The Contentious Ten 07.13.09: The Top Ten WWE Champions

Posted by John Peters on 07.13.2009

411mania’s newest column examines the ten greatest WWE Champions in history. Who’s number one? Hulk Hogan? Bruno Sammartino? Triple H? Or will Batista’s recent two day WWE Title reign earn him the top spot?

Welcome to 411mania's newest wrestling column: The Contentious Ten. I have to say; I am thrilled to be writing for 411, as I've been viewing the site on an almost daily basis since 1996, way back when it was simply 411wrestling. I've been a wrestling fan for nearly twenty years and I'm really interested in wrestling's extensive history and its unique relationship with its fans. In fact, I'm so interested in that relationship that I wrote my Master's thesis on professional wrestling fandom. I also have an unexplainable desire to constantly categorize and rank different aspects of wrestling like champions, yearly events, and matches. So, when I saw that 411mania was looking for a columnist to produce a weekly top ten list, I jumped at the opportunity.

I realize that most top ten lists are usually arbitrary representations of the writer's opinion, and I won't try to convince you that I somehow "know better," or am "more qualified" to voice my opinion than anyone else. My top ten WrestleMania matches will probably not be your top ten WrestleMania matches. However, what I do offer is a fairly extensive knowledge base and a genuine love for the sport. I also, really love debates, and few things spark debates more easily than a top ten list. That's why the column is the "Contentious" Ten; I'm expecting a lot of you will contend with me. Future columns will include your comments and feedback. Now, without further ado, I give you…


The Top Ten WWE Champions

There is no title in the WWE, and I'm inclined to say professional wrestling, that is more prestigious than the WWE Championship. Established in 1963, it has, over time, become the measuring stick by which all other championships are assessed. Since WWE's Night of Champions is just around the corner I thought I'd kick off my first column looking at the ten greatest WWE Champions ever. Please keep in mind that I'm talking about the WWE Title and not the World Heavyweight Title, that's a title for another column.

Honorable Mentions

Kurt Angle



A four time WWF/WWE Champion, Angle headlined two WrestleManias in WWE Title matches. As a champion he consistently put on excellent matches, but most of his title reigns simply filled the time, or he acted as a transitional champion. His reigns were by no means bad, but for someone with so much potential, he never really had an iconic run as champion.


The Undertaker



When it comes to the greatest WWE wrestlers of all time The Undertaker might just top the list, but his reigns as WWF/WWE Champion have all been pretty lackluster. His second reign was his most successful but he spent it wrestling guys like Faarooq and Vader. His other three runs with the belt were either short or fairly uneventful. The Undertaker has been an important champion, but his success transcends the title.


Shawn Michaels



I really went back and forth on whether or not Michaels should make the list. As a performer, he has few peers, and is unquestionably one of the greatest wrestlers in history. However, the list is not about the greatest wrestlers in WWE history, but the greatest WWE Champions. As a WWF Champion Michaels was only pretty good. His first run with the belt was unquestionably a success, but his second ended with him forfeiting the title after a few weeks due to a "severe" knee injury. However, Michaels returned just a few months later fueling the rumors that he faked his injury to avoid returning the job to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13. His third title reign came as a result of the Montreal screwjob, but due to a legitimately severe back injury he sat out most of the reign. His two bad title reigns drag him down enough to keep him off the list.


Triple H



Triple H just misses the list. As of the writing of this article he's held the WWF/WWE Title eight times, more than anyone else in history, and it is likely that he will be WWE Champion again. The reason why Triple H fails to make the list is that most of his runs with the WWE Title (his first, second, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth) have been short and uneventful. His third reign was significant because he became the first heel to walk out of WrestleMania the WWF Champion, and his sixth was fairly lengthy. Please don't confuse these criticisms with the typical IWC Triple H hate. It is simply that most of his WWE Title reigns have been mediocre at best when compared to other champions. His reigns as World Heavyweight Champion are another story altogether.



