Greatest Champion in WWWF/WWF/WWE History

[DD84]

This thread is about the Greatest Champion in WWE History, not wrestler, by any means. This is only is about WWE. Only championship reign's in WWE count. The WCW Championship belts count, but only from the Invasion and on. Of Ric Flair's 16 World Title, only two of his World Title Reigns count, but his IC and Tag Titles reign count. This is only about Championships won, not accomplishments. Every Championship counts. So who is the greatest Champion. It could be someone like Edge, with many short title reigns, or someone like Bruno Sammartino, with a few title reigns, but held for a long period of time. It could even be someone like the The Fabulous Moolah.

In my opinion, the Greatest Champion in WWE History would have to be Bruno Sammartino. He held their best, biggest Championship for longer than anyone else.

Your thoughts.

 

[Mark0820]

It's Hogan, the guy who mainstreamed wrestling and made it popular. No one else did what he did for the sport publicly.

 

[MachoMan4Ever]

I would have to agree with Mark. Hogan would always have to be considered the greatest champion of all time. No one even today could generate buy rates or area sellouts of arenas like Hogan. Thats why I hoping that hes Chris Jericho opponant at Mania. It would a huge match that would most likely over shadow the rest of the card. IMO i would love to see it be The Macho Man Randy Savage. I know thats impossible. I have to say Demolition AX & Smash would have to be the greatest tag-team champions of all time. They held the titles longer than any other team in history and the first lost was to the Brain Busters and it wasnt clean.

 

[Softcore McLimpdick]

I give it to Stone Cold. He brought as much attention to the WWE as Hogan did. He changed the face of wrestling in the late 90's. It's a shame his had to retire from his injuries because I think he would still be a major face in the company.

 

[Savage1]

Im gonna have to go with Austin on this one. I agree that Hogan revolutionized the sport and brought it to the mainstream but Austin was the biggest draw the company had seen in yrs. He re-introduced the sport to the world and brought in more fans than any one single wrestler ever. Look at the ratings during his title reigns, either IC or WWE, they were astronomical. I am not saying that guys like the Rock or the Ministry and DX didn't have anything to do with it but Austin was the franchise player. And the Hart Foundation would be my pick for greatest tag team champions ever. I love LOD and demolition but The Hart Foundation were the perfect balance of technical skill and brute force. And Jim Neidhart was money on the mic.

 

[rowdy ruben]

its a tie between rock nd triple h. when stone cold was out during the attitude area for almost a year those 2 guys step up there game nd gave his some classic matches nd had one of the best feuds for the tittle

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I'm a huge HHH fan, but I'm gonna have to give it to The Texas Rattlesnake on this one. Can you remeber a wrestler that was more popular at his peak than Stone Cold in WWE. The only other two names that would come to mind are Hogan and The Rock. Steve Austin was the face of the attitude era, and the WWE.

 

[kingsfandave]

easy one! Austin hands down, yea Hogan made it such a commercial success and was in main events for years. Austin brought it to a new level in around 1997 with his character alone, I don't care what anyone says Austin carried the company on his own. The rock,hhh, foley were all good mid-carders with promising futures. Nobody had the drawing power of Austin like the way he did. I remember non wrestling fans tuning in to see what he would do to Vince or who would be stunned next. His character also related to most people, he drank, hated his boss, and only cared about himself. How many grown men with mustaches besides hulk hogan and Ned Flanders say "say your prays, eat your vitamins". Hogan is and will always be one of the greatest, but i think Austin's in ring ability, character and drawing power tops everyone off in WWE history. The Rock, HHH, Foley, Angle all benefited with Austin gone for those 2 years, they would of been stars anyway, but with Austin out it helped. If i was to rate it Austin gets a 10 while Hogan gets a 8.2 . I just wish Vince would put some serious dough up and have these 2 mega stars wrestle each other. I know Hogan and Austin are all banged up, but come on!!!!! Austin/Hogan would be HUGE!!!! bigger then any main event i guarantee. This thing could be hyped up so perfectly, I know Austin has no interest in working with him, but man would i love to see this one.....

 

[Smoz2200]

Stonecold without a doubt. Reasons, everything everybody said above and also Austin is a six-time WWF/E Champion, the 1996 King of the Ring, and winner of the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles, and is the only man in WWE history to win the Royal Rumble three times.And thats the bottom line.....well you know the rest.

 

[RuKDaD]

Hogan by far. If Hogan doesn't slam Andre at Wrestlemania III, wrestling is noway near as popular 10 years ago or today. Thus meaning no Shawn Michaels, Austin, Rock Triple H, or Cena.

