From Buddy Rogers in April 1963 to Kofi Kingston in April 2019, there have been 61 World Champions in WWF/E history.

Not including WWE’s short-lived version of the ECW Championship – which was, in all honesty, the least important title in the company – a total of 61 wrestlers have been World Champions.

Today we will be ranking all those 61 holders of the WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, WCW World Championship (during WWE’s Invasion angle in 2001) or Universal Championship in chronological order.

Enjoy!

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1. Buddy Rogers

WWE Champion (1x)

In April 1963, the original ‘Nature Boy’ Buddy Rogers became the very first WWE Championship by “winning a tournament” in Rio de Janeiro.

However, a mild heart attack forced the then-WWWF to take the belt off of Rogers less than a month after he won it, dropping it to our next entry in a short title bout.

Even though Rogers’ reign was brief, he will forever be in history as the inaugural WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Rating: 5/10

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2. Bruno Sammartino

WWE Champion (2x)

After dethroning Buddy Rogers in seconds in May 1963 to win the gold, ‘The Living Legend’ would keep it for a whooping 2,803 days. When he lost it to Ivan Koloff in January 1971, Madison Square Garden went SILENT!

Sammartino would later have a second championship reign, and a much shorter one. That lasted only four years!

Sammartino is, to this day, the holder of the record for the longest reigning champion – both for individual reigns and combined reigns – and is, without a doubt, one of the biggest stars in the entire history of the belt and the company.

Rating: 10/10

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3. Ivan Koloff

WWE Champion (1x)

Make no mistake about it. Ivan Koloff was nothing but a transitional champion, beating Bruno Sammartino for it only to drop it to Pedro Morales three weeks later.

With that said, his win over Bruno is arguably one of the most shocking wrestling results of all time (up there with Undertaker’s loss to Brock Lesnar).

Rating: 3/10

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4. Pedro Morales

WWE Champion (1x)

After Bruno Sammartino’s eight-year reign, the WWWF chose Pedro Morales as their new top babyface champion, using the aforementioned Ivan Koloff as a transitional champion between the two.

Morales’ reign lasted almost three years, and it was indeed a successful one. However, when we look back at it today, Pedro’s reign is not even close to being one of the greatest.

Maybe that’s the reason the belt went back to ‘The Living Legend’.

Rating: 7/10

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5. Stan Stasiak

 

WWE Champion (1x)

In order to put the title back on Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales dropped it to Stan Stasiak on December 1, 1973.

Nine days later, Stan dropped it to Bruno at Madison Square Garden. That was literally it!

Effective, but too short.

Rating: 1/10

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6. ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham

WWE Champion (1x)

In 1977, when ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham defeated Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Championship, the plan was for him to drop it to Bob Backlund – the next top babyface of the promotion.

Graham eventually held the title for 10 months, and became a very popular heel. However, Vince McMahon Sr. refused to turn him face, and went ahead with his original plan.

A risk his son took two decades later with a certain Texan, who went on to become one of the biggest stars in the history of the business – more on him later!
Rating: 5/10

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7. Bob Backlund

WWE Champion (2x)

Backlund’s two reigns as WWE Champion are the complete opposite of each other.

The first lasted almost six years; the second lasted three days.

In his first reign he was a huge babyface; in his second he was ‘Mr. Bob Backlund’ – the crazed heel.

Bob Backlund was a great wrestler, a great babyface and (in my opinion) an even better heel. But, if we compare him to some of the greatest champions ever, he’s just not at that level…

Rating: 9/10

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8. The Iron Sheik

WWE Champion (1x)

The Iron Sheik was just another heel transitioning the belt from babyface A to babyface B.

But not just any babyface. The Sheik was the man that dropped the gold to non other than Hulk Hogan less than a month after he won it.

Looking back, he is without a doubt the best transitional WWE Champion of all time.

Rating: 6/10

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9. Hulk Hogan

WWE Champion (6x)

Sure, everyone will ALWAYS disagree with an opinion about Hulk Hogan.

However, the fact is Hulkamania ran so wild that it eventually resulted in the creation of WrestleMania.

And sure, there are cons like WrestleMania IX or an unnecessary reign in 2002, but the pros are much stronger.

Legendary WrestleMania main-event matches against André the Giant (WM III), Randy Savage (WM V) or The Ultimate Warrior (VI) are just some of the reasons why this man had some of the greatest reigns of all time.

And he is, without a doubt, one of the greatest WWE Champions ever.

Rating: 10/10

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10. André the Giant

WWE Champion (1x)

Eleven months after their classic WrestleMania III match, André controversially defeated Hulk Hogan in a title rematch at ‘The Main Event’.

