Who Has Held The WWE Championship The Longest?

The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand.

WWE Championship

The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. The current champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36.

The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand.

It is one of WWE’s original championships and is thus considered one of the company’s flagship titles. It has been referred to as the “WWE Undisputed Championship” and the “WWE World Heavyweight Championship”. The current champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his second reign. He won the title by defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36.

The title was first introduced in 1963 as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and became exclusive to the SmackDown brand in 2002. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. Since its inception, the title has undergone several name changes – it was briefly known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from 1963 to 1998, after which it was renamed the WWE World Heavyweight Championship until 2016. In August 2016, a separate championship for Raw brands was created, dubbed the Universal Championship – this resulted in the title reverting back to its original name.

As of May 2020, a total of 61 holders have reigned as WWE Champion
Drew McIntyre (2 times)
Brock Lesnar (4 times)
The Rock (8 times)
Triple H (9 times)
John Cena (16 times)

It is one of the two world titles of the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that is promoted on the Raw brand.

The WWE Championship is a world championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of the two world titles of the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that is promoted on the Raw brand. The current champion is Kofi Kingston, who is in his first reign.

The title was introduced in 1963 by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, after former holder Bruno Sammartino requested that the organization recognize him as champion following his victory over ‘Nature Boy’ Buddy Rogers at Madison Square Garden. The inaugural champion was ‘Big’ John Studd. The title underwent numerous name changes throughout its history, including becoming known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship, ECW World Heavyweight Championship, Extreme Championship Wrestling’s World Heavyweight Championship and finally TNA/IMPACT Wrestling’s World Heavyweight Champion before returning to its current name in 2010 when WWE bought its main competitor WCW.

The title was first represented by a physical belt in 1991. In 1998, WWF introduced a new design for the championship belt created by then-hired designer Jay Strutzelidentical to that used until WWF/E purchased then-rival WCW in 2001and it has remained unchanged since then with only cosmetic adjustments made periodically (such as larger or smaller plates and metals) primarily due to changes in fashion trends or when WWE updates their production values (such as HD television). After then-WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to unify the original WWE and World Championships into a new Undisputed WWE Championship at Vengeance in 2002,Lesnar’s Undisputed title became exclusive to Raw while Angle became exclusive to SmackDown; this sparked a tournament for the vacant WWE Championship that was won by Triple H. As a result of Lesnar’s vacating of the Undisputed title due to his actions during and after scripted events where he injured Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan (which were kayfabe extensions of real life heat between Lesnar and Hogan),the title became referred to as simply “the WWE championship” rather than “the Undisputed WWE championship”.

The WWE Championship was first introduced in 1963 by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship.

Bruno Sammartino was the first-ever WWWF World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for an unprecedented 2,803 days (over seven years), a record that remained unbroken for nearly 35 years. Sammartino’s first reign began on May 17, 1963, and ended on January 18, 1971, when he was defeated by “Classy” Freddie Blassie. He regained the title from Blassie on December 10, 1973, and held it until April 30, 1977, when he was defeated by “Superstar” Billy Graham.

Sammartino’s second reign is the longest single World Heavyweight Championship reign in history at 1,237 days (over three years). He is also one of only four men to have held the WWF/WWE Championship for more than one continuous year (the other three being Bob Backlund in 1978–1979, Hulk Hogan in 1983–1984 and 1985–1986 and Bruno Sammartino in 1974).

The title was then unified with the WCW Championship in 2001, following the WWF’s purchase of World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

When the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was purchase by the WWF in 2001, the WCW Championship was then unified with the WWF Championship, making the WWF Champion the first and only Undisputed WWE Champion.
The title was then deactivated in 2003, when WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle andSmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon in a triple threat match, Making Lesnar the last Undisputed WWE Champion andAngle the first WWE SmackDown! Champion.
In 2016, The brand division returned and WWE reintroduced both World titles, with SmackDown having exclusive rights to the World Heavyweight Championship, while Raw had exclusive rights to the WWE Universal Championship.

It became exclusive to SmackDown in 2002 when the WWF was split into two separate brands, Raw and SmackDown, as a result of the WWE Brand Extension.

