Grand Slam (professional wrestling)
The Grand Slam is an accomplishment in professional wrestling. It is a distinction given to a professional wrestler who has won four specific championships within a promotion throughout the course of their career. National promotions that recognize this include WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor (ROH). Notable independent promotions include Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). The four titles typically include three singles championships plus a tag team championship. The singles championships include a primary, secondary, and tertiary championship.
National promotions
WWE
In WWE (formerly WWF), the term "Grand Slam" was originally used by Shawn Michaels to describe himself upon winning the European Championship on September 20, 1997. Michaels previously held the WWF Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and the Tag Team Championship with Diesel.[1]
In May 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 winner 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 winner 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. They included the WWE, World Heavyweight, World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship. The inclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship indicated that WWE considered the title to be an acceptable substitute for the WWE Championship in completing the Grand Slam.[1]
At ECW One Night Stand in June 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 when he defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship. 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 The Great American Bash in July 2006. Booker has held the World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and Hardcore titles.[6]
Following WrestleMania 31 in 2015, WWE (which four years earlier ended the brand extension and unified several titles before that) established an updated version of the Grand Slam consisting of the four then-active men's titles in WWE: the WWE, Intercontinental, United States, and WWE Tag Team Championships.[7] Twelve wrestlers have been recognized as Grand Slam winners under these new parameters (including five who were already recognized as Grand Slam winners under the original guidelines).
The brand extension was re-established in 2016, and with that WWE indicated that two new championships that had been introduced, the WWE Universal Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, count as acceptable substitutes for their counterpart titles (WWE Championship and WWE Tag Team – now Raw Tag Team – respectively) as part of the Grand Slam.
Chris Jericho has completed the original format the fastest, completing it in 728 days between December 1999 and December 2001, while Kurt Angle completed the modern format the fastest, completing it in 966 days between February 2000 and October 2002.
As of October 18, 2018, there have been 19 individual Grand Slam Champions. Fourteen wrestlers have only achieved it once, seven under the original format and seven under the modern format, while five wrestlers have achieved the Grand Slam under both formats, three of whom automatically became modern Grand Slam champions at the introduction of the modern format (with the same titles they won while becoming original Grand Slam champions), and two who became modern Grand Slam champions after the modern format was introduced (with different titles won to complete both formats).
Guide
| Text | |
|---|---|
| Championships in italics | The title is an alternate title in the original Grand Slam format |
| Dates | A date indicates the wrestlers first reign with that championship |
| Dates in bold | The date the wrestler won the Grand Slam |
| Names in bold | Indicates Grand Slam winner under both formats |
| 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 the same level |
| N/A | Indicates future reigns are not possible |
| Colors | |
| Won all Grand Slam eligible titles under either format | |
| 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 when the brand extension was not in effect | |
Original format
| Champion | Primary championships | Tag team championships | Secondary championship | Tertiary championships | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWF/WWE | World Heavyweight |
WWF/World Tag Team |
WWE/Raw Tag Team |
Intercontinental | European | Hardcore | |
| Shawn Michaels[1] | March 31, 1996 | November 17, 2002 | August 28, 1994 (with Diesel) |
December 13, 2009 (with Triple H) |
October 27, 1992 | September 20, 1997 | N/A (Title defunct) |
| Triple H[8][7] | 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 | N/A (Title defunct) |
| Kane[3][4] | June 28, 1998 | July 18, 2010 | July 13, 1998 (with Mankind) |
April 19, 2011 (with Big Show) |