After winning, André tried to sell the title to Ted DiBiase. However, then-WWF President Jack Tunney vacated the belt, and that was it for André as the champion!

He was just there to set up WrestleMania IV’s tournament, and that’s pretty much it.

Rating: 1/10

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11. Randy Savage

WWE Champion (2x)

‘Macho Man’ defeated Ted DiBiase in the main-event of WrestleMania IV to win the WWF Championship with the help of Hulk Hogan.

After a year of teaming with Hogan as The Mega Powers, Savage turned heel and lost to ‘The Hulkster’ in the main-event of WrestleMania V.

Three years later, Savage won the title from Ric Flair in an epic match at WrestleMania VIII, later losing it back to Ric – but not before having a classic match with The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam.

Overall, even though Savage was never the top guy when he was champion, he took part in some legendary bouts and rivalries over the WWE Championship.

Rating: 8/10

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12. The Ultimate Warrior

WWE Champion (1x)

The Warrior’s reign began at WrestleMania VI, defeating Hulk Hogan in the “Ultimate Challenge”.

Even though Warrior was popular with the fans, the rest of his reign is not very memorable.

Plus, there has to be a reason why Vince decided to put the belt back on Hulk Hogan at the following WrestleMania…

At the Royal Rumble in January 1991, Warrior lost the title to mega heel, Sgt. Slaughter.
Rating: 5/10

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13. Sgt. Slaughter

WWE Champion (1x)

In January 1991, Vince McMahon put the gold on Sgt. Slaughter, “capitalizing” on the Gulf War to generate heat.

During his reign as champion, Slaughter received death threats and had to wait hours to leave the arena safely.

In the main-event of WrestleMania VII, Slaughter walked in as the reigning champ against Hulk Hogan, dropping the belt to Hulk.

There is no doubt Slaughter did a great job as champion. And a job that had to be very difficult. So props to him for making it work.

Rating: 5/10

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14. The Undertaker

WWE Champion (4x)
World Heavyweight Champion (3x)

Despite being one of the most legendary professional wrestlers of all time, some of ‘The Deadman’s championship reigns were surprisingly forgettable.

‘Taker’s first reign lasted just six days, while his third reign began at Over the Edge 1999 – the same event that saw Owen Hart die.

However, his reigns as World Heavyweight Champion and storylines over the Big Gold belt are very good. Who will ever forget his feuds with the likes of Batista or Edge on SmackDown?

That, along with a good reign as WWF Champion in 1997, outweighs all his forgettable reigns.

Rating: 6/10

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15. Ric Flair

WWE Champion (2x)

Flair first won the WWE Championship by winning the legendary Royal Rumble Match in 1992, last eliminating Sid Justice to capture the gold.

After a terrific encounter with ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII, Flair eventually won the title for a second time later that year.

After beating Randy in a ‘Mania rematch, Ric dropped the belt to Bret Hart in Canada.

Despite not even being comparable to his runs with the NWA/WCW World Title, Ric’s reigns as WWE Champion were also good.

Rating: 6/10

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16. Bret Hart

WWE Champion (5x)

Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart was, along with Shawn Michaels, the face of WWF’s “New Generation” Era.

Along with his classic matches against numerous opponents, there are also some other things that marked ‘The Hitman’s title runs – such as his big babyface win at WrestleMania X or his perfect rivalry with his brother, Owen.

Not to mention the fact that Bret was the first man (after only Hulk Hogan) to win the WWE Championship five times and that he carried the company during its hardest time (post steroid scandal).

These are just some of the reasons why Bret Hart should NOT be remembered for the Montreal Screwjob alone…

Rating: 9/10

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17. Yokozuna

WWE Champion (2x)

At WrestleMania IX, Yokozuna became the first heel to win a WWE Championship match at the event, beating Bret Hart… only to lose the belt to Hulk Hogan seconds later.

Later that year, Yoko defeated Hogan for the belt at King of the Ring to win the title for the second time. At ‘Mania X, Yoko once again won a title match at the event (against Lex Luger), before losing to Bret Hart in the main-event.

Despite having some decent matches with Bret and even Lex Luger at SummerSlam, the rest of his matches are just boring. Matches like the ones against Hogan, Undertaker or Lex (the WrestleMania one) are not fun to watch.

The fact that Lex Luger’s push failed also hurts Yoko’s reign. Since most of his reign was spent building to ultimately nothing.

Rating: 4/10

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18. Diesel

WWE Champion (1x)

A lot has been said about Kevin Nash’s reign as WWE Champion over the years, and quite rightfully so.

Even though ‘Big Daddy Cool’s reign did have its moments, go back and take another look at his PPV matches against the likes of Sycho Sid or Mabel… they are painful to get through!

