10 Most Successful Champions In WWE History
Champions that struck the MOST gold. Not to conform to cliches, but Number 6 may actually shock you.
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00:00 Ok I know you're already in the comments going crazy, Simon how dare you say these
00:04 things, but here's the deal, here is the criteria we are using.
00:08 Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently sat down with a bunch of WWE champions
00:13 and he worked out how successful they'd been, being on record setting numbers and
00:17 buy rates and pay-per-views and actually broke it down to say, "Hi, these guys are some
00:22 of the best."
00:23 So yes, hello my name is Simon Wodculture, please do subscribe, and here's the 10 most
00:27 successful, in terms of statistics, WWE champions in history.
00:34 10.
00:38 Randy Orton
00:39 When you go and look at Randy Orton's complete WWE title reigns it is crazy, because his
00:43 first one happened in 2007 and goes all the way to 2020.
00:48 This really sums up Orton's career because for the past 20 years he has basically been
00:53 on top, and naysayers always go yeah but he never really changed the business, he didn't
00:58 blow it up, but who cares, not everybody can be a super duper game changing star, but he
01:03 has been consistent and when it comes to wrestling he is so damn good, and I'm going to say it,
01:09 underrated.
01:10 And of course we did struggle a little bit when we turned in Babyface after his first
01:13 world heavyweight title reign, but still, he has so many bangers in the history books,
01:19 so I say well done to Mr Randy.
01:21 9.
01:22 Bob Backlund
01:23 Randy Orton only had two WWE Championship reigns, but as you're about to learn, he was
01:28 kind of a big deal, especially because of his second one he only held for three days.
01:32 And of course that last one came when WWE was doing a little bit of a transitional championship
01:36 change, because Bret Hart dropped to The Bob, who subsequently went and dropped to The Diesel
01:40 less than a week later, but we ain't talking about that, we going way back in time when
01:45 Backlund was the man.
01:46 Because way back in 1978 he beat superstar Billy Graham for the WWE title, and if you
01:52 can believe it, he held onto it for over five years.
01:56 Kind of ironically he then lost it to The Iron Sheik, who would eventually lose it to
01:59 Hulk Hogan to start a new wave in World Wrestling Federation.
02:03 But yeah, when you hold onto something for that amount of time, you're going to have
02:07 a successful run.
02:08 8.
02:09 The Rock
02:10 The Rock first won the WWF title back in 1998, and his last one was in 2013.
02:16 Which is terrifying, because that was almost ten years ago.
02:19 The thing is though, given that he was a champion during the Attitude Era, of course his metrics
02:24 are sky high.
02:25 Whether you look at merchandise, attendance, TV ratings or PPV buys, if Dwayne 'The Rock'
02:31 Johnson was heading up a show, people just took money and threw it at him.
02:35 This is even more impressive because of course he entered wrestling and was gone before you
02:38 could say "hey wait a minute, why is he a movie star now?" and honestly we could probably
02:43 move forward 50 years and The Rock is still going to be in lists like this.
02:47 7.
02:48 Triple H
02:49 And for the same reasons too, especially because he had crazy longevity, Triple H gets into
02:54 this list.
02:55 While some people like to get on his case now, in the year 2000 when the WWF was crazy
03:00 profitable, Hunter Hearst Helmsley was one of the best they had.
03:04 If you want to tell me that during this 12 month period he was untouchable as a heel,
03:09 I'm going to agree with you.
03:10 And sure as the years went by and Triple H was still around, the numbers started to go
03:14 down but this wasn't his fault, it was just during 1998-2001 we got to such a crazy level
03:21 that eventually we were going to have to head the other way.
03:23 But if you do go and watch the King of Kings from basically 1999 until he does suffer his
03:28 injury in 2001, he is worth every penny.
03:32 6.
03:33 Andre The Giant
03:34 I know what you're saying, Simon, the 8th wonder of the world didn't even really ever
03:37 hold the WWF title.
03:39 Because of course it was all that shenanigans with Ted DiBiase the Million Dollar Man before
03:43 the whole thing got cancelled.
03:44 The thing is he still was champion, kind of and kind of not, but when you get into the
03:48 statistics and how much of a star he was around the world, well there's a reason today we
03:54 still talk about Andre.
03:55 And don't forget he absolutely smashed it for most of his career as a good guy, but
03:58 his biggest, most hottest point is when he became a bad guy and fought Hulk Hogan at
04:03 WrestleMania 3.
04:04 I mean their rematch which aired on NBC was the most watched wrestling match in United
04:08 States history, of course Hulk Hogan was a massive reason for that, but to be a great
04:13 babyface you need the best heel.
