The WWE Championship, previously known as the WWE World Championship is the most prestigious prize in WWE. The person who holds the title becomes the top draw and the face of the company.
It is the most prestigious reward that can be given to any WWE superstar. Over the past few decades, several wrestlers had the honour of winning and holding the championship. While some title runs lasted for a few minutes or even days, some of them even lasted for well over 6-7 years. With that said, let’s look at the 10 best WWE Champions in the history:
Related: “I’m tired of this Hulkamania crap,” Hulk Hogan expresses his desire to join the Bloodline
10. Bret “The Hitman” Hart
Bret Hart had some enormous shoes to fill after Hulk Hogan’s run with the company. And he did not disappoint. He went on to become the face of the New Generation and even had overall 5 WWE Championship reigns. His title reign goes well over 200+ days.
Bret Hart was known to deliver outstanding matches, with most of them being 5-star classics, with the most famous example being his Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels. Many said that it was nearly impossible for The Hitman to have a bad match. And they probably would be right.
9. Bob Backlund
A superstar who truly deserves a spot in this list is Bob Backlund. He was the longest reigning WWE World Champion. He had a title run of a whopping 2135 days.
Bob successfully defended his championship against stars such as Ric Flair. He held on to the WWE Championship for about 6 years, with a lot of his matches ending in time-limit draws.
8. Shawn Michaels
At WrestleMania 12 began The HeartBreak Kid’s legendary title run when he defeated Bret Hart in a 60-minute Iron Man match. Since then, he held on to the WWE World Championship for 241 days where he successfully defended it against the likes of Diesel, Vader and The British Bulldog.
Although he wasn’t the biggest guy in the wrestling industry, HBK proved that even a lighter and faster guy can be as big of a draw as stars like The Undertaker of Diesel. The level of competition he faced during his title run is enough to earn him a spot on the list.
7. Triple H
The Game had one of the most dominant championship runs, where he defended his title against wrestlers of high caliber like John Cena, Edge and Randy Orton. Triple Hwon the WWE Championship for 9 times.
He also had noteworthy victories against the likes of The Great Khali and Jeff Hardy, which cemented him as one of the greatest WWE Champions in history.
6. The Rock
When he first started out in his career as a babyface, The Rock was hated by pretty much everyone. But when he turned heel, he became so popular that every fan in the WWE Universe loved him.
The Rock was specifically known for his skills on the mic, where he roasted about anybody in the business. His longest WWE Championship reign lasted about 119. It wasn’t a lengthy run, but within such a short time, The People’s Champ took down the top stars in WWE such as The Undertaker, John Cena and Triple H. Within only 6 years in the business, he changed the landscape of the industry.
5. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Arguably among the most popular WWE Superstars, The Texas Rattlesnake had a shorter championship reign as compared to others in the list. However, the talents that he defeated in his short title run earns him a high spot on the list.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin, although a heel, was almost like an antihero. He got a huge pop wherever he went, despite doing things that didn’t quite suit babyfaces. He is most famous for his long-time rivalry with Vince McMahon.
4. CM Punk
CM Punk had one of the greatest WWE Championship reigns in history, which set the standard for today’s title reigns. He won the championship by defeating John Cena twice, and since then he held on to the title for a record setting 434 days.
In his championship reign, he defended it against a plethora of massive WWE talents. His record was eventually broken by Brock Lesnar. However, the amount of title defenses Punk had in his reign far outweighs Lesnar’s title defenses.
3. John Cena
John Cena‘s WWE Championship reign from 2006-07 is his most famous. He first won the title by defeating Edge in a TLC match. Since then, he defended it successfully against the likes of Shawn Michaels, Bobby Lashley, The Great Khali and many more.
Cena technically never lost the title. He was forced to vacate the championship due to an injury. It’s likely that his reign would have gone far longer had he not suffered an injury.
2. Bruno Sammartino
The man who had the longest WWE Championship reign is none other than the legendary Bruno Sammartino. He held the WWE Championship for the first time for about 2803 days and combined he held it for well over 4000 days.
Bruno was the face of the company for about 9 years and held the championship for 7 years in his first time. This record is pretty much impossible to beat in today’s WWE. During his reign, he had successful defenses against Killer Kowalski, Freddy Blassie, George The Animal Steele and many more. All fell before the “unbeatable” Bruno Sammartino.
1. Hulk Hogan
Quite possibly the most popular wrestler ever, Hulk Hogan was the biggest draw for the company during his run. His longest title reign lasted for 1474 days, during which he successfully defended it against several of the company’s top talent.
Hulk Hogan also was never defeated in a fair match. He went on to beat legends like Andre The Giant, Greg Valentine, Rick Rude and many more in his title run.
Who do you think is the greatest WWE Champion of all time?
In case you missed it:
ncG1vNJzZmiemafAtb%2FPqKmtsl6YvK571rCcZqyYmnpyfIybnKysXazEpnnCoZimqJmku7R5yKdkraCVYrWqv9OoqbJn