Despite having a great look and a cool entrance music, Diesel was a much better as a heel than as a babyface – in his WWF career too.

Good matches with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were not enough to save Nash’s one-year reign from being bad.

Rating: 3/10

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19. Shawn Michaels

WWE Champion (3x)
World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

Much like Bret Hart, HBK was the face of the “New Generation” Era.

During his reigns as WWE Champion, particularly his first, Shawn put on amazing title matches on PPV.

However, as good as those matches were, there’s no fun in watching him visibly act unprofessionally in his bouts against The British Bulldog and Vader.

There was also that time he lost his smile….

It’s a shame Shawn Michaels didn’t have a proper reign with a World Title in his second run, because it would’ve been much more beautiful than his reigns in the 1990s.

Rating: 6/10

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20. Sycho Sid

WWE Champion (2x)

Believe it or not, Sycho Sid is not only a two-time WrestleMania main-eventer, but also a two-time WWE Champion.

Sid first won the belt from Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1996 in front of a hot MSG, losing it back to HBK at Royal Rumble in Shawn’s hometown of San Antonio.

However, due to Shawn “losing his smile” in February, Sid won back the title (from Bret Hart), losing it to The Undertaker in an impromptu main-event match at WrestleMania 13.

Sid was a badass – with one of the most intimidating theme songs ever! – but his reigns were nothing special.

Rating: 3/10

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21. Stone Cold Steve Austin

WWE Champion (6x)

Is there anything to be said about this man? What!?

Austin was the hottest superstar at the hottest time in professional wrestling during his first four reigns as a babyface in 1998 and 1999.

Matches with the likes of Dude Love, The Rock or The Undertaker for the title during that time are legendary.

As a heel, during his last two reigns, Austin had the best matches of his career since his neck injury. Title bouts with the likes of Rock, Angle, Benoit, Jericho, RVD and others are things of beauty.

Without a shadow of doubt, Steve Austin is one of the best WWE Champions ever.

Rating: 10/10

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22. Kane

WWE Champion (1x)
World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

It’s weird to think Kane is only a two-time World Champion in WWE.

After a very brief reign as WWF Champion in 1998, Kane had his much deserved proper run with the belt in 2010.

Cashing in his Money in the Bank contract against Rey Mysterio in July 2010, ‘The Big Red Machine’ had bad programs against The Undertaker and Edge before losing the strap to ‘The Rated R Superstar’ at TLC.

It’s a shame this legend didn’t have another opportunity with the World Title.

Rating: 3/10

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23. The Rock

WWE Champion (8x)
WCW World Champion (2x)

Before being one of the most successful actors in the world, The Rock was one of the most successful wrestlers in the world – a former ten-time WWE World Champion.

During most of his reigns as champion (with the exception of his fifth reign in 2000), Rock was mostly used to put other wrestlers over. Something he did better than most!

Capturing his first three titles in just five months, Rock would then put over guys like Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar throughout his career.

Add some awesome matches and the best mic work ever to the list, and you have a damn great WWE Champion.

Rating: 10/10

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24. Mick Foley

WWE Champion (3x)

January 4, 1999! That was the date Mankind won the WWE Championship from The Rock to one of the biggest reactions ever.

After that, he traded the title with Rock like a hot potato. In August of that same year, Foley won the belt for the third time, only holding it for a day.

As a challenger, he was one of the greatest – just look at his matches with Shawn Michaels in 1996, Steve Austin in 1998 or Triple H in 2000.

But as a champion, aside from his first title win, he didn’t do much.

Rating: 5/10

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25. Triple H

WWE Champion (9x)
World Heavyweight Champion (5x)

Triple H is a hard one to rate…

For every great match against Cactus Jack, there’s a terrible match against Scott Steiner.

For every electrifying match against The Rock, there’s a really boring one against Roman Reigns.

For every time he put Chris Benoit or Batista over like real superstars, there’s the controversial angle with Booker T.

And Katie Vick…. oh, Katie Vick!

Triple H is a wrestler that had an epic reign as WWE Champion in 2000 but also had the reign of terror as World Heavyweight Champion for TWO YEARS!

Overall, he was a decent wrestler and he had enough memorable matches and moments during some of his title reigns.

Rating: 7/10

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26. Vince McMahon

WWE Champion (1x)

Come on…

Rating: 0/10

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27. The Big Show

WWE Champion (2x)
World Heavyweight Champion (2x)

Aside from his last reign with the World Title in 2012, Big Show never had any other title run that lasted two months.

First winning the belt from Triple H at Survivor Series 1999, Show later dropped it back to ‘The Game’ on the first RAW of 2000 after a feud with The Big Boss Man.

