25 Greatest WWE World Champions - The Results!

So after collating the results from everybody that voted on this list. Lots of people sent me their top ten WWE World Champions, and I used that list to work out who 606v2 considered to be the best WWE World Champion of all time. Number 1 in people's list was given 10 points, then number 10 was given 1, with all in between being given 9, 8, 7 etc.

24=. Diesel - 1 point

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 1
Combined length of Title reigns: 358 days

Diesel, or Kevin Nash, was voted in the top ten just one time, and at number 10, but it is just enough to get him into the top 25. Diesel won the World Title on the 26th of November 1994 beating Bob Backlund in a record-breaking fast match, squashing the three day old world champion to win his first and to date, only world championship in the WWE. He would hold it for nearly a year only finally losing it on the 19th of November 1995 to Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.

24=. Kane - 1 point

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 2
Combined length of Title reigns: 155 days

Kane's first world title reign was a disaster, and certainly not the reason that he makes the 25 Greatest World Championships. His first reign with the WWE Championship in 1998 lasted just one day, beating Stone Cold Steve Austin at King of the Ring, but then lost it the night later on Raw. His second world title reign, 12 years later, with the World Heavyweight Championship was significantly more popular and successful. Paid for his dues over the years, Kane's reign lasted 154 days. Kane cashed in his Money in the Bank opportunity the night he won it to beat Rey Mysterio for the world title, eventually losing it to Edge in a Tables, Ladder and Chairs match at the TLC Pay-Per View.

23. Goldberg - 3 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 1
Combined length of Title reigns: 84 days

Bill Goldberg is better remembered for his run in WCW where he was much more successful in terms of winning world titles. Goldberg burst onto the WWE scene in 2003, but had to wait six months to win his first and only world title in the WWE. Goldberg beat Triple H at Unforgiven to win his first world title and it lasted 84 days before he lost the title to Triple H at the Armageddon show.

22. Chris Benoit - 4 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 1
Combined length of Title reigns: 154 days

Clearly Chris Benoit will always be remembered for his final actions, but his WWE career still gets some plaudits. Benoit's only world title reign in the WWE had a good length of 154 days. Winning the title in an emotional match with Triple H and Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XX. Eventually Benoit would lose the world title to Randy Orton at Summerslam and he would never regain a world title until his death in 2007.

21. Bob Backlund - 8 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 2
Combined length of Title reigns: 3,234 days

An amazing combined length of title reigns there from just two title reigns and even more amazingly, his second title reign lasted just 3 days in 1994. His first title reign lasted 8 years, 10 months and 6 days, it is inconceivable that this could happen in this day and age. Backlund won his first world title by beating Billy Graham in controversial fashion as Graham did actually have his foot on the ropes as the three count was met. However this wouldn't stop Backlund from dominating for close to a decade in the WWF eventually losing the title to The Iron Sheik after Backlund's manager threw the white towel in for him. Backlund's second reign was significantly less successful, Backlund managed to roll back the years to beat Bret Hart to regain the world title but would last just three days as Diesel destroyed him to win the title.

20. Chris Jericho - 10 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 6
Combined length of Title reigns: 219 days

In a surprisingly low position in the list, WWE's first ever Undisputed World Champion is 20th in the list of the greatest WWE World Champions. Y2J first won the WCW World Championship in the WWE beating The Rock to win it, only to lose it to the Rock. Famously however Jericho would beat both The Rock, to regain his WCW World Title, and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night to unify the two world titles. Jericho would not win a world title again until his return in 2007 where he would win three more World Heavyweight titles, winning the first of these by entering in the place of the actual world champion CM Punk in the Championship Scramble match to win it. Jericho would lose the title to Batista, only to win it back eight days later beginning his second reign, before subsequently losing out to John Cena. Jericho would win the World Heavyweight Title in the Elimination Chamber in 2010, then retain it at Wrestlemania against former partner Edge, but losing out to Jack Swagger on a taped Smackdown after Swagger cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.


That is the first five of the list, keep watching this thread to see us get all the way up to number 1!

Backlund - "His first title reign lasted 8 years, 10 months and 6 days"

really? I'm only 18 so excuse me for not knowing this but that is crazy! incidently how was a 8 year long reing percieved at the time?

and nice article btw, will be looking out for the rest!

