The Grand Slam is an accomplishment recognized by various professional wrestling promotions in the United States and Japan. It is a distinction given to a professional wrestler who has either won four specific championships within a promotion throughout their career, or all available championships.[a] Promotions that recognize this include WWE (since 1997), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (since 2009), Ring of Honor (since 2018), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (since 2021). The four titles typically include three singles championships, one of them usually being a world title, plus a tag team championship.
In WWE (formerly WWF), the term "Grand Slam" was originally used by Shawn Michaels to describe himself upon winning the European Championship on September 20, 1997. Michaels previously held the WWF Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and the World Tag Team Championship—the titles that composed the Triple Crown.[1]
In May 2001, the promotion's website indicated that the Hardcore Championship was an acceptable substitute for the European Championship in the Grand Slam. Kane, who had defeated Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship at Judgment Day on May 20, 2001,[2] was acknowledged as a Grand Slam winner as he had "become the only superstar in World Wrestling Federation history that has held the Intercontinental title as well as the Hardcore, Tag Team and WWF titles".[3][4]
In April 2006, Kurt Angle was noted as being a former Grand Slam winner on WWE.com, having won the WWE, WWE Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship, indicating that WWE considered the WWE Tag Team Championship to be an acceptable substitute for the World Tag Team Championship.[5] In August 2007, WWE.com published an article listing Shawn Michaels' championship reigns that completed the Grand Slam. They included the WWE, World Heavyweight, World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship. The inclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship indicated that WWE considered the title to be an acceptable substitute for the WWE Championship in completing the Grand Slam.[1]
At ECW One Night Stand in June 2006, Rob Van Dam became the first superstar acquired by WWE after the purchase of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001 to complete the Grand Slam when he defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship. Booker T became the second star acquired by the purchase to complete the Grand Slam when he defeated Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash in July 2006. Booker has held the World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and Hardcore titles.[6]
Following WrestleMania 31 in 2015, WWE (which four years earlier ended the brand extension and unified several titles before that) established an updated version of the Grand Slam consisting of the four then-active men's titles in WWE: the WWE World, Intercontinental, United States, and WWE Tag Team Championships.[7] Thirteen wrestlers have been recognized as Grand Slam winners under these new parameters (including five who were already recognized as Grand Slam winners under the original guidelines). The brand extension was re-established in 2016 and WWE indicated that two new championships that had been introduced, the Universal Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, count as acceptable substitutes for their counterpart titles (WWE Championship and WWE Tag Team, now World Tag Team, respectively) as part of the Grand Slam.[8][9]
Chris Jericho completed the original format the fastest, completing it in 728 days between December 1999 and December 2001, while Kurt Angle completed the modern format the fastest, completing it in 966 days between February 2000 and October 2002.
On February 21, 2021, WWE acknowledged The Miz as the first wrestler to complete the Grand Slam twice under the revised 2015 format after winning his second WWE Championship.[10] Seth Rollins would become the second two-time Grand Slam Champion by winning the WWE United States Championship a second time in October 2022.
In May 2023, WWE added a third world championship with a new version of the World Heavyweight Championship. It is unclear if this title would be added as an acceptable substitute for the Grand Slam.
As of September 18, 2024, there have been 22 individual Grand Slam Champions. 17 wrestlers have only achieved it once, seven under the original format and 10 under the modern format, while five wrestlers have achieved the Grand Slam under both formats, three of whom automatically became modern Grand Slam champions at the introduction of the modern format (with the same titles they won while becoming original Grand Slam champions), and two who became modern Grand Slam champions after the modern format was introduced (with different titles won to complete both formats).
The modern WWE Grand Slam consists of the WWE, Intercontinental, United States, and World Tag Team (formerly WWE/Raw Tag Team) Championships. Two other championships—the Universal and WWE Tag Team (formerly SmackDown Tag Team) Championships—were added in 2016 as alternative titles to the WWE title and Tag Team Championships respectively following the reintroduction of the brand extension. In regards to the United States Champion, due to its lineage, WWE only counts United States Championship reigns that took place in WWE, whether it bore the WCW or WWE moniker. Edge and Kurt Angle held the title when it was the WCW United States Championship. Eddie Guerrero’s first reign does not count as a result of this rule, since it took place in WCW.
In May 2019, Bayley (above) was announced as WWE's first-ever Women's Grand Slam champion, having won (from left to right) the Raw (now Women's Championship), SmackDown (now Women's World Championship), and NXT singles championships, and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.[22][23][24]
As of September 6, 2024, there have been six individual Women's Grand Slam champions. Rhea Ripley has completed the Grand Slam the fastest, completing it in 1,200 days between December 2019 and April 2023, while Becky Lynch took the longest time to complete the Grand Slam, doing so in 2,257 days between September 2016 and September 2023.
