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The complex history of WWE's Era of Unification: photos
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; ~: M# j* N8 g: F; M5 l8 l3 QOn 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.* |' _4 E6 v, {, ~$ _) u/ t
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8 `5 n. }, ~6 k& v" n+ J) [9 aX-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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One week later, Edge won the WCW United States Championship and then defeated Test at Survivor Series to unify the titles.! u$ V) ?7 T. U& ?& \! }2 V9 m
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' q* G4 g7 @1 e! t: g/ {1 b5 r( hThe 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.6 S$ Y) r1 q- Y% F3 h3 i% ~ @
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% h& n6 c4 [9 t" L7 jThe two new titleholding teams met in a Steel Cage Match at SummerSlam to rectify this bizarro universe by unifying the titles., l' r3 r7 [; }
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+ {- o( w& ]9 l4 B @The Brothers of Destruction emerged victorious at SummerSlam, but soon lost both sets of titles to individual teams.
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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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1 |6 k4 q6 E6 C& JBubba 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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6 E" Y" S! m2 v3 _6 kChris Jericho won’t let anyone forget at Vengeance in December 2001.
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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.- X% I1 v: N; f6 C( q$ c3 G6 p
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Y2J emerged victorious – thanks to a bit of assistance from Mr. McMahon.
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% X7 y+ D1 ]$ fOn 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.+ I3 B) g9 x3 b4 P! T% J; F# n
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After Jericho was defeated by Triple H at WrestleMania X8, the two titles were merged into the WWE Undisputed Championship.
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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.
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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.4 t& |! d* R1 b1 X( g9 C
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After RVD defeated European Champion Jeff Hardy in a Ladder Match to retire the European Title, he battled Hardcore Champion Tommy Dreamer.. ]5 y6 p O8 Z4 p
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The two ECW icons competed in a brutal bout that saw The Whole Dam Show once again emerge victorious.( A. p2 \! T$ l
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With 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.
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. l$ u3 x, G/ p6 B9 y0 s8 W) pBischoff opened a briefcase and awarded the new World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H.
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SmackDown 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.) I3 U0 V! p; B/ b0 {' p8 L
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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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, h$ p! A7 g+ X2 D* T% ~Kurt Angle advanced to the finals of the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournameny by defeating grapplers including Eddie Guerrero and John Cena.# q& g, Q$ x4 a7 r, r4 J- Q
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In a unique matchup of the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament, Brock Lesnar & Tajiri battled the team of Edge & Rey Mysterio. D/ a. Q: Q* M, | M) z3 i
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Brock went on a rampage after coming out on the losing end of the contest.- \- ?. H& C! z
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Kurt Angle applied his patented submission hold onto Eddie Guerrero during the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament.
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Kurt Angle faced off with Rey Mysterio in the finals of the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament at No Mercy 2002.
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: F' {8 z# S# a, J7 wEdge turned the tables on Kurt Angle at No Mercy.8 d3 ^. U# T2 B! v- F ^" a
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6 w1 c+ E: M5 Y; }Kurt Angle was one half of the first-ever WWE Tag Team Champions.& ^0 B. r9 B% y5 `
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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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The Game was the reigning World Heavyweight Championship, and the bout was to unify the two titles." m, [$ {' n+ A; z w$ g
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8 w0 n4 Z( Y: @$ W8 l0 B, cTriple H was victorious and the Intercontinental Championship was retired for seven months.
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. F6 s* z4 Z+ t1 L, jSeven months after No Mercy 2002, co-General Manager "Stone Cold" Steve Austin reinstated the title.
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Christian won a Battle Royal at Judgment Day to win the vacant Intercontinental Title.
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In June 2003, SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced the reinstatement of the United States Championship., y8 N( u" s' g0 }, J9 e
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7 \& @- A3 A) H6 _Stephanie announced the new champion would be crowned in a tournament that would culminate at Vengeance 2003.
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" {4 O0 I& T$ T. V" iEddie Guerrero met Ultimo Dragon in a clash with international flavor during the first round of the United States Championship Tournament on SmackDown.
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After defeating Ultimo Dragon, Eddie Guerrero also defeated Billy Gunn to advance to the finals.& t3 S& x @+ R" E, f2 ~: t/ {' ^
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$ ]# W* A$ ]3 jLatino Heat won it all at Vengeance to win the vacant United States Championship.8 Q7 p |' B) l, K$ t4 L
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Hornswoggle shockingly entered and won the Cruiserweight Open at The Great American Bash 2007 to become Cruiserweight Champion.8 y5 N6 M2 g. \/ N+ Z4 U
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$ ~6 u! y) E% r9 ]" P8 g0 JHornswoggle was forced by Vickie Guerrero to vacate the title two months later.
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7 l) q; \* V8 rWWE 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.
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6 E- k: U% r5 W7 |9 u/ _- _ IThe Colons won the bout and became the first-ever Unified Tag Team Champions.( l( u, a: G. k; `9 h- z
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9 g: Z& x4 ~9 H0 u8 mBret Hart was tasked with debuting the new WWE Tag Team Championship titles on the Aug. 16, 2010 edition of Raw.) j( C" {: h/ Y* s
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The Hart Dynasty was the first team to hold the new titles. |
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发表于 2013-12-6 07:56
发表于 2013-12-6 09:22
