Final evening’s episode of WWE Uncooked delivered a history-making second, as John Cena lastly secured Grand Slam champion standing together with his Intercontinental title victory. Cena dethroned “Soiled” Dominik Mysterio at his last residence state present, bringing an finish to a reign that began with Mysterio’s triumph at WrestleMania in April.
Beneath the present necessities, Cena is now the 18th Grand Slam champion, however with numerous titles being created and retired over time, these perimeters have modified considerably since they initially got here into play in 1997.
Beneath the unique standards, WWE Superstars wanted to win 4 championships, one from every tier, within the firm to attain Grand Slam standing. These included a world title (WWE or World Heavyweight), a secondary title (Intercontinental), a tertiary title (European or Hardcore), and a tag staff title (WWF, WWE, or World Tag Staff).
As per the earlier tips that stood between 1997 and 2015, 12 WWE Superstars achieved Grand Slam standing, together with Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, and Booker T. The primary was Shawn Michaels, beginning together with his 1992 Intercontinental title and concluding together with his 1997 European title. The final beneath these tips was The Massive Present, finishing the Grand Slam together with his 2012 Intercontinental title reign.
Nevertheless, the factors modified considerably with the introduction of the Common WWE title and the renaming of the WWF Tag Staff titles to the SmackDown Tag Staff titles. Moreover, the retirement of the tertiary European and Hardcore titles and the elevation of america Championship to the secondary tier alongside the Intercontinental title modified the edges significantly. Notably, successful each secondary titles is now a requirement for Grand Slam standing.
Following the reevaluation, a number of of the earlier 12 Grand Slam Champions have been eradicated from the record. These included the primary, Shawn Michaels, who nonetheless lacks a United States title run. Present COO Triple H was additionally faraway from the record for a similar purpose, as was Rob Van Dam, the one wrestler on the earlier record to have certified by successful the ECW World Heavyweight title. In accordance with the present guidelines, WWE now has 18 Grand Slam champions, with Cena the most recent to hitch that record.
Apparently, Cena now holds the report for the longest time between his first title and his final title on the path to reaching Grand Slam standing. The journey started in 2004 together with his first United States title and led to 2025 together with his Intercontinental title win, taking simply over 21 years. A Tag Staff title reign with David Otunga in 2010 and his first world title in 2005 ticked the remaining packing containers for Grand Slam standing.
However out of the 18 Grand Slam champions, who’s the GOAT amongst GOATs in WWE? This is a definitive rating of essentially the most adorned Superstars in WWE historical past.
Each Grand Slam champion ranked from worst to greatest (18-11)
Place
Famous person
18.
Finn Balor
17.
Kevin Owens
16.
Dean Ambrose
15.
Kofi Kingston
14.
The Massive Present
13.
The Miz
12.
Jeff Hardy
11.
Daniel Bryan
10
Chris Jericho
Y2J continues to maintain the hearsay mill churning, as hypothesis over a WWE return forward of a Corridor of Fame induction continues to dominate headlines. And with Grand Slam standing achieved, it is no shock to listen to requires a Corridor of Fame induction echoing all through the WWE Universe. Jericho took 16 years, starting and ending with the 2 secondary titles.
In 1999, Y2J infamously beat Chyna to win the Intercontinental title after he misplaced their first match at Survivor Sequence a month prior. Jericho then accomplished the Grand Slam by beating Roman Reigns in a handicap match for america title in 2017. Far out of your typical WWE Famous person, Y2J put himself within the historical past books in his personal distinctive approach.
9
AJ Kinds
An outstanding wrestler with an exceptional wrestling CV. Kinds’ path to Grand Slam glory began on the prime with a WWE Championship reign. The TNA legend defeated Dean Ambrose at Backlash in 2016, securing the Grand Slam with an odd couple Tag Staff title triumph in 2021. Pairing up with Omos, they defeated The New Day at WrestleMania 37. The victory additionally supplied a primary in skilled wrestling, as Kinds grew to become the primary wrestler to attain each the TNA and WWE Grand Slam.
8
Seth Rollins
A revolutionary, a visionary, and the second wrestler to develop into a two-time Grand Slam champion. Seth Rollins has seen many modifications of the guard in WWE, usually offering the catalyst for unimaginable shifts within the panorama. And his trophy cupboard displays that integral standing.
His Grand Slam journey began together with his Protect stablemate and everlasting foe, Roman Reigns, as they claimed tag staff gold in 2013. Rollins then defeated Finn Balor and the primary two-time Grand Slam champion, The Miz, for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 34 in 2018 to safe the Grand Slam. 4 years later, Rollins ran the Grand Slam gauntlet for a second time, together with his newest United States title reign placing him on the identical pedestal as The Miz.
