The WWE Championship is one of the highest honors in the entire world of wrestling. Any wrestler or wrestling fan who says they've "never dreamed of holding up the illustrious title" is lying. It's the title that turned Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, and The Rock into household names all around the world.
Many legendary wrestlers have held the title for less than a day including Rey Mysterio, Triple H, and Randy Orton. Holding the title for more than a few pay-per-views is a huge feat and holding it for over a year is a milestone reserved for legends. There have only been nine WWE Championship runs that lasted more than a year and this list will rank the iconic reigns from worst to best.
9 Bruno Sammartino (1,237 Days)
Despite this title run lasting almost three and a half years, this was not the longest reign of Bruno Sammartino's career. This was the second WWE Title run of Sammartino's career and featured defenses against legends like The Sheik, Ernie Ladd, and Superstar Billy Graham.
This reign was an attempt to capture the magic of Bruno's first championship run, but it lacked the same magic and shock factor. By year two of this WWE Championship run, it was clear fans were yearning for new talent to take over the company and Bruno lost the title in 1977 to Superstar Billy Graham.
8 AJ Styles (371 Days)
Vince McMahon has been notoriously tough on wrestlers who were established at other major wrestling promotions. TNA juggernauts who became WWE stars like Samoa Joe and Robert Roode never held the WWE Championship. This makes AJ Styles's rise to the top of the WWE interesting and rare.
Another rare feat Styles achieved at the WWE was his second WWE Championship run that lasted 371 days. Although he defended the title 15 times, he had some lackluster opponents like Jinder Mahal which make his run less interesting than others on this list.
7 “Macho Man” Randy Savage (371 Days)
During the 80s, no wrestler in the WWE was putting on great matches at the level of Randy Savage. In 1988, Savage defeated Ted DiBiase to earn his first WWE Championship. His 371-day reign as champion didn't have any major matches that stood out, but he did defend it against many legends like The Ultimate Warrior and Andre the Giant.
Overall, there was only one huge storyline, which was the best of Savage's career, where he spiraled mentally defending the title. His match against Hogan at WrestleMania 5 is also a classic despite being the last match of this run.
6 John Cena (381 Days)
John Cena is one of the most polarizing WWE Champions of all time. He held the WWE Title 13 times over his massive run on top of the company. Cena's third run as WWE Champion is not only his longest reign (381 Days), but it was also one of the most impressive of his entire career.
Cena beat every major star of his era during this run as champion. He defeated 7-time World Heavyweight Champion, Edge, to win the title at Unforgiven 2006. He defeated "Mr. WrestleMania," Shawn Michaels, at WrestleMania 23. He defeated arguably his greatest rival of all time, Randy Orton, along the way as well. If there ever was a thing that defined Cena's career, this title run is it.
5 Bob Backlund (2,135 Days)
Bob Backlund's second WWE Title run lasted 3 days. His first lasted 2,135 days. The thing that makes this run as champion so special is that it happened in the 80s. For the most part, Backlund lasted years as champion, while stars like Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, and Ric Flair were all climbing to the top of the wrestling world.
Backlund defeated Superstar Billy Graham to earn the title in 1978 and didn't lose it until The Iron Sheik defeated him in December 1983. It was the last title run that surpassed five years and Bob Backlund deserves a ton of respect as a wrestler for this massive run as champion.
4 Pedro Morales (1,027 Days)
Pedro Morales only held the WWE Title one time. His 1,027-day run achieved many milestones for the WWE Hall of Famer. Pedro was the fourth WWE Champion ever and also the first non-white wrestler to win the illustrious title.
He defended the title over two hundred times although very few televised matches exist in circulation. At 5'10 Pedro is also one of the shortest WWE Champions of all time. In 1973 Morales lost the title to Stan Stasiak. His impact on wrestling, especially among Latin audiences is more important than some give Pedro credit for. Shockingly, only three Latinos have held the WWE Championship in the nearly 50 years since Pedro lost the title.
3 Bruno Sammartino (2,803 Days)
Bruno Sammartino holds a WWE record that will never be broken. He held the WWE Championship for over seven and a half years. His reign as champion lasted longer than the WWE's Attitude Era. He defeated Buddy Rogers to win the title in 1963 and held the title until 1971.
Sammartino was a massive draw as champion and that's why his title reign lasted so long. There is little evidence from his near decade-long title run. His loss to Ivan Koloff in 1971 was a massive shock to audiences and was one of the first major upsets in the history of the WWE.
2 CM Punk (434 Days)
CM Punk was one of the biggest draws in the WWE in the era after the departure of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Like Austin, CM Punk was an anti-establishment superstar who fans could not help but adore. His 434-day run as champion is full of iconic moments from the past two decades of wrestling.
Punk's run as champion was special because the WWE had no choice, but to serve the audience. His issues with Vince McMahon and Triple H are well known. Punk was such a draw that the two had no choice, but to put the title on Punk and have him hold it for over a year. Everything about this reign made wrestling feel authentic and the feeling still hasn't been replicated since Punk lost the title to The Rock at the 2013 Royal Rumble.
1 Hulk Hogan (1,474 Days)
If there was any title reign solely responsible for the rise of the WWE, it was Hulk Hogan's first run as WWE Champion that lasted 1,474 days. This title reign is important for many reasons. The fact that it was so widely televised might be the most important, because it changed the business of wrestling.
Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik in 1984 to earn the title. Fans flocked to see Hogan defend the title against opponents like Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, and Rick Rude. This title run also featured one of the most important wrestling matches of all time, his defense against Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3. He would, ironically, lose the title to Andre less than a year after their 'Mania match. Love him or hate him, Hulk Hogan's 1,474 days changed the wrestling world forever.