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The WWE Championship is the most coveted prize in all of professional wrestling, and it has been held by some of the greatest performers in wrestling history, so winning it is kind of a big deal.
When these championship victories are accompanied by tremendous stories and build ups, it makes that moment even better, resulting in some of the biggest pops the WWE has ever seen.
At the moment, Kofi Kingston is on the climb to the WWE Championship after 11 years of hard work, fantastic matches, and loyalty to the WWE, so when he finally does get that moment (if he does), it's going to be incredible.
Whether it would find its way onto our list or not, only time will tell, but for right now, we are going to look back at past WWE Championship victories and rank the 6 greatest in the history of this illustrious championship.
#6 Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31
Money in the Bank has been a fantastic concept for the WWE over the past 15 years, and it has elevated some stars from fringe main event players to top guys, and that's exactly what happened for Seth Rollins.
The WrestleMania 31 main event was a hard-fought battle between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, but towards the end of the bout, Rollins appeared, hit Reigns with the Curb Stomp and became the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Michael Cole was quick to call it 'The Heist of the Century' while Seth celebrated on the ramp, and it's now become one of the most iconic moments of this entire generation.
Despite being the biggest heel in the company, Seth got an amazing reaction from the Santa Clara crowd, arguably solidifying himself as the new face of WWE, and in the process, giving himself another magical moment to add to his Hall of Fame worthy career.
#5 Mick Foley on RAW
Mick Foley isn't your prototypical WWE Superstar, but he was beloved by the masses regardless, and his winning of the WWE Championship is one of the biggest moments in wrestling history.
At this time, RAW was pre-taped, and in an effort to gain the upper hand on WWE, WCW commentators spoiled this at the outset of their show so that no one would tune in, but in fact, the opposite happened.
Wrestling fans worldwide adored Mick Foley for his hard work, sacrifice, and incredible unique characteristics, and they all made the switch to WWE to see this iconic moment, and after this, the WWE never once fell behind WCW again in the ratings.
The moment itself was absolutely deafening inside the arena, and while Mick didn't go on to become one of the best WWE Champions in history, he was an important part of this era for WWE, so rewarding him like this was very well deserved.
#4 Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 12
To most people, Shawn Michaels is the greatest professional wrestler in history, and that's a tough argument to contradict, and therefore, his first WWE Championship win is obviously going to be an iconic moment.
The 60-minute Iron Man match between him and Bret Hart needed to go to overtime to find a result, but when Shawn hit that fateful SuperKick, the fans in attendance went crazy.
'The boyhood dream has come true' is one of the greatest calls in WWE history, and it's a call that's been the backdrop of many WWE highlight packages over the years, and for good reason.
The match itself divides opinion - some see it as a classic match for the time between two amazing workers, and others see it as a slow bout that took too much time to build to the finale, but either way, the win and the obvious emotion showed by Shawn makes this an absolutely classic moment.
#3 Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out 2004
Eddie Guerrero is one of the most beloved performers in WWE history, so when he finally reached the pinnacle of the wrestling world after almost 2 decades, the fans rewarded him with nothing but love and adulation, which was thoroughly deserved.
What made this moment even better was the fact that no one saw it coming, as he was facing 'The Beast' Brock Lesnar, and for over 30 minutes in the ring, they told an absolutely brilliant story.
Eddie had been busting his ass for several different promotions over 15+ years to get to that moment, and when he finally got the 1-2-3, the emotion flowed all over him. The crowd erupted as Eddie celebrated with his family at ringside, and while the more emotional celebration came at WrestleMania XX alongside Chris Benoit, this one will bring even the toughest wrestling fans to tears.
#2 Jeff Hardy at Armageddon 2008
Due to his high-risk offense and his very colorful personality, Jeff Hardy has been a fan favorite in the WWE since the late '90s, but the WWE had never truly taken him seriously as a top talent. That all changed with his move to SmackDown, before beginning a rivalry with Triple H that would culminate at this moment in Armageddon 2008.
It was a Triple Threat bout between Hardy, Triple H, & Edge, and after hitting a pedigree on Edge, Hardy flew from the top, and pinned Edge to become WWE Champion, ending a 15-year journey to the top of the mountain.
His reign would be nothing memorable, as he lost the title not long after at the Royal Rumble, but for such a fan favorite to get this moment, it's one of the most memorable moments in WWE history, and the storied career of the Charismatic Enigma.
#1 Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX
Given that the idea for this article was based around Kofi Kingston's climb to the WWE Championship, who better to be at #1 than the man he is trying to take that title from?
Heading into this, Bryan was arguably the hottest pure babyface in WWE history, and the story of him overcoming The Authority was told to absolute perfection over a long period of time.
To get into this main event match, Bryan overcame Triple H in the show's opening bout, and after a grueling 30-minutes, he managed to overcome both Randy Orton and Batista in one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time.
Like Seth Rollins' match earlier, Michael Cole quickly dubbed this one 'The Miracle on Bourbon Street', and given the incredible reaction he received, the 70,000 strong in attendance agreed with him, making it easily the best championship win in WWE history.