As you will see later in the list, that is not the longest.

Great work and Im looking forward to seeing more.

I must say though, and I am not intending on starting a long arguement with anyone, but Chris Benoit should not be anywhere near this list.

Shot 21 LCFC wrote:Great work and Im looking forward to seeing more.

I must say though, and I am not intending on starting a long arguement with anyone, but Chris Benoit should not be anywhere near this list.

Without arguing back, it's based on a particular part of said wrestler's career. Regardless of Benoit's future actions, this is based on his Rumble win and Triple Threat match at Wrestlemania over Shawn Michaels and Triple H, all the way to his Summerslam defeat to Randy Orton. His career still happened.

Talk about being dramatic Crimey ha,

Chris Benoit was a boring champ with no charisma, that was reason enough to not vote for him in my opinion.

Marky wrote:

Shot 21 LCFC wrote:Great work and Im looking forward to seeing more.

I must say though, and I am not intending on starting a long arguement with anyone, but Chris Benoit should not be anywhere near this list.

Without arguing back, it's based on a particular part of said wrestler's career. Regardless of Benoit's future actions, this is based on his Rumble win and Triple Threat match at Wrestlemania over Shawn Michaels and Triple H, all the way to his Summerslam defeat to Randy Orton. His career still happened.

Its greatest world champions I believe, not greatest world championship runs.

The whole package should be considered for me.

bretmeharty wrote:Talk about being dramatic Crimey ha,

Chris Benoit was a boring champ with no charisma, that was reason enough to not vote for him in my opinion.

I agree with this.

Regardless of what happened, Benoit was boring full stop.

Great article Crimey, keep them coming. Jericho's position is surprising. Though I suppose he's never had a Great World Title run.

I thought Backlund's first run was more 6 than 8?

Sign of the times back then, the WWE had long face runs with short transitional champions.

19. Randy Orton - 13 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 9
Combined length of Title reigns: 558 days

So the Viper, or Legend Killer, Randy Orton is number 19 on the list. With nine title reigns he has won the world title more than everybody on the list so far, yet his combined length isn't actually that long considering. Famous for being the youngest world champion in the WWE history after beating Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship in 2004, he would lose the title to Triple H soon after. Randy Orton would then be awarded the title, lose the title the same night, only to win it back later on in the show becoming a three time world champion. Orton would manage to hold on the title all the way through Wrestlemania eventually losing it to Triple H. Orton would regain the title at Backlash a year later, eventually losing the title to Batista at Extreme Rules. Orton would then win the title back on Raw, lose it to Cena at Breaking Point, win it again at Hell in a Cell and then lose it again at Bragging Rights. Randy Orton would win the WWE Championship for the sixth time at Night of Champions in 2010 before losing it to a cashing in The Miz on Raw. Orton would then move to Smackdown and beat Christian for the World Heavyweight Championship just five days after Christian had won the title. Orton would drop the title to Christian following a disqualification, he would regain the title soon after in a No Holds Barred match. Orton would lose the title to Mark Henry at Night of Champions.

18. Ultimate Warrior - 18 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 1
Combined length of Title reigns: 293 days

Just one title reign for the craziest man ever in WWE, yet it is a testament to the impact that he made that the one title reign still is rated more highly than Orton's nine, or Jericho's six. The Ultimate Warrior would beat Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania VI, while still holding the Intercontinental Title, in a passing-of-the-torch moment. Warrior would hold the title for 9 months and 18 days before losing it to Sgt. Slaughter. This list proves that the Ultimate Warrior will never be forgotten.

17. Mick Foley - 19 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 3
Combined length of Title reigns: 47 days

Despite having a combined length of just 47 days, Mick Foley is still rated as the 17th best WWE World Champion of all time. Most famously as Mankind, Foley won his first world title in December, 1998 beating The Rock. This is most famous for WCW revealing the result live on Nitro as Raw had been taped, with the now ironic line of: "That'll put some butts in some seats." Which it did! People switched channels after being guaranteed a title change and it is often seen as a turning point in the Monday Night Wars. Foley would lose the title at the Royal Rumble to The Rock in an I Quit match. Foley would regain the title in the first ever Empty Arena match against The Rock before losing the title to The Rock in a ladder match. Foley would win the title from Triple H at Summerslam, before losing it the next night to end his third and final WWE Title reign. Despite having at least four personalities, all of Foley's reigns came under his Mankind guise.

