#3 Bret Hart
The reason why Bret Hart has been included on this list is because his championship victory was the indicator of a big company paradigm shift - the company was moving away from tall, huge men and towards sleeker and faster superstars.
Hart claimed that he was the best and backed it up in the ring. He was a true champion, cutting excellent promos, wrestling stellar matches and putting butts in seats.
#2 Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino is the reason why the WWE is what it is today. Sammartino earned the title - The Living Legend during his lifetime. He was also called The Strongest Man in the World and The Italian Strongman, early in his career.
He is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. His powerful Bear Hug finishing move was widely popular.
Across 2 reigns - he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for more than eleven years (4,040 days), the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotion's history at 2,803 days.