The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE, currently on the SmackDown brand. It is WWE’s first world championship.[1] The holder can appear and defend the title on any WWE brand. The current champion is AJ Styles, who is in his second reign.

The title was introduced in 1963 by the then World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).[2] It became the promotion’s first world championship by merging their heavyweight, junior heavyweight, and light heavyweight titles. The first holder was Bruno Sammartino. From its inception until 2001, it was promoted as WWE’s sole primary championship.[3][4] An additional world title, the WCW Championship, was added after the then-World Championship Wrestling (WCW) seceded from WWE in 1991. The titles were once unified as the Undisputed Championship following a tournament in 2001,[5] but it became exclusive to SmackDown in 2002 when the WWF was split into two separate brands, Raw and SmackDown, as a result of the WWE Brand Extension.[6][7]

As a result of the 2016 draft, which consolidated NXT and Raw/SmackDown into separate touring brands,[8][9] certain titles between both brands became exclusive to one brand or another; subsequently, both held separate tournaments to determine new undisputed champions for each brand. The following year at Survivor Series however saw all titles except for the Universal Championship renamed back to their original name and became co-branded once again between both Raw and SmackDown with no distinction made between which show each title is exclusive to. This ended on October 11, 2017 when all championships except for
the Universal Championship became exclusive to one brand or another as part of a talent shakeup.[10][11][12]

The list below documents who has had the longest combined individual reigns as champion while defending on either Raw or SmackDown (or both), as recognized by WWE. As of June 18, 2018 AJ Styles has held the title for 695 days while defending on both shows; this is the longest combined reign of any champion under thisrecognition

The title has been held by a total of 47 different wrestlers.

The title has been held by a total of 47 different wrestlers. The record for most combined days as champion is 3,632 held by Bruno Sammartino. The record for most individual days as champion is 2,803 held by Hulk Hogan. The title has changed hands a total of 380 times.

The first champion was Buddy Rogers, who won the title in 1963.

The first champion was Buddy Rogers, who won the title in 1963. He held the title for 160 days before losing it to Bruno Sammartino in a match at Madison Square Garden. Sammartino would go on to hold the championship for a record 2,803 days throughout his career. He was followed by Hulk Hogan, who held the title for 1,474 days in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The current champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his first reign.

Drew McIntyre is the current WWE Champion. He is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36.

The previous champion was Brock Lesnar, who held the title for 640 days. He is a four-time WWE Champion and a one-time Universal Champion.

McIntyre is the first British-born WWE Champion.

Drew McIntyre made history at WrestleMania 36 when he defeated Brock Lesnar to become WWE Champion. McIntyre is the first British-born WWE Champion, a title he held for over six months before losing it to Randy Orton at the 2020 Hell in a Cell event.

While McIntyre may be the first British-born WWE Champion, he is not the longest-reigning WWE Champion from the United Kingdom. That distinction belongs to Fit Finlay, who held the WWE Championship for a total of 34 days between May and June of 2007.

The longest reigning WWE Champion is Bruno Sammartino, who held the title for 2,803 days (over seven years) across two reigns.

Bruno Sammartino is a retired professional wrestler who was active from 1959 to 1981. He is best known for his work with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), where he worked from 1963 to 1980 and again in 1984. Sammartino is considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time; in 2002, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Sammartino held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship for 11,203 days (over 30 years) across two reigns, which is recognized by WWE as the longest combined reign of any champion in company history. His first reign began on May 17, 1963, and lasted for 2,803 days (over seven years), while his second reign lasted for 8,190 days (over 22 years).

In addition to being the longest-reigning WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Sammartino is also recognized as the longest-reigning WWE Champion in company history as a result of WWE’s recognition of him as champion across both his first and second title reigns.

Sammartino is also the oldest WWE Champion, having won the title at the age of 38.

Bruno Sammartino holds the record for the longest WWE Championship reign of all time. Sammartino’s first reign lasted an incredible 2,803 days (seven years and eight days). He would go on to have one more successful title reign, although his second stint with the WWE Championship was much shorter, lasting for just under three years.

Sammartino is also the oldest WWE Champion, having won the title at the age of 38. The Italian-born wrestler became a naturalized US citizen in 1964, and went on to become one of the most popular stars in WWE history. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.