X



"Superstar" Billy Graham

The original "Superstar" just beats out Triple H to take the tenth spot on this list. Billy Graham was a man significantly ahead of his time. While there had been flamboyant wrestlers like Gorgeous George before, professional wrestling had never really seen anything like Billy Graham. With his bleached blond hair, colorful tie-dye outfits, catch phrase laden promos, and bodybuilder physique, Graham became the inspiration for wrestlers like Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan. When he first entered the WWWF in 1975 he wrestled the WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino several times as a rule-breaker, but it wasn't until his second stint in the promotion that he defeated "The Living Legend," with his feet on the ropes for extra leverage, and began his one and only title reign.





Graham's title run was unusual for the WWWF because he was booked as a surprisingly dominant heel champion. All of the previous heels to hold the title had reigns that lasted less than a month, but Graham was WWWF Champion for nearly nine months. During that time Graham defended the title against mostly fan favorites, but started to develop quite a fan following, despite breaking numerous rules, based mostly on his colorful personality. Graham potentially could have gone on to be a very successful baby face champion, but Vince McMahon Sr. had made a promise to Bob Backlund that he would win the championship. Graham lost the WWWF Title to Bob Backlund but did so with a foot on the rope making him the only man to win and lose the belt with his feet on the ropes. Graham would feud with Backlund for several months following the loss, but never won the championship again.

Graham makes the list for three reasons. The first is that he was the longest reigning heel champion in WWE history. It takes a pretty talented performer to hold the title as a rule-breaker as long as Graham did and not turn off fans. The second is that he was a very successful draw as champion. Graham headlined 20 Madison Square Garden shows and sold out 19 of them, making him, percentage wise, the most successful wrestling draw in the history of the arena. Finally, Graham, as mentioned earlier, was the prototype for several other highly successful wrestlers, and countless wrestlers have mimicked his look and his style behind the microphone.


IX




"Macho Man" Randy Savage

While some of the honorable mentions may seem like better choices to fill the ninth spot on this list, Randy Savage takes the spot due to his two very successful reigns as WWF Champion. Unlike most of the WWF Champions before him, Savage spent years working his way up the card, and may have never really been tapped as a potential World Champion had it not been for the epic match he had with Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III. A year later he found himself in the final match of a tournament to fill the vacant WWF Title. With the help of Hulk Hogan, Savage defeated Ted DiBiase to capture his first WWF Championship.

Savage would spend the bulk of the next year in an alliance with Hogan, but suspicion and jealousy caused Savage to turn on Hogan. Savage returned to his rule-breaking ways, but lost the title to Hogan at WrestleMania V. This WWF Title reign was unique because it is the only one in the promotion's history to see the champion spend a significant amount of time as both a face and a heel. It was three years before Savage would receive another high profile title shot, and a lot had changed. Savage had lost a career-ending match to the Ultimate Warrior, turned face, married his manager Elizabeth, and got reinstated to feud with Jake Roberts. At WrestleMania VIII Savage battled Ric Flair who had insinuated that he had had a sexual relationship with Elizabeth at one point in the past. Savage won the match and the title with a roll up and a handful of tights. Much of Savage's second reign was spent feuding with Flair, but he also had a high profile match with the Ultimate Warrior at Summer Slam. However, he would lose the WWF Title the next day back to Flair and he would never come close to winning it again.





Savage makes the list because both of his title reigns were accented by high quality matches, and were of significant length, his first lasting more than year and his second lasting five months. The most important aspect of Savage's first championship run was that he acted as a perfect foil to Hulk Hogan. At first he tried to be a hero like him, but his own corruptions drove him to paranoia and violence, and by the end the pairing of the two was like looking at the personifications of good and evil in the ring. Savage's fall from grace, while seemingly fairly standard on the outside, may have been the best wrestling storyline of the 1980s, and it happened while he was champion. His second title reign is the little extra that puts him into the top ten.


VIII



The Rock

Any list of the most popular wrestlers in WWE history would surely include The Rock. He ran neck and neck with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in terms of mass appeal and marketability during the Attitude Era, and as a result earned seven WWF/WWE Championships during his tenure with the promotion. His first came in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title at the 1998 Survivor Series when he defeated Mankind, turned heel and joined forces with Vince McMahon. He and Mankind would trade the belt four times in the ensuing three months, making The Rock a three time champion by the time WrestleMania XV rolled around and he lost the belt to Steve Austin. The fans couldn't help but cheer The Rock's cocky antics and sing along with his many catch phrases and by the summer of 1999 The Rock was second only to Austin in terms of popularity. He became the main face of the WWF when Austin went down with a neck injury later in the fall.

