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It's official now - Brock Lesnar now has the longest WWE World Title reign in the last 30 years to his name. By wrestling only a dozen times in his 435+ days reigns as Universal Champion, The Beast Incarnate has shattered a legendary World Title reign that was once regarded as untouchable in today's hectic world of Pro Wrestling. Even then, it won't be fair to call this reign as a rather eventful one.
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In fact, it won't be completely wrong to call this the worst of the five World Title reigns that Lesnar has had in WWE. So much so that people have actually grown tired of not seeing him on the WWE programming on a daily basis, and actually wanted Roman Reigns, The most booed Superstar, to win the title at 'Mania and at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
A great championship reign is defined by a sequence of impressive title defenses and a regular presence of the champion on the company's product. Unlike this bland reign by Lesnar, the decade, that started in 2010, has seen several memorable title reigns that will go down as some of the best in WWE history. Lesnar may not be seen on WWE programming until the foreseeable future, till then, we take a look at some of the best Title reigns in the promotion in the 2010s.
Honorable Mentions
Dolph Ziggler - WWE United States Title (19/6/11 - 18/12/11)
Although Ziggler has won 10 titles during his 12 years tenure in WWE, none of his reigns were as long and influential as his first reign with the United States Title in 2011. Winning the title from Kofi Kingston, he defended the title against the likes of John Morrison and Jack Swagger before dropping it to Zack Ryder at TLC 2011
Cody Rhodes and Goldust - WWE Tag Team Titles (14/10/13 - 26/1/14)
While not as exciting as the program leading to their victory at Battleground, this title reign produced some of the best tag team action from a bunch of teams. Between winning titles and losing them at Royal Rumble, The Brotherhood had top quality matches with the likes of The Shield, The Usos and others for 106 days.
Brock Lesnar - WWE World Heavyweight Title (17/8/14 - 29/3/15)
Brock Lesnar's WWE Title win over John Cena at Summerslam was a shocking squash affair that started a memorable 224-day reign for The Beast Incarnate. His matches with John Cena, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns during that period produced some of the best in-ring work by Brock Lesnar.
#10 The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) - WWE Tag Team Titles (19/5/13 - 14/10/13)
Before they were winning all the active single's titles on Raw to become Grand Slam Champion, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns had a significant impact on the Tag Team Division back in 2013. Part of The Shield along with Dean Ambrose, the duo won the Tag Team Title from Team Hell No at Extreme Rules 2013, the same night Ambrose won the US Title.
In the next five months, Rollins and Reigns faced and defeated the likes of Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton, Prime Time Players and The Usos, with whom they wrestled arguably the best pre-show match in WWE history. At the tail end of their reign, they had two outstanding matches with The Rhodes Brothers - one at Battleground and other at Raw. A loss in the second one brought an end to a memorable 148-day reign for the Hounds of Justice.
#9 The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) - WWE Smackdown Tag Team Titles (8/10/17 - 8/4/18)
2017 was the year of The Usos in WWE. The twin brothers, rejuvenated after a much-needed character change to the darker side in late 2016, were the mainstay of the Blue Brand's tag team division along with the New Day. Between February 2017 and March 2018, Usos had two fantastic reigns with the Tag Team Titles, and while the first one started their heel turn, it was the second one that narrowly edges out as the better one.
After trading the title with The New Day throughout the summer in a rivalry that was the center of focus on Smackdown, they regained the titles in a tremendous Hell in a Cell match. This was followed by a fantastic series of matches and promos, which included matches with The Bar, New Day, Gable & Benjamin and Rusev Day before their 182-day reign came to an end at 'Mania 34 at the hands of Harper and Rowan.
#8 Charlotte Flair - WWE Divas'/Women's Title (20/9/15 - 3/4/16, 3/4/16 - 25/7/16)
While these two are officially recognized as two different reigns by everyone, it was more convenient for me to consider this as one long reign. There is clearly no doubt that Charlotte is the best female in-ring performer in WWE, and it was because of her reign during this 10 month period that she earned the title of The Queen. First, as Diva's Champion and then as Women's Champion, Charlotte was at the top of her game in that period.
Winning the Diva's Title from Nikki Bella at Night of Champions in 2011, Charlotte held the title till WrestleMania 32. In that massive period, she had successful defenses against Nikki, Paige, Brie Bella and Becky Lynch, on whom she turned on to turn heel during her reign. After defeating Becky and Sasha Banks at WrestleMania for the new Women's Title, Charlotte defeated Natalya in two consecutive pay per views before losing her title to Sasha Banks, having held a title for a total of 301 consecutive days.
#7 The Miz - WWE Intercontinental Title (4/4/16 - 9/10/16)
Seth Rollins is doing a great job elevating the Intercontinental Title ever since his win at WrestleMania 34. Even then, no man has done more in bringing the prestige and respect back to The Intercontinental Title than The Miz did. His memorable reigns between WrestleMania 32 and WrestleMania 34 can easily be regarded as the best period for the Secondary Title. His reign throughout the summer of 2016, however, was easily the best among them all.
