The Results Are In: Who Was Voted The Greatest WWE Champion Of All Time?
The WWE Championship has over 50 years of rich history, and the results are out on who is the greatest of all-time. It all started in 1963, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, when the “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers was crowed champion. Not only did this commence the history of the WWE Championship, but it was also pivotal in the WWE breaking away from the National Wrestling Alliance.
Since then, there have been a total of 50 champions, and this was particularly celebrated when Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton at Backlash in May. Mahal has kept the title since, due to the dastardly actions of his assistants, the Singh Brothers. His win and retention has been widely speculated to be a product of WWE’s Indian market expansion.
Throughout the history of the championship, holders such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Mick Foley, Andre the Giant, The Ultimate Warrior, Sgt. Slaughter, Edge, and Kurt Angle all became members of the WWE Hall of Fame due to their success as champions. Despite being some of the best on the list, there is one person that is above them all. According to The Sun, Hulk Hogan has been voted the greatest WWE Champion of all time. Elated at the accolade, Hogan thanked them for the ranking.
Thank you, honored that @TheSun picked #HulkHogan as number 1 of the top 50 @WWE champions of all time. https://t.co/yfGBG4D5n0 pic.twitter.com/dPrP2FeZVC
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) October 6, 2017
The other placements on the list are quite interesting. Rey Mysterio bottomed the list at No. 50, and his run was described as “pitiful,” due to him “never [being] convincing as a top-tier champ.” This is primarily due to his reign being so short, losing to John Cena on the same Raw episode that he won it on. Bray Wyatt was at 49, as The Sun felt that he was not ready to be champion when he won it at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view this year.
Surprisingly, Kane’s one-day reign ranked higher than inaugural champion Buddy Rogers, along with Sgt. Slaughter, Ivan Koloff, and Stan Stasiak. In another surprise, The Undertaker was ranked No. 16 on the list. Besides Hogan, the rest of the top five consisted of Steve Austin (2), Bruno Sammartino (3), John Cena (4), and Shawn Michaels (5). Even with eight reigns, and being perhaps the most popular person in WWE history, The Rock was ranked ninth.
[Featured Image By WWE]