May 20, 2001 | N/A (Title defunct) |
April 1, 2001 |
| Chris Jericho[9] | 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[5] | October 22, 2000 | January 10, 2006 | N/A (Title defunct) |
October 20, 2002 (with Chris Benoit) |
February 27, 2000 | February 8, 2000 | September 10, 2001 |
| Eddie Guerrero | February 15, 2004 | N/A (Deceased) |
N/A (Deceased) |
November 17, 2002 (with Chavo Guerrero) |
September 5, 2000 | April 3, 2000 | N/A (Title defunct) |
| Rob Van Dam[6][7] | June 11, 2006 | N/A (Title defunct) |
March 31, 2003 (with Kane) |
December 7, 2004 (with Rey Mysterio) |
March 17, 2002 | July 22, 2002 | July 22, 2001 |
| Booker T | N/A (Retired) |
July 23, 2006 | October 30, 2001 (with Test) |
N/A (Retired) |
July 7, 2003 | N/A (Title defunct) |
May 4, 2002 |
| Jeff Hardy[7] | December 14, 2008 | June 7, 2009 | June 29, 1999 (with Matt Hardy) |
April 2, 2017 (with Matt Hardy) |
April 10, 2001 | July 8, 2002 | July 10, 2001 |
| John Bradshaw Layfield[10] | June 27, 2004 | N/A (Retired) |
May 25, 1999 (with Faarooq) |
N/A (Retired) |
March 9, 2009 | October 22, 2001 | June 3, 2002 |
| Christian[11] | N/A (Retired) |
May 1, 2011 | April 2, 2000 (with Edge) |
N/A (Retired) |
September 23, 2001 | October 30, 2001 | March 17, 2002 |
| Big Show | November 14, 1999 | December 18, 2011 | August 22, 1999 (with The Undertaker) |
July 26, 2009 (with Chris Jericho) |
April 1, 2012 | N/A (Title defunct) |
February 25, 2001 |
Modern format
| Champion | Primary championship (one needed) | Tag team championship (one needed) | Secondary championship (both needed) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWF/WWE | Universal | WWE/Raw Tag Team | SmackDown Tag Team | Intercontinental | United States | |
| Kurt Angle[12] | October 22, 2000 | October 20, 2002 (with Chris Benoit) |
February 27, 2000 | October 22, 2001 | ||
| Eddie Guerrero[12] | February 15, 2004 | N/A (Deceased) |
November 17, 2002 (with Chavo Guerrero) |
N/A (Deceased) |
September 3, 2000 | July 23, 2003 |
| Edge[12] | January 8, 2006 | N/A (Retired) |
November 7, 2002 (with Rey Mysterio) |
N/A (Retired) |
July 24, 1999 | November 12, 2001 |
| Big Show[12] | November 14, 1999 | July 26, 2009 (with Chris Jericho) |
April 1, 2012 | October 19, 2003 | ||
| The Miz[12] | November 22, 2010 | November 16, 2007 (with John Morrison) |
July 23, 2012 | October 5, 2009 | ||
| Daniel Bryan[12] | August 18, 2013 | September 16, 2012 (with Kane) |
March 29, 2015 | September 19, 2010 | ||
| Chris Jericho[12] | December 9, 2001 | June 28, 2009 (with Edge) |
December 12, 1999 | January 9, 2017 | ||
| Dean Ambrose[12] | June 19, 2016 | August 20, 2017 (with Seth Rollins) |
December 13, 2015 | May 19, 2013 | ||
| Roman Reigns[12] | November 22, 2015 | August 19, 2018 | May 19, 2013 (with Seth Rollins) |
November 20, 2017 | September 25, 2016 | |
| Randy Orton[12] | October 7, 2007 | December 4, 2016 (with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper) |
December 14, 2003 | March 11, 2018 | ||
| Seth Rollins | March 29, 2015 | May 19, 2013 (with Roman Reigns) |
April 8, 2018 | August 23, 2015 | ||
| Jeff Hardy[13] | December 14, 2008 | April 2, 2017 (with Matt Hardy) |
April 10, 2001 | April 16, 2018 | ||
Impact Wrestling
The first Impact Wrestling Grand Slam winner, then known as the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) Grand Slam, 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!, announcer Mike Tenay stated that Styles had become the first TNA Grand Slam winner by capturing the World Heavyweight (NWA or TNA), World Tag Team (NWA or TNA), X Division, and Legends Championships (The Legends Championship was subsequently renamed the Global, Television, and King of the Mountain Championship, before being fully retired).[14][15]
The following is a list of Impact Grand Slam winners with dates indicating when the wrestler first won the respective championship. Under TNA's definition of the Grand Slam, wrestlers are eligible to be a multiple Grand Slam winner each time they complete a new circuit. Thus far, only A.J. Styles has won the Grand Slam on more than one occasion.
On August 15, 2016, the TNA King of the Mountain Championship was once again retired when Lashley unified the title into his TNA World Heavyweight Championship. In a March 26, 2018, article on the Impact Wrestling website, the eligibility of the Impact Grand Championship, which replaced the King of the Mountain Championship, as a Grand Slam title was confirmed.[16][17]. However, on June 4, 2018 during a press conference Austin Aries unified the Grand Championship with the World Championship.[18] Thus any future Grand Slam winners will be limited to those who had already held either the Legends/Global/TV/King of the Mountain title or Grand Championship.