Around this same time The Rock started to branch out into Hollywood, and hosted Saturday Night Live a few weeks before WrestleMania 2000 where he lost to Triple H in the Fatal Four Way main event. He would win the WWF Title a month later, but would lose it back to Triple H the next month in an Iron Man Match. The Rock won the title for a fifth time in a six man tag at the King of the Ring; this would be his longest title reign, lasting four months before losing it to Kurt Angle. The Rock would win the belt back in time to lose it to Steve Austin in the main event of WrestleMania X-7. He acted as a transitional champion one last time a little more than a year later, being obliterated by Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam 2002.






It may seem odd that The Rock makes the top ten when men like Triple H and Shawn Michaels do not. The fact that The Rock only had one title reign that lasted significantly longer than one month certainly hurts his ranking. However, unlike Triple H and Shawn Michaels, The Rock became a household name, and may very well be the best known (former) pro wrestler in the world outside of Hulk Hogan. Thanks to his level of mainstream marketability he brought a lot of attention to the WWF, and with it a substantial level of prestige to the belt. Although his reigns were short his pursuit of the WWF Title, consumed years of storylines. The Rock was also very successful as both a heel and a face champion, and often had the presence of mind to change hats mid-match depending on the mood of the crowd. The Rock was such a superstar that if he hadn't left for Hollywood he would still surely be on top of the WWE today.


VII



Pedro Morales

Pedro Morales should be an easy pick for anyone trying to make a list of the best WWE Champions. Although he only has one WWWF Title reign to his credit it was a highly significant and lengthy one. Pedro Morales joined the WWWF in 1970, and was an immediate success. His Puerto Rican heritage made him extremely popular in New York due to the large Puerto Rican population. As a baby face he was an ally of WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino, but when Bruno lost the title to Ivan Koloff and decided he needed a break from wrestling, Morales, due to his popularity, became his obvious successor, and he defeated Koloff a few weeks after Bruno's loss. In a symbolic passing of the torch, Sammartino placed the WWWF Title around Morales's waist. Morales would go on to hold the WWWF Championship for three years, feuding with many of the same men Sammartino had, and took on Sammartino himself in huge event at Shea Stadium. The match ended in a seventy-five minute draw. Morales would eventually lose the title to Stan "The Man" Stasiak, who transitioned it back to Sammartino.



Instead of explaining why Morales is on the list, an explanation of why he's ranked at number seven might be in order. Morales was a great WWWF Champion, but his reign is sandwiched in between Sammartino's two far more successful title reigns. As a result Morales always was second fiddle to Sammartino. He was always the diet-cola to Bruno's regular, a good substitute, but not the real thing. Furthermore, Morales's ethnicity played well in New York, but didn't transition as well to WWWF's other markets. As a result the promotion had to rejoin the NWA in order to bring in better drawing talent. Perhaps if Morales would have had another chance to shine he would have been ranked higher.


VI



John Cena

Of all the names on this list I imagine John Cena may be the most controversial and the most debated. Cena is also the only man on this list to have been WWE Champion exclusively during the modern era of the brand extension. Cena made his WWE debut in 2002 and seemed to be going nowhere until he dressed up like Vanilla Ice on a Halloween episode of SmackDown. Cena dropped the Vanilla Ice costume but kept the white rapper gimmick. With his new attitude laden gimmick Cena's stock as a heel began to rise. During 2003 he was involved in a short program with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. By the fall of that year he had become a fan favorite by aligning with Kurt Angle in his feud with Lesnar. By his third United States Title reign it was clear that Cena was headed for something bigger and better. He came in second at the 2005 Royal Rumble, but won a tournament earning the WrestleMania 21 WWE Title shot.



