5 WWE Hall of Famers Roman Reigns has surpassed with his combined reign of 651+ days

Universal Champion Roman Reigns has now completed 651 days as a world champion in WWE. He has thus surpassed Bret Hart's milestone of 650 days as the company's top champion.

Reigns is doing the best work of his career as a bad guy on SmackDown. He has been Universal Champion for more than a year at this point. Roman Reigns won the coveted belt at Payback 2020, mere days after returning to WWE as a heel. He defeated Braun Strowman and The Fiend to win the Universal title and no one has succeeded in taking it from him so far.

The Tribal Chief is all set to defend the belt against arch-rival Brock Lesnar at the Day 1 pay-per-view. He will now target Randy Orton's milestone: a whopping 806 days as world champion, across 14 reigns.

In this slideshow, we will take a look at five Hall of Famers aside from Bret Hart, who are now behind Roman Reigns when it comes to number of days as WWE's world champion.

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#5 WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle carved a Hall of Fame career for himself during his first WWE run in 1998-2006. He was a legit athlete with an Olympic background, and did exceptionally well in his rookie year.

Angle's biggest win during his early run came at Armageddon 2000, where he defeated The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Rikishi inside Hell In A Cell. He was later pushed as one of the very few credible threats to Brock Lesnar on SmackDown.

Angle stood toe to toe with The Beast Incarnate on various occasions, with his most famous victory over Lesnar coming at SummerSlam 2003.

Kurt Angle won four WWE titles and had a single World Heavyweight title reign in 2006, which amounted to 376 days as world champion. He retired in 2019, two years after being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

It's safe to assume that Angle is no longer a threat to Roman Reigns, when it comes to combined days as the company's top champion.

#4 WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels is dubbed possibly the greatest superstar in history, by many in the industry. He made his way to WWE back in the 80s and was a major star for the better part of the 90s. He is a three-time WWE Champion and won the World Heavyweight title on one occasion.

Michaels was world champion for 420 days, across his four reigns. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He was also ranked No.1 in the highly controversial "Top 50 Superstars of All Time" DVD that came out in 2010.

It has been a while since Shawn Michaels retired from in-ring competition. He will forever be remembered as an all-time great, but he is nowhere close to Roman Reigns when it comes to combined days as the top champion.

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#3 WWE Hall of Famer Randy Savage

Randy Savage was a popular pro-wrestling star in during the 80s. He was one of the few wrestlers who were heavily pushed while Hulk Hogan was still in the company. Savage won a tournament at WrestleMania 4 to win the promotion's top title, by defeating Ted Dibiase.

He ended his career with two world title reigns. Savage's two reigns amounted to an impressive 518 days as world champion. Later in his career, Randy Savage went to WCW and tasted world title success there as well. He won the WCW World Heavyweight title on four different occasions.

Savage tragically passed away due to a heart attack in 2011. He was honored with a Hall of Fame induction in 2015.

#2 WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin was instrumental in WWE defeating WCW in the Monday Night War. His career was cut short in 2003 due to a neck injury, as well as several knee injuries. Austin headlined three WrestleMania events during his run as the company's top star, and won the top title on six occasions.

Austin was world champion for a combined 524 days across his six reigns, and defended the belt 27 times. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

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#1 WWE Hall of Famer Edge

Edge retired from WWE in 2011 due to a nagging neck injury. In one of the biggest feel-good moments in wrestling history, he made his big return at Royal Rumble 2020, and came incredibly close to winning it all.

Edge is one of the most decorated superstars in history. He carried SmackDown on his shoulders as a top heel, back in the late 2000s. The Rated-R Superstar has won 11 world titles in Vince McMahon's promotion, with a combined reign of 540 days. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

Edge is the only Hall of Famer in this list who has a slight shot at keeping up with Roman Reigns in terms of combined days as top champion. He is currently an active star on TV and is currently feuding with The Miz.

It looks highly unlikely, though, that WWE will give the top title to Edge and keep it on him for an extended period of time, at this stage in his career.