In 2002, Show won the title by becoming the first wrestler to pin Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, before losing the strap to Kurt Angle at December’s Armageddon PPV.

Almost a decade later, Show won the World Heavyweight Championship from Mark Henry at TLC 2011, only to lose it to Daniel Bryan immediately.

The next year, he won it again in a surprisingly good match with Sheamus at Hell in a Cell. But then the feud dragged, and dragged… until he randomly lost the gold to Alberto Del Rio in a Last Man Standing Match on SmackDown in January 2013.

He never made a mark as champion in WWF/E.

Rating: 2/10

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28. Kurt Angle

WWE Champion (4x)
WCW World Champion (1x)
World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

Someone who did make a mark as champion, however, was Kurt Angle!

Despite never being the “top guy”, Angle always did his job perfectly when he was given the gold.

He could play a goofy character (i.e: his reign in 2000) and a serious character (i.e: his reigns in 2003 and 2006).

However, what truly stands out during Angle’s reigns as WWE World Champion are his performances inside the ring.

Just to name a few, title matches like his bout with The Rock at No Way Out 2001, Chris Benoit at Royal Rumble 2003, Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar on SmackDown (Iron Man) or The Undertaker at No Way Out 2006 are some of the best WWE Championship matches of all time.

Oh it’s true!

Rating: 9/10

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29. Booker T

WCW World Champion (2x)
World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

On the very last episode of Nitro, Booker T won his fourth WCW Championship. So, when WWF bought WCW, he was the reigning champion.

After dropping the belt to Kurt Angle in July, Booker quicky won it back before starting a feud with The Rock. Booker would lose the title to Rock in a good match at SummerSlam 2001 before spending the next few years lost in the midcard.

Until King Booker happened…

In mid 2006, ‘King Bookah’ dethroned Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship and went on to have a great reign during the next few months, losing it to Batista at Survivor Series.

During both 2001 and 2006, Booker showed he could hang with the best and have some entertaining title reigns. As funny as his team with Goldust was, it’s a shame the rest of Booker’s WWE career was spent doing things like that.

Rating: 6/10

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30. Chris Jericho

WCW World Champion (2x)
WWE Champion (1x)
World Heavyweight Champion (3x)

Y2J won his first World Title in WWF by beating The Rock in a terrific match for the WCW Championship at No Mercy 2001.

He’d later make history by winning both the WCW and WWE Titles at Vengeance 2001, thus becoming the very first Undisputed Champion.

On the other hand, however, the rest of his reign as Undisputed Champ is best left forgotten.

In 2008, Chris Jericho really showed what he could do with a World Title in his hands, winning the World Heavyweight Championship during his amazing feud with Shawn Michaels – the two would have one of the best Ladder Matches ever over the World Title at No Mercy.

Jericho would later have two short reigns as champion, putting John Cena and Jack Swagger(!) over like the true pro he is.

Rating: 6/10

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31. Brock Lesnar

WWE Champion (4x)
WWE Universal Champion (3x)

To think Brock Lesnar been a champion more times as a part-timer (4) than he did as a full time WWE wrestler (3) is just ridiculous.

Make no mistake about it – his reigns as Universal Champion are stupid. Even though he’s a big attraction, he shouldn’t be anywhere near a title for this long with his current schedule.

However, just look at this list for a second: The Rock, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan…

These are some of the wrestlers Brock had terrific matches with as champion.

There’s no doubt his reigns as Universal Champion have dragged his rating down. A lot.

Rating: 7/10

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32. Goldberg

World Heavyweight Champion (1x)
WWE Universal Champion (1x)

Goldberg’s first tenure in WWE had many problems.

One being him losing the Elimination Chamber Match at SummerSlam 2003 to Triple H only to win the title at… Unforgiven! Goldberg then defeated ‘The Game’ at Survivor Series once again only to… lose it, to Triple H! The very next month! So what was the point?

Him beating Kevin Owens in seconds for the Universal Championship at Fastlane 2017 wasn’t fun to watch either, even though he did have perhaps the best match of his career at WrestleMania 33 against Brock Lesnar, dropping the title to Lesnar in that match.

Goldberg’s title reigns in WWE were very forgettable.

Rating: 2/10

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33. Eddie Guerrero

WWE Champion (1x)

Eddie Guerrero’s reign as WWE Champion was not very memorable either, aside from the moment at No Way Out.

Don’t get me wrong, he always had amazing matches during his reign, during all of his programs – Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle and JBL.

However, we all know he had the charisma to have a much better World Championship reign. Something that we, unfortunately, never got to see.

Rating: 5/10

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34. Chris Benoit

World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

At the same time Eddie was champion on SmackDown, Chris Benoit was having a much better reign as RAW’s champion.

