The History of the Number One Contender Battle Royal

THE HISTORY OF THE NUMBER ONE CONTENDER BATTLE ROYAL(Part 5 in the series of title histories; beginning in 1991, every other year, following Wrestlemania, WWF has kicked off its new cycle with a 30 man battle royal. A battle royal was held in 1996, and the event is now in even numbered years. In 2004, the battle royal was held after Summer Slam, as will be the case in 2006. In an ideal Counterfactual, this event would be called the Royal Rumble – and the Royal Rumble event would be called Justice Sunday. However, to avoid confusion, we do it like this.)

1991 Winner: Davey Boy Smith (last elimination – Sid)
1993 Winner: Razor Ramon (last elimination – Shawn Michaels)
1995 Winner: Hakushi (last elimination – Razor Ramon)
1996 Winner: Owen Hart (last elimination – Steve Austin)
1998 Winner: Cactus Jack (last elimination – Steve Austin)
2000 Winner: The Rock (last elimination – Chris Jericho)
2002 Winner: Rey Mysterio, Jr. (last elimination – Shawn Michaels)
2004 Winner: Eddy Guerrero (last elimination – Christian)

The History of the Hart-Guerrero Memorial Triple Crown

THE HISTORY OF THE HART-GUERRERO MEMORIAL TRIPLE CROWN
(this is part 4 in a series; the Triple Crown is awarded to those who have won all 3 of the WWF championships (World, IC, tags) during their careers. It has been renamed twice, for Owen Hart and then for Eddy Guerrero. It is symbolized by the Triple Crown trophy, on which are engraved the names of all of the recipients; that trophy is held by the most recent TC winner until he passes it to the next in a ceremony.)

PEDRO MORALES
WWF Champion – 12/71
Tag Team Champion – 8/80
IC Champion – 12/80

BRET HIT MAN HART
Tag Team Champion – Wrestlemania II, 1986
IC Champion – Wrestlemania IV, 1988
WWF Champion – Wrestlemania VIII, 1992

THE HEARTBREAK KID SHAWN MICHAELS
Tag Team Champion – Royal Rumble ‘89
IC Champion – Survivor Series ‘92
WWF Champion – Survivor Series ‘94

OWEN HARTIC Champion – Survivor Series ‘92
WWF Champion – Wrestlemania X 1994
Tag Team Champion – Royal Rumble ‘97

STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN
Tag Team Champion – Royal Rumble ‘96
WWF Champion – Wrestlemania XIII 1997
IC Champion – Summer Slam ‘98

CACTUS JACK
IC Champion – Survivor Series ‘96
Tag Team Champion – Royal Rumble ‘98
WWF Champion – Summer Slam ‘98

EDDY GUERRERO
IC Champion – Wrestlemania XVI 2000
Tag Team Champion – Summer Slam ‘02
WWF Champion – Summer Slam ‘03

REY MYSTERIO, JR.IC Champion – Royal Rumble ‘03
Tag Team Champion – Summer Slam ‘04
WWF Champion – Summer Slam ‘05

CHRIS BENOITWWF Champion – Wrestlemania XVI 2000
Tag Team Champion – Summer Slam ‘02
IC Champion – Survivor Series ‘05

The History of the WWF Tag Team Championship

The History of the WWF Tag Team Championship
(third in a series; there is a more complicated lineage to the WWF tag belts that goes back to the 50s, we’ll use the official company history before the counterhistory takes over)

