5 shortest WWE Championship reigns
In the early days of WWE - all the way back when it was called the World Wide Wrestling Federation - long World Championship reigns were the norm.
While the company's inaugural champion, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, held the strap for a little less than a month, the man who defeated him for it had a much lengthier reign. Bruno Sammartino's first run with the belt lasted a mind-boggling seven years, eight months and one day.
For over 20 years, extremely long title reigns were a staple of the company. Along with a second run by Sammartino, stars such as Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund (if you don't count his loss to Antonio Inoki), and Hulk Hogan all held the top title for well over 1,000 days each.
Of course, this was well before pro wrestling had hours and hours of weekly TV to fill. Most fans in that era could go months, if not a whole year, before seeing a pro wrestling event. Eventually, lengthy title reigns were not only no longer necessary - they hardly made sense.
As the popularity of the company grew, the length of championship title reigns began to shrink. Before too long, reigns of just a few months and even weeks were becoming commonplace. Then things began to get ridiculous.
So, we're going to bust open our almanac/book of facts/encyclopedia (in other words, Google) and bring you, fine reader, the five shortest WWE Championship reigns ever.
Bear in mind, we'll just be focusing on the WWE Championship (unless it was united with another world title, such as the Undisputed Championship or WWE World Heavyweight Championship). If you can think of other titles that had ridiculously short title reigns other than the Hardcore or 24/7 titles, by all means - share them in the comments.
#5. Daniel Bryan - WWE Summerslam 2013 (4:07)
Daniel Bryan's (now going by his real name of Bryan Danielson in AEW, of course) main event success really stemmed from two rather quick losses. The first was his loss of the World Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII in 18 seconds.
Bryan would eventually recover from that and earn a title match at SummerSlam 2013. He was handpicked by then-Champion John Cena (we'll see him again, don't worry) and, following what was legitimately a classic match, Bryan defeated Big Match John for his first WWE Championship.
Bryan would get a few minutes to celebrate before Randy Orton arrived at ringside with his Money in the Bank contract. Following a sneak attack by that night's special guest referee Triple H, Orton would cut Bryan's reign to a little over four minutes.
#4. John Cena - WWE Elimination Chamber 2010 (3:33)
Shockingly, not all of these entries involve Money in the Bank cash-ins. This incident from WWE Elimination Chamber 2010 kind of feels like one, though.
Back in 2006, Cena fought off five other Superstars to retain his championship in a Chamber match. As a bloodied and exhausted leader of the Cenation watched the chamber cage rise above his head, Vince McMahon took the stage to make an announcement: the show was not over.
The very first MITB winner, Edge, was making the very first cash-in. Edge, as we know, walked out of that building with Cena's title.
Flash forward four years. At that year's Elimination Chamber-branded event, Cena once again found himself victorious in the titular match. This time, however, he won the Championship as opposed to defending it.
Yet once again, out came McMahon to ruin his day. The Chairman announced that Cena was going to have to defend his newly won title... against Batista.
Now, was Batista in possession of the Money in the Bank briefcase? No. McMahon just made the match. He's Vince Mcmahon, he can do that. That bout ended with Batista the winner and Cena's reign lasting a whopping three minutes and 33 seconds - about the time it takes to microwave a bag of popcorn.
#3. Yokozuna - WWE WrestleMania IX (2:06)
WrestleMania IX was a weird show. For starters, it was the first 'Mania to not have Hulk Hogan booked in the main event. Instead, he was paired with his partner Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake against then-WWF Tag Team champs Money Inc. ("Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase and Irwin R. Schyster.) Hulk's team didn't win.
We could go on and on regarding all the reasons this show was weird, but let's get to the point. The main event saw WWF Champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart defend his title against that year's Royal Rumble winner, Yokozuna. This was the very first year the "main event WrestleMania" stipulation was added to the Rumble.
In what was a pretty underrated match, all things considered, Yokozuna won the title thanks to a handful of salt thrown into Hart's eyes by manager Mr. Fuji. It really seemed like we were about to see the beginning of a dominant new heel champion.
Oh, wait. Here comes the Hulkster.
OK, let's be fair. It's easy to rag on this moment with the cynical hindsight that comes with being an older wrestling fan. But if you were a kid at this particular moment - and still a Hulk Hogan fan - this was pretty exciting.
Whatever your feelings on it, the record nonetheless shows that Yokozuna's very first WWE Championship reign lasted a grand total of two minutes and six whole whopping seconds.
#2. Seth Rollins - WWE Money in the Bank 2016 (2:00)
Money in the Bank 2016 really ended up being all about The Shield. Not only did Dean Ambrose win the MITB contract earlier that evening, but his former stablemates Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were duking it out for the WWE Championship in the main event.
Rollins in particular was anxious for this bout and was dead set on winning back the title he was forced to vacate due to injury.
Reigns walked into Las Vegas as the champion, but was on the losing end that night. As he celebrated his victory in the middle of the ring, Rollins seemed to have forgotten that his former friend and arch-rival Ambrose had the golden ticket to take that title away from him.
When Dean's music hit, Rollins gestured that he was ready for him. But this was Dean Ambrose we're talking about.
WWE Money in the Bank 2016 wrapped up with each member of The Shield having been WWE Champion in the same night. When it comes to factions in WWE, that's never happened - not before or since. And it probably never will again.
Of course, Ambrose is now in AEW under his original ring name of Jon Moxley, and has seen plenty of success. Reigns is in the midst of a very lengthy run with WWE's other world title, the Universal Championship.
Rollins' role at this year's WrestleMania is still technically up in the air, but he's always an important part of WWE's creative plans one way or another.
Now, let's look at the shortest WWE Championship reign of all time - and the absolute legend it's associated with.
#1. Andre the Giant - WWE The Main Event (TV special) - 1988 (1:48)
It cannot be overstated just how awesome WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant was. Andre wasn't just a giant and a spectacle - and he certainly was both of those things - he was also a consummate showman.
He knew that crowds were coming to see him, and he knew why. He understood that he was as much a circus act as he was a professional wrestler and, as much as it hurt him, he leaned into it in order to both make a living and to also entertain the audience he adored so much.
If you're wondering how Andre was never WWE Champion, consider this (because Andre certainly did) - if Andre the Giant were the World Champion... who could beat him for it?
Well, we got close to finding that out when WrestleMania III came around. Andre challenged WWF Champion Hulk Hogan to one of the most iconic matches in WrestleMania history. Andre may not have won the match, but he cemented his place as one of the greatest legends of all time there.
All that being said, Andre still deserved to have "WWE Champion" on his resume at some point. It was on the first episode of WWF Main Event on NBC - a show that, no joke, drew an audience of 33 million viewers - that Andre finally won the big one.
However, as sketchy as his title victory was, it was about to get even sketchier. For not only did Andre have Dave Hebner take the place of his brother Earl, but it was all part of a plot to get the title on "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.
DiBiase has arranged a deal with the Giant that, should Andre win the championship, he would then surrender it to the Million Dollar Man immediately afterwards. Which is exactly what happened.
Of course, this all led to WrestleMania IV's tournament, which saw "Macho Man" Randy Savage win his first world title. However, it doesn't change the fact that Andre was still world Champion - even if that reign only lasted a grand total of one minute and forty-eight seconds - the shortest WWE Championship reign in history.