There have not been many wrestlers throughout WWE history who have had the opportunity to hold two championships at the same time. Even less have managed to achieve that dream when presented with a chance.
Currently the US Champion, Roman Reigns may very well make history this weekend as he faces Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship at Roadblock: End of the Line.
This article will take you through a detailed history of the times a wrestler has held two championships at once.
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Conor McGregor made the headlines last month by becoming the first two-weight champion in UFC history. Connor held both the featherweight championship and the lightweight championship making him the hottest superstar in that industry right now. To win just one championship in UFC is considered a major accomplishment, so to see the Irishman walk away with two with such ease is just unbelievable.
It really does show the pure class of a wrestler and their position in the company when they are chosen to carry not just one belt, but two. Obviously, in this industry, the company decides who will carry what belt and who will represent each division and though some will say this isn’t properly earned, I can tell you it is.
You have to have all the attributes needed to be a Superstar and you have to be at the top of your game to even carry one championship in the WWE. To say these guys don’t earn what they have would be extremely disrespectful. Even though it isn’t considered a competitive sport and it is, in essence, merely entertainment, the dedication and hard work is not scripted and every championship they hold is most definitely earned.
So without further ado, let’s take a look back at the times a WWE wrestler held two championships at once!
The first ever double champion
1980 | Bob Backlund | WWF Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
The first person in the WWF to hold two titles cropped up after hours of research! I could not find a picture of it unfortunately so you’ll have to make do with the picture of him from Survivor Series following his victory over Bret Hart.
The second longest reigning WWF Champion of all time with a reign of 2135 days, Bob Backlund also had tag team success with his partner Pedro Morales on August 9 at the WWF event ‘Showdown at Shea’ in New York.
They faced The Wild Samoans in a two out three falls match and what is even more amazing is the fact that they won both falls!
Unfortunately, the reign didn’t last two minutes due to the rule in the WWF that made sure someone could not be the champion of two divisions at the same time. It really was an amazing accomplishment back then and just showed how unstoppable the WWF Champion was.
The Wild Samoans regained their titles in a tournament at the following event.
The Hogan Era is over
1990 | Ultimate Warrior | WWF Champion / WWF Intercontinental Champion
WrestleMania VI.
The Ultimate Challenge. Hogan couldn’t come through which meant that Warrior became the WWF Champion despite already being the Intercontinental Champion. Both titles were on the line and despite Hogan being the unstoppable force of the Golden generation of wrestling, he could not take that step to be the second double champion in WWF history.
The Power of the Warrior was too strong for Hulkamania.
The Ultimate Warrior will always be etched into the annals of wrestling history for the momentous victory over the Hulk Hogan. It was a great match that was won with the famous big splash.
Ultimate Warrior represented everything it meant to be a Superstar. He had the look, the skills in the promo department and he was a guy with muscles in places I don’t even have places.
He was the total package and though it was bittersweet because people were not used to seeing Hogan lose, it was hard not to cheer and get behind Warrior. This was a key WrestleMania moment. He validated his character and career with the double title win.
Again, due to the rule that a wrestler could not hold two championships simultaneously, Warrior vacated the Intercontinental Championship and Mr. Perfect won a tournament final to claim the title that Warrior used to reach the top!
Two Dudes with Attitudes
1994 | Diesel | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
1995 | Diesel | WWF Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
1995 | Shawn Michaels | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
1994 and 1995, the years that Shawn Michaels and Diesel were at the forefront of WWF programming. The Kliq were in full swing and they were finally getting the exposure they had strived for. The company, however, was in decline.
With a focus on gimmicks rather than the quality of the match-ups, people like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were focusing on trying to change this mindset and show what they could do.
Along with Diesel, Shawn Michaels was part of the group ‘Two Dudes with Attitudes’ in a shift that pre-dated the Attitude Era but helped to set it up. During 1994, they managed to capture the tag team championships.
Diesel was already the Intercontinental Champion making him a double Champion. However, this was only for one day as he would drop the Intercontinental Championship to Razor Ramon at SummerSlam the next night, August 29th 1994.
Fast forward to 1995 and In Your House 3. All three titles were on the line as the Two Dudes went up against Yokozuna and Owen Hart. Diesel and Shawn Michaels were the WWF and Intercontinental Champions respectively and managed to pick up the win over the Tag Team Champions.
