10 Forgotten WWE Superstars who were Hardcore Champions

The WWE Hardcore Championship has a wild history. The title was only around for a little under 4 years but still saw a whopping 221 different title changes.

We take a brief look at the Hardcore Championship and some forgotten WWE Superstars who held the title during its lifetime.

#10 Mike Awesome

Although a legend during his run in ECW in the mid to late '90s, Mike Awesome's time in the WWE was mostly forgettable. Awesome came in as part of the Invasion angle, winning the Hardcore Championship from Rhyno after attacking him with a metal pipe. Awesome made history as the first member of the Invasion to win a title in WWE but his time in the company went mostly downhill from there.

Awesome teamed up with Lance Storm to face Edge and Christian at the Invasion PPV in 2001. Awesome and Storm lost the match and this ended up being Awesome's first and last PPV match in WWE.

He mostly appeared on Sunday Night Heat or Velocity subsequently until he picked up an injury in late 2001. He did return to Velocity in 2002 but was released later in the same year. Awesome openly spoke out how he hated his time in WWE in later interviews.

#9 Test

Although Test had a pretty successful career in the WWE, it could have been so much better, and he's been mostly forgotten by the current generation of fans. His biggest storyline in the WWE was his romance angle with Stephanie McMahon which saw him being left at the altar.

Test won the Hardcore Championship twice during his WWE career. He beat the Big Boss Man to win his first Hardcore Championship in January 2000. He won his second Hardcore Championship after beating Raven in 2001.

#8 Justin Credible

Justin Credible only found success in the Hardcore division

The next ECW original on our list is Justin Credible. Despite his success in ECW, his run in WWE saw him mostly staring at the lights for bigger stars.

However, Justin Credible did have a lot of success in WWE's Hardcore division, winning the Hardcore Championship a staggering 8 times. Credible won his first Hardcore Championship at a house show in Scotland in May 2002 from Shawn Stasiak, who also appears on this list. The last of his 8 title wins came later the same year in July at another house show.

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#7 Terri Runnels

Terri Runnels first debuted as Goldust's valet

Terri Runnels made her WWE debut in 1996 as the manager of her then-husband Goldust aka Dustin Rhodes. Although never much of a wrestler, Terri did win the Hardcore Championship which she held onto for less than 30 seconds.

Terri pinned Steven Richards on an episode of RAW from Red Deer, Alberta in 2001 while the latter was giving an interview. Richards pinned Terri immediately afterwards to win back the title.

#6 Cynthia Lynch

Cynthia Lynch held the Hardcore title for about 15 seconds in 2001

The Hardcore Championship's time in the company was crazy, with 221 title changes in less than 4 years. It was so bonkers that on an episode of RAW in 2001, one of The Godfather's associates pinned Crash Holly during a title defense to briefly hold the WWE Hardcore Championship for all of 15 seconds before Holly pinned her to win back his title and make his escape.

Lynch was a developmental talent at the time but she never ended up making the cut. She only made three televised appearances for the Fed, all of them accompanying The Godfather.

#5 Maven

Maven won his first WWE Hardcore title after beating The Undertaker

Maven was the winner of the first edition of WWE Tough Enough. He made a splash at the 2002 Royal Rumble where he eliminated The Undertaker during the Rumble match.

Apart from eliminating The Undertaker from the Royal Rumble, Maven mainly found success in the Hardcore division, winning the WWE Hardcore Championship thrice. Maven won his first Hardcore Championship after defeating The Undertaker on an episode of SmackDown in 2002 following interference from The Rock and Al Snow.

#4 Pete Gas

Pete Gas had a memorable run during the Attitude Era as a part of the Mean Street Posse along with Joey Abs and Rodney. Both Gas and Rodney were childhood friends of Shane McMahon and were there to back him up during his feud with X-Pac.

Gas held the WWE Hardcore Championship twice during his run in the Fed. His first title win came in March 2000 on an episode of RAW while his second came during the Hardcore Battle Royal at WrestleMania 2000 the following month.

#3 Shawn Stasiak

Most younger fans today wouldn't even have heard of Shawn Stasiak. Both of Stasiak's runs in WWE were unremarkable apart from the incident in 2000 which led to him getting fired. Stasiak was caught recording Davey Boy Smith and Steve Blackman's argument backstage and was let go soon after.

Stasiak did make an impact on the Hardcore Division and won the WWE Hardcore Championship a staggering 15 times. Stasiak's first title came in May 2002 when he pinned Steven Richards although he held onto the title for a matter of minutes. His last title win came in August 2002 when he pinned Tommy Dreamer.

#2 Steve Blackman

Steve Blackman's run in WWE lasted from 1997 to 2002. Blackman was a popular midcarder during his time and was involved in a memorable feud with Shane McMahon even though most younger fans won't remember him today.

Blackman's only success came in the Hardcore division, winning the title six times. Blackman holds the record for longest combined reign as Hardcore Champion, lasting 172 days.

Blackman won his first Hardcore Championship in June 2000, beating Crash Holly. His last title win came against Raven at a house show in February 2001.

#1 Christopher Nowinski

Christopher Nowinski is best remembered for being the only Harvard graduate in WWE history. His promising career was sadly cut short due to concussions and he went on to found the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

Nowinski's only title wins in WWE were in the Hardcore division. He won the Hardcore Championship twice during his short WWE career. His first title win came at a house show in July 2002, where he pinned Crash Holly, making him the youngest Hardcore Champion in WWE history.

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