The Contentious Twenty 10.25.10: WWE Champions (20-11)

Welcome once again….to the Contentious Ten! *sigh* Poetry.

The NWA and WCW got it’s due in the last two weeks, but now it is time to focus on the title that is the top prize in the industry: the WWE Championship. With 101 reigns from 39 champions, we will be separating the chumps from the champs in this column. This follows the lineage of the WWWF championship from before the Hogan era, the WWF Championship, the Undisputed WWE Championship, and the WWE Championship that is currently held by Randy Orton. Enjoy the first half and I’ll see you next week with the top ten.

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Yokozunasize=6>


2 Time WWE Champion, 280 Combined Days as Champion

Yokozuna is the most dominant monster heel champion in the history of the WWE. Thundering into the WWE in late 1992, the massive Samoan (billed as a Japanese sumo wrestler) quickly asserted himself into the title picture, winning the 1993 Royal Rumble in dominating fashion, earning a shot at the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania IX. Despite a valiant effort by defending champion Bret Hart, Yoko was able to defeat him. This first reign ended in less than five minutes in embarrassing fashion, as his manager Mr. Fuji cost him the title, challenging Hulk Hogan to a match and then spraying salt into Yoko’s eyes. The humiliating loss was only a minor setback, as Yoko handily defeated Hogan three months later and held the championship until the next Wrestlemania. It was an impressive run, where he was able to defend against such men as Lex Luger and The Undertaker (admittedly, with help in both cases). On the night he lost the title, it was his second match of the evening, and was mostly a lucky slip. Were it not for his pitiful first run, Yokozuna would be #19 on this list.

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John Bradshaw Layfieldsize=6>



1 Time WWE Champion, 280 Days As Champion

One of the most out of the blue championship victories came in 2004 when John Bradshaw Layfield, a career midcarder who had his most success as part of a tag team, was basically handed the WWE Championship when then Smackdown! GM Kurt Angle screwed Eddie Guerrero out of the title in a Texas Bullrope Match. Labeled a transitional champion seconds after his victory, JBL’s run was hated by almost all fans and effectively killed the quality (and ratings) of the blue brand for the rest of 2004. Because the fans never took him seriously as a champion, almost every title defense had an extra layer of drama. Surely such men as Eddie Guerrero, Booker T, Big Show, Kurt Angle and The Undertaker would end his title run? So it would seem, but month after month, by hook or by crook, the championship stayed around the waist of Bradshaw. The longer he stayed champion, the more his ego grew and the more the fans hated him. Eventually, he would lose the title to John Cena, putting over the most successful WWE Champion since the Attitude Era. The lengthy title run made JBL a semi-credible and permanently over main event heel until his retirement in 2009.

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Dieselsize=6>




1 Time WWF Champion, 358 Days As Champion

Diesel’s near year-long run as the champion is interesting to evaluate now. Kevin Nash was brought into the WWF in 1993 as Shawn Michaels’ bodyguard, but after their rough split at Survivor Series ’94, he wasted no time in becoming the top dog in the promotion. Defeating Bob Backlund in 8 seconds in Madison Square Garden, he would successfully defend his title against the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Psycho Sid, Mabel and Davey Boy Smith. In addition to this, Diesel held the WWF Tag Team Championships with Shawn Michaels. Many critics of Diesel will site various reasons for why he was a poor champion; terrible title matches and worse ratings. Let’s be fair however; North American wrestling was down (in terms of business) for most of the early ’90’s. Very few wrestlers were ever able to have good matches with Sid or Mabel, and Diesel had very good matches with Shawn and Bret. He’s not one of the all-time best champions, but he is definitely in the top twenty.

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The Ultimate Warriorsize=6>


1 Time WWF Champion, 293 Days As Champion

Ultimate Warrior started his WWF Championship reign in extremely impressive fashion with a clean victory over Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania VI. An extremely popular superstar at this time, Warrior in many ways continued to go about Hogan’s business. That is, short and formulaic matches and letting his larger than life persona sell itself to the fans. Somewhat hampered by a lack of strong challengers, Warrior’s run increasingly lost steam as he bulldozed through men like Ted DiBiase and Rick Rude. It took an opportunistic Randy Savage to end this reign, as the Macho King knocked him out in a match with Sgt. Slaughter. At Wrestlemania VII, Warrior would settle his grudge with Macho, but the World Title was back on the waist of Hulk Hogan. His torch was passed back; this failure to truly distinguish himself as a champion on Hogan’s level is often why Warrior is maligned by people in the industry, but he was still a very popular champion with a solid run.

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Brock Lesnarsize=6>



3 Time WWE Champion, 355 Combined Days As Champion

Brock Lesnar debuted in the WWE the day after Wrestlemania X8 and within five months was the WWE Undisputed Champion, after defeating The Rock at Summer Slam. He would sign an exclusive contract with Smackdown and was soon simply the WWE Champion when Triple H was awarded the World Heavyweight Championship. His first feud was with The Undertaker, who he soundly defeated in Hell in a Cell, but he would be screwed by Paul Heyman and robbed of his title by The Big Show at Survivor Series. Lesnar would become champion again by defeating Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania XIX, and would dominate the title scene for most of the next twelve months. In addition to Angle, Show and Taker, men like John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Hardcore Holly would be victims of Lesnar’s wrath. His third WWE Championship was also at Angle’s expense, where he used intelligence combined with his brute strength to win an Iron-Man Match. Lesnar lost his final title to Eddie Guerrero before leaving WWE. Though his time in WWE was short, Brock was the perfect champion during this time and would probably still be winning championships in WWE if he had stayed.

