20 Days That Changed WWE Forever

20. 17 May 1963 - Bruno Sammartino Wins The WWWF Championship

According to WWE's official canon, Buddy Rogers won the WWWF Championship on 25 April 1963, winning a tournament in Rio de Janeiro. No such tournament ever took place, of course, and Rogers was champion because of his NWA Title reign and his ability as a draw. Still, his title reign didn't last long - less than a month later, he defended the belt against a 27-year-old rising star named Bruno Sammartino.

The match only lasted 48 seconds. Rogers claimed for the rest of his life that he had suffered a heart attack a week prior and had to leave the hospital to compete. Sammartino and others questioned the claims. Regardless, Sammartino overwhelmed Rogers on 17 May 1963 to win the title and become the company's first true superstar.

During Sammartino's reign - which lasted for seven years and eight months - he sold out Madison Square Garden on myriad occasions and established a formula for the way the WWWF did business; namely, with a babyface champion on top and numerous heel challengers chasing him.