Their double championship reigns would once again only last for one day as the decision was reversed the next night on Raw.
The Hart Foundation dominates
1997 | British Bulldog | WWF European Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
1997 | Owen Hart | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
Just before we steamed ahead into the Attitude Era, we saw the Hart Foundation dominate programming and the championship scene. Owen Hart and The British Bulldog managed to capture the WWF Tag Team Championships from The Smoking Gunns in 1996 at In Your House: Mind Games.
The British Bulldog and Owen Hart both had singles Championships in 1997 during their Tag Team Championship reign. The Bulldog represented the European Championship as an actual European and the Black Hart help the Intercontinental Championship, having won it from Farooq in a tournament final.
Owen would lose his Intercontinental Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at Survivor Series ’97 putting an end to the feud that almost cut the Rattlesnake’s career short. British Bulldog would lose his title to Shawn Michaels at One Night Only in his own hometown.
Nevertheless, the double champion reigns of both Owen Hart and The British Bulldog lasted for over a month and that is pure dominance.
Both men have since passed away but their legacy will certainly live on as two of the rare double champions in WWE history.
Heartbreak Kid
1997 | Shawn Michaels | WWF Champion / WWF European Champion
As explained in the previous slide, Shawn Michaels beat the inaugural European Champion, British Bulldog to become the second holder of the belt. However, the Heartbreak Kid would not stop there and captured the WWF Championship at the 1997 Survivor Series. This made him a double champion for the second time in his career.
This is probably one of the more memorable reigns as DX was hotter than a summer’s day at the time and that image of Michaels walking around with both belts is ingrained into the brain of every fan now in their mid-20s!
Turns out it wasn’t as long a reign as I first thought though, as after just 40 days, Michaels was forced to defend the title against his buddy Triple H and pretty much gifted him the European Championship.
This was toward the end of Michaels’ first run in WWE and even if he hadn’t come back, his accomplishments in the 90s were unparalleled.
The Corporation take over.
1998 | Big Boss Man | WWF Hardcore Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
1998 | Ken Shamrock | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock on the other hand, had very forgettable double champion reigns. Both capturing the Tag Team Championships on Raw in December 1998, the Corporation toppled two of the most popular athletes in WWE at the time, Road Dogg and Mr. Ass.
Ken Shamrock had won his Intercontinental Championship on Raw a couple of months prior, having beaten X-Pac in a tournament since it had been vacated by The Game, Triple H. Boss Man had won his championship in a ladder match so for a little while, the Corporation were riding high.
It was before the 24/7 rule was applied to the Hardcore Championship too, so it was a little more legitimate at that time.
Boss Man would lose his singles championship after a day whereas Ken Shamrock’s Intercontinental Championship reign would outlast his Tag Team Championship one. They lost the championships to Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart in the New Year.
Euro-continental Champion
1999 | D’Lo Brown | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF European Champion
1999 | Jeff Jarrett | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF European Champion
2000 | Kurt Angle | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF European Champion
The WWF Intercontinental Championship and European Championship were seen side by side more than once in the heart of the Attitude Era. D’Lo Brown was the one to start this trend when he captured the European title at Fully Loaded ’99. The next Raw, he managed to beat Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Championship despite the fact that Double J had just won the title at Fully Loaded.
This made D’Lo Brown the first man in the history of the WWE to hold both the Intercontinental Championship and the European Championship simultaneously.
This would only last less than a month though as Jeff Jarrett would beat D’Lo Brown and because both titles were on the line, he became the second man to own both Championships.
However, due to the fact that Mark Henry interfered in the match at SummerSlam, Jarrett would award the European half to Mark Henry. This split the titles and allowed the mid card to have two belts to fight for once again.
A month later at Unforgiven, D’Lo Brown would not have to wait long to get his European Championship back from Mark Henry.
This was it until Kurt Angle completed the same feat D’Lo Brown and Jeff Jarrett had before him and in the same order. He captured the European Championship firstly from Val Venis on SmackDown.
He would then add the Intercontinental Championship to the collection less than a month later at WWF No Way Out 2000 making him the third double champion to hold these specific belts at the same time.
