How Record-Breaking WWE Championship Reigns Ended

Winning a championship in WWE is a huge achievement, but holding onto a title is easier said than done. A champion will do everything in their power to ensure that their championship reign is not a flash in the pan, and they hope to elevate the lineage of a championship by making their successor’s job incredibly difficult. The job of a champion is to captivate the audience with solid title defenses to solidify their claim as a legitimate champion.

Throughout different eras in WWE history, there have been several champions who have managed to have record-breaking championship runs. Sometimes a long championship reign can be boring for fans to endure if champions run out of challengers and it grows stale. Inevitably, every championship reign comes to an end, and it’s a good achievement for the new champion to end a historic champion reign, but not every record-breaking champion has lost their championship in a match.

Nikki Bella Was The Longest-Reigning Divas Champion

Charlotte Flair Won Her First World Championship At Nikki’s Expense

Nikki Bella defeated AJ Lee at Survivor Series 2014 to become a two-time WWE Divas Champion. Nikki was the top heel in the women’s division, and she had a stranglehold on the Divas Championship. Fans preferred AJ over Nikki, but the Fearless One broke AJ’s record 296-day Divas Championship reign, by holding the title for 301 days.

Nikki’s Divas Championship reign inevitably ended by Charlotte Flair at Night of Champions 2015. The Queen secured the first of her record-breaking 14 WWE Women’s Championship reigns with Figure Eight, and a celebration ensued with her father Ric Flair, Becky Lynch, and Paige by her side in the ring.

The New Day Became The Longest-Reigning Tag Team Champions In WWE History For Six Years

The New Day Hold The Record For The Longest Raw Tag Team Championship Reign

The New Day comprised of Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods defended the Raw Tag Team Championship under the Freebird Rule. Two of the three could defend the titles, and they shattered Demolition’s 478-day record as WWE Tag Team Champions which stood for almost three decades.

In the curtain raiser at Roadblock: End of the Line, the New Day defended their titles against Cesaro and Sheamus. Big E and Kofi defended the gold on behalf of the faction. In the closing stages, Cesaro never legally tagged himself in with Sheamus still the legal man. Kofi nailed Cesaro with Trouble in Paradise, and the Celtic Warrior dived onto Kofi, and Sheamus secured the Raw Tag Team Championship for his team ending The New Day’s record-breaking 483-day Raw Tag Team Championship reign in the process. The New Day showed their class by handing Cesaro and Sheamus the titles afterward.

Asuka’s NXT Women’s Championship Reign Ended In Heartbreaking Fashion

The Empress Of Tomorrow Sustained A Collarbone Injury

Asuka clinched the NXT Women’s Championship from Bayley in April 2016, and she was on a tear in NXT. The Empress of Tomorrow boasted an impressive unbeaten streak, and she had a stranglehold on the championship.

Unfortunately, Asuka sustained a serious collarbone injury in her title defense against Ember Moon at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III. Asuka relinquished the championship on the September 6, 2017, edition of NXT, and she was given a fond farewell as she was moving onto WWE’s main roster.

The Animal Was A Dominant World Heavyweight Champion

“The Animal” Batista turned babyface in 2005 after winning the Royal Rumble match, and he challenged his former Evolution leader Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21. The Animal dethroned Triple H for the gold, and he embarked on a 282-day World Heavyweight Championship reign.

Batista moved from Raw to SmackDown in the 2005 draft lottery, and he beat the likes of former WWE Champions JBL and Eddie Guerrero in his maiden World Title reign. Batista held the World Heavyweight Championship with pride, and he was visibly emotional when he was forced to relinquish the title in January 2006 as he sustained a triceps injury.

Bianca Belair’s Raw Women’s Championship Reign Was Magical

The EST Of WWE Had Solid Title Defenses

Bianca Belair was humiliated at SummerSlam 2021 when Becky Lynch ended her SmackDown Women’s Championship reign in 26 seconds. The EST of WWE got her redemption by returning the favor at WrestleMania 38 when she defeated Big Time Becks for the Raw Women’s Championship.

Ironically, Lynch was the longest-reigning Raw Women’s Champion in WWE history at 398 days, and Belair broke that record. Belair held the Raw Women’s Championship for 420 days, and Asuka defeated Belair for the title after blinding her with blue mist.

