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The European Championship is a title which hasn’t been active for well over a decade now, and yet, fans still talk about it and wonder whether or not it’ll ever be revived.
With several high profile Europeans having competed on the main roster in the last few years, WWE missed a few golden opportunities to bring back the belt as a temporary replacement for the United States Championship.
Still, that doesn’t mean guys from the US can’t hold onto the title as we’ve seen before, although, for the sake of this list, we’ve exclusively picked people from the namesake continent. Four of them are still waging war on WWE Raw and SmackDown Live, whereas one individual, in particular, is a past superstar who we’d love to see return.
With that being said, here are five WWE superstars who would have been perfect European champions.
#1 Cesaro
The Swiss Superman Cesaro isn’t someone who is immune to championship gold in WWE, having held the United States & Tag Team titles on several occasions.
However, the idea of him parading around with the European Championship is something that’s too good to pass up. When he initially came into the fold as the cocky heel and won the US title, he should’ve converted it to the European belt almost immediately.
It would’ve put him on the map in a big way, and while it wouldn’t have guaranteed him rising up to the world title scene, it certainly would’ve given him more notability for casual fans.
Now, it doesn’t feel like it would be quite as effective, mainly because he’s doing such great work as a tag team partner. Who knows, perhaps his eventual break-up with The Celtic Warrior will lead to a feud for the strap.
#2 Sheamus
Speaking of whom, Sheamus completes The Bar’s presence on this list as our second entry. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion once would’ve considered the European title to be beneath him, but since holding the world title, he’s slipped down the card to the point where he could probably be a realistic and effective European Champion.
He’s a veteran, he can put on great matches, and he can bring some legitimacy to the championship.
As we mentioned with Cesaro, he can even feud with him for the title. We all remember the epic seventh match in their series before eventually being paired together by Mick Foley, and it’d be great if we got to see an actual conclusion to that at some point in the not so distant future. He’s doing some great work in the tag team division, but it’s always a possibility.
#3 Rusev
The Bulgarian Brute Rusev seemed to be the man who was going to actually go through with the title change, with Lana even hinting at it on social media a few years back when he was the United States Champion.
It was something that had many WWE fans wondering whether or not the company were going to pull the trigger on this move, but in the end, it wasn’t meant to be.
In his current comedic role, we aren’t entirely sure whether or not this would work that well for the SmackDown Live superstar, but there’s always a chance that he’ll return to his monster heel roots some day.
After all, he’s already been through a handful of character changes already, and it feels like he’s going to keep evolving as the years go on.
#4 Finn Balor
Finn Balor is the heir to the Irish throne in WWE, as he aims to take over from Sheamus as the company’s top star from the nation. You could argue that he’s already surpassed him in terms of achievements, but when it comes to his achievements, he’s not even close.
Maybe, just maybe, a good way to elevate him to that next level would be to have him win the European Championship from an evil heel who revived the title.
Then, he could go on to have the same kind of run that Seth Rollins has been having with the Intercontinental Championship. Balor could fend off all challengers for the better part of six months, before finally losing the title and moving back up to the main event scene.
If you couldn’t tell already, we’re extremely invested in the idea of bringing this title back, and it needs to happen sooner rather than later.
#5 Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett should’ve been England’s first WWE Champion, and it really is that simple. The former leader of The Nexus was so unbelievably interesting from the moment he came into the company to the moment he left, and it’s a shame that we never got to see him have an extended run in the main event.
With that being said, Barrett bringing back the European Championship would’ve been satisfying enough.
Just imagine the pop he would’ve received if he’d have presented the world with the European title on an episode of Monday Night Raw in Manchester.
It would’ve been a brave move, to say the least, and they would’ve had to make it work from a storyline perspective, but Barrett is someone who deserved that kind of position and investment from WWE. Who knows, maybe he’ll even make his long-awaited return one day.
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