5 Superstars who held the WWE championship for just one day

There can be few things better than capturing a championship as a part of the WWE roster.

Winning a title in WWE cements your legacy forever. In the years and decades to come, your name will live forever as part of an elite list of few Superstars who were able to capture gold.

There's something all-encompassing about championship gold, as every man and woman on the roster, no matter how big or small, no matter how featured or unfeatured, wants to be champion.

Several titles in WWE have decades of history, including the WWE Championship, which this year turned 55.

Some titles, are relatively new, most notably the NXT United Kingdom Championships, which are still in their infancy.

For some Superstars though, they were finally able to capture a championship, only for it to be so cruelly taken away from them, for a multitude of reasons.

Here are five WWE Superstars who held a championship in the company, for just a day.

#5 WWF Champion Yokozuna (1993)

As a mountain of a man, Yokozuna was destined to win the 1993 Royal Rumble, and did just that, earning a shot at the WWF Champion, Bret Hart.

Meeting at Ceaser's Palace at WrestleMania 9, the Sumo wrestler was able to defeat the Hitman, thanks to some help from Mr. Fuji, to win the prestigious WWF Championship.

Rather than have time to celebrate though, Fuji laid a challenge to Hulk Hogan, who had just returned to the company not long before, to an immediate title match.

Within seconds, Hogan, predictably won the match, and the title, to a mixed response by the crowd, who had grown tired of the Hulkster always winning.

The story goes that the plan was for Hogan to lose the title to Bret at Summerslam, in a passing the torch moment, though Hogan never intended for this to happen, instead losing the belt back to Yoko at King of the Ring.

#4 WWE Champion Rey Mysterio (2011)

When CM Punk left the WWE at Money In the Bank 2011, the company was left without a WWE Champion.

Hoping to quickly sweep the controversy of Punk's leaving under the rug, a tournament was announced, which saw Rey Mysterio win the WWE Championship, over a year after his last reign as world champion.

A feel-good moment for the master of the 619, who had defeated fellow-World Champion The Miz to win the gold, his reign would quickly come to an end when he faced John Cena later that night, losing the title to Big Match John.

Funnily enough, that week's RAW started with no WWE Champion, but ended with two, as CM Punk returned to the company, eight days after leaving.

Whilst the focus quickly turned to reignite the Punk-Cena feud, no-one could take this accolade away from the Ultimate Underdog.

#3 WWE Champion Randy Orton (2007)

From 2006-2007, the WWE Championship scene was dominated by one man: John Cena.

Winning the title at Unforgiven 2006 from Edge, Cena kept a firm grip on the title, defeating foes old and new alike, such as Umaga, Shawn Michaels, King Booker, Mick Foley and Bobby Lashley.

All this came to a halt though when Cena went down with an injury, whilst in a bitter feud with Randy Orton.

Rather than be punished, Orton found himself in a great spot, as the top Superstar on Monday Night RAW.

At No Mercy 2007, Orton was asked to appear in the ring by Vince McMahon, where fans shockingly witnessed Cena being stripped of the gold, and the WWE Championship awarded to the Legend Killer.

Things quickly went south for Orton though, and I mean very quickly...

#2 WWE Champion Triple H (2007)

Just moments after being awarded the WWE Championship at No Mercy, Randy Orton was forced into a title defence.

His opponent, his old mentor the Game, who had not held a title in the WWE in 19 months.

Aiming to get back on top, the King of Kings dethroned Orton, cutting his title reign short at just 20 minutes.

This didn't sit well with McMahon though, who announced that the pre-organized match between the Game and Umaga would be a title match, which Triple H survived.

Fatigued from two gruelling encounters though, the Cerebral Assassin was forced to compete again in the show's main event, against a rested Orton in a Last Man Standing match.

Now in his third match, the Game was dethroned, making his shocking 2007 World title reign his shortest ever.

#1 WWE World Champion Roman Reigns (2015)

When Seth Rollins went down with an injury, the WWE were left without a champion.

Similar to 2011 therefore, a tournament was organized, which saw Rollins' own Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns meet in the finals for the vacant title.

When the dust cleared, it was Roman who emerged the winner, finally having his moment with the title he had failed to capture at WrestleMania, as confetti filled the arena.

But this celebration did not last long, as Sheamus, who was Mr. Money in the Bank at the time, cashed in the contract, ending the reign of the Big Dog at just five minutes and 15 seconds.

Roman would eventually get the title back, and has held it 3 times, as well as one Universal title reign, but this first win cannot be one he fondly remembers.