And, much like Eddie, Benoit was never the top dog either – that was Triple H, because of course he was…

Winning the belt in a legendary Triple Threat Match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XX, Benoit had great matches during his reign against the likes of HHH, HBK, Kane and Randy Orton.

His reign ended with Benoit putting over the young ‘Legend Killer’ at SummerSlam in a great match.

Rating: 6/10

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35. John Bradshaw Layfield

WWE Champion (1x)

When JBL won the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero at The Great American Bash, something didn’t feel right. Less than three months earlier, he was “just” Bradshaw playing poker backstage with Ron Simmons.

All of a sudden, he was now the WWE Champion!

During JBL’s reign, he had some really bad matches. However, he was hated and he could cut a heel promo like very few.

But it was still too long…

Rating: 4/10

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36. Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Champion (4x)
WWE Champion (9x)

Randy Orton made history the instant he won his first World Title. At SummerSlam 2004, by beating Chris Benoit, Randy became the youngest World Champion in WWE history.

Nine years later, Randy became the very last holder of that title he first won at SummerSlam. Randy Orton is also the last World Heavyweight Champion in history.

Apart from that, Orton has had his ups and downs during his reigns, with his reign in 2017 being by far his worst. A never-ending feud with John Cena also made his reigns feel repetitive, specially in 2009.

However, Orton’s feuds and matches with Benoit, Shawn Michaels, Christian and Daniel Bryan were very good.

Overall, Orton has always been a decent champion.

Rating: 7/10

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37. John Cena

WWE Champion (13x)
World Heavyweight Champion (3x)

Has he won more titles than he probably should’ve? Maybe. Have some of those reigns been pointless? Absolutely.

However, there’s no doubt John Cena has always delivered as WWE Champion.

No matter the opponent, Cena always delivers in the ring (even managing to pull out watchable matches out of Great Khali)!

Throughout the years and the reigns, the classic bouts and feuds are countless – JBL, Edge, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Umaga, Randy Orton, Batista, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles… just to name a few.

Pointless short reigns aside (which is what prevents me from giving him the big 10), Cena is easily the best WWE Champion in a long time.

Rating: 9/10

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38. Batista

World Heavyweight Champion (4x)
WWE Champion (2x)

When Batista first won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2005, even though he still wasn’t having great matches, he slowly became the face of SmackDown during that reign.

During his other reigns as World Champion, Batista started having better matches. Particularly in his rivalry with The Undertaker throughout 2007.

In 2010, as a heel, Batista won the WWE Championship and had – in my opinion – the best reign of his career. As a jealous, cocky and arrogant villain, Dave cut some of the best promos of his entire run in the company, before finally losing the title to John Cena at WrestleMania XXVI.

Much like Randy Orton, Batista always brought something to the table as champion.

Rating: 7/10

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39. Edge

WWE Champion (4x)
World Heavyweight Champion (7x)

In late 2000s, Edge was such a great heel that he was given numerous reigns as transitional WWE World Champion. Probably more times than he should have.

However, no one can say Edge wasn’t effective. The man even managed to get John Cena cheered during their feud in 2006!

Always amazing on the mic, Edge also had many terrific matches during his many brief reigns as champion – particularly against Cena, The Undertaker and Jeff Hardy.

Also, ‘The Rated R Superstar’ got to retire as World Champion. Isn’t that lovely!?

At the end of the day, say what you want, there’s no doubt Edge was the best heel (champion) of his generation.

Rating: 8/10

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40. Rey Mysterio

World Heavyweight Champion (2x)
WWE Champion (1x)

In his first reign as World Heavyweight Champion in 2006, Rey was treated like a complete joke.

In 17 televised matches as champion, Rey won 8 (with one win being by DQ and the other in a tag match where Batista got the pin).

After losing the belt to King Booker at The Great American Bash 2006, Mysterio had another reign with the gold four years later.

Dethroning Jack Swagger at Fatal 4 Way, Mysterio retained against the former champ at the following month’s Money in the Bank in a really good match, before losing to Kane,who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

One year later, Mysterio won his first WWE Championship on RAW, only to lose it to John Cena on that same episode. Poor Rey…

Rating: 2/10

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41. Rob Van Dam

WWE Champion (1x)

At ECW One Night Stand 2006, in front of an incredible crowd, RVD won the WWE Championship from John Cena.

He then retained against Edge at Vengeance and that was pretty much it.

He lost the title to Edge on RAW after being caught a little bit too high by police, being suspended for it.

But, just like he once said: “at least I got to be WWE Champion, dude. That’s pretty cool.” I guess he’s right!

Rating: 2/10

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42. The Great Khali

World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

Yes, this happened!

