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Championships are a wrestling promotion's cornerstone. The Championships are a promotion's biggest prize. All the wrestlers usually are after one title or the other. The number of Championships in WWE has increased massively in the last 10 years. The decade started with two World titles, two mid-card titles, two women's titles, and one tag team title. The two Women's titles were unified a few months into 2010 as well, thus ending the year with six Titles.
However, as of today, WWE has 18 active Championships. Both Raw and SmackDown have their very own World title, Women's title, Mid-card title, and Tag Team titles. In addition to those, the 24/7 Title and Women's Tag Team title are a couple of unbranded titles that can be won by Superstars from both brands, bringing the total to 10 Championships on the main roster. NXT has a total of 5 Championships, the NXT title, NXT Women's title, NXT Tag Team Titles, NXT North American Title, and Cruiserweight Title. Finally, NXT UK also has its NXT UK Title, Women's Title, and Tag Team Titles.
With so many belts on the line, WWE has seen some massive reigns in the past 10 years. Let us take a look at the 10 longest reigns of the last decade in WWE.
#10 Nikki Bella - 301 Days (WWE Divas Championship)
Nikki Bella became the longest-reigning Divas Champion of all time after she beat Charlotte Flair and successfully defended her title on the September 14th, 2015 episode of Raw. She had won the title at Survivor Series 2014 after beating AJ Lee in a bizarre fashion. The match lasted only 33 seconds. Brie Bella, who was ringside, climbed on to the apron and landed a kiss on AJ as soon and the bell rang and Nikki promptly pinned her to become the new Champion.
Her reign continued till September 2015 when she finally dropped the title to Charlotte at the Night of Champions PPV. Although her title reign isn't very fondly remembered by the fans, she did end her reign by dropping it to Charlotte who went on to become one of the greatest women performers in WWE history.
#9 Paige - 308 Days (NXT Women's Championship)
First things first, WWE recognizes Paige's NXT Women's Championship reign as 273 days. This is because the episode of NXT where she won the Women's Title was taped and aired 35 days after filming. However since she held the title for 301 days in total, I've gone with that number for her and all others on this list.
Paige won the Women's Title on an episode of NXT after beating Emma in the finals of a tournament. The tournament for the said title had 8 participating women. Paige defeated Tamina in the first round, Alicia Fox in the second and finally Emma in the finals. Future Champions Sasha Banks and Bayley were also part of the tournament although they both got eliminated in the first round.
Her Championship reign ended in a unique way. She made her surprise Raw debut after WrestleMania 30 and won the Divas Championship from AJ Lee in her debut match. As a result, she moved on to the main roster. Thus, NXT General Manager, John Bradshaw Layfield stripped her of her NXT Women's Championship in the following NXT episode. She never actually lost her title.
8. Dean Ambrose - 351 Days (WWE States United Championship)
Dean Ambrose was the de-facto leader of The Shield. He led them during promos and even led them to the ring during their iconic entrances. So it was not a surprise when he was given the first individual gold. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns won the tag team championships and Dean Ambrose won the United States Championship on the very same night.
Ambrose defeated Kofi Kingston at Extreme Rules 2013 to win the United States Championship, starting his mammoth reign with the title. Ambrose pinned Kingston clean with his Dirty Deeds finishing move to win the title after Kingston missed a Trouble in Paradise and became the first Shield member to win a Championship in WWE.
However, his title reign was lackluster. Since the Shield acted mostly as a unit, Ambrose's Championship took a backseat in most of their feuds. As a result, he barely defended his title on TV. This was eventually turned into a storyline as Ambrose challenged the whole roster to try and take his title. As a result, Ambrose defended his US Title in a 20 man Battle Royale on the May 5th episode of Raw. Sheamus last eliminated Ambrose to become the new Champion.
#7 AJ Styles - 371 Days (WWE Championship)
After AJ Styles' thunderous debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble and his amazing first reign as a heel champion, AJ made history once again when he won the title a second time. This time he held the Championship for 371 days and became the 8th longest-reigning WWE Champion of all-time, tied with Macho Man Randy Savage.
He won his second WWE Championship on the November 7th, 2017 episode of SmackDown. The show took place in Manchester, England making this the only instance that the WWE Championship changed hands outside of the USA. Styles defeated Jinder Mahal in the main event to become the new Champion just before the Survivor Series PPV.
His reign had its ups and downs but he did defend it successfully at WrestleMania 34 against Shinsuke Nakamura. He lost the title on SmackDown just like he had won it on SmackDown. On the November 13th, 2018 episode of SmackDown, Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles in a great match to end his reign at just over a year.
#6 Shayna Baszler - 416 Days (NXT Women's Championship)
Shayna Baszler quickly became one of WWE's most protected Superstars in recent memory. Not only was she booked like a monster heel on NXT, but she was also given a huge victory at the Survivor Series main event this year over Becky Lynch and Bayley. However, she lost her NXT Women's Title just last week, ending a reign that lasted over a year.