7
Roman Reigns
Their Grand Slam runs could have began on the identical evening, however The Tribal Chief acquired to the highest of the mountain a little bit bit faster than Rollins. Reigns ticked each field by the tip of 2017, and like Rollins, he secured the Grand Slam with an Intercontinental title win. Defeating The Miz on Uncooked, Reigns achieved the Grand Slam in simply over 4 years, however he wasn’t the primary member of The Protect to attain this. Dean Ambrose beat Reigns to the punch simply three months earlier.
6
Rey Mysterio
Regardless of becoming a member of WWE in the summertime of 2002, it took Rey Mysterio just below 17 years to earn his Grand Slam standing. In Mysterio’s defence, his early WWE profession was marked by nice success within the now defunct cruiserweight division and as a part of numerous tag groups with the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Rob Van Dam, and Edge. However as soon as Mysterio graduated to the principle occasion scene, he by no means seemed again.
After successful his first tag staff title with Edge in 2002, Rey collected the Intercontinental title in 2009, and his first world championship in 2011, 9 years to the day after his WWE debut. However Mysterio needed to be affected person for that United States title. He lastly acquired the ultimate piece of the puzzle in 2019, defeating Samoa Joe at Cash within the Financial institution in 2019.
5
Eddie Guerrero
The second-ever Grand Slam champion beneath the brand new guidelines, Latino Warmth made fast work of the accomplishment. The feat took Guerrero just below three years, culminating together with his unimaginable 2004 WWE Championship overcome Brock Lesnar.
Eddie began his Grand Slam journey equally to Chris Jericho: with an Intercontinental title overcome Chyna in 2000. He then teamed up together with his nephew Chavo in 2002, claiming tag staff gold in a triple risk tag staff match towards Rey Mysterio & Edge and Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit. Guerrero then lied, cheated, and stole his approach to his first United States title in 2003 earlier than slaying the Beast Incarnate at No Method Out in 2004.
4
Randy Orton
Orton’s unimaginable record of accomplishments has made him each a legend and a Legend Killer in WWE. His 14-year journey to Grand Slam standing is an enormous a part of that legacy. Orton secured his first Intercontinental title throughout his Evolution days in 2003 earlier than securing the WWE Championship in 2007.
As a constant foremost occasion participant all through his profession, alternatives for the tag staff and United States titles needed to wait, however Orton lastly secured tag staff gold in 2016 throughout his affiliation with the Wyatt Household, earlier than beating Bobby Roode for america title at Fastlane 2018 to finish the Grand Slam.
3
Edge
Like Eddie Guerrero earlier than him, Edge grew to become a Grand Slam champion by successful the WWE Championship, however his journey to that rarefied standing started seven years earlier with a 1999 Intercontinental title win over Jeff Jarrett at a home present. The reign did not final lengthy, nonetheless, as Jarrett shortly reclaimed the title in a rematch the next day at Totally Loaded.
Edge then secured the opposite secondary championship, america title, in 2001, and the tag staff titles with Rey Mysterio the next yr. However the Rated-R Famous person did not simply safe his first world title and Grand Slam standing; he achieved it in a historic and devastating first in WWE.
Depleted and bloodied from a mammoth Elimination Chamber title defence, John Cena was pressured to instantly reckon with Edge at New 12 months’s Revolution in 2006. Edge, in fact, had the very first Cash within the Financial institution briefcase able to money in. And, unsurprisingly, he made very brief work of the exhausted Cena, securing the title and Grand Slam standing with relative ease.
2
Kurt Angle
The primary and the quickest Grand Slam champion was WWE’s Olympic gold medallist Kurt Angle. The submission specialist made extremely brief work of the Grand Slam standards, successful 4 titles in lower than two years.
This started in 2000 with an Intercontinental overcome Chris Jericho at No Method Out, simply 17 days after he’d gained the European Championship from Val Venis on SmackDown. Later that yr, Angle did the unthinkable and defeated The Rock for the WWE Championship. A yr later to the day, Angle then soared to United States title glory in a victory over Rhyno. The next yr, Angle made it three titles in three successive Octobers, as he clinched Grand Slam standing in a tag staff title triumph with Chris Benoit.
1
John Cena
The most recent and the best. Final evening’s Intercontinental triumph delivered the one lacking piece on Cena’s unimaginable CV. He has definitely skilled a profession that each skilled wrestler desires of. The journey for Massive Match John began at WrestleMania XX in 2004, defeating The Massive Present in just below 10 minutes.
Cena then claimed the primary of his 17 world titles on the following WrestleMania, beating JBL only a month after shedding his United States title. This victory additionally noticed the introduction of the notorious spinner belt. It might be 5 years earlier than Cena secured the third piece of his Grand Slam puzzle, forming an unorthodox partnership with David Otunga to reign supreme within the tag staff division.
It might then be 15 years later, in his residence state, that Cena would be a part of the moderately apt 17 names earlier than him. Defeating a probable future world champion in “Soiled” Dominik Mysterio, Cena lastly secured Grand Slam standing together with his first Intercontinental triumph.
