10 Greatest Champions In Pro Wrestling History

Bret was the man who had to carry the WWF on his back during the WWF steroid trial. He was an honorable fighting champion and even with business down and bad publicity surrounding the company, he proudly represented the WWF and also closed one final WrestleMania where he essentially passed the torch to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII.

The second most prolific World Champ behind only Ric Flair, Cena has been the flagship performer for Vince McMahon and WWE for the past decade. He is the last true star created by the McMahon empire and has been the only consistent live show draw for years. People have been tired if him and his act for a number of years, but his quality work in the ring and dedication in representing his company has gained the respect of all.

Likely the most controversial entry on this list, CM Punk is an important World Champion because of the length of his reign with the title and the spark that he caused by sitting on the Raw stage and spilling his guts about the company and those running it. During the longest uninterrupted title reign of the past 25 years, fans got to enjoy a lot of fantastic wrestling.

Credited with inventing the powerbomb, German suplex, STF and what came to be known as the Thesz press, Lou Thesz is credited as being an innovator in the game and one of the best pro wrestlers of all time. He was given the honor of being the first champ (he was already NWA World Champ) of the officially integrated sect of promotions.

Ring of Honor became the most-talked about small promotion after the end of Extreme Championship Wrestling. The wrestling was great but their choice of the original champion was iffy at best. Enter Samoa Joe, who promptly won the audience over. Joe would go on to hold the ROH World Title for 21 months. The promotion has continued to grow thanks in part to Samoa Joe’s historic title reign.

Known as a legendary tough guy, Race is a seven-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, winning his first in 1973 from Dory Funk, Jr. He had some excellent matches, winning the consensus Match of the Year on a number of occasions. His cage match at the first Starrcade 1983 with Ric Flair is lauded as one of the best NWA title matches in Starrcade history.

Not much needs to be said about Hogan. He was the perennial good guy of the 1980s and the perennial bad guy of the 1990s. Hogan held the Heavyweight Title multiple times in both the WWF and WCW. While he wasn't the amazing or innovative in-ring performer that the majority of those on this list are, Hogan made wrestling relevant to the main stream in the 80s and did it again in the 90s after the spotlight dimmed.

Bob Backlund held the WWF Title two times, with his first reign lasting just short of six years. After injuries put him out of wrestling for a while, he returned in the early 1990s and eventually defeated Bret Hart to win the belt for a second time. In the 70s going into the early 80s, Backlund was a huge star as the all-American clean-cut golden boy.

Sammartino held the WWF Championship two times, his first reign lasting seven years and eight months and his second lasting three years and four months. Bruno was a humongous star with the Italian population all over the world, which helped his drawing power. He was such an important and renowned worldwide star that he was granted a private audience with the Roman Catholic Pope in Vatican City while wrestling in Italy.

The most decorated American wrestler of all time, Ric Flair is recognized as the standard bearer of all World Champions. The 16-time former World Champion had some of the best matches in wrestling history with some of the best (and even not-so-good) wrestlers in the business. Recognized often as the best talker and best in-ring performer, Flair is known by everyone in the wrestling world as The Man.