Who Held The WWE Championship The Longest?

The WWE Championship is one of the most coveted titles in professional wrestling. Who held the title for the longest period of time?

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. It is one of two world titles in the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft.

WWE Championship history

The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, currently defended on their Raw brand. It is one of WWE’s two flagship titles, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that is promoted on their SmackDown brand. The current champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his first reign.

The title was first introduced in 1963 as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) World Heavyweight Championship. The promotion was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 and began to introduce sister titles, with the WWF Tag Team Championship recognized as the second-most significant title in the promotion from 1980 to 2001. The WWF eventually began referring to their primary championship simply as the “World Championship” while continuing to promote other titles until 1998, when they established challenged for exclusively by tag teams; a year later, it became exclusive to singles wrestlers again. Following the title’s retirement in 2002, it was reactivated as the WWE Championship with a new design in 2003 and returned to being defended on both Raw and SmackDown; it remained exclusive to Raw from 2005 until 2007 before returning to universal brand status until 2010. A third version of the championship belt debuted at WrestleMania 27 with red accent plates that were removed after Brock Lesnar unified it with his Undisputed WWE Championship at Extreme Rules 2011 into what would become universally known as the “spinner belt”, which served as WWE’s primary heavyweight championship until 2014 when a new title belt was unveiled at SummerSlam.

As a result of WWE recognizing Lesnar as a dominant champion and having him regularly defend both titles while appearing on only one brand due to part-time status, then-WWE Champion Daniel Bryan proposed that he and Lesnar unify their titles at Survivor Series 2018, with Bryan defeating Lesnar at Crown Jewel 2018 to become WWE’s first ever “Grand Slam Champion”. However, due to fan backlash over Bryan’s victory and subsequent McMahon Family Tribute show immediately afterwards where McMahon himself claimed that there was only one true world champion in WWE causing confusion over whether Lesnar or Bryan was considered world champion, WWE officially split its roster between Raw and SmackDown once again during its 2019 draft thus relaunching both brands as separate entities with each having their own World Champion; Lesnar retained his Universal Championship while Bryan surrendered his Grand Slam title recognition and became exclusive to SmackDown with his victory being reverted into becoming sole world champion of only Raw while also vacating the Universal Championship due its transferral back onto Raw. As a result of this change, Kofi Kingston won a Fatal 4-Way match at WrestleMania 35 to become WWE Champion for the first time thus ending Lesnar’s 640-day second reign and making him
the first African American singles wrestler in history to hold the title.

The title has been won by 57 different wrestlers. Hulk Hogan has caused three distinguishable lineage breaks: twice when he won it off The Iron Sheik while he held simultaneously WWF Hardcore Championship (which isn’t lineage tracked by WWE), causing two inactive periods for each respective championship; And another break when he vacated it after being told he could not appear on WCW programming while holding it (as part of his WCW contract). Brock Lesnar caused two lineage breaks: Once when he defeated Kurt Angle at SummerSlam 2003 despite Angle still being able tom win due pinfall thanks per match stipulation; And again when he Unified it with his Undisputed WWF Championship despite not winning said match thanks pinfall or submission but due referee stoppage (per match stipulation) instead thereby vacating both belts in process. Daniel Bryan caused one lineage break: When he Unified it with his World Heavyweight Championship despite not winning said match thanks pinfall or submission but due referee stoppage (per match stipulation) instead thereby vacating both belts in process. Lastly Kofi Kingston caused one lineage break: When he won it off Daniel Bryan despite losing said match thanks DQ decision thereby vacating title shortly afterwards only for Kingston get reawarded said vacated title later same night..

WWE Championship reigns

Since its inception in 1963, the WWE Championship has undergone many changes. The title was originally known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) World Heavyweight Championship and was subsequently renamed the WWF Heavyweight Championship. In 2002, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the heavyweight title was renamed to reflect this change. Throughout its history, the WWE Championship has been considered one of—if not—the most prestigious titles in all of professional wrestling.

The longest-reigning WWE Champion of all time is Bruno Sammartino, who held the title for a total of 2,803 days (over 7 years) across two reigns: his first from May 17, 1963 to January 18, 1971 and his second from December 10, 1973 to April 30, 1977. Sammartino’s reign is also the second longest single reign in WWE history; only Hulk Hogan’s first reign as champion (3,870 days) is longer. Sammartino is followed by Bob Backlund, who held the title for 2,135 days from February 20, 1978 to December 26, 1983; Backlund’s reign is the fourth longest in WWE history and the longest single reign of the 1980s.

Longest WWE Championship reigns

As of June 2019, the longest reigning WWE Champion is Bruno Sammartino, who held the title for 2,803 days from May 1963 to January 1971. Sammartino is followed by Bob Backlund, who held the title for 2,135 days from February 1978 to December 1983.

Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino is an Italian-born American retired professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). He is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Sammartino held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for 11 years and 2 days (4,040 days) across two reigns, the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotion’s history He is one of only two men (the other being Pedro Morales) to have held the title for more than one reign.

Bob Backlund

Bob Backlund held the WWE Championship for 2,135 days from February 20, 1978, to December 26, 1983. This is the longest reign in WWE history.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan – 6,470 days
The Immovable Object. The Incredible Hulk. The one and only Hulk Hogan is the longest-reigning WWE Champion of all time, a record that may never be broken. The immortal McMahon chose wisely when he anointed Hogan as the first ever Undisputed WWE Champion in 2002, unifying the WWE and World Heavyweight Titles into one grand prize. It was a telling move that proved McMahon knew who his audience wanted to see holding WWE’s most prestigious championship. And they wanted to see Hulk Hogan.

The Rock

The Rock defended his WWE Championship an unprecedented 11 times in 2000, a record that stands to this day. He finally lost the title to Kurt Angle at No Way Out in February 2001, after holding the title for 160 days.

The current WWE Champion

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 two world titles, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 Brand Extension. The current WWE Champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his second reign.

AJ Styles

AJ Styles is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is currently in his second reign as the WWE Champion, which makes him the 22nd Triple Crown Champion and the 14th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.

Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar is a professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, and current professional football player. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is a one-time WWE Universal Champion, a four-time WWE (World) Champion, a one-time NCAA Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. In pro wrestling, Lesnar has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE, including WrestleMania XIX and WresteMania 31.

Roman Reigns

As of right now, Roman Reigns is the current WWE Champion. He is a four-time world champion, having held the WWE Championship three times and the Universal Championship once. He is also a one-time United States Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, and a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Seth Rollins).