16=. Eddie Guerrero - 20 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 1
Combined length of Title reigns: 133 days

Viva La Raza! Coming in at equal 16th is the cheating, stealing, lying, late, great Eddie Guerrero! Just one title reign was enough for the universally popular Guerrero to get to 16th in the list. Guerrero beat Brock Lesnar for the world title at No Way Out in 2004. Guerrero would hold the title for a respectable 133 days before losing out to JBL at the Great American Bash. Guerrero could have been much higher in the list had his life not been cut tragically short as many had been predicting Eddie his second world title reign shortly before his death.

16=. CM Punk - 20 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 5
Combined length of Title reigns: 332 days (and counting)

So the Voice of the Voiceless, the Second City Saint, Chicago Made, CM Punk is the man to be joint with Eddie Guerrero in this list. Only just bursting onto the scene CM Punk has perhaps shown Jericho who really is the best in the world by beating him by a clear 10 points. CM Punk won his first and second world titles by cashing in his Money in the Bank contracts to win the World Heavyweight Championships from Edge and Jeff Hardy. He would never actually lose his first world title having to pull out of a Championship Scramble match, but would lose his second to Hardy, then regained it for his third world title reign. CM Punk would lose the title to the legendary Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match and wouldn't be world champion again for nearly two years. Leading from his now famous speech on Raw he would defeat John Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank, CM Punk would beat John Cena to become Undisputed WWE Champion only to lose it to Del Rio on the same night, victim to a Money in the Bank cash-in for the first time. CM Punk would beat Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series to continue the world title reign that is still continuing as I write...

15. JBL - 23 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 1
Combined length of Title reigns: 280 days

Probably the most shocking position and inclusion on the list, JBL is more popular than Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Eddie Guerrero and even CM Punk. JBL's reign was one of the longest in recent memory lasting 9 months and 5 days. It would start when JBL changed from the slack-jawed Bradshaw into the money-making, Texan JBL. Layfield would win the title at Great American Bash beating Guerrero in a Texan Bullrope match and hold the title all the way until Wrestlemania 21 resulting in John Cena's first world title reign and escalation to the top. JBL would never become world champion again but his only reign was good enough to get him 15th in this list.

So we've got just 14 more places left in the list, with some shocking entries already, who and where will we see the next 14!

Electric Demon wrote:

bretmeharty wrote:Talk about being dramatic Crimey ha,

Chris Benoit was a boring champ with no charisma, that was reason enough to not vote for him in my opinion.

I agree with this.

Regardless of what happened, Benoit was boring full stop.

Great article Crimey, keep them coming. Jericho's position is surprising. Though I suppose he's never had a Great World Title run.

Y2J seems to be a bit of an enigma with regards popularity/opinion. Beating SCSA and the Rock (likely to be 2 of the top 5 if not top 3) on the same night to become the first undisputed champion would have got him in or near the top 10, or so I thought.

I'm surprised at how short Mick Foley's reigns were.

None of my picks have been featured yet! i'm either very out of touch or bang on the money...time will tell! keep them coming crimey!

One of mine has so far.

i had my votes ready!!!

2 for me so far.

Very good way of you have layed this out. I am looking forward to seeing who is next up.

TheBrahmaBull wrote:i had my votes ready!!!

Then you should have got them in in time

Electric Demon wrote:2 for me so far.

Ditto, Mankind and Y2J out for me already.

but i was doing CW so forgot.

Who's CW?

(Sorry... )

1 for me

How is Punk so high? :o

Coursework.

Gregers wrote:How is Punk so high? :o

its an internet poll.

Electric Demon wrote:Who's CW?

(Sorry... )

Celtic Warrior?

Ent wrote:

Gregers wrote:How is Punk so high? :o

its an internet poll.

I surprised myself. Ask anyone who knows me on here, I don't buy into "Internet Darlings", and usually give them a hard time. But I put Punk in as my No. 10 choice. I think he is a great champion, and holding the belt seems to validate him and go some way towards upping his presence.

