View source for Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)
← Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)
==Background== Heading into the match, Bradshaw was in his first and only reign as European Champion, having held it for a eight days after winning it from The Hurricane on the 27th August 2001 edition of ''WWF Raw''.<ref name="bradshaw">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120616072102/http://www.wwe.com/classics/titlehistory/euro/358764 ''WWE.com'' detailing Bradshaw's European Championship win and his reign.] Retrieved 7 Jan '22</ref><ref name="euro">[https://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-eu-h.html ''Wrestling-Titles'' detailing the European Championship's history.] Retrieved 7 Jan '22</ref> Meanwhile, Christian had never won the title beforehand.<ref name="euro"/> Prior to the match, a taped segment showed Christian encountering Cincinnati Reds' first baseman Sean Casey, who was signing autographs. Christian berated both the Reds and Cincinnati, bragging to Casey that he was going to do something that nobody in Cincinnati had done in years, in that he would win a championship. As Christian walked away, Casey called him a "chumpstain".<ref name="online">[https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/011101.html ''Online World of Wrestling'' detailing the Casey segment and the match.] Retrieved 7 Jan '22</ref> According to ''Online World of Wrestling'', the match itself generally saw Bradshaw gain the upper hand, using his strength advantage to deliver power moves to his opponent. However, Christian's Un-Americans partner Lance Storm ran in, and Christian took a chair into the ring. Bradshaw successfully removed the chair from Christian, only for the referee to confiscate it from him. While the referee was distracted removing the chair from the ring, Christian grabbed the European Championship and hit his opponent with it. He then pinned Bradshaw to become the new European Champion.<ref name="online"/> WWE states that Christian's reign began on 1st November instead of when he actually won it on 30th October, because SmackDown! aired on tape delay.<ref name="christian">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120616064248/http://www.wwe.com/classics/titlehistory/euro/358732 Archived ''WWE.com'' detailing Christian's European Championship win and reign.] Retrieved 7 Jan '22</ref><ref name="euro"/> This means that Bradshaw's reign is recognised as lasting a day older,<ref name="bradshaw"/> while Christian's ended a day earlier.<ref name="euro"/> Christian would hold the title until the 31st January 2002 edition of SmackDown!, dropping it to Diamond Dallas Page, with the match itself having been filmed on 29th January.<ref name="euro"/> This would prove to be Christian's only reign with the title.<ref name="christian"/><ref name="euro"/>
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