She won the NXT Women's Title from Kairi Sane who had, in turn, won it from Baszler herself. She started her reign at Evolution, WWE's first Women only PPV. From there on, she has been the top heel in NXT's women's division. It is important to point out that her title reign has been a very good one.
She finally lost her title on the December 18th, 2019 episode of NXT when she lost to Rhea Ripley in a hard-fought match ending her reign at 416 days. Ripley pinned her after hitting her with the Riptide from the second rope.
#4 CM Punk - 434 Days (WWE Championship)
Arguably the most important title reign in WWE history, CM Punk held the WWE Title for 434 days including the entire calendar year of 2012. His reign has become legendary and is one of the most influential title reigns of all time. His reign started at Survivor Series 2011 and ended at the Royal Rumble 2013 with Punk being the biggest Superstar in the wrestling world during this period of time.
He won the WWE Championship and began his second reign after defeating Alberto Del Rio via submission at Survivor Series 2011. He defended his title successfully throughout 2012 defeating opponents like John Cena, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, and Ryback. His reign was loved by fans and critics alike and his title matches were thoroughly praised.
He finally lost his WWE Championship at the 2013 Royal Rumble PPV. The Rock was given his first WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble after he had defeated John Cena at WrestleMania 28. The Rock defeated CM Punk to win his 8th WWE Championship finally ending Punk's reign at 434 days.
#4 The New Day - 483 Days (WWE Raw Tag Team Championships)
The New Day are one of the greatest Tag Teams in WWE history. On top of winning multiple Tag Team Championships, Kofi Kingston even won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. However, out of their 7 tag team title reigns, their second one is longer than all the other 6 combined. At 483 days long, it is the longest tag team title reign in WWE history.
They won the titles at SummerSlam 2015 in a fatal 4-way match after defeating The Prime Time Players, Lucha Dragons, and Los Matadores. When they won the titles, it was called the WWE Tag Team Championships and they defended that for over a year. In September 2016, they were drafted to Raw where the titles became the Raw Tag Team Championships.
Their reign was very well-received and they were some of the most over Superstars in WWE during that period of time, thereby getting regular TV time in every episode of Raw and SmackDown. They lost the titles to Cesaro and Sheamus at Roadblock: End of the Line in December 2016 which ended their record-breaking reign at 483 days.
#3 Brock Lesnar - 504 Days (WWE Universal Championship)
Brock Lesnar has won the Universal Championship three times. He has not only won the title the most number of times but has held the title for longer than all other Champions combined. His first reign is the longest of all 3 reigns with over 500 days as Champion. His title reign started off brilliantly as he put up great matches against up and coming talents but the reign lost all steam at the end and ended in a lackluster way.
He won the title at WrestleMania 33 defeating Goldberg in one of the best matches on the card. The short 5-minute match was an explosive treat for the fans. He defended his title against Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns in Singles matches and in multi-men matches over the next few months.
But towards the end of his reign, he barely showed up to defend the title. WWE turned this into a storyline and Roman Reigns finally won the Universal Title off Brock at SummerSlam 2018 to end his reign at 504 days.
#2 Asuka - 510 Days (NXT Women's Championship)
Asuka's NXT Women's Title reign lasted 510 days although WWE recognizes the reign as 522 days. The episode where her title reign ended aired 12-days after being filmed causing WWE to recognize her reign as 522 days. Her reign was one of the strongest booked Championship reigns of the time. She went undefeated throughout her reign not losing once in her entire NXT career.
Asuka won the NXT Women's Title at NXT TakeOver: Dallas defeating Bayley in her final match on NXT. Her win started a dominating winning streak where she went undefeated for over a whole year. No one could come close to defeating her. As a result of her dominance, WWE even had a hard time finding legitimate challengers for her.
As a result of her never seen before dominance, she was made to relinquish her title due to an injury to her collarbone. She relinquished her title on the September 6th episode of NXT which aired on tape delay, as mentioned earlier. She would move on to the main roster ending her career in NXT during which she was entirely undefeated.
#1. Pete Dunne - 685 Days (NXT UK Championship)
Pete Dunne was the biggest star in WWE's United Kingdom Championship tournament held in 2017. However, he lost the tournament to Tyler Bate in the grand finals. He won the title back at NXT TakeOver: Chicago in one of the best matches of the year. The reign he kicked off lasted for 685 days and is one of the longest reigns in modern-day WWE.
During the UK Championship tournament, Pete Dunne was the biggest star participating in the tournament. After his loss in the finals, he turned heel by attacking Tyler Bate. He would continue to attack Bate again and again on NXT till he was given a title shot. At NXT TakeOver: Chicago, Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate to win the NXT UK Championship.
Dunne would successfully defend his title against all comers and he even made a Raw appearance during the UK tour. No one could defeat him in his division. That was until Walter showed up. At NXT TakeOver: New York, Walter finally defeated Dunne to win the NXT UK Championship ending his reign at 685 days, a reign that will be very hard to replicate.
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
