Is Roman Reigns the Longest Reigning World Champion in WWE?

The era of Roman Reigns is perpetually going strong as the Tribal Chief has been tenacious with his title reigns for the longest time. Reigns first secured the Universal Championship after defeating Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a triple-threat match at Payback in 2020 and has since been on an unstoppable winning spree. With each passing day, Roman Reigns’ title reign expands. The Head of the Table has surpassed 860 plus days mark having held the Universal Championship. 

While having one top title on his shoulder wasn’t enough, Reigns usurped Brock Lesnar’s throne and captured the WWE Championship last year at WrestleMania 38. We’re getting close to Reigns completing one year as the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion.

After defeating Brock Lesnar, Reigns vanquished legends and other superstars who have tried to dethrone the master of the Bloodline. While Roman Reigns is the longest-reigning Champion of this era, is he also the longest-reigning world titleholder in the history of WWE? 

Is Roman Reigns the longest-reigning World Champion in WWE?

Nobody can deny the fact that Roman Reigns has hammered out a storied career for himself in WWE. It is safe to bet that Reigns has taken the place of John Cena ever since the latter embarked on his Hollywood journey. However, even John Cena’s impressive World Championship reign does not come remotely close to Roman’s.

After wiping out the locker room filled with talented athletes, Reigns has solidified himself as one of the greatest champions ever to grace the squared circle. It’s worth noting that Roman Reigns recently outlasted JBL’s WWE Championship reign, having held the WWE Championship for over 281 days. 

John Cena’s Title Reigns lasted for 380 days from 2006 to 2007. CM Punk surpassed Cena by staying Champion for 434 days from 2011 to 2013. Then came Lesnar with his domination, holding the Championship for 503 days from 2017 to 2018.

Transcending Brock Lesnar’s mark, Roman Reigns is currently leading with his Universal Championship reign. But, he still isn’t the longest-reigning World Champion. In fact, Roman Reigns is far behind WWE legends who have reigned supreme in the past for multiple years.  

The longest-reigning World Champion was WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino. The late wrestling legend had two long-established reigns as the World Champion. One of his reigns lasted over 1,237 days and the other for a staggering 2,803 days. It is going to take Roman Reigns over a lustrum to touch Sammartino’s milestone. 

Other pro wrestlers with longer World title reigns than Roman Reigns

After Bruno Sammartino, WWE legend Bob Backlund held kingly power as World Champion for a mind-boggling 2,135 days, which is nearly six years. Hulk Hogan then joined the category of the longest-reigning World Champions, having held the top title for over four years, 1,474 days to be precise.

Hogan’s World Championship reign comes as no surprise, as he is one of the most popular pro wrestlers on the planet. And finally, Pedro Morales held the WWE Championship for 1,027 days. Morales was the first-ever Triple Crown Champion who held the World Championship title, the IC Championship title, and the tag team Championship title at the same time.

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