10 Best WWE Title Runs Ever

CM Punk's 434-day reign becomes more impressive with the benefit of retrospect, not least because 434 is one of very few numbers fans remember.

Punk first captured the gold at Survivor Series 2012 in what, easily, was the greatest Alberto Del Rio singles match. In one of depressingly few "true" main events, Punk defended the title against both Del Rio and The Miz in a great bout at TLC, of the sort that questions the narrative that WWE could not do without talisman John Cena: Punk performed and wrestled as the biggest star in the company, and outdrew the subsequent year's Cena-driven buy rate. Punk and Chris Jericho belatedly made up for a somewhat disappointing WrestleMania XXVIII showing in a violent and believable Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules before an absolutely superb, near decade-best in-ring programme with Daniel Bryan influenced and elevated the standard of a WWE Heavyweight Title match - between which Punk, in a quiet success story, gave Mark Henry a career top-five match on RAW. A rare run in which the belt changed the man who wore it, the desperation to retain it manifested as awesome heel hubris throughout his partnership with Paul Heyman and a feud with Ryback that was the last, pre-Network, to truly spike pay-per-view box office. A revisit of his John Cena feud, too, was never less than welcome.

Very lengthy but always interesting and fresh, Punk's reign generated great wrestling matches, not inconsiderable business, and fascinating meta character development playing off the real dynamic of his failure to headline.