With pretty much every top heel on SmackDown injured, The Great Khali won the vacant World Heavyweight Championship in a Battle Royal on an episode of SmackDown.

After retaining the belt for two months against Batista and Kane (mostly by DQ), Khali lost the gold to Batista at Unforgiven.

He didn’t cut promos and could barely walk, much less wrestle.

His time as World Heavyweight Champion was simply terrible.

Rating: 1/10

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43. CM Punk

World Heavyweight Champion (3x)
WWE Champion (2x)

After a forgettable first reign as a babyface World Heavyweight Champion in 2008, CM Punk truly got over as a main-eventer in WWE during his feud with Jeff Hardy in 2009.

As a heel, Punk won the title from Hardy twice and even ended his WWE career in August. However, after Hardy was gone, Punk quickly lost the gold to The Undertaker in a disappointing storyline and match.

As WWE Champion, Punk also had his moments and some great title matches, but he suffered from his position on the card.

At the end of the day, despite never being the top guy, there are a lot of positive things to take from his reigns. Including great matches with Jeff, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, John Cena, The Rock and others.

Rating: 7/10

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44. Jeff Hardy

WWE Champion (1x)
World Heavyweight Champion (2x)

Much like Mick Foley, Jeff Hardy was an amazing challenger. Him trying to dethrone The Undertaker, Randy Orton, Triple H, Edge and CM Punk over the years has resulted in some of the best matches of his entire career.

At Armageddon 2008, Jeff finally won his first WWE Championship to the delight of everyone. However, he lost it to Edge the following month at Royal Rumble.

After a disappointing feud with his brother, Jeff went after Edge’s World Heavyweight Championship, winning his second World Title in a great Ladder Match at Extreme Rules.

However, CM Punk immediately cashed in on Jeff.

After a great rivalry and one final reign as champion, Jeff Hardy left the company when he was arguably their top babyface. He wouldn’t return to WWE until WrestleMania 33 in 2017.

As far as his reigns go, he should’ve had at a least a proper reign whe he was SmackDown’s top babyface in 2008/09.

Rating: 4/10

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45. Sheamus

WWE Champion (3x)
World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

‘The Celtic Warrior’ won two WWE Championships in his first year with the company. However, he could only beat “top guys” by DQ and was always a midcarder, while John Cena and The Nexus battled in the main-event.

Sheamus finally had a proper World Title run in 2012, but the company managed to turn him heel at the very beginning by having him beat fan-favourite Daniel Bryan in seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII.

Despite having some good matches with the likes of Bryan, Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Big Show throughout his six-month reign, he was never fully cheered by crowds.

A third (and probably his last) reign with the WWE Title in 2015 followed, but it was very brief and pointless.

Throughout his World Championship reigns, Sheamus has been mediocre at best.

Rating: 3/10

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46. Jack Swagger

World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

There’s not much to say about Jack Swagger as the World Heavyweight Champion.

He won it by cashing in Money in the Bank on Chris Jericho on an episode of SmackDown, retained it against Randy Orton at Extreme Rules, retained against Big Show at Over the Limit (by getting himself intentionally disqualified) and lost it to Rey Mysterio at Fatal 4 Way.

He also stopped doing push-ups during his entrances and started making the most boring facial expressions ever! And that’s it.

Two months later, he was back in the undercard with Chavo Guerrero as his eagle. One year later, he was being used as Michael Cole’s “trainer”.
Nah, it wasn’t good.

Rating: 1/10

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47. The Miz

WWE Champion (1x)

Why is The Miz STILL only a one-time WWE Champion!? Why is he doing nothing at the moment, despite having been one of the company’s best heels in the last few years?

Anyway, Miz defeated Randy Orton to win the WWE Title on RAW in November 2010.

He then retained the title against Orton, Jerry Lawler and John Cena, always with others literally winning the match for him, before losing to Cena in a Steel Cage Match at Extreme Rules that also involved John Morrison.

He was very good at promos, his matches weren’t bad (though he’s better now) and he had a long reign, but you can only be a joke champion for so long.

And there’s a difference between being a joke champion and a heel champion cheating to win.

Rating: 3/10

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48. Dolph Ziggler

World Heavyweight Champion (2x)

In his first reign as champion, Dolph was literally given the belt by Vickie Guerrero, losing it back to former champ Edge on that same night.

Two years later, Dolph cashed in Money in the Bank on Alberto Del Rio to win the title, and then he got injured. When he came back, he lost it to Del Rio. And that was all she wrote.

There’s literally nothing else to say. At least his second title win was epic, I guess. I’ll take what I can at this point!

