[3] Established in February 1997 as the "WWF European Championship", the title incurred a brief hiatus in April 1999 due to then-champion Shane McMahon's desire to retire as an "undefeated champion".

It became a prominent singles title of the Attitude Era, held by then-former world champions Shawn Michaels and Diamond Dallas Page, along with Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Eddie Guerrero, among others.

[1] In 1997, the British Bulldog was crowned the first WWF European Champion by winning a tournament that was held over several shows in Germany, culminating in a finals victory over Owen Hart.

During Snow's reign, he and "Head" dressed up as various ethnic stereotypes corresponding to the European location they were billed from, though not always in a politically or geographically correct manner.

McMahon reintroduced the championship two months later and gave it to Mideon, who saw the title belt in Shane's travel bag and asked if he could have it.

A month later, at SummerSlam, Jarrett defeated Brown to win both titles but awarded the European Championship to Mark Henry the following day.