This article is about the professional wrestling accomplishment. For the professional wrestling championship in AJPW, see Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.
In Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA – known as Impact Wrestling from 2017 to 2023), the Triple Crown was an accolade bestowed upon those who won (not necessarily concurrently) all three championships regularly contested in TNA between 2002 and 2007: the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the TNA X Division Championship, and one-half of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. It was unknown whether or not those who won the NWA World Heavyweight and NWA World Tag Team Championships before or after TNA's acquisition and usage of the title belts would qualify for the Triple Crown.[6]
In May 2007, TNA lost the rights to the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship and introduced the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On July 8, 2007, Impact Wrestling (then known as TNA) stated that, should the then- X Division Champion Samoa Joe win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, this would leave him "just one step shy of becoming only the second Triple Crown Champion". This indicates that the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship are part of the existing Triple Crown accolade.[7]
List of TNA Triple Crown winners
The following is a list of TNA Triple Crown winners with dates indicating the wrestler's first reign with the respective championship. Under TNA's definition of the Triple Crown, wrestlers are eligible to win the Triple Crown each time they complete a new circuit.
To date, A.J. Styles and Eddie Edwards have won the Impact Triple Crown on more than one occasion, and Styles is the only wrestler to hold all of the eligible championships. Kurt Angle completed the Triple Crown the fastest, achieving it in a mere 92 days, between May and August 2007, and is the only wrestler to hold all the required championships at once.
Indicates the title is an alternate title from the original definition of the Triple Crown
Dates in italics
The wrestler has won that title, but it does not contribute to their Triple Crown because they had already won the Triple Crown or they had already won a title at that same level
-
Indicates future reigns are impossible due to retirement or title(s) no longer being under Impact's control
The IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental championships were retired in 2021, and it is unknown if NJPW considers their replacement, the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, as a suitable accolade for the Triple Crown. It is also unknown if it considers the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship as a part of the accolade, although it is considered part of their Grand Slam.
List of New Japan Pro-Wrestling Triple Crown winners
Eddie Edwards completed the ROH Triple Crown the fastest, and Samoa Joe completed it in the longest amount of time. Edwards completed it in 709 days, between April 2009 and March 2011, while Samoa Joe completed it in 6,962 days (19 years and 22 days), first winning the ROH World Championship in March 2003, and finally winning the ROH World Television Championship in April 2022.
The wrestler has won that title, but it does not contribute to their Triple Crown because they had already won the Triple Crown or they had already won a title at that same level
Colors
Won all Triple Crown eligible titles
Champion
Primary championship
Tag team championship (with secondary or tertiary)
Secondary championship (with tag team or tertiary)
Tertiary championship (with tag team or secondary)
When Bret Hart and Goldberg won the WCW World Tag Team Championship, they both became Triple Crown winners at the same time. Chris Benoit completed the WCW Triple Crown the fastest, completing it in 309 days between March 1999 and January 2000.
In WWE (formerly known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation/WWWF and World Wrestling Federation/WWF),[21][22] the term Triple Crown Champion has traditionally been used to describe a wrestler who has won the WWE Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the World Tag Team Championship.[23] For a span of nearly 18 years, from 1979 up through 1997, these were the only three championships of the company, and a wrestler who won all three championships (not necessarily concurrently) was considered a "Triple Crown Champion".[23][24] Until the 1990s, the accomplishment was extremely rare, with Pedro Morales remaining the sole Triple Crown winner for more than a decade.
Following the first brand extension between 2002 and 2011, the (now defunct) World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship became alternate titles that could compose part of WWE's Triple Crown.[25] After the respective unifications of the two world championships and two tag team championships, the only three eligible Triple Crown championships of WWE became the WWE Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and WWE Tag Team Championship (later called the Raw Tag Team Championship, now the World Tag Team Championship). A total of nine men have won all five eligible championships; Edge, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kane, Big Show, Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton.
Although the United States Championship is the counterpart to the Intercontinental Championship, it has not been designated as an acceptable substitute for the Triple Crown, though in 2015, it became a required championship for WWE's Grand Slam. In July 2016, a second brand extension period began and two new titles were introduced: the Universal Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (now known as the WWE Tag Team Championship). In January 2017, these were designated as acceptable substitutes for their counterpart titles in the Grand Slam, but WWE have not yet confirmed if they are acceptable substitutes for the Triple Crown. Only five wrestlers have become a Triple Crown winner since the new titles were established, and for three of them, although they have held one of the newer titles, their Triple Crown designation is recognized by their previous titles held (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns have each held the Universal Championship while Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Jeff Hardy, and Daniel Bryan have each held the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but these wrestlers had already held the required titles in those tiers). At WrestleMania 36, Braun Strowman won the Universal Championship after previously holding the Intercontinental and Raw Tag Team Championships, but WWE did not recognize him as a Triple Crown winner. Since then, Kevin Owens and Finn Bálor have also completed WWE's Grand Slam with the Universal Championship, but neither is recognized as a Triple Crown winner as well.