 

[bulldog76]

I easily understand the Hogan and Austin arguments. Let me propose Bret Hart. Hogan had some classic matches true. But how many of them went on later to have a classic with someone else? Bret Hart/Stone Cold WM13. Bret Hart/HBK WM12. Do I need to list those 2's credentials? Hogan had classics with main-event cartoon characters. Hart had classics with main-eventers and mid-carders (Perfect, Owen, and Bulldog). Bret Hart was good for business at the time and kept it afloat in down times, but also planted seeds for the future of the business. He brought instant prestige and classic matches to any title he held. Can Hogan say that? If not for nearly breaking his neck, would we care about Austin's IC title match with Owen?

Just a perspective. Not saying Im unarguably right. But then again, I think this is like asking "Who is the greatest QB of all time?".

 

[PlayTheGame]

Hogan definitely wins this one. I mean, Hogan is not only the best WWE champion, but probably the best WWE wrestler, entertainer, etc etc of all time as well. I mean, think of it this way: when you think of wrestling and the WWE (WWF) in general, you think of Hogan, and when you think of Hogan, you think of him as the WWE Champion, the long-time, multi-time holder of the WWWF/WWF/WWE's grandest prize. When Hogan was in the WWE, he was transcending the business (and he usually had the WWE Title around his waist when doing so).

Hogan FTW.

 

[Milkyway!]

Hogan definitely wins this one.

Definitely? Really? You make it sound like there's no arguement, when there's plenty to argue. My bets on Bret Hart/Shawn Micheals one or the other. Their ability to draw was great together. While numbers show otherwise these two men pulled WWE alone during the "slump" years. Honestly, without them WWE would have had to shut down.

How about Austin. I mean he's only the biggest draw the WWE has ever had known to my knowledge. Was in the match that pulled one the highest RAW rating ever. (an 8.1) Everytime they even mention his name, I have a nostalgia for the attitude era.

I mean, Hogan is not only the best WWE champion, but probably the best WWE wrestler, entertainer, etc etc of all time as well.

John Cena can wrestle better than Hogan. He's not afraid to put people over either. He gets the job done, while Hogan is a better entertainer, Cena is a better wrestler, and quite frankly Champion. Without him and a suprise WWE championship to pull ratings, RAW gets 2.7's on the rathings chart.

when you think of wrestling and the WWE (WWF) in general, you think of Hogan, and when you think of Hogan, you think of him as the WWE Champion, the long-time, multi-time holder of the WWWF/WWF/WWE's grandest prize.

I think of the Attitude era, Monday night wars, John Cena, Randy Orton and The undertaker personally. Quit putting words in everyone elses mouth.

When Hogan was in the WWE, he was transcending the business (and he usually had the WWE Title around his waist when doing so).

Hogan had charisma,that is all. While that fueled him into the biggest star wwe has ever had. This still does not make him the best WWE/WCW/WWWF campion. It simply makes him shoved down our throat for 2-3 decades in which we all honestly thought wrestling was real. Most of us did anyways.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion]

I easily understand the Hogan and Austin arguments. Let me propose Bret Hart. Hogan had some classic matches true. But how many of them went on later to have a classic with someone else? Bret Hart/Stone Cold WM13. Bret Hart/HBK WM12. Do I need to list those 2's credentials? Hogan had classics with main-event cartoon characters. Hart had classics with main-eventers and mid-carders (Perfect, Owen, and Bulldog). Bret Hart was good for business at the time and kept it afloat in down times, but also planted seeds for the future of the business. He brought instant prestige and classic matches to any title he held. Can Hogan say that? If not for nearly breaking his neck, would we care about Austin's IC title match with Owen?

Just a perspective. Not saying Im unarguably right. But then again, I think this is like asking "Who is the greatest QB of all time?".

As i remember austin had some great matches wit michaels and rock at mania so why diss him? i have three....hogan, hbk, and hhh.....let me explain....if it wasnt for hogan would this even be here really? i mean most memorable moment him slamming andre the giant for the title? hell im to young to have seen it but saw it....hbk u could put him in a match wit elmo the puppet and he'd steal the show i mean the first grand slam champion?......and hunter i know im going to here well he's married to the boss daughter....he's a thirteen time champion all wit wwe.....headlined countless mania's and put on some great shows...and really do u think if lets say scotty 2 hotty married steph they would of made him a 13 time champ...hell no...i wouldnt even put brett in my top five...austin, rock, angle

 

[Ryanhitman316]

I have to disagree with everyone....the best champion of all time as to be Bret Hart. Come on you guys don't remember voting for it? Look:

http://img22.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bestwrestler.jpg

 

[bulldog76]

ThePeoplesChampion: "As i remember austin had some great matches wit michaels and rock at mania so why diss him?"