Angle lost both belts to separate people in a 2 falls triple threat match at WrestleMania 2000. Chris Benoit won the first fall to claim the Intercontinental Championship. Chris Jericho won the second fall capturing the European Championship for the first time in his career.
Two Man Power Trip
2001 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | WWF Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
2001 | Triple H | WWF Intercontinental Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
This was one of the most powerful forces in wrestling as we began to exit the Attitude Era. Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H held all the main titles in WWF as it was at the time. Austin had won his WWF Championship at WrestleMania X-Seven against The Rock in a no disqualification match.
In the week’s shows that followed on SmackDown, HHH earned his Intercontinental Championship. He actually had two matches for it during April 2001 but managed to claim the gold before the two men went after the Brothers of Destruction at Backlash for the WWF Tag Team Championships.
Triple H and Austin would be successful in their conquest and ended up with the three most prestigious titles in WWE at the time. This was the second time this had happened, the first being earlier in the slide with Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels.
Triple H was first to ruin things by dropping the Intercontinental Championship at Judgment Day to Kane in a brutal chain match. The next night on Raw did not go much better for the Two-Man power trip as they ended up losing the Tag titles too.
Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho got the better of the veterans and captured the Tag titles from them. Only Austin remained WWF Champion for the latter half of the year.
The Invasion
2001 | Booker T | WCW Champion / WCW U.S Champion
2001 | Kanyon | WCW U.S Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
2001 | X-Pac | WWF Light Heavyweight Champion / WCW Cruiserweight Champion
2001 | The Undertaker | WWF Tag Team Champion / WCW Tag Team Champion
2001 | Kane | WWF Tag Team Champion / WCW Tag Team Champion
Booker T counts on this list as he came into the WWE from WCW as a double champion and remained so until he gave the U.S Championship up to Kanyon. Had Booker T not been the only double champion at WCW however, we are looking at a different list all together there.
Kanyon won the WWF Tag Team Championships with DDP from the APA on a July episode of Raw. He was awarded the ECW U.S Championship from its previous owner Booker T by then ECW owner Stephanie McMahon as alluded to above.
Kanyon was basically gifted a double championship. His reign would not last long however as he and DDP lost the WWF Tag Team Championships in a steel cage match at SummerSlam 2001 to the Brothers of Destruction, the Undertaker and Kane.
This, in turn, made Undertaker and Kane double champions in their own right as they already owned the WCW Tag Team Championships. They lost the WWF Tag Team Championships first on Raw in September, and then the WCW Tag Team Championships a week later on SmackDown.
The WCW Tag Team Championships were retired not long after this as the invasion came to a close.
The other notable double champion as the confusing invasion took place was X-Pac. He beat Jeff Hardy on an episode of Raw to first capture the Light Heavyweight Championship. He then beat Billy Kidman a month later to capture the WCW Cruiserweight title which would be later known as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, though not the one we know today.
A unification match was supposed to take place but never materialised due to Tajiri having an injury so the Light Heavyweight belt was simply deactivated.
There is one glaring omission from this Invasion list…
The road to Undisputed Champion
2001 | Chris Jericho | WCW Champion / WWF Tag Team Champion
2001 | Chris Jericho | WWF Champion / WCW Champion
Jericho just made the list! But not just once. When Jericho first captured the WCW Championship from The Rock at No Mercy, little did he know, he would be teaming with him the next night on Raw for the WWF Tag Team Championship belts too. They were successful and beat the Dudley Boyz.
This made Jericho a double champion but it was not to be for long as they dropped the titles on the next week’s SmackDown to Booker T and Test. Nevertheless, this just gave the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla a taste of what was to come.
That’s right, on a night that shocked the world, at Vengeance 2001, Chris Jericho captured both the WCW Championship from The Rock and the WWF Championship from Stone Cold Steve Austin. It will go down in history as one of the most shocking victories ever.
To beat just one of these superstars for a top title would be impressive, but two in one night? It really put Jericho on the map and gave him something to brag about to this day. It was a shame he had a forgettable title run and wasn’t really taken seriously but it showed that anything can happen in the WWE!
Chris Jericho dropped the Championships to Triple H at WrestleMania X-8 after which it was represented by one belt.
