Universal Champion Roman Reigns has now completed 651 days as a world champion in WWE. He has thus surpassed Bret Hart's milestone of 650 days as the company's top champion.
Reigns is doing the best work of his career as a bad guy on SmackDown. He has been Universal Champion for more than a year at this point. Roman Reigns won the coveted belt at Payback 2020, mere days after returning to WWE as a heel. He defeated Braun Strowman and The Fiend to win the Universal title and no one has succeeded in taking it from him so far.
The Tribal Chief is all set to defend the belt against arch-rival Brock Lesnar at the Day 1 pay-per-view. He will now target Randy Orton's milestone: a whopping 806 days as world champion, across 14 reigns.
In this slideshow, we will take a look at five Hall of Famers aside from Bret Hart, who are now behind Roman Reigns when it comes to number of days as WWE's world champion.
#5 WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle
Team Angle with ALL the gold!..WWE Champion Kurt Angle and WWE Tag Team Champions (SmackDown) Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas with Paul Heyman back in 2003 pic.twitter.com/fOIKKKtv02
— Rasslin' History 101 (@WrestlingIsKing) April 6, 2020
Kurt Angle won four WWE titles and had a single World Heavyweight title reign in 2006, which amounted to 376 days as world champion. He retired in 2019, two years after being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
It's safe to assume that Angle is no longer a threat to Roman Reigns, when it comes to combined days as the company's top champion.
#4 WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels
@WWE Shawn Michaels
— Triple H (@TripleH) December 16, 2013
"WWE Champion"#WWETLC #ChampionOfChampions pic.twitter.com/9Pk80lgItV
Shawn Michaels is dubbed possibly the greatest superstar in history, by many in the industry. He made his way to WWE back in the 80s and was a major star for the better part of the 90s. He is a three-time WWE Champion and won the World Heavyweight title on one occasion.
Michaels was world champion for 420 days, across his four reigns. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He was also ranked No.1 in the highly controversial "Top 50 Superstars of All Time" DVD that came out in 2010.
RETWEET this if you think that Shawn Michaels is the greatest WWE Champion of all time! #HBK #MrWrestleMania pic.twitter.com/CGD5oAA5f3
— Jagnarok (@Jagnarok) May 28, 2014
It has been a while since Shawn Michaels retired from in-ring competition. He will forever be remembered as an all-time great, but he is nowhere close to Roman Reigns when it comes to combined days as the top champion.
#3 WWE Hall of Famer Randy Savage
It's 31 years to the day since "Macho Man" Randy Savage became #WWE Champion for the first time at #WrestleMania IV! pic.twitter.com/ymjy10ZSBb
— WWE Home Video UK (@WWEHomeVideoUK) March 27, 2019
Randy Savage was a popular pro-wrestling star in during the 80s. He was one of the few wrestlers who were heavily pushed while Hulk Hogan was still in the company. Savage won a tournament at WrestleMania 4 to win the promotion's top title, by defeating Ted Dibiase.
#RAWAtlanta #random #WWEBattleground Randy Savage #WWE Champion 1988 pic.twitter.com/RZfIeeY3CL
— Dan (@cokezerodan) July 14, 2015
He ended his career with two world title reigns. Savage's two reigns amounted to an impressive 518 days as world champion. Later in his career, Randy Savage went to WCW and tasted world title success there as well. He won the WCW World Heavyweight title on four different occasions.
Savage tragically passed away due to a heart attack in 2011. He was honored with a Hall of Fame induction in 2015.
#2 WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone cold steve austin is a former wwe champion intercontinental champion wcw United States champion tag team champion and nwa tag team champion 3 time royal rumble winner wwe hall of famer and had an amazing feud with the rock at 3 wrestlemanias. pic.twitter.com/VkOvVIuJFN
— Lucha9123 (@lucha9123) April 2, 2018
Stone Cold Steve Austin was instrumental in WWE defeating WCW in the Monday Night War. His career was cut short in 2003 due to a neck injury, as well as several knee injuries. Austin headlined three WrestleMania events during his run as the company's top star, and won the top title on six occasions.
Who do you think is the best WWE champion of all time? I’ll start Stone Cold Steve Austin pic.twitter.com/k0e8jOoZGu
— Bonafide Heat (@BonafideHeat) January 17, 2021
Austin was world champion for a combined 524 days across his six reigns, and defended the belt 27 times. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
#1 WWE Hall of Famer Edge
Is @mikethemiz afraid of @EdgeRatedR? #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/P4sKRTPXdS
— WWE (@WWE) December 12, 2021
Edge retired from WWE in 2011 due to a nagging neck injury. In one of the biggest feel-good moments in wrestling history, he made his big return at Royal Rumble 2020, and came incredibly close to winning it all.
Edge is one of the most decorated superstars in history. He carried SmackDown on his shoulders as a top heel, back in the late 2000s. The Rated-R Superstar has won 11 world titles in Vince McMahon's promotion, with a combined reign of 540 days. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Edge vs. The Miz should be an awesome match!! #WWERaw 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fYyXFTHFal
— Cenation - WWE Guy (@CenationMarian1) December 7, 2021
Edge is the only Hall of Famer in this list who has a slight shot at keeping up with Roman Reigns in terms of combined days as top champion. He is currently an active star on TV and is currently feuding with The Miz.
It looks highly unlikely, though, that WWE will give the top title to Edge and keep it on him for an extended period of time, at this stage in his career.