Who Held The WWE Title Longest?

Who held the WWE Title for the longest time? Find out in this blog post!

WWE Title History

The WWE Title 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 championships, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft.

Pre-WWE Titles

Throughout its history, WWE has been home to some of the most prestigous titles in all of professional wrestling. From the WWE Championship to the World Heavyweight Championship, the company has always had a title that was at the top of the food chain. But before WWE was even called WWE, it was known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). And while the name may have changed, the titles definitely have not. In fact, many of WWE’s current titles are actually direct descendant of those original WWWF titles.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship is a 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 WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft. The current champion is Brock Lesnar, who is in his first reign.

The title was established under WWE’s original governing body, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), in 1963 with Buddy Rogers becoming the inaugural champion. Upon WWF’s 1999 buyout of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the then-reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Hulk Hogan, was recognized as the inaugural WWF Champion and remained champion until his loss to The Rock at Survivor Series in November. The title floated between brands several times until 2007 when ECW was disbanded and its assets were absorbed into Raw with Cena becoming champion. In 2010, it became exclusive to Raw with Sheamus winning it free from Cena in a tournament. The following year at WrestleMania XXVII, it was unified with the World Heavyweight Championship when then-World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated then-Raw Superstar Alberto Del Rio to become champion; this act effectively merged ECW with Raw while SmackDown became its own separate brand once again — giving each brand two world titles each. In mid-2016, at WWE brand extension draft, then-WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown Live while then-WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns chose to stay on Raw — split them up for their respective brands’ world titles; giving each brand their own heavyweight championship once again as well as creating two separate top tiers within each respective roster. During that same draft, then-WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day were drafted to Raw while then-WWE United States Champion Kalisto chose to stay on SmackDown — split them up for their respective brands’ secondary tiers; creating separate tag team and midcard titles for both brands which effectively dissolved all former championship exclusivity between shows/brands altogether — effectively making all championship belts under one governing body once again.

The title lineage began with Buddy Rogers who defeatedNature Boyfor what was billed as “the heavyweight championship of the world” before being strippingof it by WWF Chairman Vince McMahon Sr., upon learning that Rogers had defended his title against Antonio Inoki in Japan which resulted inInoki seriously injuring Rogers’ leg during their match which caused him to vacate the title due to injury; despite pins over such stars like Lou Theszand Bruno Sammartinowas never officially reinstated as champion by McMahon Sr.. Many obscurity surrounds its lineage due a transitional period from regional territories systeminto singular global promotionand various claims surrounding who should be considered “champion” around this time.

WWE Universal Championship

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

The Universal Championship was established on July 25, 2016 at SummerSlam, when then-WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defeated Seth Rollins to become the inaugural champion. The inaugural champion was determined in a one-off tournament, which featured a series of matches that culminated in a finals match between Lesnar and Rollins at SummerSlam. The title has since undergone two name changes: it was first renamed to the “WWE World Heavyweight Championship” when it became exclusive to SmackDown in August 2016; and it was renamed back to the “Universal Championship” in May 2017 when Raw once again became its own brand.

In December 2019, at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view event, WWE reintroduced the original Universal Championship design used from 2016 to 2017.

The title is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. Some reigns were held by champions who won a match to regain the championship, while others were vacant periods with no champion crowned during that time.

WWE Title Holders

The WWE Title 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 original championships, dating back to 1963. As a result of the 2016 WWE draft, the WWE Title is now exclusive to the Raw brand.

Bruno Sammartino

Between his first and second reigns, Bruno Sammartino became the longest-reigning WWE Champion in history, holding the title for a combined 11 years and 8 months (4,040 days). He remains the longest-reigning champion of all time.

Bob Backlund

Bob Backlund held the WWE Title for 2,135 days, making him the third longest-reigning champion of all time. Backlund’s incredible title reign began on February 20, 1978, when he defeated “Superstar” Billy Graham for the belt. He would go on to hold the title for nearly six years, defending it against some of the biggest names in WWE history, including “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino, and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Backlund’s record-setting title reign finally came to an end on December 26, 1983, when he was defeated by the Iron Sheik.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan is a twelve-time WWE Champion and one of the most popular Superstars in WWE history. Hulk Hogan held the WWE Championship for a total of 1,474 days, which is the fourth longest reign in WWE history.

Longest WWE Title Reigns

In wrestling, a championship is a physical embodiment of success. It is something to be fought for, and defended. A title reign is a measure of time spent as champion. The following is a list of the longest WWE title reigns in history.

Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino is a retired Italian-American professional wrestler, who is best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). He held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for over 11 years across two reigns, the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotion’s history at 2,803 days. He is considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Sammartino was born in Abruzzi, Italy and immigrated to the United States as a young boy. He quickly became involved in strength sports like weightlifting and bodybuilding, and eventually began training as a professional wrestler under Dominic DeNucci. In 1960, he made his debut in Pittsburgh, where he quickly gained popularity. In 1963, he joined the WWWF, where he became one of their top stars.

He won his first WWWF World Heavyweight Championship from Buddy Rogers in 1963, and held it for an unprecedented eight years before losing it to Stan Stasiak in 1971. After a brief retirement, he returned to win the title back from Pedro Morales in 1973, and held it for another three and a half years before losing it to Superstar Billy Graham in 1977. He then took another hiatus before returning in 1980 to win the title for a third time from Bob Backlund, holding it until 1983 when he finally lost it to The Iron Sheik.

Sammartino then retired again, but came back once more in 1988 to team up with Hulk Hogan to take on Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation at WrestleMania IV. He continued making sporadic appearances until finally retiring for good in 2010.

Bob Backlund

From 1974 to 1977, Bob Backlund was an All-American wrestler who won the NCAA Division I championship. After being signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he became a two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion, holding the title for a combined five years and one day (2,135 days) from 1978 to 1983. He is one of only four men to have held the WWF Championship for more than 2,000 days.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan set the record for the longest WWE Title reign in history when he held the belt for 3,170 days from December 27, 1983 to August 29, 1988. He finally lost the title to “Macho Man” Randy Savage at WrestleMania IV.