10 Best WWE Champions in History

#3 Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino: The longest reigning WWE Champion of all time

Bruno Sammartino was the second WWE Champion in the belt's long history. Defeating inaugural champion, Buddy Rogers in less than two minutes, Sammartino kicked off a record eight-year reign as champion in May 1963, defending against all comers before he famously lost the title to a crowd, literally stunned into silence at Madison Square Garden to Ivan Koloff.

Sammartino sold out the hallowed Madison Square Garden more times than any other wrestler and although his matches weren't pretty from a technical standpoint, he was so incredibly strong with incredible charisma that fans came in drove paying hard earned cash to see him batter opponents on a continual basis.

The Sammartino model was so difficult to replicate that Vince McMahon Sr. paid him an absolute fortune to begin a second title reign, which he did, beginning in December 1973. This time his reign lasted a little over three years until Sammartino tired of the gruelling schedule he had to undertake as company figurehead.

Sammartino is revered today as one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time. It is for good reason, without Sammartino, there likely would not be a WWE in 2018.