The first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA - known as Impact Wrestling from 2017–2023) Grand Slam winner was crowned on March 15, 2009, at TNA's Destination X pay-per-view event. At said event, then three-time TNA Triple Crown champion A.J. Styles defeated Booker T for the TNA Legends Championship. On the March 19 episode of TNA's primary television program, TNA Impact!, announcer Mike Tenay stated that Styles had become the first TNA Grand Slam winner by capturing the World Heavyweight (NWA or TNA), World Tag Team (NWA or TNA), X Division, and Legends Championships (The Legends Championship was subsequently renamed the Global, Television, and King of the Mountain Championship, before being fully retired).[27][28]
Under TNA's definition of the Grand Slam, wrestlers are eligible to be a multiple Grand Slam winner each time they complete a new circuit. Thus far, only A.J. Styles has won the Grand Slam on more than one occasion. On August 15, 2016, the TNA King of the Mountain Championship was once again retired when Lashley unified the title into his TNA World Heavyweight Championship. In a March 26, 2018, article on the Impact Wrestling website, the eligibility of the Impact Grand Championship, which replaced the King of the Mountain Championship, as a Grand Slam title was confirmed.[29][30] Since 2018, any future Grand Slam winners are limited to those who had already held either the Legends/Global/TV/King of the Mountain title or Grand Championship, as during a press conference on June 4, 2018, Austin Aries unified the Impact Grand Championship with the Impact world title.[31]
In 2018, Ring of Honor (ROH) established its own version of the Grand Slam, which consists of the ROH World Championship, ROH World Television Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Christopher Daniels was the first wrestler to achieve this feat, doing so at the ROH 16th Anniversary Show, when he won the Six-Man titles to complete the Grand Slam.[32][33][34] After Jay Lethal won the ROH World Tag Team Championship, he was announced as a Grand Slam Champion since he had won the ROH Pure Championship in the past, indicating that the Pure and Six-Man Tag Team Titles are interchangeable as the fourth component to the ROH Grand Slam.[35][36]
In Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's former developmental territory, a Grand Slam winner was a wrestler who had won every championship that was available in FCW.[37] All FCW titles were retired when FCW changed its name to NXT.
In Explosive Pro Wrestling (EPW), the Grand Slam consists of the EPW Heavyweight Championship, the EPW Tag Team Championship, the EPW Coastal Championship and the EPW Hardcore Championship.[38]
In 2021, New Japan Pro-Wrestling retroactively established its own version of the Grand Slam, occasionally also referred to as the Quadruple Crown, consisting of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and the NEVER Openweight Championship. The NJPW Grand Slam is unique in Grand Slams as it consists of four singles championships. Jay White was the first to achieve this feat, completing the circuit on May 3, 2021 at Wrestling Dontaku 2021.[40][41] It is currently unknown if another NJPW Grand Slam will be established, as both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles were retired in 2021 in favor of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, and the United States Championship in 2023 in favor of the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
In the joshi puroresu (women's professional wrestling) promotion Ice Ribbon, the Grand Slam consists of the ICE×60/ICE×∞ Championship, the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship, the Triangle Ribbon Championship and the IW19 Championship.[43]
In TJPW, the Grand Slam consists of all the available titles promoted by the company. They are the Princess of Princess Championship, the Princess Tag Team Championship, and the International Princess Championship. On March 18, 2023, during the Grand Princess event, Rika Tatsumi became the first Grand Slam champion in TJPW's history.[45]
In the joshi puroresu (women's professional wrestling) promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, the Grand Slam consists of all the available titles promoted by the company except the Future of Stardom Championship. They are the World of Stardom Championship, the Wonder of Stardom Championship, the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, the Artist of Stardom Championship, the High Speed Championship and the SWA World Championship. The notion of "grand slam" was first officially mentioned on May 5, 2022, when Mayu Iwatani became the second wrestler in the company to achieve the feat, after Io Shirai.[46]
He would also become the first-ever WWE "Grand Slam" Champion, winning the WWE, World Heavyweight, European, Intercontinental and World Tag Team Title gold.
In a rare interview with WWF.com, Kane discussed the chain match Sunday at Judgment Day and his feelings on being the only "Grand Slam Champion" of his variety.
While most fans of this former Grand Slam Champion...
At ECW One Night Stand 2006, Rob Van Dam became the only person out of ECW, after its 2001 purchase to become a WWE Grand Slam winner. At WWE Great American Bash 2006, Booker T became the second.
When a Superstar captures every active title, they become a Grand Slam Champion. These Superstars accomplished the latest iteration of the feat by winning either the Raw (formerly WWE) or SmackDown Tag Team Title, the Intercontinental Title, the United States Title, and either the WWE or Universal Title.
On March 11, 2018 Randy Orton defeated Bobby Roode to become the United States Champion and the latest WWE Grand Slam winner. By holding a world championship, a tag team championship, and both the Intercontinental and United States Championships, the Viper has cemented himself in WWE history.
Such dedication has provided him with the fortitude to become a Grand Slam champion.
After defeating CM Punk on Raw to win his first Intercontinental Championship, JBL becomes the tenth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.
His vast collection of titles made him the 23rd Triple Crown Champion and the 11th Grand Slam Champion.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Taven joined Christopher Daniels as the only Grand Slam Champions in ROH, meaning they have won the ROH World, ROH World Television, ROH World Tag Team and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team titles.
Taven is the second Grand Slam Champion in company history, having held the ROH World Title, Television Title, Tag Team Titles and Six-Man Tag Team Titles.
Matt Taven sits just one championship away from having completed the Ring of Honor Grand Slam, having held three of the four current ROH Championships.
Seth Rollins is the first ever 'FCW Grand Slam' champion, having held FCW tag team gold, the coveted Jack Brisco 15 medal and the Florida Heavyweight Championship.