Hi folks! Today, we are looking at the 35 shortest reigning WWE Champions in history. For title reigns, I have made a cutoff point of 7 days. The list features wrestlers who claimed sanctioned titles outside the promotion, and I’m only including cumulative reigns, otherwise the list would be excessive. You should know this is the first of a two part article looking at champions with reigns between 2-7 days.
Here are two quick lists of all the shortest reigning Hardcore & 24/7 Champions, just so they don’t need to be included later:
Hardcore: Shawn Stasiak, Justin Credible, Spike Dudley, William Regal, Tazz, Johnny Stamboli, Pete Gas, Perry Saturn, K-Kwik (R-Truth), Christopher Nowinski, Booker T, Viscera, Trish Stratus, Thrasher, Terri, Rodney, Mighty Molly, Kurt Angle, Joey Abs, The Hurricane, Cynthia Lynch, Funaki, Christian, Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy, The British Bulldog, Shane McMahon & Pat Patterson.
24/7: Titus O’Neil, The Revival, Ted DiBiase, The Gobbledy Gooker (Drew Gulak), Tamina, Santa Claus, Rob Stone, Robert Roode, Pat Patterson, Mike Rome, Michael Glaccio, Marshmello, Lince Dorado, Kyle Busch, Kelly Kelly, Heath Slater, Gran Metalik, Major Glenn Jacobs, Gerald Brisco, Erik, Enes Kanter, Doug Flutie, Corey Graves, Candice Michelle, Byron Saxton, Bo Dallas, Alundra Blayze, Alicia Fox, Tucker, Mike Kanellis, Joseph Average (Rick Boogs), Jinder Mahal, Cedric Alexander, EC3, Peter Rosenberg, Angel Garza, Maria Kanellis & Drew Gulak.
With that said, let’s begin with champions who just made the cut with a one week reign.
WWF/E World Tag Team Championship — 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty / Chief Morley & Lance Storm / John Cena & Batista (7 Days)
The deactivated World Tag Team Championship has a collection of teams who didn’t hold on for long.
– In early 1994, The Quebecers stood tall as the champions for 119 days, before 1-2-3 Kid (X-Pac) & Marty Jannetty rocked up and took them away. 7 days later, The Quebecers took them back and Jannetty vanished from TV.
While it has never been confirmed or denied, this happened after jobber wrestler Charles Austin sued the WWF and Marty. He took a finishing move and landed so badly it broke his neck and paralyzed him. Later that year, a jury sided with Austin and the court told the company to pay him $26.7 million. WWF settled out of court for $10m, and Marty Jannetty paid 500k. The former Intercontinental Champion did not return to TV til the following year, when he debuted for ECW.
– In 2003, William Regal & Lance Storm were enjoying time as two-time tag champions. Cruelly, Regal had to take time off to recover from a concussion and a heart parasite. As Eric Bischoff’s “Chief of Staff”, Val Venis, now going by Chief Morley, awarded himself and Lance Storm the tag team titles. A week later, after defending it on an episode of Heat, Morley & Storm lost the titles to Rob Van Dam & Kane in a three way involving The Dudley Boyz.
– The most famous 1-week reign belongs to John Cena & Batista. At the height of tag team success for The Legacy, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Jr looked to impress Randy Orton. However, despite being rivals for the World Heavyweight title, Cena & Batista defeated them. A week later, the heat between them was too much and Legacy got them back with a surprise roll up on Cena. They had a singles match at SummerSlam, which Batista won.
Kurt Angle as WCW Champion / Edge as WCW United States Champion (6 Days)
After acquiring the company in 2001, the WWF began featuring WCW Champions on its shows. Booker T brought the WCW World & United States Championships with him and played a big part in the early days of the WCW/ECW invasion storyline.
On an episode of SmackDown in July, Booker T gave away his US title to Chris Kanyon, as he felt confident enough as WCW Champion. On the same show, Kurt Angle defeated Booker T for the World Championship, leaving him without a title. Six days later, on Monday Night Raw, Booker T got the title back after a big assist from Alliance leaders Steve Austin & Shane McMahon. Guess what? This made him a five time, five time, five time, five time, five time… WCW Champion!
Kurt Angle would be involved again, but this time with Edge’s brief reign. In November, Angle lost the WCW United States title to Edge, who would then beat the Intercontinental Champion Test six days later at Survivor Series. He unified the United States title into the IC title, rendering the WCW version obsolete and deactivated. However, the United States title returned (now with the WWE initials) in 2003, when Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit in a tournament final. It remains the only title which the company recognizes NWA & WCW history in its records.
Mankind & Al Snow as World Tag Champions / Velvet McIntyre as Women’s Champion / Akira Tozawa as Cruiserweight Champion (6 Days)
– Not long after the red hot streak of The Rock N’ Sock Connection, and shortly before the epic feud between E&C/Dudleys/Hardys, the tag titles went in to a brief lull. Mankind wasn’t finished with The Holly Cousins, who had taken the titles away from him and The Rock. With The Great One moving on, he had to call on Al Snow, and they took the titles from The Hollys. However, six days later, the duo lost the titles to the New Age Outlaws because Snow turned heel. He read what Foley had written about him in his book, and the friendship was over.
– While over on a non-televised tour of Australia in 1986, the Irish-Canadian Velvet McIntyre defeated The Fabulous Moolah for the women’s title. She lost it back to Moolah six days later. This makes her the shortest reigning female champion in the title’s history. The reign was so short I can’t find any images of her holding the belt. However, as the first Women’s Tag Champion (and one of the longest reigning), there are plenty of images of her holding this title. The biggest match she & Moolah had was at WrestleMania 2, when Velvet was forced to job because the referee blatantly ignored her foot being on the rope.