Ruthless Aggression! I
2002 | Kane | WWE Intercontinental Champion / World Tag Team Champion
2003 | Eddie Guerrero | WWE U.S Champion / WWE Tag Team Champion
2004 | Chris Benoit | World Heavyweight Champion / World Tag Team Champion
The Ruthless Aggression era brought us many great double champions. It really can add legitimacy to the superstar that is carrying two belts around. When you look at the talent that are in this list, you certainly couldn’t say it hurt their career!
Kane beat Chris Jericho on an episode of Raw to capture the Intercontinental Championship. It would soon be unified with the World Heavyweight Championship but before it could be, Kane would also capture the World Tag Team Championships with the Hurricane.
Hurri-Kane were beaten by Chris Jericho and Christian less than a month later though; a week before Kane’s unification match with Triple H.
The late, great Eddie Guerrero was also a double champion back in the day. He won a tournament final against Chris Benoit to become United States Champion in July 2003. Then, along with Chavo Guerrero, won the WWE Tag Team Championships in September.
He would lose his singles title to Big Show at No Mercy before dropping the Tag Team gold the next week on SmackDown to The Basham Brothers.
Chris Benoit was next to have a bite at the double champion pie. He won the Royal Rumble in 2004 granting him the opportunity to fight for the World Championship at WrestleMania XX. He managed to fend off both Triple H and Shawn Michaels to finally reach the top of the mountain.
This wasn’t enough however, as he then won the World Tag Team Championships with Edge on an episode of Raw. It helped to establish how dangerous Benoit was in the ring. They lost the titles to La Résistance, and he lost the World Championship famously to Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2004.
Ruthless Aggression! II
2005 | Batista | World Heavyweight Champion / WWE Tag Team Champion
2007 | John Cena | WWE Champion / World Tag Team Champion
This era brought more double champions to the table than we could have ever imagined. Batista is next on the list. After winning the title at WrestleMania 21 against Triple H, Batista was champion for over 280 days. The only reason he lost it was because he received a legitimate injury and had to vacate it.
During this reign, he became WWE Tag Team Champion with one of his best pals at the time, Rey Mysterio. This would not last long however, as they both lost the belts to Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro on SmackDown.
The list wouldn’t be complete if Cena wasn’t on it.
Of course he’s been a double champion! Cena originally won the WWE Championship in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at Unforgiven 2006. He would hold this title for over a year and along the way, would also capture the World Tag Team Championships with Shawn Michaels.
They beat Rated RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) in 2007 to capture the belts and held on to them for two months before dropping them to The Hardy Boyz in a massive Battle Royal.
Let’s step back to 2006 for a second…
One Night Stand
2006 | Rob Van Dam | WWE Champion / ECW Champion
RVD was the only man to hold both the ECW Championship and the WWE Championship at the same time. At One Night Stand 2006, Rob Van Dam faced Cena in an extreme rules match. The conditions were extremely hostile for Cena with signs threatening to riot if he had won.
Edge made sure this did not happen by spearing Cena with a motorcycle helmet on. Paul Heyman counted the pinfall and Rob Van Dam was declared WWE Champion.
The next night on ECW, Paul Heyman revived the ECW Championship and simply awarded it to the high-flying ECW alumni. This made Van Dam double champion for 22 days. On Raw, he lost his WWE Championship in a triple threat match with John Cena and Edge. It would be a lot longer before he would lose the ECW Championship to The Big Show though.
His push with two titles was cut short and many believe it to be down to his shenanigans outside of the ring. The fact still remains the he is the only person to ever hold these two titles simultaneously and that certainly speaks for the unbelievable talent that Rob Van Dam displayed in his storied career.
Most Valuable Player
2007 | MVP | WWE U.S Champion / WWE Tag Team Champion
Full name Montel Vontavious Porter, MVP was part of a talented crop in WWE as the Ruthless Aggression Era came to a close.
He held the U.S Championship for almost a year and is one of the most memorable Champions of his era when it comes to talking about that belt. However, it wasn’t the only championship he managed to capture in the year 2007 as he added the WWE Tag Team Championships to that list too.
Teaming with Matt Hardy on an episode of SmackDown, the pair beat Deuce 'n Domino to earn the title belts and make MVP a double champion. Their tag team title reign lasted just 77 days as they dropped the titles to up and comers John Morrison and The Miz.