Rating: 2/10

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49. Christian

World Heavyweight Champion (2x)

After years of winning multiple tag and midcard championships, Christian finally got to win the WWE World Championship at Extreme Rules 2011, after Edge was forced to retire.

Christian’s title win against Alberto Del Rio is one of the most emotional title wins of all time, but he quickly dropped the strap to Randy Orton at the following episode of SmackDown.

A great feud with Orton followed, but mostly with Randy as champion.

Christian did win the title for a second time, but in the lamest title win there has ever been. He also lost it to Randy in his very first title defense, again.

To be fair, the feud was great and the matches were awesome. But like I said, the champ was mostly Orton.

Christian deserved much better.

Rating: 4/10

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50. Alberto Del Rio

WWE Champion (2x)
World Heavyweight Champion (2x)

Del Rio won his first WWE Championship at SummerSlam, cashing in Money in the Bank against CM Punk after he was attacked by Kevin Nash, of all people!

A month later, ADR won the title for the second time at Hell in a Cell, finally losing it to CM Punk at Survivor Series.

In 2013, he had two reigns as World Champion. The first during a babyface run that never got over with the fans, and a much better reign as heel (his best reign) later that year.

Even though he won the title twice in 2011 when it wasn’t his time, he was a good heel and he always had decent title matches.

Rating: 5/10

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51. Mark Henry

World Heavyweight Champion (1x)

By 2011, Mark Henry had already been in WWE for 15 years. And, in all honestly, he hadn’t done much.

However, when he turned heel that year, he was suddenly booked as a badass and started inducting people into the “Hall of Pain” left, right and centre.

The push culminated with Henry capturing the World Championship at Night of Champions, beating Randy Orton decisively. He later defeated Orton in a rematch at Hell in a Cell, but after that his reign only got worse.

His next feud was with The Big Show, who Henry failed to beat multiple times. All of a sudden, this badass champion was now getting himself disqualified in title matches and competing in a Chairs Match at TLC, the most rubbish stipulation there is.

It was at TLC where Henry lost the belt to Big Show, as his career slowly ended in the next few years due to injuries.

Rating: 4/10

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52. Daniel Bryan

World Heavyweight Champion (1x)
WWE Champion (4x)

Daniel Bryan first won the WWE World Championship at TLC 2011, cashing in Money in the Bank on Big Show. After that, he slowly turned into an annoying heel. After a couple of months as champion, Bryan infamously lost the gold to Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII in 18 seconds.

The next year, after being one half of the awesome Team Hell No, Bryan was now the top babyface in the entire promotion. He won the WWE Championship twice during that year, but both reigns combined barely lasted 24 hours.

His reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion in 2014 was also cut short, this time due to injury, after having won it in one of the greatest WrestleMania moments ever.

However, nothing comes close to his reign earlier this year. After turning heel and winning the WWE Championship from AJ Styles on SmackDown, Bryan went on to have terrific match after terrific match. Matches like AJ Styles at TLC, Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, the Elimination Chamber Match and, above all, Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35 were incredible.

His promo work was also brilliant during this reign, and it is what elevates Bryan’s overall rating as champ.

Rating: 7/10

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53. Seth Rollins

WWE Champion (2x)
WWE Universal Champion (1x)

Rollins’ first WWE Championship victory is one of the best endings to WrestleMania ever.

With that said, his first reign as a heel should have been much better. He was having great matches (of course, he’s Seth Rollins…), but everyone got a win over the guy when he was the champion. Kane, Ryback, Ambrose, Reigns, Orton and even the freakin’ J&J Security got wins over Seth Rollins during his first reign.

After he was forced to vacate the title due to injury, Seth Rollins came back to beat Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank 2016. However, he immediately lost it to Dean Ambrose, who cashed in his briefcase on him.

Earlier this year, Rollins dethroned Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35 to win his first Universal Championship. He started by having a great match with AJ Styles, but then… Baron Corbin, Baron Corbin and more Baron Corbin.

Also, he is Becky Lynch’s boyfriend… this was all he did as Universal Champion, before Brock Lesnar cashed in Money in the Bank on Seth at Extreme Rules.

Hopefully Rollins will give us a great title reign in the future.

Rating: 5/10

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54. Roman Reigns

WWE Champion (3x)
WWE Universal Champion (1x)

Despite being rejected by almost every crowd everywhere, WWE was determined to book Roman Reigns as their number one guy.

In less than five months, Reigns won the WWE Championship three times – he won the tournament at Survivor Series 2015, defeated Sheamus on RAW in December and, finally, bested Triple H in the main-event of WrestleMania 32.

None of his reigns were particularly good, aside from some good matches with AJ Styles and Seth Rollins in his third reign.

