No long history lesson needed: the WWE Championship is regarded as the ultimate prize in the professional wrestling industry. It hasn't always been pretty (as you'll see), but generally the individual who holds the WWE title is deserving of such an accolade. But while these wrestlers go down in the history books, not all winners are made equal.
With that in mind, we decided to compare the last 10 WWE Champions, ranking their reigns to see who truly was the best. We kept it fairly simple, with the least amount of bias possible, by looking at how long the reign was, how many times the title was successfully defended, and by assessing the overall impact the title win had on the wrestling industry.
10 Seth Rollins
The Shield implodes!
At the 2016 Money in the Bank PPV, Seth Freakin' Rollins beat Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship in his first match back from a serious injury. It was a huge accomplishment... that only lasted a couple of minutes. Earlier that night, Dean Ambrose won the MITB Briefcase and decided to burn it all down for Rollins, cashing in and winning the WWE title.
On a night when all 3 Shield members held the prestigious championship, Seth got the short end of the stick, only being champion for a couple of minutes. While The Architect had longer and better reigns, this wasn't one of them.
9 Randy Orton
We hear the voices too, Randy, and they weren't impressed with your title reign. It's always nice to win the big one at WrestleMania, but his match against champ Bray Wyatt was definitely lacking; it was bogged down by ugly graphics of bugs on the ring mat (Orton also had a peculiar-looking snake lead him to the ring - yeah, it wasn't great).
What made Orton's 13th major title reign so unimpressive was the fact it only lasted 49 days, with no title defenses, losing it to Jinder Mahal of all people.
8 Bray Wyatt
It was a long time coming, but WWE finally pulled the trigger and made Bray Wyatt champion at the 2017 Elimination Chamber PPV, defeating The Miz, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, and champion John Cena.
Bray's 49-day reign was a mediocre one, because he served as a transitional champion to continue his storyline with Randy Orton. With one awesome title defense under his belt (against Cena and Styles in a Triple Threat), Wyatt unfortunately couldn't hold the title past WrestleMania, where he lost it to The Viper.
Wyatt fans shouldn't worry, though; The Fiend looks to have a very bright (dark?) future filled with plenty of gold.
7 Jinder Mahal
We get it; it's nice when the WWE surprises fans and gives us an unexpected new champion. But this was not the way to do it. Jinder Mahal was a career-long jobber that was shoved into the WWE title scene because Vince McMahon reportedly wanted to gain traction in the Indian market.
We can't entirely fault Jindy on this one. Sure, he was uninspiring in the ring and barely improved, but the mic work, physical presence and general championship aesthetic was there; just not for what should be the most prestigious title in all of wrestling. Regardless, his reign lasted for 170 days and included successful title defenses against Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura.
6 Roman Reigns
It's a little baffling that Roman Reigns' last WWE title win came when he beat Triple H at WrestleMania 32 - in 2016. That's a long time away from the WWE's biggest prize for their current golden boy, but that has more to do with the company trying to establish the Universal Championship as the top title (hint: it's not).
Reigns' reign (sorry for that) lasted 77 days, an acceptable but ultimately forgettable one that did include some wicked title defenses against AJ Styles. He would lose the title to Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank a few months later.
5 John Cena
This title reign really should be lower on the list, but it was a defining one for John Cena. By winning the WWE Championship at the 2017 Royal Rumble, Cena tied Ric Flair's legendary record of world title wins at 16. No title defenses definitely hurt this reign, as Cena lost his title to Bray Wyatt in the Elimination Chamber 14 days after he won it.
What was once a sure thing doesn't seem so certain anymore: Will John Cena break the record for most world title reigns? Or has Hollywood already taken him away permanently from the fans? Who are we kidding, The Rock did it; of course Cena will, even if it means vacating it right after.
4 Dean Ambrose
Raise your hand if you thought Dean Ambrose would be the one to win the only Triple Threat match between himself, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Stop, you're lying.
The fact it was for the WWE Championship makes it that much more impressive, as Ambrose successfully defended his title against his Shield brethren. While Ambrose had his naysayers, ultimately he was a perfectly fine champion with some important wins, while being the first WWE Champion during the renewed Brand Split. His respectable 84 day reign came to an end at the hands of AJ Styles at the 2016 Backlash event.
3 Kofi Kingston
Kofimania is still running wild!
Kofi's sudden push thanks to enormous fan support led to Kingston challenging for the top prize in the industry. Unlike Jinder's push, Kofi's was earned, a long-time veteran who was held back from achieving bigger things due to backstage politics.
At 175 days and counting, Kofi proved many people wrong, still holding and defending the title he won when he beat Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35. With wins over Dolph Ziggler, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan, Kofi's definitely made the best of his opportunity. Too bad Brock Lesnar's coming up next...
2 Daniel Bryan
Nobody saw it coming. One swift low blow, a running knee and it was all over: the "YES!" Movement was dead, and the Planet's Champion was born.
The "New" Daniel Bryan won the WWE title when he beat AJ Styles on SmackDown one week before Survivor Series in 2018. Beyond the fact that he defended his title successfully on multiple occasions, Bryan's 145-day reign was awesome, as the biggest face in the company had become someone so detestable.
And what makes a great villain? One that is right. Bryan, although completely obnoxious, spoke the truth when it came to how humans treat the planet, bringing his vegan warrior ways to the WWE title, replacing the leather strap and jewels with hemp and colorful stones. HOW DARE HE!
1 AJ Styles
It's so great to put AJ Styles as our number one entry, because the fear that Vince McMahon would bury Mr. TNA was very real. Instead, Styles did what he has done his whole career: dazzle in the ring, working harder than everybody else, and putting on performances that allowed him to reach the pinnacle of the promotion.
AJ Styles is the only wrestler among the previous 10 winners to actually have two WWE title reigns, combining for over 500 days as the company's top dog (that wasn't The Big Dog). With title defenses over Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens and so many others, there's a reason he's The Phenomenal One.