5 of the most protected WWE Champions of all time

In the storied history of WWE, wrestlers have come and gone, but only a few managed to bag the top spot in their respective eras. When a Superstar is pushed and the company sees ratings or revenue increase with each passing day, said wrestler gets protected in the ring.

In professional wrestling, protecting a wrestler can be defined as making sure that he comes out on top on a regular basis, and rarely loses a match. These protections lead to fans believing in the Superstar as being someone who is untouchable, and can't be easily defeated. When it comes to protecting a Superstar, Undertaker's WrestleMania streak comes to mind. For more than two decades, Taker was protected at 'Mania and he went on to win 21 consecutive matches. This protection is frequently afforded to champions, especially World Champions.

Let's take a look at 5 most protected WWE Champions of all time.

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#5 The Ultimate Warrior

By the time WrestleMania 6 came around, The Ultimate Warrior had become one of the hottest acts in professional wrestling. He was going head to head in terms of popularity with none other than Hulk Hogan himself. This resulted in a Champion vs Champion match at The Grandest Stage Of Them All, which Warrior ultimately won.

Warrior's WWE career was marred with controversy, and he didn't stay for long in the company. Warrior's winning percentage in WWE was a whopping 89.4%, for wrestlers who had wrestled more than 100 matches. Looking at these figures, it's not hard to believe that Vince McMahon was all set to replace Hogan with Warrior, as the face of his company. A string of backstage controversies, however, led to a rift between McMahon and Warrior. One wonders what incredible in-ring records Warrior would have made had he stayed in WWE in the early 90s.

#4 Kofi Kingston

At WrestleMania 35, Kofi Kingston realized a decade-long dream and defeated The Planet's Champion Daniel Bryan in the middle of the ring to become WWE Champion. One of the most emotional moments in WrestleMania history, fans saw Kofi celebrating with his son and his fellow New Day members, Xavier Woods and Big E, as 80,000 fans cheered for him.

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Many thought that this reign wouldn't last long, but WWE proved the detractors wrong by turning Kofi into a legitimate champion with an incredible win/loss record. If you look at Kofi's record after WrestleMania, you'd be amazed to know that he has been winning matches one after the other, and is currently at 23-2 after losing a 6-man tag team match on SmackDown Live. It's refreshing to see that not only WWE gave Kofi a well-deserved moment, the company actually turned him into a champion to be taken seriously.

#3 John Cena

It's no secret that John Cena turned from a legitimate crowd-favorite to one of the most polarizing Superstars in WWE history, after he was crowned WWE Champion at WrestleMania 21.

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After defeating JBL at the Show of Shows, Cena became the hottest Superstar in WWE at the time, and was drafted to WWE's premiere show, Monday Night Raw. WWE replicated the Austin-McMahon story line with Cena-Bischoff, with the Raw GM doing his best to get the championship off of Cena. The former Dr. of Thugonomics defeated the likes of JBL, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and Randy Orton during his first WWE Title run, racking up an incredible record of 32-9 in 2005. Cena was protected to the point that no one managed to make him submit, especially due to his gimmick being about never giving up. Cena lost the WWE Title to Edge at New Year's Revolution, but went on to win back the Title at Royal Rumble.

#2 Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar wasn't considered unbeatable for a long while, but all that changed when he defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30 and broke the legendary streak. The Beast suddenly turned into one of the most dangerous athletes of all time, and WWE made it a point to bring his UFC past into the picture and treat him like a legit fighter.

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Lesnar went on to squash John Cena in the main event of SummerSlam 2014 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Since then, Lesnar began getting treated as someone who couldn't be beaten unless there was a controversial finish to the match. Lesnar went on to defeat the likes of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, and Braun Strowman. He ran roughshod over the WWE locker room and recently won back the Universal Title by cashing in his MITB briefcase on Seth Rollins.

#1 Hulk Hogan

When one talks about the most protected Champions of all time, Hulk Hogan's name is bound to come up. Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik in 1984 to win the then-WWF Championship. He immediately became the most popular performer in pro wrestling, and Vince McMahon decided to cash in on this fame. WrestleMania I saw Hogan teaming up with A-Team and Rocky III (which also had an appearance by Hogan) star Mr. T to defeat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Hogan would go on to headline eight out of the first nine WrestleMania events. This is one record no one has been able to break since then.

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Hogan's popularity made WWE and Vince McMahon millions of dollars during the 80s, and he rarely lost a match. His record before leaving for WCW stood at 141-30! This really put into perspective how over Hogan was with the fans and why he is widely regarded as possibly the greatest Superstar of all time.

What WWE Champion do you feel was extremely well protected? Let us know in the comments further on down!

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