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The Complex History of WWE's Era of Unification: photos1 \% F. h' e2 T/ Q
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On the July 30, 2001, edition of Raw, X-Pac, the WWE Light Heavyweight Champion, defeated Billy Kidman, the WCW Cruiserweight Champion, to unify the two titles.% s% ]/ S" o w d2 H$ @- g
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6 s) b# R( ?) |6 q& L4 QX-Pac unified the titles once again by defeating Tajiri at SummerSlam 2001.
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Two weeks before Survivor Series 2001, Edge – the recently crowned King of the Ring – lost the WWE Intercontinental Championship to Test on Raw.
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) H' ^( E1 @% P- W6 T5 n5 _$ M2 [One week later, Edge won the WCW United States Championship and then defeated Test at Survivor Series to unify the titles.
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The Undertaker & Kane won the WCW Tag Team Championship on the Aug. 9, 2001, edition of SmackDown. On the same night, WCW competitors Diamond Dallas Page & Kanyon defeated The APA to become WWE World Tag Team Champions.
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4 ?& W* H1 z6 G: L1 Z: c" BThe two new titleholding teams met in a Steel Cage Match at SummerSlam to rectify this bizarro universe by unifying the titles.
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The Brothers of Destruction emerged victorious at SummerSlam, but soon lost both sets of titles to individual teams.$ N+ P2 w. W. ?
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The Dudleys defeated their longtime adversaries The Hardy Boyz in a Steel Cage Match to unify the championships at Survivor Series.
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: M C/ x6 _8 v" ]7 y1 @' HBubba and D-Von are the only tag team in history to hold the titles of the three major sports-entertainment organizations – WWE, WCW and ECW.
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Chris Jericho won’t let anyone forget at Vengeance in December 2001.! [1 @- z" r7 {2 _
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Jericho defeated The Rock to win the WCW Championship and was immediately faced with the task of battling "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the WWE Championship.
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- G1 D; \8 x2 x' Z4 B6 P3 _9 DY2J emerged victorious – thanks to a bit of assistance from Mr. McMahon. ^; b8 @8 u8 W; o7 q
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6 ]5 h" R3 u B E# y) K: JOn that night, Jericho earned the right to brag that he is “the best in the world at what he does” by defeating two of sports-entertainment’s most iconic stars in one night. ?, `, d; j P1 B9 O
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After Jericho was defeated by Triple H at WrestleMania X8, the two titles were merged into the WWE Undisputed Championship.0 s( `% f: @0 j
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Ric Flair did the honors of presenting The King of Kings with the brand new title on the April 1, 2002, edition of Raw.# E1 T) b4 w8 X+ c- m
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Two of the championships that defined the Attitude Era were put to rest in summer 2002 by Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam.( G) ?% t; I! t+ ^/ H
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; a# m4 Q" H. t) D3 N( sAfter RVD defeated European Champion Jeff Hardy in a Ladder Match to retire the European Title, he battled Hardcore Champion Tommy Dreamer.
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% Y4 V+ T- [! Z7 p+ dThe two ECW icons competed in a brutal bout that saw The Whole Dam Show once again emerge victorious.
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* p+ j9 u2 q( b9 t5 L JWith WWE Champion Brock Lesnar refusing to show up on Raw, it left WWE’s flagship broadcast without a champion. That void was quickly filled by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.$ x4 u7 R, Z3 g3 F" m& {
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Bischoff opened a briefcase and awarded the newly created World Heavyweight Championship and to Triple H
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9 m9 \, U p vSmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon introduced the WWE Tag Team Championship, represented by titles emblazoned with the bright blue color so associated with SmackDown’s look., O5 V$ h1 } n6 R
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Reverend D-Von & Ron Simmons battled the team of Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo in the first round of the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament on SmackDown.
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. z4 i5 Y3 R8 C& z. f6 M5 aKurt Angle advanced to the finals of the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournameny by defeating grapplers including Eddie Guerrero and John Cena.3 r: T" ]: q0 d Q
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" [) \: V, v8 X( s$ EIn a unique matchup of the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament, Brock Lesnar & Tajiri battled the team of Edge & Rey Mysterio.8 ~ t# n' f% m1 H+ @9 [9 ^$ r, f
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7 J0 A7 k6 y9 p, R7 C9 J; j& vBrock went on a rampage after coming out on the losing end of the contest.
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Kurt Angle applied his patented submission hold onto Eddie Guerrero during the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament.9 H7 e" t1 { R
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" C1 q$ o! G, eKurt Angle faced off with Rey Mysterio in the finals of the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament at No Mercy 2002.
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Edge turned the tables on Kurt Angle at No Mercy.
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3 L/ F* ^2 k- J& E9 r5 f6 ^0 i3 uKurt Angle was one half of the first-ever WWE Tag Team Champions.# ^# q: r" b; R0 A3 t1 Q$ K
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Kane, who had recently won the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho, faced off with Triple H at No Mercy 2002.
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) d% v8 | S* Q2 m. aThe Game was the reigning World Heavyweight Championship, and the bout was to unify the two titles.
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Triple H was victorious and the Intercontinental Championship was retired for seven months.
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! c4 Z Y1 o% m) u/ GSeven months after No Mercy 2002, co-General Manager "Stone Cold" Steve Austin reinstated the title.5 F% O2 D5 J: M) u- w
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7 o) A+ s% n- x) _9 r- OChristian won a Battle Royal at Judgment Day to win the vacant Intercontinental Title.% ^+ B. W( w, W* u
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In June 2003, SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced the reinstatement of the United States Championship.) B4 o7 i. V; R+ l
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+ T9 K2 V$ m" gStephanie announced the new champion would be crowned in a tournament that would culminate at Vengeance 2003.
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! f P, T7 [8 {5 c, j2 K5 `Eddie Guerrero met Ultimo Dragon in a clash with international flavor during the first round of the United States Championship Tournament on SmackDown.0 t4 x O0 v( @, f# h6 K
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After defeating Ultimo Dragon, Eddie Guerrero also defeated Billy Gunn to advance to the finals.
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Latino Heat won it all at Vengeance to win the vacant United States Championship." B# A- P' ^$ S4 [' u; s
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Hornswoggle shockingly entered and won the Cruiserweight Open at The Great American Bash 2007 to become Cruiserweight Champion.
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WWE Tag Team Champions Primo & Carlito prepared to face off with World Tag Team Champions John Morrison & The Miz in a Lumberjack Match to unify the titles at The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.3 M: _. F1 g# |$ @6 u( Q. W e
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9 H0 d0 T2 I- @The Colons won the bout and became the first-ever Unified Tag Team Champions.
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# Z% ^! p; U7 k; _1 ?5 D5 Y# kBret Hart was tasked with debuting the new WWE Tag Team Championship titles on the Aug. 16, 2010 edition of Raw.: Z( H/ d$ ~5 v
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$ }: K6 t4 \! u5 U" t% RThe Hart Dynasty was the first team to hold the new titles. |
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发表于 2012-9-13 09:02
发表于 2012-9-13 09:11