At SummerSlam 2018, Reigns finally defeated Brock Lesnar after 8 thousand matches to win the Universal Championship. After retaining against Braun Strowman in a Hell in a Cell Match that ended in a draw (how lame), he unfortunately had to vacate the belt due to leukemia.

So far, it’s the last time we’ve seen Roman as champion. But he’ll have it again, and I wish he’ll have better reigns – no pun intended – with the gold.

Rating: 4/10

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55. Dean Ambrose

WWE Champion (1x)

At Money in the Bank 2016, Dean Ambrose finally won the WWE Championship after years of doing nothing but losing.

However, from there, his run with the gold was not good. The company decided to waste The Shield Triple Threat Match on just another meaningless RAW vs. SmackDown “brand supremacy” crap.

After that, Dean retained in a very disappointing SummerSlam match against Dolph Ziggler.

Just a few weeks later, he lost it to AJ Styles at Backlash. A few months later, he was back in the midcard, wrestling Baron Corbin at WrestleMania’s pre-show…

Rating: 3/10

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56. Finn Bálor

WWE Universal Champion (1x)

Finn Bálor came from NXT to the main roster in the 2016 brand extension.

After defeating Seth Rollins at SummerSlam to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion, he got injured and had to vacate the belt the very next night on RAW.

And, contrary to what WWE tells us every damn week, that was probably the last time Finn did something extraordinary.

Rating: 1/10

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57. Kevin Owens

WWE Universal Champion (1x)

Someone who took advantage of Finn Bálor’s injury, however, was Kevin Owens.

He won the vacant Universal Championship out of nowhere on RAW thanks to Triple H, retaining the belt in matches against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns over the next few months.

He lost the title to Goldberg in seconds at Fastlane 2017, and he’s just now recovering from said loss.

However, despite being mostly booked as a joke throughout his reign, he and Chris Jericho were *by far* the only watchable part of RAW during that time, and it was a shame they didn’t get to have a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania.

Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of World Champ Kevin Owens, and it will most probably be better than his run with the Universal Championship.

Rating: 5/10

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58. AJ Styles

WWE Champion (2x)

When AJ Styles first won the WWE Championship in 2016, he was on a roll. After defeating John Cena at SummerSlam, Styles won the gold from Dean Ambrose in a moment nobody ever thought would happen – AJ Styles was now the WWE Champion!

He later won the title for a second time, which he would keep for a year.

Even though Styles never had any particularly great storyline as champion, he was constantly having great matches.

In his first reign, it was with Dean Ambrose and John Cena ; in his second, he had some awesome matches with the likes of Brock Lesnar, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev, Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan.

His in-ring work is there. Now we need a reign or two where he gets to have proper storylines that don’t involve ball shots or bedtime stories!

Rating: 6/10

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59. Bray Wyatt

WWE Champion (1x)

Yes, I forgot about this too… thanks, Wikipedia!

After winning the WWE Championship in a fantastic Elimination Chamber Match, Bray Wyatt immediately lost it to Randy Orton at WrestleMania in perhaps the worst WWE Championship match in WrestleMania history.

That’s literally it. What a waste of a title reign for one of the most talented performers of this generation.

He desperately needs a good reign when he eventually wins the WWE or Universal Championship again.

Rating: 1/10

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60. Jinder Mahal

WWE Champion (1x)

Two years ago, after years of being a jobber and the least interesting part of 3MB, Jinder Mahal won the WWE Championship from Randy Orton.

After a long reign that saw Jinder retain the gold in numerous matches against Orton (including that Punjabi Prison classic…) and Shinsuke Nakamura – and also beating Mr. Money in the Bank Baron Corbin – Jinder lost the gold to AJ Styles on a random episode of SmackDown.

Most people compare Jinder’s reign to JBL’s. However, JBL’s reign existed almost exclusively to put John Cena over at WrestleMania 21 and create a new superstar.

Jinder’s reign existed exclusively because of a business decision, and it ended randomly on SmackDown.

It was bad, but at least it was better than Bray’s. Crazy to think about it, isn’t it!?

Rating: 2/10

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61. Kofi Kingston

WWE Champion (1x)

Kofi Kingston is the most recent WWE World Champion in company history, and he is the current WWE Champion.

With that said, his rating is still subject to change in the future.

After winning the title from Daniel Bryan in a legit great match and moment at WrestleMania 35, Kofi has been having good matches and has been booked strongly as champion.

The problem is he’s been doing so against midcarders like Dolph Ziggler… and it shouldn’t be him (sorry, Dolph).

Kofi and Randy Orton will probably tear the house down at SummerSlam, and perhaps Kofi’s reign will even end there, but so far Kofi still has a lot of work to do as WWE Champion.

Rating: 3/10

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