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WWE's rich and storied history is stacked with legends and icons who held the top title in the company for extended periods of time. Vince McMahon's promotion has housed a long list of wrestling greats over the past several decades, most notably Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, and The Rock.
These in-ring legends have ruled the squared circle at different points in time and have given the fans innumerable memories to cherish forever. Most of these stars have rightfully secured their spots in the WWE Hall of Fame, while others are bound to bag a spot somewhere down the line.
All of the above-mentioned names have held multiple World titles throughout their careers. But when it comes to holding a top title for a long period of time, not many have achieved the impressive feat. There have been only 10 men in WWE history who have held the company's top title for more than 365 days in one go.
In the following list, we will look at all the legends who have held the promotion's top title for more than a year.
Note: Both the WWE title as well as the Universal title would be considered World titles in the article. The WWWF/WWF title will be referred to as the WWE title throughout the article. Special thanks to ProFightDB for the data used.
#9 Roman Reigns (Universal title reign: 368 days and counting)
Roman Reigns returned to WWE at SummerSlam 2020 following a brief hiatus, and turned heel in the process. He went on to win the Universal title at Payback by defeating Braun Strowman and The Fiend. He recently completed a year as Universal Champion. He has destroyed every superstar who has come in his path, including Edge, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio, and John Cena.
Roman Reigns was confronted by Brock Lesnar after he defeated Cena to retain the title at SummerSlam 2021 and one wonders if Lesnar will be the one to finally dethrone The Tribal Chief.
#T-8 AJ Styles (WWE title reign: 371 days, tied with Randy Savage)
By late 2017, AJ Styles had established himself as one of the company's top superstars. Styles defeated Jinder Mahal on the November 7, 2017 episode of SmackDown to win the WWE title.
He reigned supreme for 371 days that included a WrestleMania 34 win over his old nemesis Shinsuke Nakamura. Mere days before Survivor Series 2018, Styles lost the WWE title to Daniel Bryan on SmackDown with the latter turning heel during the contest.
#T-8 Randy Savage (WWE title reign: 371 days, tied with AJ Styles)
After his win over Hogan, Andre The Giant handed the title over to Ted Dibiase, but Jack Tunney refused to recognize him as champion and the belt was vacated. Vince McMahon held a tournament at WrestleMania 4 to determine the WWE Champion. The finals of the tournament saw Randy Savage defeat Dibiase to become WWE Champion for the first time in his career.
Savage had turned heel by the time WrestleMania 5 came around. He believed Hogan wanted to steal Miss Elizabeth from him and kicked off a feud with his former best friend. At WrestleMania, Hogan defeated Savage to win the WWE title again, thus ending his run at 371 days.
#7 John Cena (WWE title reign: 380 days)
John Cena has won the top title on 16 occasions. His longest WWE title reign began in late 2006 with a win over his arch-rival Edge. The two superstars met in a WWE title TLC match at the Unforgiven pay-per-view on September 17, 2006. The stipulation of the match called for Cena to leave RAW if he lost. He ended up defeating Edge to win the belt.
Cena went on to hold the title for 380 days. He was forced to vacate the title in October 2007 after tearing his right pectoral tendon.
#6 CM Punk (WWE title reign: 434 days)
CM Punk's "Summer of Punk" kicked off with his legendary Pipebomb promo on WWE RAW in mid-2011. He spent the next several months in the main event scene alongside John Cena and Alberto Del Rio. Punk met Del Rio in a WWE title match at Survivor Series 2011.
He won the match to start one of the most impressive WWE title runs in history. Punk held the belt for the entirety of 2012 and finally lost it to The Rock at Royal Rumble 2013, ending his run at 434 days.
#5 Brock Lesnar (Universal title reign: 503 days)
Brock Lesnar met Goldberg in one of the main events of WrestleMania 33, with the Universal title on the line. The latter had defeated Kevin Owens mere days ago to win the belt. The match didn't last long and Lesnar defeated Goldberg for the first time in his career to become Universal Champion.
The Beast Incarnate's win kicked off a dominant Universal title reign that saw him put down the likes of Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, and Samoa Joe. He finally lost the title to Reigns at SummerSlam 2018. Lesnar's Universal title run lasted 503 days.
#4 Pedro Morales (WWE title reign: 1027 days)
Pedro Morales won the WWE title on one occasion during his run. After Koloff defeated Sammartino for the title, he held the belt for a mere 21 days before defending it against Morales at a house show on February 8, 1971.
After putting Koloff down to win the prestigious title, Morales held the same for 1027 days. He would lose the title to Stan Stasiak in Philadelphia on December 1, 1973.
#3 Hulk Hogan (WWE title reign: 1474 days)
Vince McMahon had bagged a golden goose in the form of Hulk Hogan and knew that he had the potential to become a top babyface in the coming years. Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik for the WWE title at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 1984 to kick off one of the most popular runs in history.
Hogan remained the champion for 1474 days before dropping it to Andre The Giant on February 5, 1988. The ending saw Earl Hebner make the three count even though Hogan had raised his hand during the first count.
#2 Bob Backlund (WWE title reign: 2135 days)
On February 20, 1978, Bob Backlund ended Billy Graham's 296-day World title reign to become the new WWE Champion. A year later, he lost the belt to Japanese legend Antonio Inoki and won it back in a rematch on December 6, 1979.
The rematch was declared a no-contest due to interference by Tiger Jeet Singh, and Inoki remained the champion. He refused the belt though, thus making it vacant.
Backlund went on to defeat Bobby Duncum for the vacant belt. Vince McMahon's promotion doesn't recognize Inoki's World title reign as a part of its official history. Bob Backlund lost the title to The Iron Sheik on December 26, 1983, with his reign clocked in at 2135 days.
#1 Bruno Sammartino (WWE title reigns: 2803 days, 1237 days)
On May 17, 1963, Bruno Sammartino submitted Buddy Rogers at an MSG house show to become the second-ever WWE Champion in history, thus kicking off quite possibly the most impressive World title reign in all of WWE.
Sammartino held the title for a whopping 2803 days before dropping it to Ivan Koloff on January 18, 1971. Sammartino's second title reign would come two years later with a win over Stan Stasiak. Bruno held the title for 1237 days this time around, before eventually dropping it to 'Superstar' Billy Graham.