In May 2023, WWE introduced a new version of the World Heavyweight Championship, the lineage of which does not share with the previous WWE World Heavyweight Championship that was retired in 2013. It has not been confirmed if this title would serve as an acceptable substitute for the Triple Crown.
CM Punk holds the record for completing the Triple Crown in the shortest amount of time between the first and third title. It took him 203 days between June 2008 and January 2009.[26] The wrestler holding the record for most time between the first and third title is Cody Rhodes, for whom it took 5,963 days between December 2007 and April 2024.[27]
List of WWE Triple Crown winners
The following is a list of WWE Triple Crown winners with dates indicating the wrestler's first or only reign with the respective championship.
Indicates the title is an alternate title from the original definition of the Triple Crown
Dates in italics
The wrestler has won that title, but it does not contribute to their Triple Crown because they had already won the Triple Crown or they had already won a title at that same level
Names in italics
Indicates the wrestler is a Grand Slam Champion under both formats
-
Indicates future reigns are impossible due to retirement, death or title discontinuation
Since 2019, WWE has recognized the winners of all three tag team championships currently available (Raw, Smackdown and, since 2013, NXT) as Tag Team Triple Crown winners.
The Revival were the first team to complete the Tag Team Triple crown by winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championships in September 2019.[31]The Street Profits has to date completed the Men's Tag Team Triple Crown the fastest, with 499 days between their first qualifying title win and Triple Crown achieving win.
In the list below, dates indicate the wrestler's first reign with the respective championship. Only tag teams who have completed the triple crown are included, individuals such as Jason Jordan and Chad Gable (who won the NXT and SmackDown Tag Team championships as a team, but won the Raw Tag Team Championship separately) are excluded.
On May 22, 2019, a women's Triple Crown was established, consisting of the WWE Women's Championship (previously known as the Raw Women's Championship), Women's World Championship (previously known as the SmackDown Women's Championship), and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. With the announcement, Bayley - who had won the SmackDown Women's Championship for the first time three days prior - was recognized as the inaugural WWE Women's Triple Crown Champion, after having previously held the Raw and Women's Tag Team championships.[33]
Bayley has been referred to as a Grand Slam Champion after her win, having also held the NXT Women's Championship.[34][35] Asuka has to date completed the Women's Triple Crown the fastest, with 486 days between her first qualifying title win and Triple Crown achieving win.
WWE's NXT Triple Crown consists of the NXT Championship, NXT North American Championship, and NXT Tag Team Championship. The NXT brand was originally established as a developmental territory for WWE's main roster in 2012, was elevated to the third global brand in 2019, but after being rebooted as NXT 2.0 in 2021, was returned to its original status as a developmental brand.
Johnny Gargano became the first to be recognized as the NXT Triple Crown Champion, winning his first NXT Championship, and having previously held the NXT North American and NXT Tag Team championships.[36][37][38]
Adam Cole has completed the NXT Triple Crown the fastest, doing so within 420 days, between April 2018 and June 2019.
The NXT UK Triple Crown consisted of the NXT UK Championship, the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship and the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Tyler Bate was the only wrestler to achieve the feat, completing it on December 9, 2021, after winning the tag team titles with Trent Seven. He previous became the first UK Champion in 2017 (the title was then known as the WWE United Kingdom Championship) and later won the Heritage Cup in May 2021.[39]
Pro-Wrestling: EVE (EVE) is a British independent women's professional wrestling promotion. Their version consists of the Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship, Pro-Wrestling: EVE International Championship, and the Pro-Wrestling: EVE Tag Team Championship.[65]
^Fish and O'Reilly originally won the title as a duo, but Cole also became recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule after Fish suffered an injury. Cole became recognized as champion at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans when he defended the titles with O'Reilly. Strong was later also recognized as champion on April 11, 2018.
^Jevec, R. (July 8, 2007). "The TNA Championship Scenarios At Sunday's Victory Road". TNAWrestling.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2007. [Samoa Joe] has been a multi-time X Division Champion...A victory over Team 3D will put yet another championship title around his waist, leaving him just one step shy of becoming only the second Triple Crown Champion in TNA Wrestling history
^Bret Hart Appreciation Night. WWE. Retrieved January 30, 2014. 6:15 minutes in. "Bret Hart was the first to win both the WWF and WCW Triple Crown Championships."
^"Pedro Morales". WWE. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2007. Pedro Morales [defeated] Ivan Koloff for the [WWF] Championship...Morales would also go on to become the first Triple Crown winner [upon winning] the Intercontinental Championship and World Tag Team Championship.
^Benigno, Anthony (May 24, 2019). "SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley named Superstar of the Week". WWE.com. Retrieved May 28, 2019. But the victory also made Bayley the first Superstar to ever hold the Raw Women's Championship, the SmackDown Women's Championship and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship — the Women's Grand Slam, if you will.