– Within the first year of 205 Live, the new Cruiserweight title had moved from TJ Perkins, to The Brian Kendrick, to Rich Swann, and then Neville. The King of the Cruiserweights dominated the brand and elevated the title over the coming months. I often say this was the height of the Cruiserweight division. When Akira Tozawa defeated Neville and ended his 197 day reign, it felt like he a consolation prize for the work he had done. Neville got the title back six days later on the SummerSlam kickoff show. 35 days on, Neville lost the title to Enzo Amore, and thus began the fall of 205 Live. Tozawa deserved a win because he helped build the brand.
WWWF U.S. Tag Team Championship — Bruno Sammartino & Spiron Arion (5 Days)
We know Bruno Sammartino for his record reign in the WWE Championship lineage, but many won’t know that he has one of the shortest as a tag champion. The title originally belonged to the NWA, but was renamed in 1963 when the WWWF acquired it. The longest reigning champions include The Fabulous Kangeroos and The Grahams.
After nine years of activity, Sammartino & Arion defeated The Sicilians (Captain Lou Albano & Tony Altimore) to become the last champions. Because Bruno was the WWWF Champion, he could not defend both titles, so they deactivated the championship in July 1967 and left it to gather dust in history.
Carlos Jose Estrada as WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion / Paul London & Brian Kendrick as World Tag Team Champions (3 Days)
– After being deactivated for nearly six years, the WWF Junior Heavyweight title returned for a tournament. Carlos Jose Estrada beat Tony Garea to become champion in 1978, but would lose it three days later to Japanese legend Tatsumi Fujinami. I couldn’t find many decent images of Estrada, so I included a 1982 encounter with Tiger Mask. Estrada is perhaps better known as one-half of the original Los Conquistadors tag team. The Junior Heavyweight title found its way to Japan, where it was claimed by Tiger Mask, Dynamite Kid and others.
– Except for The New Day, Paul London & Brian Kendrick are the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions (later renamed the Raw Tag titles). However, they also hold the distinction of a brief reign as World Tag Champions. Six months after ending their near 1-year title reign, London & Kendrick went on a tour of South Africa. Here, they defeated Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch to become champions, but would lose them three days later on the same tour. It was the last time London & Kendrick held tag team gold in WWE.
Ryuma Go as WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion / The Mountie as IC Champion / Men on a Mission as World Tag Champions / Crash Holly as European Champion / Moustache Mountain as NXT Tag Team Champions (2 Days)
– After Tatsumi Fujinami took the title from Estrada, he took it home to Japan. Here, he defended the title against Ryuma Go, marking the first time in history that a WWE Championship would be contested between two Japanese wrestlers. Here’s a New Japan column explaining this: The week that was in NJPW World History
Ryuma Go did not succeed right away. Fujinami held the title from 1978 to 1981, but there was a slight blip on his record. Over a year after they met in the ring for the first time, Ryuma Go defeated Fujinami on October 2, 1979. Two days later, Fujinami claimed it back. This makes Ryuma Go the shortest reigning Japanese champion in the history of WWE Championship’s.
– One of the biggest shockers in the history of the Intercontinental Championship,was The Mountie defeating Bret Hart. Formerly known as Jacques Rougeau of The Quebecers, this Canadian law enforcement officer claimed the title on a house show while Bret had the flu (the truth is he was undergoing contract negotiations).
Two days later, he dropped the title to Roddy Piper at Royal Rumble 1992. This was the height of his career as a singles wrestler. The Mountie had a rematch against Piper, but his shock stick didn’t work because Piper was wearing a shockproof vest. Piper soon moved on to a feud with Bret Hart leading in to WrestleMania, while The Mountie moved in to the undercard.
– The Quebecers again? Yep. This time in 1994, on a tour of the UK, Mabel (aka Viscera) & Mo defeated them in London for the World Tag Team Championship. Two days later, Men on a Mission lost the titles back to The Quebecers further north in Sheffield. This happened before Mabel’s King of the Ring victory, but is often forgotten because the moment was fleeting. It was the only title Mo ever won, and one of the two Mabel claimed, with the other being the Hardcore Championship.
– God, I love coincidences. Talking about Sheffield, in 2000 there was a PPV held there called Rebellion. On this show, we saw Kurt Angle retain his title against Rikishi, Steve Austin & The Rock. Ivory and Right to Censor also retained their titles. However, William Regal was not so fortunate. Most will remember Crash Holly for his 22 Hardcore title reigns, but he was also a Light Heavyweight Champion, and a European Champion after beating Regal. Two days later, after getting back to the United States, Regal got the title back on Raw.
– A more recent example of a two-day reign is Moustache Mountain claiming the NXT Tag Team titles in 2018. During the weekend of the 2nd UK Championship Tournament, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven took on The Undisputed Era team of Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong. Of course, this was to give the UK fans a feel good moment. WWE recognizes their reign as 22 days, but this is because of tape delays. Two days later and back in Florida, The Undisputed Era regained the titles after Tyler Bate threw in the towel to save his partner from a submission.
– A more recent example of a two day reign is Moustache Mountain claiming the NXT Tag Team titles in 2018. During the weekend of the 2nd UK Championship Tournament, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven took on The Undisputed Era team of Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong. Of course, this was to give the UK fans a feel good moment, WWE recognizes their reign as 22 days, but this is because of tape delays. Two days later and back in Florida, The Undisputed Era regained the titles after Tyler Bate threw in the towel to save his partner from a submission.
This is the first of a two part article looking at the shortest reigning WWE Champions in history. Next time, we will cover everyone who held a title for one day or less. I promise you will be surprised, so see you then! And thanks for reading.
Also Read: 35 Shortest Reigning WWE Champions In History (2/2)