At WrestleMania 21 he defeated reigning champion John Bradshaw Layfield with his trademark F-U. A short time later Cena debuted a pimped-out, spinning version of the WWE Title that remains in use to this day. Cena would hold the title for nine months, eventually losing it to Edge who used his "Money in the Bank" privilege against Cena after a grueling Elimination Chamber match. During his first reign a huge portion of the crowd turned against him, and would cheer anyone who challenged him. Undeterred, Cena won the belt back from Edge a few weeks later and would go onto surprisingly retain the belt at WrestleMania 22 in a match against Triple H. While Cena still had a loyal fan base the Cena-haters had grown in number and ferocity. A few months later he lost the WWE Title to Rob Van Dam at the ECW revival show One Night Stand. However, he defeated Edge in a TLC match a few months later to recapture the title. Cena would then go on to have the most successful WWE Title reign since Hulk Hogan's first run with the belt. Cena was champion for 380 days before an injury forced him to surrender the title. He has yet to regain the WWE Title, but it seems highly likely that another reign is not too far off.

There are several good reasons why Cena ranks so high on the list of WWE Champions. Only Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund, and Pedro Morales have logged more days as WWE Champion than John Cena, and Cena is only one or two reasonably long title reigns away from passing Morales. The amount of time he has spent as champion is a testament to his marketability and drawing power. Cena has the unusual ability to draw in fans that want to see him win and fans that want to see him lose; fans love him or hate him, but they all react to him. Additionally Cena has managed to stand above the rest of the roster as the poster boy of the modern WWE era. While wrestlers like Triple H, Batista, Edge and Randy Orton are major stars John Cena is the one who has had some moderate success crossing over into the mainstream market, and Cena is the one that is laying the ground work for future wrestlers and wrestling fans.


Twitter Break!

Follow 411 on Twitter!

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma



V



Bret "Hitman" Hart

Coming in at number five on this list is a man who professed to be "the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be," and in terms of technical wrestling skill he certainly can make a case for himself. Bret Hart's five WWF Title reigns were not exactly easy to come by for him. For the better part of his first five years in the promotion he wrestled almost exclusively with Jim Neidhart as the Hart Foundation. He would break out into singles competition in 1991 and captured the Intercontinental Title. He would eventually lose that same title to his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith in the main event of Summer Slam 1992. However, it was this loss that propelled him to his first WWF Title. Vince McMahon couldn't help but see how popular Hart was with fans all over the world, and a few months later was in a bind. Hogan had left the WWF earlier in the year, and his other main event level talents were either on their way out (Flair), unreliable and a poster boy for steroid abuse (Warrior), or, in Vince's eye, a bit of a has-been (Savage). Left with no ideal alternatives McMahon turned to his most reliable performer, Bret Hart.





Hart won his first WWF Title from Ric Flair at a house show in Saskatchewan, and would hold it until WrestleMania IX where he lost the belt to Yokozuna, who lost the belt immediately to Hulk Hogan. Hart was supposed to have started a summer program with Hogan, but McMahon and Hogan both nixed the plan. It wasn't until WrestleMania X that Hart pinned Yokozuna for his second WWF Title. He would lose the championship to Bob Backlund in controversial fashion and had to wait almost a year before he got a fair title shot. At the 1995 Survivor Series Hart suckered Diesel into a small package and captured the title for a third time. He would hold the championship for a number of months before losing it to Shawn Michaels in the epic Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII. After his loss he would take a brief hiatus before returning to feud with Steve Austin, during which he would hold the WWF Title for one day. Hart would win his final WWF Championship from the Undertaker at Summer Slam 1997, and lost it to Shawn Michaels in the infamous Montreal screwjob, after which he left the WWF and never returned.

Hart makes the top five for a number of reasons. As a performer he consistently put on stellar matches with anyone he stepped in the ring with. As a Superstar he may very well have been the most internationally popular wrestler that the WWF has ever had. Most importantly though, Bret Hart was the leader of the WWF's "New Generation." When McMahon had nowhere else to turn he went to Hart. When Lex Luger failed to fill the void Hogan left, McMahon turned to Hart. When the Diesel experiment ran its course, the title went back on Hart. I would also argue that the success of Shawn Michaels's first title reign would have been severely undercut had Hart been around to vie for the cheers of the fans. While Hart's legacy will always be tied to the Montreal screw job, he acted as a rock of reliability during a very rough point in WWF history.


