It is an honor for any man to be given a run with the WWE Championship. The gold signifies that management within the company has faith in that Superstar and that they believe he can carry the company's main events on television, pay-per-view and house shows, not to mention do all the public appearances and media relations work that comes with being an elite talent in the industry. Although titles themselves have lost some of the prestige they once had, being the champion comes with tremendous responsibility. In today's wrestling landscape, a reign that last six months is considered a lengthy one. With the attention span of the audience shorter than ever before, title changes are necessary to keep the product fresh and keep fans from tuning out. Throughout history, however, it was not uncommon for a popular Superstar who draw big gates and could deliver crowd-pleasing performances to run with the gold for years at a time. From the 1950s until the dawn of the 1990s, the heavyweight champion did not receive as much television exposure as they do now. They appeared in promos and during interview segments such as Piper's Pit and the Brother Love Show but they were sparingly used in televised matches. Thus, fans had to buy pay-per-views or purchase tickets to house shows to watch their favorite wrestler compete. This allowed the promoter to keep the title on that Superstar longer and still remain fresh at the same time. Hall of Famers such as Hulk Hogan, Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund and Bruno Sammartino benefited from that style of booking and will appear quite high on the proceeding list. Still, there are a handful of modern Superstars who became so hot or did such strong business for Vince McMahon's wrestling empire that he allowed them a lengthy run with the strap. John Cena and CM Punk are two such stars and, conversely, are two of the biggest stars of the last decade, something that likely helped their cause. With Daniel Bryan embarking on a title reign that most hope will last significantly longer than his first two runs with the championship, let's take a look back at 10 superstars who carried the 20 pounds of gold around airports and hotels longer than any of their title-winning peers
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
