5 WWE titles that were retired (and why they will never return)

The biggest storyline development on the post-Money In The Bank 2019 episode of WWE Raw came when Mick Foley unveiled the company’s newest title: the 24/7 Championship.

Per WWE.com, the rules of the title are as follows:

The new championship calls to mind the “24/7 Rule” of the retired Hardcore Championship, of which Foley was the initial bearer in 1998. Superstars can challenge for the title whenever or wherever they choose, meaning that any 24/7 Champion will always have a massive target on their back.

Titus O’Neil became the inaugural holder of the 24/7 Championship when he won a Championship Scramble – a glorified name to describe a scenario in which he simply picked up the title and became champion – but his reign lasted mere seconds before he was pinned by Robert Roode.

Later on Raw, R-Truth tricked Roode into thinking that he could hide from the rest of the Raw roster in his car. When the new champion emerged from the back of the car, Truth quickly pinned him in the parking lot to become the third holder of the title.

Given that the 24/7 Championship is essentially the Hardcore Championship but with a different name, let’s take a look at five WWE titles that were retired and, perhaps more importantly, why they will never return.

---

#5 Hardcore Championship (1998-2002)

Why did WWE retire the Hardcore Championship?

In WWE’s storylines, the Hardcore Championship was unified with the Intercontinental Championship when Rob Van Dam defeated Tommy Dreamer in August 2002.

In reality, there had been 150 title changes in the space of six months leading up to the retirement of the Hardcore Championship, and the 24/7 rule had become so ridiculous that the title lost any meaning that it previously had.

Why will the Hardcore Championship never return?

In the PG era, WWE Superstars saying the word “hardcore” on WWE programming on a weekly basis is not going to work. The concept of the title is a great idea, hence the introduction of the 24/7 Championship, but the Hardcore Championship name will never be used as long as WWE is PG.

#4 World Heavyweight Championship (2002-2013)

Why did WWE retire the World Heavyweight Championship?

Randy Orton defeated John Cena in a unification match at TLC 2013 to retain his WWE Championship and win the World Heavyweight Championship.

Officially, Orton is classed as the final holder of the World Heavyweight Championship, despite the fact that the title ceased to exist as soon as he won it from Cena.

To make matters more confusing, Orton and the next three holders of the WWE Championship – Daniel Bryan, Cena and Brock Lesnar – carried around two titles (the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship) until WWE introduced a one-belt title design in August 2014.

Triple H explained that the World Heavyweight Championship was retired because every Superstar could appear on both Raw and SmackDown at the time, so there was no need for two world champions.

Why will the World Heavyweight Championship never return?

Realistically, the only way WWE would have reintroduced the title is if they assigned it to the Raw brand in the 2016 WWE Draft. However, a new title – the Universal Championship – was created instead.

With the WWE Championship and Universal Championship both treated as priorities by WWE, there is no room for the World Heavyweight Championship in the current-day product.

#3 European Championship (1997-2002)

Why did WWE retire the European Championship?

WWE inherited several titles from WCW in 2001, including the WCW Championship and WCW Tag Team Championship, so the company began reducing its number of titles in 2001-2002.

Like the Hardcore Championship in August 2002, the European Championship was unified with the Intercontinental Championship in July 2002 when Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy in a ladder match.

Why will the European Championship never return?

There are 11 main-roster titles in WWE these days, as well as another seven if you include NXT and NXT UK, so it seems unlikely that yet another secondary title will be introduced to WWE programming any time soon.

The European Championship was essentially another version of the United States Championship and North American Championship, and it was never seen as a meaningful title when compared to the WWE Championship and Intercontinental Championship.

If it is ever reintroduced, it would only make sense as a secondary title in NXT UK. But that is a big if.

#2 Light Heavyweight Championship (1997-2001)

Why did WWE retire the Light Heavyweight Championship?

WWE had several titles that were too similar to each other after Vince McMahon bought WCW in 2001, so it was inevitable that there would be multiple unifications in 2001-2002.

The Light Heavyweight Championship had been a regular presence on WWE programming from 1997 to 2001 but WWE decided to revamp its Light Heavyweight division (aka cruiserweights) by merging the Light Heavyweight Championship with the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

X-Pac was the final holder of the Light Heavyweight Championship after he suffered an injury in November 2001, causing his scheduled unification match with Tajiri at Survivor Series to be cancelled.

Why will the Light Heavyweight Championship never return?

WWE reintroduced the Cruiserweight Championship in September 2016 after TJP won a 32-man Cruiserweight Classic tournament. Since then, a weekly show – 205 Live – has been created to showcase WWE’s cruiserweights.

Needless to say, with so much weekly television time dedicated to the cruiserweight Superstars on the roster, there is no need for WWE to ever rename its 205 lbs-and-under Superstars “light heavyweights”.

#1 Divas Championship (2008-2016)

Why did WWE retire the Divas Championship?

WWE referred to its male talent as “Superstars” and female talent as “Divas” for several years. However, in April 2016, the company decided to stop calling women “Divas” and began calling them “Superstars”, just like the men, instead.

As a result, WWE Hall of Famer Lita unveiled the new Women’s Championship before the WrestleMania 32 Triple Threat match between Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Divas champion Charlotte Flair.

Why will the Divas Championship never return?

The Divas Revolution/Women’s Evolution has evolved to such an extent that there are now four female singles titles in WWE (the Raw Women’s Championship, SmackDown Women’s Championship, NXT Women’s Championship and NXT UK Women’s Championship), while the Women’s Tag Team Championship was introduced in February 2019.

With so many titles in WWE these days, plus the fact that the company no longer refers to its women as “Divas”, there is no way that the Divas Championship will return.