The 10 Greatest WWE Champions of ALL Time 9

Bruno Sammartino

Back when the WWE was known as the WWWF Bruno Sammartino was the wrestler to beat. He's the longest-reigning WWE Champion, holding the belt only twice for more than 11 years, or 4040 days, to be exact.

To capture the belt then known as the WWWF Championship Sammartino defeated "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in only 48 seconds at Madison Square Garden in 1963. Sammartino would go on to carry the belt until 1971 when he lost to Ivan Koloff.

Sammartino held the belt again from 1973 until 1977 before retiring for the first time in 1981. After a four-year stint with the company from 1984 to 1988, Sammartino retired a second time. After years of not being involved with the company Sammartino was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, an honor that was long overdue for the record-setting champion.