IV



Bob Backlund

Bob Backlund might not be one of the first wrestlers to spring to a person's mind when they think about the greatest WWE Champions, but Backlund played a crucial role in the development of the promotion. Backlund, a Division II NCAA Wrestling Champion, joined the WWWF as the very essence of a baby face wrestler in 1977 and almost immediately started battling Billy Graham for the WWWF Title, finally capturing it in February of 1978, kicking off a reign that spanned over five years. Unlike past WWWF Champions Backlund wasn't much of a showman, and wrestled a more scientific, less brawling style, but nonetheless, managed to gain a loyal following. Because the WWWF was a part of the NWA at the time Backlund wrestled in several inter-promotional championship matches taking on NWA champions Harley Race and Ric Flair and AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel.



He also wrestled NWF Champion Antonio Inoki in Japan where he lost the WWF Championship to him, but won it back a week later (Side note: some claim the title was vacated due to controversy surrounding the title change. Backlund actually walked out with the belt, so I suppose the title was held up after the fact. Pro-Wrestling Illustrated does not recognize the idea that the WWF Title was held up, and neither did Vince McMahon on commentary during the match Backlund had with Bobby Duncum for the supposedly vacant title. Also, Backlund made several appearances as WWF Champion after his rematch with Inoki and before his match with Duncum). However, WWE does not recognize the title switch. Backlund turned back the challenges of numerous opponents including Greg Valentine (who was mistakenly given the belt after a match he lost leading to some controversy), Jimmy Snuka, Pat Paterson, Ken Patera, and a Kung-fu version of Billy Graham.

(You be the judge. Should the title have been held up? This video had imbedding disabled so if you want to see it you'll have to follow the link: Backlund vs Inoki Rematch (phantom title change)
)

As the years went on, Backlund's popularity started to decrease, and the new management, Vince McMahon Jr., planned to take the company in a new direction that Backlund would not fit with. The end result was Backlund losing the WWF Title to the Iron Sheik so it could be transferred to Hulk Hogan. Backlund quickly disappeared from the WWF, but would reemerge eight years later. During his second run in the promotion Backlund started out as the same goody-goody character but following a loss to WWF Champion Bret Hart, he snapped unveiling a new psychotic persona. A few months later Backlund achieved what many thought would be impossible and won the WWF Title when Helen Hart through in the towel on behalf of her son who was trapped in the crossface chickenwing. Backlund would only hold the belt for three days and suffered a humiliating eight-second loss to Diesel.

Some might question why Backlund is so high on this list, but the answer to that question is simple. Backlund, like Bret Hart, carried the promotion through what potentially could have been a very rocky period. Bruno Sammartino, who had been the heart of the WWWF since its inception nearly fifteen years prior, was wearing out and Backlund was the perfect mix of wholesomeness, and in ring tenacity that was needed to create another huge star. It was accepted that Backlund couldn't be a replacement for Sammartino, so instead of trying to produce another Bruno clone they let Backlund be himself, and the result was incredibly and perhaps even surprisingly successful.


III



"Stone Cold" Steve Austin

The sound of breaking glass punctuated the entrance of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and became a metaphor for the entire Attitude Era. Austin's rise to superstardom started in 1996 when he won the King of the Ring Tournament. The victory propelled Austin in to an epic feud with Bret Hart that resulted in a career-defining match with him at WrestleMania 13. Austin entered the match as the hated rule breaker but left the match the most popular man in the WWF. Austin's career almost came to an end when Owen Hart botched a piledriver and broke his neck at the 1997 Summer Slam. However, Austin remained a fixture on WWF television, giving Vince McMahon his first Stone Cold Stunner, setting up the feud that would consume most of his WWF tenure. Austin would return to the ring at the Survivor Series and would go on to win the 1998 Royal Rumble. At WrestleMania XIV Austin defeated Shawn Michaels for his first WWF Title and officially ushered in the Attitude Era.