I dont think I ever "dissed" Austin. In fact when stating that Bret Hart had classic matches with people who went on to have more classics, I stated that naming Austin's or HBK's credentials was probably pointless. People know what HBK and Austin did. Wrestling would be here with/without Hogan. Would it be where it is today? No. Not by a long shot. I think a lot of people overlook Hart because his prime came at WWE's low-point. The Stone Cold bit was started on the mic, but was solidified by his match with Bret Hart. That match made him "Stone Cold." He wasn't just talking it anymore; he showed it. That match made him one of the more popular faces in the history of the WWE. HBK was shot out of a cannon by his match with Bret at WM12.

I will give you credit for introducing Triple H to the idea. Triple H has worked virtually every type of match for the title known to man. That versitility is vastly underrated. Kurt tries to stay away from those matches as did the Rock. Can you picture Hogan in a ladder match? Bret was the same type of wrestler (participated in any type of match before Triple H did it). I wasn't saying Bret is the best ever necessarily. I was introducing a perspective and explaining why he at least deserves discussion.

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

The best WWF/WWWF World Heavyweight Champion would have to be Bruno Sammartino due to length of reign, but best as far as marketability and money making is concerned would have to be Hulk Hogan, but the best as in the quality of opposition faced in the ring would have to be Bret Hart or Triple H. It's all relative I suppose......

 

[PBA_Sensation]

We obviously dont have too many wrestling fans in this forum. On the other hand, we have some die hard, which is great.

The idiot who said Samartino is the greatest much have just pick up "The History of the WWE Championship" DVDs at the half off bin at Walmart because his friends watch wrestling and he wanted to keep up. The guy held the belt for years because back then they only defended the belt 2 times a year, and there was no such thing as a TV taping or PPV, so people never got exposed to a champion. Why do you think no one holds the belt that long anymore? Because people get tired of seeing the same old shit, and that is what Samartino was, a big boring wrestler who was built and could bodyslam and hip toss.

Hogan made wrestling main stream and thats about it. This topic is about WWF/E runs, and frankly, if Hogan didnt slam Andre, it would be almost forgettable what he did in the WWF/E. He was a character, one who was larger than life, and no where near real. He slayed a giant, defended America from a turncoat (Slaughter), took down a King (Savage), beat King Kong (Bundy), proved that money doesnt buy everything (Dibiase), and beat an uncontrollable beast (Warrior). He took down characters, gimmicks if you will. Yes, they were all played well, and he took them down and told everyone to take your vitamins and say your prayers. He was a role model character, not a wrestler. His title reigns werent anything in the WWE. He made WCW, not the WWE. When you job out wrestlers to a damn leg drop, you are not a wrestler.

As far as this topic goes, the best champion has to be Stone Cold Steve Austin. He goes from being a prick in WCW, to being what seemed to be a jobber (Ringmaster), to being the face of the Attitude Era. The guy took control of the company that Hogan and Hart left, and turned it around into what was the Attitude Era. He has had memorable feuds with just about every big name star in the business besides Hogan. He wasnt afraid to lose to people, and he finished a match with a broken neck. Austin brought back a sense of reality to wrestling, something Hogan could never do. If you saw Austin on the street, I am almost positive he would look and seem like he did on Raw every week. Hogan, probably not. He would be the regular guy who would go into Hulk Mode when asked. Austin represented everyone who hated their boss, everyone who drank beer and wanted to kick ass, and he did it like it was cool. Something everyone wishes they could do. He held the belt more times than Hogan did, he had more ratings jumps than anyone else not named Dwayne Johnson, and as mentioned earlier, had the highest rated match on television.

Anyone that wants to say Hogan was the best champion in the WWE should check youtube and watch his over the top shit, and then look up someone like Stone Cold, HBK, Bret Hart, and even John Cena. All played a real person, exaggerated, instead of some comic book hero. Hogan on the other hand may have been the best WCW champion of all time, but thats for a different post. Plus....YELLOW SUCKS

 

[eXtremely-Priceless2K9]

hogan. as many current stars have said "that was what got me into it" so no hogan, no hardys ect and he had the drawing ability as a monkey who dresses like a nun at a zoo.