Between the Raw after WrestleMania 32 and No Mercy 2016, The Miz held the prestigious title for 188 days, defending it with the likes of Cesaro, Zack Ryder, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and, of course, Dolph Ziggler. His feud with Dolph Ziggler, to whom he lost the title, brought new life to the title and the career of each man. An 8-time holder of this Title, The A-Lister is inarguably one of the best Intercontinental champions of all time.
#6 Seth Rollins - WWE World Heavyweight Title (29/3/15 - 4/11/15)
Seth Rollins managed to surprise everyone when he turned on his Shield Brothers to side with the Authority. He somehow managed to go beyond that level of surprise by cashing in his Money in the Bank Contract in the main event of WrestleMania 31 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Just as he is doing wonders with the Intercontinental Title right now, Rollins' run with the World Title can be termed as pure gold.
Even though his reign came to a premature end due to an ill-timed injury, it was full of stunning title defenses by The Architect. It all started with a victory over Randy Orton, the man he lost to at 'Mania 31, and it was followed by wins over Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, John Cena, Sting and Kane. He even became a double champion during this period when he defeated Cena in a Title vs Title match to also win the US Title at SummerSlam.
#5 The New Day - WWE/WWE Raw Tag Team Titles (23/8/15 - 18/12/16)
No, and I literally mean no one, could have predicted the success that The New Day has achieved in the last 4 years at the time of their debut. While the team has kept the goofiness and weirdness, that it was famous for, with themselves, it is their development from the in-ring perspective that has earned them loads of praise from the fans and critics. This all, however, happened because of that one memorable, that record-breaking tag title reign in 2015-16.
Winning the titles from Prime Time Players at SummerSlam 2015, The New Day held the title for 483 days and shattered The Demolitions 25-year-old record of the longest Tag Title reign. During this period, The New Day faced and defeated every possible tag team in the whole WWE, and even transformed from heels to faces in the midst of the reign. The landmark reign finally came to an end in December 2016 when they lost the titles to The Bar.
#4 AJ Styles - WWE Title (11/9/16 - 29/1/17)
AJ Styles has only been in the WWE for a little over 28 months, and in that period he has held the WWE Title for a cumulative total of 12 months. If that figure isn't impressive to you, then I don't know what possibly could be. While his current reign is definitely longer when it comes to the number of days, it was his inaugural reign that was easily the better of the two, and maybe even one of the best of this century.
On the heel of a massive win over John Cena at Summerslam 2016, Styles challenged and defeated Dean Ambrose for the WWE Title at Backlash 2016. What followed was months of impeccable title defenses against the likes of Ambrose, Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin and James Ellsworth (who?). This phenomenal title reign came to an end after a period of 140 days in an equally phenomenal contest at The Royal Rumble against John Cena.
#3 John Cena - WWE United States Title (29/3/15 - 23/8/15)
Speaking of John Cena, WWE's biggest star has a history of holding titles from time to time. Even though he is a 16 time World Champion and has held long and memorable reigns with World Titles as well, the man is a record 5-time United States Champion as well and did his best to keep the prestige and value of the title. In fact, his reign in the summer of 2015 can be termed as the best reign in the history of the title.
Defeating Rusev to win the legendary title for the 4th time in his career, Cena started the weekly US Open challenge and defended the title against a different Superstar every week. This challenge produced some really good matches against the likes of Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Dean Ambrose, Wade Barrett and many other. After defeating Rusev two more times and fending off a challenge from Kevin Owens in a phenomenal feud, Cena dropped the title to Seth Rollins at Summerslam, ending his reign at 147 days.
#2 Neville - WWE Cruiserweight Title (29/1/17 - 14/8/17)
The Cruiserweight Division of WWE was in dead water near the end of 2016, and it needed a solid Superstar to provide stability to that brand. Enter Neville, who turned heel and joined the cruiserweights to bring excitement back to the division. Even though he left the company on harsh terms because of his treatment in the promotion, the same can not be said about of his treatment of the Cruiserweight Title which attained new heights under his reign.
Neville defeated Rich Swann at Royal Rumble 2017 to win the division's title for the first time. He began his title reign with a successful defense against Jack Gallagher before getting engaged in the division's best rivalry against Austin Aries. Neville defeated Aries at 'Mania 33, lost at Payback by DQ and then ended Aries quest by defeating him at Extreme Rules. His memorable 197-day reign came to an end on an episode of Raw at the hands of Akira Tozawa.
#1 CM Punk - WWE Title (20/11/11 - 27/1/13)
Come on, we all knew this was coming didn't we. This was not just a reign, it was a whole different period of phenomenal wrestling and storytelling. Brock Lesnar's title reign might have broken the record that CM Punk set back in 2011-13, but, for hardcore wrestling fans, this reign will forever remain etched in their minds and their hearts. After all, it was in the aftermath of Summer of 2011, unofficially called the Summer of Punk, and it was WWE's first official World Title reign in 25 years to cross the 400 days mark.
Punk's victory over Del Rio, the man who ended his first reign, at Survivor Series 2011 started this magical period and it was followed by phenomenal dream feuds with the likes of Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan throughout the first half of 2012. Despite being a phenomenal face champion, Punk turned heel and brought more charisma to his title reign. He fended off challenges from John Cena and Ryback throughout the remaining months of 2012 before dropping the title to The Rock at Royal Rumble, ending his reign at 434 days.
Which title reign has been your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below!
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