE superstar to possess both, Brown made a name for himself as a member of the “Nation of Domination” which was Faarooq’s stable during the Attitude Era. D-Lo defeated Mideon to win the European championship at Fully Loaded in 1999 and collected more hardware on the following episode of Monday Night RAW by defeating Double J, Jeff Jarrett to capture the Intercontinental belt.
SummerSlam 1999 was the event where Brown would drop both titles to Jeff Jarrett and end his reign as a WWE double champion. Unfortunately, Brown may be remembered most for ending the career of fellow wrestler Droz during a powerbomb gone wrong. Droz suffered a broken neck and was paralyzed from the neck down during a 1999 WWE taping in New York.
3. The Ultimate Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior makes the list for both his monumental victory over Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania VI as well as the fact that he is one of my
Warrior’s stunning victory at Wrestlemania was the highlight of his career as he would leave the company shortly thereafter. A nasty contract dispute in 1992 and
4. Bret Hart
The “Excellence of Execution”, Bret “The Hitman” Hart makes the list as a possible overlooked or forgotten WWE double champion. Certainly he is remembered for his role in the Hart Foundation where he successfully paired with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, originally managed by Jimmy Hart. The Hitman also had a very successful solo career where his most memorable feud was with The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels. This feud ultimately ended with the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” as Hart was about to leave the WWE for WCW. What you likely do not remember is that Hitman defeated Chris Benoit in November of 1999 to claim the WCW championship and then paired with Goldberg less than a month later to claim the WCW tag team championships by defeating Ron and Don Harris.
A week after claiming the tag team championship Goldberg and Hart lost the titles to Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Bret vacated the WCW title after suffering a career-ending concussion to Goldberg during a televised match. During his time in WWE Bret Hart won two tag team titles, a pair of Intercontinental titles and was a WWE champion for 97 days after defeating The Undertaker at SummerSlam 1997 in a match that featured Shawn Michaels as a guest referee.
5. Shawn Michaels
Perhaps the most flamboyant champion is none other than HBK himself, Shawn Michaels. He makes the list for being
Nash and Michaels were triumphant at the In Your House 3 event. Diesel was the reigning WWE champion and HBK was the Intercontinental champion. Upon winning the Tag Team championship both Nash and Michaels became WWE double champions. The celebration was short lived however as the Tag Team championship was stripped from Nash and Michaels on a technicality and given back to Yokozuna, Owen Hart, and British Bulldog. Ego clashes between these two superstars may have prevented what could have been an incredibly entertaining duo for years to come. Dissolving this tag team not once but twice did nothing to hamper the career of either one of these performers as both went on to have outstanding careers inside the ring.
Many performers wait their entire career to headline a pay-per-view or for the chance to compete for a championship in any division. It has not been unusual to see wrestlers who have captured titles in different divisions over the course of their career. As fans we have had the privilege of watching some of our favorite tag team members, for example, win singles titles and cheered as we witnessed our superstars win a title in another division or even win in another organization.
There is a small club of wrestlers who have had the skill, desire, toughness, and good fortune come together at the right time to allow them to conquer two championships simultaneously. Who would be your top four wrestlers on the Mount Rushmore of sports entertainment? If names such as Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Macho Man, and The Undertaker come to mind you are not alone. None of these hall of famers, however, have held two championships simultaneously. The select class of performers who have achieved this milestone deserve to be recognized for this impressive accomplishment.
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