HM: The Rock
Steve Austin
Triple H

 

[MattMoses]

[QUOTE='Milk[lw]Their ability to draw was great together.[/QUOTE]
Their ability to draw was so great together that them headlining WrestleMania together was the lowest buyrate the event had recieved up until that point, and still remains the second lowest in the history of the event.

Neither man did great at selling pay-per-views or increasing TV viewership.

While numbers show otherwise these two men pulled WWE alone during the "slump" years. Honestly, without them WWE would have had to shut down.

And without Hogan, the WWE would have had to shut down long before anybody even cared about Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart.

How about Austin. I mean he's only the biggest draw the WWE has ever had known to my knowledge.

Hulk Hogan is the biggest draw in the history of the WWE and professional wrestling, and has made more money than any other wrestler.

Was in the match that pulled one the highest RAW rating ever. (an 8.1)

So what. Mick Foley and The Rock's "this is your life" segment was the highest rated RAW segment in history, which had nothing to do with Austin.

John Cena can wrestle better than Hogan. He's not afraid to put people over either.

Are you implying that Hogan never put people over? Because if so, that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read.

Hogan is a better entertainer, Cena is a better wrestler

Entertainer and professional wrestler mean the exact same thing.

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

We obviously dont have too many wrestling fans in this forum. On the other hand, we have some die hard, which is great.

The idiot who said Samartino is the greatest much have just pick up "The History of the WWE Championship" DVDs at the half off bin at Walmart because his friends watch wrestling and he wanted to keep up. The guy held the belt for years because back then they only defended the belt 2 times a year, and there was no such thing as a TV taping or PPV, so people never got exposed to a champion. Why do you think no one holds the belt that long anymore? Because people get tired of seeing the same old shit, and that is what Samartino was, a big boring wrestler who was built and could bodyslam and hip toss.

I said Bruno was one of the best due to the length of his reign and he faced some great competiton as champion, names like Killer Kowalski, George Steele, Pedro Moralas, Billy Graham, Andre the Giant, Harley Race, Bob Backlund, Buddy Rodgers, Ivan Koloff and a slew of great Japanese competitors that have really boosted Bruno's status as a great champion, not to mention the long hour long battles he had in the 60's. Bruno defended the title often for back in the day, he averaged (from what I have gathered through old footage Ive collected and books I have read) about 1 title defense every 40 days or so, which is not a lot compated to todays hot potatoe title crap, but it was respectable back then. Take boxing for instance, the World Boxing Champions only defend their titles about once every 6-12 months.

BUT, I also mentiond two other wrestlers who were the greatest WWF Champions of all time for other said reasons.

 

[Savage1]

Look I understand everyones argument that "without Hogan would wrestling be where it is today?" Or "if Hogan never slammed Andre what would have happened to the popularity level of the business?" I get it...Hogan was the guy who elevated the popularity of the sport initially but this isnt about the guy who made it popular to begin with or had the most important moment in Wrestlemania history. It's about who is the greatest champion EVER...Hogan was a pioneer and mouhpiece for the sport in it's beginning of it going mainstream but Austin was the best champ in the history of the sport for many reasons. He was a good worker, good in ring ability, the best on the mic ever, great character and so on! He propelled the sport to levels of popularity that it had never seen and may not see again. He was the biggest ratings draw ever and sold more merchandise than anyone except Cena maybe. Just go back and look at the numbers. Im not taking away from the significance of what Hogan did but he was not the greatest champion in my eyes. Austin took the reigns when the sport was still in a slump and brought it to it's highest level of popularity ever. Bret Hart himself used o say Austin was the best wrestler alive and he was right. It's so unfortunate that Austin suffered the injuries e did and had to retire so soon, but if you look at ratings before he retired and after Im sure you will understand just what an impact he had. And thats the bottom line!!!

 

[Hulkster84]

Hulk Hogan - and its an easy one!
He held the belt for longer than anyone in modern mainstream wrestling and he WAS the man who took wrestling mainstream while he was champion!
He has held the belt 6 times and his total days as champion are the longest in mainstream wrestling history!
a 4 year run
a 1 year run
an 8 month run
HUGE!!
He main evented more wrestlemanias than any other wrestler in history and did so most of the time as wwe champion!
Wrestlemanias 1-7, and 9 involved hogan headlining the event in the cmampionship picture!
As champion he generated the biggest buyrates for pay per views in wrestling history...10.2 at wrestlemania 3..which is the highest buyrate of all time for a ppv!
Austins best buyrate figure was 2.82 for wm17!
Hogans is almost 5 times that!!
Hogan as champion generated the highest ever rating for a wrestling program with Andre on February 5 1988 when he fought Andre on national tv!
33 million viewers tuned in to see that segment which drew a rating of 27.5!
To give you an idea of how high that is...the highest ever raw rating for raw was 8.1 during the attitude era!
Hogan as champion generated a 27.5 rating!
More than 3 times as large!
He has drawn more big crowds than any other wrestler in wrestling history!
93173 at WM3
68000 at WM6
68000 at WM18
63000 at WM8
54000 at WM19
70000 at the big event vs paul orndorff
and the list goes on and on!
He is the biggest star, the biggest name and the most popular and beloved wrestler in history bar none!!
He has received bigger pops and ovations than any wrestler in history!
He is the greatest champion of all time...wcw titles etc included!
He is Hulk Hogan!