04:15 And that's where The Giant came into it.
04:18 5.
04:19 Roman Reigns
04:20 I mean Roman these days is more associated with the Universal Championship, but he still
04:23 has been the WWE Champion and every time he has held it he's done pretty damn well.
04:28 And all of this comes down to the fact that as I say these words, as of right now WWE
04:32 is more profitable than ever, which means they're making a bunch of cash, and who is
04:36 most definitely their top star, it's the head of the table, it's the Tribal Chief,
04:40 and those two things just go together.
04:42 And of course you can start questioning it, but that's not the point here.
04:45 Roman Reigns is the chosen one, when you get into all the metrics WWE is slinging through
04:49 Scrooge McDuck's cash, so if you do want to write a list like this you've got to put Roman
04:54 right up there.
04:55 And also I don't care what anyone else says, I think the man is special.
04:59 4.
05:00 John Cena
05:01 If I was going to stand here right now and go through every single one of John Cena's
05:03 WWE title reigns, I would probably be dead before we got to the end of it.
05:09 Good grief.
05:10 That man was on top forever.
05:11 Because do not forget, not only was he a consistent main event player, but he was also the last
05:16 guy to grow even bigger than WWE and go out into the mainstream world and yes, become
05:21 an absolute success.
05:23 So really he has set the bar too high, like even when he came back last year, people flocked
05:28 to house shows to see him.
05:30 Because you look at John Cena's name and think, hey honey, should we go to the wrestling
05:33 show?
05:34 And you go yes.
05:35 And really he may be the last of a dying breed, because as we know WWE wants those three initials
05:39 to be the biggest star, so even if someone does come along and knock on the door, Vince
05:44 McMahon probably goes no, you've got to stay down.
05:46 So never underestimate or undervalue the importance of John Cena.
05:50 I mean imagine that 20 year period without him.
05:53 Some things would have been better, but overall it would have been a bit of a struggle.
05:57 3.
05:58 Buddy Rogers
05:59 If you're not able to work too long for the WWWF back in 1963, he was their champion
06:05 when Vince McMahon Sr. decided, I don't want to work with anyone else anymore and
06:09 I'm going out on my own.
06:10 So if you want to say without Mr. Rogers we never get the success that WWE would go
06:14 on to get, you certainly have a point.
06:17 And even though Buddy was put in there so he could eventually lose this championship
06:20 to Bruno Sammartino, everything starts with him.
06:24 So he is the catalyst, and come on now, it basically means he helped change the world.
06:29 2.
06:30 Hulk Hogan
06:31 Do we really need to get into this?
06:32 No matter what your thoughts are on the Hulkster these days, and trust me I totally get it,
06:36 I am with you.
06:37 Back in the 80s and early 90s no one was bigger than him, and he took the World Wrestling
06:42 Federation on his back and he took it into pastas now.
06:46 He basically changed the face of North American wrestling, and even my nan, bless her soul,
06:51 knew who Hulk Hogan was.
06:55 And if you talked about professional wrestling she went, "oh that there WWF stuff with
06:59 that there Hulk Hogan".
07:00 I mean even in 2022 people on the outskirts still use Hulk's name when they want to
07:07 talk about sports entertainment.
07:08 So of course when you get into the back end and look at the numbers, well frankly it is
07:13 absolutely ridiculous.
07:14 1.
07:15 Bruno Sammartino
07:16 But it is not as nuts as Bruno Sammartino, who basically got the WWF title and decided,
07:22 you know what, I never want to lose it.
07:25 And you cannot fathom how popular he was until you do sit down and read as much as
07:30 you possibly can, because in the 60s and 70s people were so into Bruno that even the thought
07:35 of him losing would get an audience to riot.
07:38 He only had two title reigns but they lasted for ages, but much like a Hulk Hogan or a
07:42 Buddy Rogers we do not get the WWE today without Bruno Sammartino, the guy is a hero and the
07:48 guy is a legend.
07:49 Thankfully in the mid 2010s Triple H was able to mend their relationship so we saw a little
07:53 bit of Bruno back in a new version of World Wrestling Entertainment.
07:56 But if you have nothing else to do today, just type in his name, even go to his Wikipedia
08:02 entry and you'll be looking around going 'hahaha how did he do so much?'
08:06 And of course before we do end this video don't forget I'm sure you have your own vision
08:10 of what a successful WWE Champion is and that's great, but when it comes to those digits,
08:17 these are the 10 guys.
08:18 But if you do want to put anybody else in the comments make sure you do and like the
08:21 video, share the video and subscribe.
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08:30 That's right, point five.
08:31 My name is Simon for Wot Culture, thank you for joining me and as always, see you soon.