10 Fastest Pushes In WWE History
8. Iron Sheik (128 Days)
And speaking of the Middle East, that brings us nicely on to
our next entry: the Iron Sheik.
Admittedly, the Sheik is another name whose major push arrived in a later stint with the company. He’d actually competed with the WWE for 12 months across 1979 and ’80, initially debuting 1,776 days before he’d ultimately win the championship.
However, during this time he was performing as the Great Hossein Arab (or the more provocative Hussein, depending who you ask) as opposed to the Iron Sheik. So the name change means it’s not quite as contentious as the earlier case of Sgt. Slaughter's rebrand.
His first appearance in the WWE under the Iron Sheik moniker came on the 2 August 1983 taping of WWF Championship Wresting, though it aired 18 days later. And after a ten-match winning streak, he was soon afforded a title shot at Bob Backlund’s belt.
He was actually unsuccessful the first time, but shortly after he made amends with a victory at Madison Square Garden on 26 December 1983. That win, and thus the culmination of the Sheik’s push, clocked in at 128 days after his televised debut—although it wasn’t long before Hulkamania was running wild on Sheiky baby’s reign.