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Kurt Anglesize=6>



2 Time WWE Champion, 2 Time WWF Champion, 297 Combined Days As Champion

Yet another superstar who rose to main event level at an accelerated rate, Kurt Angle debuted at the 1999 Survivor Series and was defending the WWF Championship against Undertaker at the 2000 Survivor Series. This first run was four months long and saw the Olympic Gold Medalist evolve from a talented rookie to one of the best in the business. He defeated Austin, Rock, Triple H, Undertaker and Rikishi in a six-man Hell in a Cell. Angle’s next run was short and was largely a PR move after the tragedies of 9/11, but his emotional win over Austin in his hometown of Pittsburgh was certainly memorable. In late 2002, he was able to manipulate The Big Show, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar to become the WWE Champion. Although he had a great match with Chris Benoit, most of this run was spent on the shelf until he lost the title to Lesnar at Wrestlemania XIX. His final run began with a triple-threat match where he defeated Lesnar and Show. He would defeat Lesnar in one-on-one competition at Summer Slam ’03 and had a great title defense against Undertaker before losing to Brock in an Iron Man Match. Though this is more the fault of the bookers than Kurt’s fault, Angle was more of a transitional champion between men that WWE viewed as bigger stars (Rock, Austin, Lesnar) and he never had a defining run as champion. However, he was perhaps the most credible champion in the title’s history.

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Randy Ortonsize=6>



Six Time WWE Champion, 392 Combined Days As Champion

Randy Orton’s first WWE Championship run was less than auspicious; he was awarded the title by Vince McMahon after John Cena tore his pectoral muscle in 2007, and he lost it only minutes later to Triple H. Orton would manipulate his way into winning the title back in a Last Man Standing Match at the end of the same PPV, and his second run was much more successful. Like any good heel, Orton understood that it wasn’t how you kept the title, simply that you kept the title, and he was able to keep the title for six months. Men like Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, John Cena were unable to take the gold from him, but The Game ended it in a four-way match that also included Cena and JBL at Backlash ’08. Orton would defeat Triple H a year later for his next championship, and would spend the summer and fall feuding with Batista and Cena, getting two more title runs. Currently in his sixth reign and still in his early thirties, The Viper is poised to become one of the greatest WWE champions of all time.

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The Undertakersize=6>



3 Time WWF Champion, 1 Time WWE Undisputed Champion, 238 Combined Days As Champion

Undertaker is a wrestler whose value to the WWE over the years transcends championships, but that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing the WWE’s top prize. A four-time WWE Champion, Taker has surprisingly played many roles as champion. His first run lasted only a week in 1991, as he was the unbeatable zombie that was able to defeat Hulk Hogan (with some help). Six years later he defeated Psycho Sid at Wrestlemania 13 and had his lengthiest and highest quality run as a dominant babyface, defeating the likes of Mankind, Steve Austin, Vader, and Faarooq before Shawn Michaels accidentally cost him the title in a match with Bret Hart. By his next title run, he was in his most sinister incarnation as the Satanic leader of the Ministry of Darkness; this run is notable because Nielson Ratings for RAW were at all time high. In 2002, he had dropped the Deadman act and was playing the American Badass. Defeating Hulk Hogan once again, he was initially a heel but started to gradually shift towards babyface, facing stars such as Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and The Rock, who ended his run by pinning Angle in a triple-threat match. For someone who is often criticized for being stale and overrated, Taker has proven to be a versatile, time-tested commodity as champion; if this list included World Heavyweight Championships, he would probably be in the top ten.

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Superstar Billy Grahamsize=6>

1 Time WWWF Champion, 296 Days As Champion

Superstar Billy Graham has but a single WWWF Championship Reign to his credit, but it was both long and revolutionary. First of all, it ended the near fifteen-year stretch of time between Bruno Sammartino’s first title win and his last one. Many years ahead of his time, the Superstar was the first WWWF Champion to have a chiseled physique. Bruno was strong, but Billy Graham was an Adonis. The most colorful champion, both in wardrobe and in vocabulary, since Buddy Rogers, Graham was sports entertainment years before Vince McMahon Jr. coined the term. Indeed, Vince was a huge fan of Billy Graham, so much of the boom of the 1980’s can be attributed to the principles of showmanship that Graham exuded. At ten months, Graham’s reign is the longest of any heel champion in WWE’s history to this day; of course, he was so charismatic that many fans adored him even as a heel, another revolutionary trait. Graham hasn’t won six WWE Championships or held it for eight years, but in terms of influence on the WWE, the Superstar has to be considered as one of the greatest champions in the company’s histroy.

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Shawn Michaelssize=6>


3 Time WWF Champion, 396 Combined Days As Champion

Barely missing out of the top ten, Shawn Michaels is perhaps the best in-ring performer to hold the WWF Championship. The Heartbreak Kid won his first WWE Championship by defeating Bret Hart in overtime of a sixty-minute Iron Man match with Bret Hart. This was the start of a great six-month run for the Showstopper, as he defeated such stars as Diesel, Davey Boy Smith, Vader, and Mankind, having spectacular matches almost every time. He lost the Championship to Psycho Sid at Survivor Series but won it back at the Royal Rumble; this would be a very short run as HBK would vacate the title due to “losing his smile”. His third and final run as WWF Champion started in even more controversial fashion, as a result of the Montreal Screwjob. In stark contrast to his earlier run as an underdog babyface, this run saw Shawn as an arrogant, cowardly heel. He would wrestle Undertaker in a casket match that would take four years off his career before losing the title to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Were it not for his meaningless second run as the champion, Shawn may have been in the top ten. The other mark against him is that his most successful kayfabe run as champion failed to do good business; the WWF was on the verge of collapse before Steve Austin rose to prominence.