Gunther Shattered Records As Intercontinental Champion

The Ring General’s Intercontinental Championship Reign Was Entertaining

The Intercontinental Championship garnered the respect it deserved when Gunther clinched the workhorse title. The Ring General is one of the best in-ring competitors and registered solid title defenses. His match against Sheamus at Clash at the Castle 2022, and triple threat match against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus at WrestleMania 39 were some of the highlights of his record-breaking Intercontinental Championship reign.

The Honky Tonk Man held the Intercontinental Championship for 454 days, and Gunther shattered that record holding the title for 666 days. In 2023, Gunther became the first man to hold the Intercontinental Championship for the entire calendar year. Sami Zayn ended his long title reign on night one of WrestleMania 40 who executed the Helluva Kick to become a four-time Intercontinental Champion.

Bayley’s Heel Turn Was Pivotal In Becoming The Longest-Reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion

The Role Model Was One Of The MVPs In The Covid-19 Era

Bayley’s heel turn was overdue in 2019, and the Role Model was at the top of her game. Bayley regained the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Charlotte Flair on an episode of SmackDown, and she grew from strength to strength in her second SmackDown Women’s Championship reign.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic came around in 2020, but that didn’t stop Bayley from having a cracking 380-day SmackDown Women’s Championship reign. She won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship for the second time with Sasha Banks, and “Bayley Dos Straps” was born. For the second consecutive year, Bayley dropped the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Hell in a Cell with Sasha curtailing her run inside Hell in a Cell with a brutal Bank Statement with Bayley trapped in the chair.

The Usos Elevated The Tag Team Division With Their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Reign

The Usos Dropped The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship In The Main Event Of WrestleMania 39 Saturday

The longest Tag Team Championship reigns in WWE were kickstarted on kickoff shows which is hard to believe. The Usos dethroned Rey and his son Dominik Mysterio on the kick-off show at Money in the Bank 2021 to become five-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions.

The Usos were rewarded for their hard work and members of Roman Reigns’ Bloodline faction saw The Usos do the best job of their WWE careers. They added more gold to their collection in 2022 as they clinched the Raw Tag Team Championship from RK-Bro to become the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. The Usos’ 622-day run as champions was outstanding, and they dropped the gold to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 39 with Sami hitting multiple Helluva Kicks to Jey to become the new Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.

Bruno Sammartino’s WWE Championship Record Reign Is Unlikely To Be Broken

Sammartino Held The WWE Championship For 2,803 Days

“The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino cemented his legacy as one of the greatest WWE Champions in history. Sammartino became the second WWE Champion in 1963 and had a vice-grip on the WWE Championship. Sammartino held the coveted title for 2,803 days.

No man has come close to holding the WWE Championship for almost eight years which is a ridiculous achievement. Even Hulk Hogan’s 1,474-day reign as WWE Champion still had a while to go if he was to break Sammartino’s record as the longest-reigning WWE Champion. Nevertheless, Ivan Koloff and Sammartino clashed on a house show in New York for the WWE Championship, and Koloff nailed Sammartino with the Russian Leg Drop which was enough to end Sammartino’s long WWE Title reign.

Roman Reigns, Reigns No More As The Longest-Reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion

Cody Rhodes Finally Finished The Story At WrestleMania 40

Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship reign was nothing short of extraordinary. The Tribal Chief returned at SummerSlam 2020, and a week later, Reigns captured his second WWE Universal Championship reign at Payback 2020 by defeating reigning champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match.

Reigns’ record-breaking 1,316-day Universal Championship run saw him battle the likes of his cousin Jey Uso, Edge, John Cena, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Brock Lesnar, and Cody Rhodes among others. The Tribal Chief made history at WrestleMania 37-39 as he became the first wrestler to defend the same championship and retain it at three WrestleManias in succession. Bloodline Rules in the main event of WrestleMania 40 Sunday was full of carnage as the likes of “The Final Boss” The Rock, The Undertaker, and John Cena interfered. Ultimately, Reigns suffered his first pinfall loss in a singles match since the end of 2019 with Cody Rhodes finishing the story with his patented Cross Rhodes.