Vince McMahon had made it known that he didn't like the idea of Austin as WWF Champion but tried to get him to fall in line. When that didn't work he set a number of corporate opponents against him, including Dude Love, Kane (who got a one day title reign out of his battles with Austin), and the Undertaker. Austin would lose the belt in a match against both Kane and the Undertaker, when both his opponents pinned him at the same time. Austin would rebound by almost winning the 1999 Royal Rumble, losing to Vince McMahon. A month later though, he defeated McMahon in a Steel Cage match to earn a title shot at WrestleMania XV where he defeated the Rock. Austin would trade the belt with the Undertaker and lose it to Mankind in a triple threat match also featuring Triple H. Austin was set to be one of two men challenging Triple H at the 1999 Survivor Series, but finally needed the neck surgery he had put off for years and was written out of the storyline when he was hit with a car just prior to the match. Austin would return almost a year later and eventually found himself back in the title hunt. At WrestleMania X-7 Austin would defeat the Rock for the WWF Title once again, joining up with McMahon in the process. In the fall of 2001 he would lose the belt to Kurt Angle, but won it back a few weeks later, and lost it for the final time to Chris Jericho who unified the WCW and WWF Titles.



Steve Austin ranks third on this list because he was the leader of, and the face of the WWF during its most popular and profitable era. While his time as champion is short compared to a number of other wrestlers on this list his feuds over the title drove years of storyline. His incredible charisma, and his ability to engage in tremendous brawls, and his representation of the "everyman" physically fighting his corrupt boss resulted in him earning legions of fans and arena sellouts all over the country. Soon every wrestler had to have an Austin like edge, and even wrestlers with goofy gimmicks were more controversial. The successfulness of his character is still reflected today every time an evil authority figure holds down a fan favorite.


II



Hulk Hogan

When you say "pro wrestler" to most non-wrestling fans the wrestler they will most likely think of is Hulk Hogan. Hogan, thanks in large part his national exposure in Rocky III, rocketed to the top of the World Wrestling Federation in 1984. Almost immediately upon his return to the WWF he was thrust into a main event story line, saving recently defeated champion Bob Backlund. A few weeks later Hogan found himself in the center of Madison Square Garden staring down the WWF Champion The Iron Sheik as a replacement for the injured Bob Backlund. He dominated the champ, escaping the Camel Clutch en route to hitting his trademark legdrop and winning his first WWF Title. On that day a marketing phenomenon was born.



Hulkamania started running wild, and it was Vince McMahon's vision to bring it to every market in the country. To accomplish this goal McMahon started predatorily buying up promotions and forming an alliance with fledging network MTV in the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection." The focal point was Hogan's feud with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and it culminated at the first WrestleMania. Hogan would go on to turn back the challenges of numerous opponents, the most significant being Andre the Giant.

At WrestleMania III, in front of one of the largest audiences in wrestling history Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre the Giant and pinned him cleanly in the center of the ring. The match, while not a technical classic is widely cited as the most important match in American wrestling history. Hogan would eventually lose the belt to Andre in highly controversial fashion but would win it back after a year long story arc with Randy Savage. His second reign lasted a year before he passed the proverbial torch to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI. A year later Hogan was back on top having defeated Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF Title. He would lose to and win back the title from the Undertaker before the end of the year, but was stripped of the title due to controversy over the switches. He retired at WrestleMania VIII, but returned at WrestleMania IX to beat newly crowned champion, Yokozuna. He would lose the title back to the mammoth sumo and leave the WWF a few months later. Nine years later he would return as a part of the New World Order. After an epic match at WrestleMania X-8, just two months after his return Hogan would defeat Triple H for his final, month long, WWF Title reign.

Like Bret Hart, Bob Backlund, and Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan represented an era in professional wrestling. What sets him apart from the rest of the pack is that during his heyday he was without rivals to his top spot. Even successful champions like Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior were second in popularity to Hulk Hogan. Hogan's superhero like persona and in-ring ritual (Real American, tearing his shirt, Hulking up, big boot, Leg Drop, and post-match flexing) were perfect for the new, mainstream brand of wrestling, and became the template for countless other wrestlers.

Most importantly, on the back of Hogan's incredible popularity, the World Wrestling Federation expanded from a regional promotion to a national one. Hulk Hogan became a household name, a merchandise-selling machine, and a hero to millions of little Hulksters all over the world. With out a performer the caliber of Hulk Hogan, the WWF probably would have failed in its attempt to go national, there probably never would have been a WrestleMania, and most of us probably wouldn't be going to websites like 411mania to discuss wrestling, as wrestling would have never hit the mainstream market.