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

Look I understand everyones argument that "without Hogan would wrestling be where it is today?" Or "if Hogan never slammed Andre what would have happened to the popularity level of the business?" I get it...Hogan was the guy who elevated the popularity of the sport initially but this isnt about the guy who made it popular to begin with or had the most important moment in Wrestlemania history. It's about who is the greatest champion EVER...Hogan was a pioneer and mouhpiece for the sport in it's beginning of it going mainstream but Austin was the best champ in the history of the sport for many reasons. He was a good worker, good in ring ability, the best on the mic ever, great character and so on! He propelled the sport to levels of popularity that it had never seen and may not see again. He was the biggest ratings draw ever and sold more merchandise than anyone except Cena maybe. Just go back and look at the numbers. Im not taking away from the significance of what Hogan did but he was not the greatest champion in my eyes. Austin took the reigns when the sport was still in a slump and brought it to it's highest level of popularity ever. Bret Hart himself used o say Austin was the best wrestler alive and he was right. It's so unfortunate that Austin suffered the injuries e did and had to retire so soon, but if you look at ratings before he retired and after Im sure you will understand just what an impact he had. And thats the bottom line!!!

Problem with Austin is that he was not that great in the ring while he was champion, he had lost a lot of that through injury and character change. While Austin was champion it was punch, kick, punch, kick, punch, kick, Thez Press with punches, mud hole stomping in corner, punch, kick, punch, kick, punch, kick, maybe a clotheslines, punch, kick, punch, kick, take it to the outside and face ram into pole, then face ram onto announcers table, punch, kick, punch, kick, punch, kick, roll them back into the ring stunner and over. The matches were not that entertaining and there were few guys who could bring out the best in Austin, Hart being the one that did it best. I liked Austin at the time, but looking back I can honestly say that he was far from the best champion ever, guy couldn't hold onto the belt to save his life and he was one dimential while champion, but he was a great in ring talent in his WCW days.

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

Hulk Hogan - and its an easy one!
He held the belt for longer than anyone in modern mainstream wrestling and he WAS the man who took wrestling mainstream while he was champion!
He has held the belt 6 times and his total days as champion are the longest in mainstream wrestling history!
a 4 year run
a 1 year run
an 8 month run
HUGE!!
He main evented more wrestlemanias than any other wrestler in history and did so most of the time as wwe champion!
Wrestlemanias 1-7, and 9 involved hogan headlining the event in the cmampionship picture!
As champion he generated the biggest buyrates for pay per views in wrestling history...10.2 at wrestlemania 3..which is the highest buyrate of all time for a ppv!
Austins best buyrate figure was 2.82 for wm17!
Hogans is almost 5 times that!!
Hogan as champion generated the highest ever rating for a wrestling program with Andre on February 5 1988 when he fought Andre on national tv!
33 million viewers tuned in to see that segment which drew a rating of 27.5!
To give you an idea of how high that is...the highest ever raw rating for raw was 8.1 during the attitude era!
Hogan as champion generated a 27.5 rating!
More than 3 times as large!
He has drawn more big crowds than any other wrestler in wrestling history!
93173 at WM3
68000 at WM6
68000 at WM18
63000 at WM8
54000 at WM19
70000 at the big event vs paul orndorff
and the list goes on and on!
He is the biggest star, the biggest name and the most popular and beloved wrestler in history bar none!!
He has received bigger pops and ovations than any wrestler in history!
He is the greatest champion of all time...wcw titles etc included!
He is Hulk Hogan!

This is exactly why I said as far as marketability and cash generation, Hogan was the best. These facts and numbers are just that, facts and numbers and it makes the Attitude Era look like it was a low point in wrestling, lol, its kind of funny. Hogan was a tremendous champion and did what a champion should do, make the company money. Great post.