Electric Demon wrote:

Ent wrote:

Gregers wrote:How is Punk so high? :o

its an internet poll.

I surprised myself. Ask anyone who knows me on here, I don't buy into "Internet Darlings", and usually give them a hard time. But I put Punk in as my No. 10 choice. I think he is a great champion, and holding the belt seems to validate him and go some way towards upping his presence.

People who discuss wrestling on the internet will look for different things in their champions to the general public/fan in my opinion.

14. Bruno Sammartino - 34 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 2
Combined length of Title reigns: 4040 days

A big jump of points and 14th on the list is Bruno Sammartino the longest reigning World Champion in WWE history, and unlikely to ever be caught with that huge combined length of 4040 days. Sammartino won the WWWF World Title (as it was then known) on May 17, 1963, beating Buddy Rogers in just 48 seconds to become the second WWWF World Champion. He would hold the title for 2803 days, the record for longest world title reign in professional wrestling. If John Cena is Superman for a world title reign that lasted 380 days, what the hell is Sammartino?! Sammartino would eventually lose the title after over seven years to Ivan Koloff to reported shocked silence. Sammartino would eventually regain the title 2 years later beating Stan Stasiak who had a nine day reign, and Sammartino held the title for 1237 days, over 3 years, eventually losing the title to Billy Graham never to win it back.

13. Brock Lesnar - 38 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 3
Combined length of Title reigns: 355 days

Perhaps helped by his recent return, Lesnar reaches 13th on the list beating some popular men. Brock Lesnar dominated WWE for two years, winning three world championships in that time. Brock Lesnar beat The Rock to win the WWE Championship, becoming the youngest to win it, and still is the youngest to win that title at the age of 25. Brock would hold the title for 84 days eventually dropping it to the Big Show, which was actually his first pinfall loss in the WWE. Lesnar would regain the title against Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania XIX, a match perhaps more famous for Lesnar's botched Shooting Star Press. Lesnar would lose the title to Kurt Angle at Vengeance in 2003, before winning the title for the third and final (to date) time in widely considered the best match in Smackdown history; a 60 minute Iron Man match with Kurt Angle. Lesnar would lose the world to Eddie Guerrero before leaving in a disappointing match with Goldberg.

12. John Cena - 45 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 12
Combined length of Title reigns: 1163 days

Controversy, controversy. It appears that the 606v2 wrestling community actually does respect John Cena in the ring as well. Cena has beaten some of the biggest and most popular names in WWE history to gain 12th place in the list of the 25 Greatest Ever WWE World Champions. Cena's first WWE Championship reign would begin at Wrestlemania 21 after he beat JBL, Cena would hold the title for 280 days before losing to Edge after he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase following the Elimination Chamber match in 2006. It would take just 21 days before Cena beat Edge to regain the title and hold the title for a further 133 days then famously losing the title to Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand. John Cena would have to wait until Unforgiven in 2006 before he regained the world title beating Edge in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. Thus began Cena's longest title reign to date, lasting 380 days, Cena's reign would only come to an end when he suffered a serious injury. The next world title Cena would win, would be the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time beating Chris Jericho in 2008, Cena would lose the title in the Elimination Chamber match up at No Way Out 2009, then won the title again at Wrestlemania 25 beating both Big Show and Edge. Cena would win the WWE Championship once more at Breaking Point, but could only hold it for 21 days, but soon after regained the title. Cena would lose the title to Sheamus in a Tables match but soon won the title again at Elimination Chamber, only to be screwed out of the title by Batista and Mr. McMahon immediately following the match. Cena would beat Batista and regain the title at Wrestlemania XVI. Cena dropped the title to Sheamus for the second time and wouldn't regain it before he beat The Miz at Extreme Rules in 2011. Cena famously lost the title at Money in the Bank to CM Punk, before winning the 'other' WWE Championship by beating Rey Mysterio almost straight after Mysterio had won it. Cena then beat Del Rio to win the title but would lose it again soon later against Del Rio and CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell match and hasn't won the title since.