| Text | |
|---|---|
| Championships in italics | The title is an alternate title from the original definition of a Grand Slam. |
| Dates | A date indicates the wrestlers first reign with that championship. |
| Dates in bold | The date the wrestler won the Grand Slam. |
| Champion | Primary championships | Tag team championships | Secondary championship | Tertiary championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWA World Heavyweight |
TNA/Impact World (Heavyweight) |
NWA World Tag Team |
TNA/Impact World Tag Team |
TNA/Impact X Division |
TNA Legends/Global/TV/King of the Mountain |
Impact Grand | |
| A.J. Styles (2 times)[14] | June 11, 2003 | September 20, 2009 | July 3, 2002 (with Jerry Lynn) |
October 14, 2007 (with Tomko) |
June 19, 2002 | March 15, 2009 | N/A (title defunct) |
| Abyss | November 19, 2006 | February 4, 2004 (with A.J. Styles) |
September 19, 2014 (with James Storm) |
May 16, 2011 | January 9, 2011 | N/A (title defunct) | |
| Samoa Joe | N/A (title not under Impact control) |
April 13, 2008 | N/A (title not under Impact control) |
July 15, 2007 (no partner) | December 11, 2005 | September 27, 2012 | N/A (title defunct) |
| Eric Young | N/A (title not under Impact control) |
April 10, 2014 | October 12, 2004 (with Bobby Roode) |
April 15, 2008 (with Kaz) |
December 7, 2008 | October 18, 2009 | N/A (title defunct) |
| Austin Aries | N/A (title not under Impact control) |
July 8, 2012 | N/A (title not under Impact control) |
January 25, 2013 (with Bobby Roode) |
September 11, 2011 | N/A (title defunct) |
January 14, 2018 |
Ring of Honor
In 2018, Ring of Honor (ROH) established their own version of the Grand Slam, which consists of the ROH World Championship, ROH World Television Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Christopher Daniels is the first and thus far only wrestler to achieve this feat, doing so at the ROH 16th Anniversary Show, when he won the Six-Man titles to complete the Grand Slam.[19][20]
| Champion | Primary championships | Tag team championships (both needed) |
Secondary championships | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROH World | ROH World Tag Team | ROH World Six-Man | ROH World Television | |
| Christopher Daniels | March 10, 2017 | September 21, 2002 (with Donovan Morgan) |
March 9, 2018 (with Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) |
December 10, 2010 |
Regional/independent promotions
Explosive Pro Wrestling
In Explosive Pro Wrestling (EPW), the Grand Slam consists of the EPW Championship, the EPW Tag Team Championship, the EPW Coastal Championship and the EPW Hardcore Championship.[21][22] Due to the Hardcore Championship being defunct, future Grand Slam Champions are limited to former Hardcore Champions.
| Champion | Primary championship | Tag team championship | Secondary championship | Tertiary Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPW Championship | EPW Tag Team Championship | EPW Coastal Championship | EPW Hardcore Championship | |
| Gavin McGavin | August 25, 2018 | March 7, 2015 | November 19, 2016 | November 7, 2009 |
Florida Championship Wrestling
In Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's former developmental territory, a Grand Slam winner was a wrestler who had won every championship that was available in FCW.[23] All FCW titles were retired when FCW changed its name to NXT.
| Champion | Primary championship | Tag team championship | Secondary championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Heavyweight Championship | Florida Tag Team Championship | Jack Brisco 15 Championship | |
| Seth Rollins | February 23, 2012 | March 25, 2011 (with Richie Steamboat) |
January 13, 2011 |
| Richie Steamboat | July 25, 2012 | March 25, 2011 (with Seth Rollins) |
January 13, 2012 |
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Clayton, Corey (August 24, 2007). "Superstar Turning Points in WWE history". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
He would also become the first-ever WWE "Grand Slam" Champion, winning the WWE, World Heavyweight, European, Intercontinental and World Tag Team Title gold.
- ↑ "Kane's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 19, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
- 1 2 "WWF.com Headlines". World Wrestling Entertainment. May 26, 2001. Archived from the original on May 26, 2001. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
In a rare interview with WWF.com, Kane discussed the chain match Sunday at Judgment Day and his feelings on being the only "Grand Slam Champion" of his variety.
- 1 2 "Big Red Grand Slam". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- 1 2 "Kurt Angle..." WWE.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
While most fans of this former Grand Slam Champion...
- 1 2 "Rob Van Dam". wwe.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
At ECW One Night Stand 2006, Rob Van Dam became the only person out of ECW, after its 2001 purchase to become a WWE Grand Slam winner. At WWE Great American Bash 2006, Booker T became the second
- 1 2 3 4 "The new Grand Slam winners: The six Superstars who have won every active championship". WWE. August 10, 2015. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015.
- ↑ "Triple H". WWE.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
Such dedication has provided him with the fortitude to become a Grand Slam champion.
- ↑ "Nikki Sixx and Courtney Bingham at the Premiere of "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne (Chris Jericho)". Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
- ↑ "JBL Milestone 04-05-09". WWE. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
After defeating CM Punk on Raw to win his first Intercontinental Championship, JBL becomes the tenth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.
- ↑ Paul White. 101 Things You May Not Have Known About World Wrestling.
His vast collection of titles made him the 23rd Triple Crown Champion and the 11th Grand Slam Champion.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "The new Grand Slam winners". WWE. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- ↑ "Jeff Hardy def. Jinder Mahal to become the new United States Champion". WWE. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- 1 2 "Total Nonstop Action Wrestling presents: TNA Impact!". TNA Impact!. 2009-03-19. Spike TV.
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh (March 20, 2009). "Impact results – 3/19/09". WrestleView.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2009.
- ↑ "Double Main Event Thursday Night! Aries vs. Sydal & Lashley vs. Cage".
- ↑ "Austin Aries Grand Slam Champion – Impact Wrestling.com".
- ↑ Solowrestling (June 4, 2018). "Austin Aries confirma la unificación del Campeonato Grand y Mundial". Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ↑ "Vegas Street Fight Signed For The ROH World Six-Man Championships". rohwrestling.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- ↑ "Christopher Daniels on Twitter".
- ↑ "Gavin McGavin". September 5, 2018.
- ↑ "EPW Vendetta: FULL RESULTS - Explosive Pro Wrestling". August 25, 2018.
- ↑ "Seth Rollins' Bio". March 19, 2009. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012.