Final holders of now defunct WWE titles

#3. Hardcore Championship - Rob Van Dam

It is probably fitting that Rob Van Dam was the last Hardcore champion

The precursor to the 24/7 Championship, the WWE Hardcore championship had 240 different reigns over a 4-year period. Originally intended as a one-off for an angle where Vince McMahon presented Mick Foley with the title as a comedy championship to hark back to his hardcore days. The title soon became a serious commodity and the title defences were marred with violent spots - the most talked about being Shane McMahon plummeting 30-feet down from top of the SummerSlam stage in 2000 courtesy of Steve Blackman.

Crash Holly introduced the 24/7 aspect of the championship after he won it, leading to the title being defended inside and outside the ring and even in public places at any hour of the day. Raven holds the distinction for most regins with 27 and almost all mid-carders in the company had runs with the belt.

The title was low on the company totem pole because of the sheer number of times it changed hands, but it gained unexpected prestige when The Undertaker captured the title in 2002 during his heel American bad ass run in the company. After the acquisition of WCW, WWE decided to merge the Hardcore title with the Intercontinental championship and on 26 August 2002, Hardcore champion Tommy Dreamer took on Intercontinental champion Rob Van Dam in a title unification bout.

Van Dam won the match with the Five-Star Frog Splash to become the final champion, a fitting choice considering his hardcore days in ECW.