Though once again, it was a short reign and rarely documented, it is a part of a great career of a man who is sadly no longer with the company. He was an excellent, well-rounded superstar and though his tag-team reign was cut short, he continued to hold on to that United States Championships making him one of the greatest U.S Champions to this day.
The era of Awesome
2010 | The Miz | WWE U.S Champion / WWE Unified Tag Team Champion
2011 | The Miz | WWE Champion / WWE Unified Tag Team Champion
I’ve always said that The Miz is an awesome talent and he’s finally getting to showcase that on SmackDown Live as there is not as much main event talent clogging up the peak of the mountain. If you get a chance, I would definitely watch The Miz circa 2010 / 2011, especially now all the episodes of WWE Raw are on the WWE Network.
Despite the fact there were such big names in the business at the time, Miz still managed to become a double champion twice during this period.
During an epic 224 day reign as United States Champion, The Miz teamed with Big Show to create ‘Sho-Miz’. Big Show had just come off the back of a successful tag team Championship reign with Chris Jericho and the pair managed to beat DX for the unified titles. This made The Miz a double Champion for the first time. He managed to hold on to his singles championship throughout this reign, as they then lost to The Hart Dynasty, who debuted the belts we now recognise as the Raw Tag Team Championships.
This made The Miz a double Champion for the first time. He managed to hold on to his singles championship throughout this reign, as they then lost to The Hart Dynasty, who debuted the belts we now recognise as the Raw Tag Team Championships.
The Miz then won the big one. He cashed in his Money in the Bank against The Viper Randy Orton and claimed his first WWE Championship. He went on to headline a very underwhelming WrestleMania, but before he did this, he captured the tag team championships just one more time.
He did it with none other than John Cena and their reigns lasted less than a night as The Corre (remember them? Me neither…) Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater managed to win them back on the same show. Nice while it lasted and a good addition to the list but doesn’t have quite the punch his first reign as double champion did.
We jump forward in time now…
A new breed
2015 | Seth Rollins | WWE World Heavyweight Champion / WWE U.S Champion
Seth Rollins is a bona fide superstar. This was evident from when he first won the NXT Championship. He has been special ever since he walked through the door in WWE and it is special that he was the first double champion in 4 years.
He won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by cashing in Money in the Bank in the main event of WrestleMania 31 during a match between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
This was an amazing feat, despite both men being very tired from a physical match up. He would hold this main title for 220 days defending it against the likes of Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and even The Icon, Sting.
In his championship run, Seth Rollins managed to gain the United States Championship against John Cena when both titles were on the line at SummerSlam 2015. Interference from celebrity guest Jon Stewart marred the match a bit as he walloped Cena with a chair, but it did lead to Rollins winning the contest and taking home both titles.
Rollins looked unstoppable and even had a statue made in his image stood with both belts around his shoulders.
He lost the United States Championship back to Cena at the next pay-per-view but managed to hold on to his WWE World Heavyweight Championship a bit longer, before having to vacate it due to injury.
Universal U.S Champion?
After documenting the list of talent that has won double championships in the WWE, it is clear to see that Roman Reigns would be joining an illustrious group of superstars if he is to claim the Universal Championship this Sunday at Roadblock.
It would sit alongside his United States Championship nicely and would be yet another first in what has been a fantastic and exciting year for the WWE.
It would also allow for Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho to feud without the title being in the way. It will be interesting to see if Roman Reigns can do it and make a place on this list for himself. I personally love a double champion.
I think nothing looks better than two belts wrapped around each shoulder. We could well see this very picture happen for real on Sunday at Roadblock: End of the Line.
There is no doubt that holding two championships at the same time in WWE is an unbelievable feat that is rarely matched. In its whole history, there has been on average, less than one double champion per year and that includes the madness of the Invasion.
There is a huge difference between holding a belt and making that belt mean something. We’ve seen that with many superstars over the years. The man makes the belt, not the other way round. To see a man make two belts is truly special and I hope you have enjoyed this look back at history.
Who was your favourite double champion? Who would you like to see hold two belts? Who should be struck off the list? Let me know in the comments section below.