LUKE GRAHAM/TARZAN TYLER d. Dick the Bruiser/The Original Sheik (6/71, NYC)
KARL GOTCH/RENE GOULET (12/71, Philly)
BARON MIKEL SCICLONA/KING CURTIS (2/72, NYC)
CHIEF JAY STRONGBOW/SONNY KING (5/72, NYC)
MR. FUJI/PROFESSOR TANAKA (6/72, Philly)
TONY GAREA/HAYSTACKS CALHOUN (5/73, Hamburg PA)
MR. FUJI/PROFESSOR TANAKA [2] (9/73, Philly)
TONY GAREA [2]/DEAN HO (11/73, Hamburg)
VALIANT BROTHERS (5/74, Hamburg)
DOMINIC DENUCCI/VICTOR RIVERA (5/75, Philly)
BLACKJACKS (8/75, Philly)
TONY PARISI/LOUIS CERDAN (11/75, Philly)
EXECUTIONERS (5/76, Philly)
(stripped of titles)
CHIEF JAY STRONGBOW [2]/BILLY WHITE WOLF (12/76)
(White Wolf injured, titles vacated)
MR. FUJI/PROFESSOR TANAKA [3] d. Tony Garea/Larry Zbysko (9/77, Philly)
DOMINIC DENUCCI [2]/DINO BRAVO (3/78, Philly)
YUKON LUMBERJACKS (6/78, NYC)
TONY GAREA [3]/LARRY ZBYSKO (11/78, Allentown)
VALIANT BROTHERS [2] (3/79, Allentown)
TITO SANTANA/IVAN PUTSKI (10/79, NYC)
THE SAMOANS (4/80, Allentown)
BOB BACKLUND/PEDRO MORALES (8/80, NYC)
(title vacated, Backlund already WWF Champ, belts can’t be held concurrently)
SAMOANS [2] d. Tony Garea/Rene Goulet (9/80, Allentown)
TONY GAREA [4]/RICK MARTEL (11/80, Philly)
25. MOONDOGS (3/81, Allentown)
TONY GAREA [5]/RICK MARTEL [2] (7/81, Allentown)
MR. FUJI [4]/SAITO (10/81, Allentown)
THE STRONGBOWS (Jay-3) (06/82, NYC)
MR. FUJI [5]/SAITO [2] (07/82, Allentown)
THE STRONGBOWS [2] [Jay-4] (10/82 Allentown)
THE SAMOANS [3] (3/83 Allentown)
TONY ATLAS/ROCKY JOHNSON (11/83, Allentown)
DICK MURDOCH/ADRIAN ADONIS (4/84, Hamburg)
BARRY WINDHAM/MIKE ROTUNDO (1/85, Hartford)
IRON SHEIK/NIKOLAI VOLKOFF (2/85, NYC)
TITO SANTANA [2]/BRUTUS BEEFCAKE (Wrestlemania 1985 NYC)
THE HART FOUNDATION: BRET HART/BRITISH BULLDOG (Wrestlemania II, 1986, Chicago)
ROUGEAU BROTHERS (Survivor Series ’87, Cleveland)
BRAINBUSTERS (Survivor Series, ’88 Cleveland)
THE ROCKERS (Royal Rumble ’89, Houston)
BRAINBUSTERS [2] (Wrestlemania V 1989, Atlantic City)
THE ROCKERS [2] (Summer Slam ’89, ERutherford)
RODDY PIPER/JAKE ROBERTS (Royal Rumble ’90 Orlando)
MARTY JANNETTY [3]/RICK RUDE (Wrestlemania VI 1990, Toronto)
ORIENT EXPRESS (Summer Slam ’90, Philly)
ROAD WARRIORS (Survivor Series ’90, Hartford)
MONEY INC.: MIKE ROTUNDO [2]/TED DIBIASE (Royal Rumble ’92, Albany)
STEINER BROTHERS (Survivor Series ’92, Cleveland)
QUEBECERS: JACQUES ROUGEAU [2]/PIERRE OULETTE (Royal Rumble ’94 Providence)
50. BAM BAM BIGELOW/LEX LUGER (Wrestlemania X, 1994, NYC)
THE HART FOUNDATION V2: BRET HART [2]/JIM NEIDHART (Survivor Series ’94, San Antonio)
THE BRITISH EMPIRE: BRITISH BULLDOG [2]/BOB BACKLUND [2] (Royal Rumble ’95 Tampa)
SMOKING GUNNS (Wrestlemania XI 1995 Hartford)
RAZOR RAMON/DIESEL (Survivor Series ’95 DC)
STEVE AUSTIN/DUSTIN RHODES (Royal Rumble ’96 Fresno)
BART GUNN [2]/MARC MERO (Summer Slam ’96 Cleveland)
THE HART FOUNDATION V3: BRITISH BULLDOG [3]/OWEN HART (Royal Rumble ’97 San Antonio)
ROAD WARRIORS [2] (Summer Slam ’97 ERutherford)
NATION OF DOMINATION: THE ROCK/D LO BROWN (Survivor Series ’97 Montreal)
CACTUS JACK/TERRY FUNK (Royal Rumble ’98 San Jose)
NEW AGE OUTLAWS: BILLY GUNN [2]/ROAD DOGG (Wrestlemania XIV 1998 Boston)
NATION OF DOMINATION [2] (Summer Slam ’98 NYC)
HARDY BOYS (Wrestlemania XV 1999 Philly)
DUDLEY BOYS (Survivor Series ’99 Detroit)
HARDYS [2] (Wrestlemania XVI 2000 Anaheim)
EDGE/CHRISTIAN (Summer Slam ’00 Raleigh)
TAZ/RAVEN (Royal Rumble ’01 New Orleans)
DUDLEYS [2] (Wrestlemania XVII 2001 Houston)
THE HART FOUNDATION V4: CHRIS JERICHO/LANCE STORM (Royal Rumble ’02 Atlantic City)
CHRIS BENOIT/EDDY GUERRERO (Summer Slam ’02 Long Island)
TEAM ANGLE: CHARLIE HAAS/SHELTON BENJAMIN (Royal Rumble ’03 Boston)
SHAWN MICHAELS [3]/HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (Wrestlemania XIX 2003 Seattle)
HAAS/BENJAMIN [2] (Royal Rumble ’04, Philly)
RIC FLAIR/LEVIATHAN (Wrestlemania XX 2004 NYC)
75. REY MYSTERIO, Jr./ROB VAN DAM (Summer Slam ’04 Toronto)
SHELTON BENJAMIN [3]/KURT ANGLE (Survivor Series ’04 Cleveland)
THE SPREEKILLERS: SHANE HELMS/RHYNO (Royal Rumble ’05 Fresno)
RANDY ORTON/JOHN CENA (Wrestlemania XXI 2005 Los Angeles)
BOOKER T/THE NEOCON GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BRADSHAW (Survivor Series ’05 Detroit)
DEAD MEN WALKING: KANE/THE GIANT PAUL~ (Wrestlemania XXII 2006 Chicago)