I



"The Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino

There can really be no doubt that Bruno Sammartino is the greatest WWE Champion in the history of the promotion. In fact, Sammartino is one of the reasons the World Wide Wrestling Federation was created in the first place. Vince McMahon Sr. and the other promoters of Capitol Wrestling realized the unlimited potential drawing power of Sammartino and decided to make him the focal point of their promotion. According to his book, Sammartino, who had been royally screwed over by McMahon a few years earlier (McMahon intentionally caused him to lose his wrestling license), said he would only return to Capitol Wrestling if he was guaranteed a World Title shot against NWA Champion Buddy Rogers. Rogers happened to favor McMahon's promotion and had become notoriously reluctant to defend his title around the country, so the NWA had him drop the title to Lou Thesz in January 1963. McMahon and company disputed his loss and used this as an excuse to break away from the NWA and still promote Rogers as World Champion. It wasn't until April that Rogers "won" the WWWF Title in a phony tournament. Only a few short weeks later Sammartino obliterated Rogers, making him submit to an over-the-shoulder backbreaker in just under a minute.



Sammartino would go on to have the longest title reign in American pro-wrestling history, defending the WWWF Title against the likes of Gorilla Monsoon, Hans Mortier, Jerry and Luke Graham, Waldo Von Erich, Bill Watts, Killer Kowalski, Mikel Scicluna, and Ivan Koloff among others. He defended the title constantly. In fact, during his eight-year span as champion Bruno traveled mostly around the North Eastern United States, usually only getting one full day at home once every two weeks. He finally lost the WWWF Title to Ivan Koloff on January 18, 1971. He would recapture the title from Stan Stasiak nearly three years later, and would once again dominate the WWWF for a significant amount of time.

It was during this reign that he had perhaps the most significant feud of his career. During a match with Stan Hansen, Sammartino sustained a serious neck injury after a botched body slam. He would be out of action for a few months, but returned, before he was fully healed to decimate Hansen in a wild brawl at Madison Square Garden. Sammartino would eventually lose the WWWF Title to "Superstar" Billy Graham, and continued to wrestle in a more limited capacity following the loss until he grew disenfranchised with the direction his sport had taken under the rule of Vince McMahon Jr. He remains an advocate against McMahon's brand of sports entertainment.



There are several reasons why Bruno Sammartino earns the number one position. His time as WWWF Champion accounts for twenty-four percent, nearly one quarter, of the title's entire history! The next closest is Hulk Hogan at thirteen percent. This alone should be enough to guarantee him the top spot, but in a world of "what have you done for me lately" attitudes and my aforementioned decree that title reign lengths don't necessarily equate to the best champions, some might need more justification.

The fact of the matter is Bruno Sammartino laid a massive foundation for WWE. His Italian heritage, brawling style, everyman persona, and legitimate strength all fueled his massive appeal, leading to his headlining of more than one hundred cards at Madison Square Garden. He was in his day considered a legitimate sports hero. He visited children in the hospital long before there was a Make-a-Wish Foundation, and when he lost his first WWWF Title to Ivan Koloff, the crowd was stunned silent, until they broke into sobs of grief.

Bruno Sammartino's legacy is, whether he likes it or not, the promotion of World Wrestling Entertainment. In the hands of anyone less capable the WWWF most likely would have failed without the backing of the NWA, like it did under Pedro Morales. However, with Bruno leading the way the promotion's title became successful enough to maintain its "World Title" status even when it rejoined the NWA. While he may not have driven merchandise sales or crossover media, he was the very essence of professional wrestling in its largest market. For nearly two decades he acted as the bedrock upon which WWE was built. Had it not been for him there would not have been a viable promotion for Vince McMahon to take national in the 1980s. These facts make Bruno, unquestionably the greatest WWE Champion of all time, and will most likely keep him in the top spot for decades to come.

Well, that does it for me this week, I hope to see you back here next week for the Top Ten Worst WWE Champions.


Did I Fail Epically? Got Comments? You Know You Do!