11. Ric Flair - 57 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 2
Combined length of Title reigns: 118 days

WOOOO! It's the Nature Boy Ric Flair at number 11! THAT'S MY LINE! Flair is obviously more famous for his time in WCW but with 2 world title reigns in WWE and at number 11 he was successful enough in WWE to get this close to the top. Ric would win the world title in, so far, the only Royal Rumble to be for the WWE World Championship, Flair would hold the title for 77 days before losing it to Randy Savage at Wrestlemania 7, Flair managed to regain the title eventually though. His second reign would be shorter at 41 days and he dropped the title to Bret Hart and hasn't held a world title in WWE since.

So we've got the top ten to go now, and there's obviously been some surprises to not have made it into the top ten. Maybe some names won't appear at all, or will be the number one!

Beginning to think some of my choices won't make it in...

2 for me ,

2 of mine are now in (Lesnar & Punk)

Lesnar surprises me a lot. I wouldn't have thought he'd be in the Top 25 at all.

every one i was going to send are already in.

so far.

Are we disclosing them then?

2 for me are Sammartino and Warrior

I'm still at 2 - Jericho and Punk.
My No.7 and No.10 respectively

we want more! (good thread).

So far Ive had Orton, Cena, Jericho and Guerrero

10. Edge - 69 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 11
Combined length of Title reigns: 548 days

The Rated R Superstar snatched at the Ultimate Opportunity to get in to the Top Ten of the 25 Greatest WWE World Champions. Winning his first world title in 2006, Edge would go on to win 11 world titles in just 5 years, 4 WWE Championships and 7 World Heavyweight Titles. Edge's first reign would last just 21 days before Cena regained the title, Edge would it be named champion once more when he beat RVD in July. Edge would lose the title to John Cena in a TLC match at Unforgiven. Edge would once again cash in a Money in the Bank contract to become World Heavyweight Champion in May 2007, taking the title from The Undertaker, but he would have to give up the title leading to The Great Khali's reign. Edge would beat Batista and the Undertaker to win the word title once more at Armageddon in 2007 and have his longest world title reign at 105 days. Edge would lose the title to Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania 24, but would regain the title by beating Undertaker in a TLC match at One Night Stand in 2008. Edge won the WWE Championship for the 3rd time in November 2008 as a shock replacement for Jeff Hardy, beating both Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov. Edge lost the title to Jeff Hardy, then regained it again before losing it in an Elimination Chamber match. The same night Edge would win the World Heavyweight Championship once more, forcing his way into the Smackdown Elimination Chamber and leaving it victorious. Edge lost the title at Wrestlemania 25 to John Cena, but regained it 21 days later at Backlash. Edge would lose the title in a ladder match to long-time foe Jeff Hardy. Edge would not win the world title for over 18 months before he finally regained the title in a Fatal Four Way TLC match. Then Edge lost and regained the world title in the same night to Dolph Ziggler, but this would turn out to be his final reign as world champion as his career was cut short by injury.

another one of my guys.

You don't have any guys Bull...

What if Stone Cold loses this because of Bull?

Is he going to come round to Bull's house, open up a can of whoop-ass, drink a few Steveweisers and listen to some sweet music...and that's the bottom line coz Stone Cold said so?

no cause i never put austin as my number 1.

TheBrahmaBull wrote:no cause i never put austin as my number 1.

WHAT?

TheBrahmaBull wrote:no cause i never put austin as my number 1.

9. Randy Savage - 73 points

Spoiler:

Number of WWE World Title reigns: 2
Combined length of Title reigns: 520 days

OHHH YEAAAHHHH! Randy Savage, the Macho Man, gets to number 9 in the list of greatest world champions with just 2 reigns of the belt. The first of those reigns began at Wrestlemania IV, beating Ted DiBiase to win the final of a tournament for the vacant championship. Savage would hold the title for 371 days before losing it to Hulk Hogan at the next Wrestlemania. That was in 1989, he wouldn't win the title again until 1992 when he beat Ric Flair at Wrestlemania VIII to win his second and final world championship in the WWE, this was reign would be less than half the length of his first one as he went on to lose it 149 days later to Flair. Despite this, he's number nine on the list of the greatest.

It doesn't matter who Bull voted for, his list is worth nothing.