Harder Than Ever
With many different championships across many different brands, it’s not easy to contain the list of triple crown champions to only those wrestlers mentioned above. Some of the titles are defunct, and some championships were excluded from the requirements for triple crown. So let’s take a closer look at last three champions to win the triple crown title, which will be even more elusive in the future, due to only one WWE World Heavyweight Championship, an important requirement for getting the crown.
Big Show
Paul Donald Wight Jr., better known as Big Show, has performed in WWE since 1999. He started with WCW, where he was known by his ring name The Giant. Big Show is the only person to have held WWE, WCW, and ECW world heavyweight championships. With multiple partners, Big Show also distinguished himself in tag team championships, crowned with many titles across several brand competitions.
His quest to collect titles needed for the triple crown started on August 22nd, 1999 when Big Show won World Tag Team with The Undertaker. He ticked off the next requirement box by becoming WWE World Heavyweight championship on November 14th 1999 at Survivor Series. After capturing Intercontinental Championship on April 1st 2012, by defeating Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 28, Big Show was recognized as a triple crown champion.
The Miz
Michael Gregory “Mike” Mizanin, the man we all know as The Miz, started his career as TV star and actor, winning the Tough Enough competition that got him a WWE contract. The Miz started training and wrestling in Ultimate Pro Wrestling, Deep South Wrestling, and Ohio Valley Wrestling. Michael’s debut was in September 2006 when he entered the ring as villain who went undefeated for months. Next year, he was drafted to ECW and teamed up with John Morrison. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team the next year. That was the first leg of his journey to the triple crown.
Next up was securing the WWE World Heavyweight title, which The Miz accomplished on November 22, 2010. It happened on Monday Night Raw in Orlando, FL. Just when everyone thought that Raw was over, The Miz appears and goes after Randy Orton. At one point, Orton attempts the punt, but Miz moves away and counters, winning the match and title. Everyone is disgusted as The Miz plays his role of a villain so good, and gets crowned with a triple championship title during 1000th Raw.
Daniel Bryan
Bryan Lloyd Danielson held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship three times, and the World Heavyweight Championship once, snatching Intercontinental Championship as well as WWE Tag Team Championship with Kane. His career started in the early days of WWF. Before joining WWE in 2009, he wrestled for various companies across the world, using his name as well as the nickname American Dragon. Bryan wrestled for ROH, recognized as one of the “Founding Fathers” of the show. He was ROH World Champion, as well as Pure Wrestling Champion and was the one of three wrestlers in the history to have won both WWE World Heavyweight and ROH World Championships. Danielson also distinguished himself by wrestling in Japan and winning titles on the independent circuit. However, he had to retire from wrestling due to very nasty brain injuries and concussions. Bryan’s achievements at securing all the necessary titles were recognized on March 29th 2015, when he was crowned as the 26th Triple Crown Champion.
I should note that under the World Heavyweight Title rule Booker T, Chris Benoit, Christian and Dolph Ziggler all count as Triple Crown winners. The World Tag Team Championship rule would also make Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio winners.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
