10 Historic Wrestling Moments You've Probably Never Seen
6. The Longest WWE Championship Match Ever
Think Roman Reigns’ title reign is long? Try sitting through the longest WWE Championship match in history—a 75-minute contest between two icons that’s somehow barely remembered today.
In 1972, Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales were two of the biggest babyfaces in the business. At Showdown at Shea, WWE (then WWWF) booked a face-vs-face dream match in front of a packed Shea Stadium. Morales was the reigning champ, Sammartino the beloved former title holder. Neither man turned heel. Neither blinked. Instead, they grappled to an exhausting, punishing 75-minute draw—75:05, to be exact.
It wasn’t just long—it was historic. A champion vs. ex-champion clash between two of the most revered figures in company history, in a massive stadium, drawing tens of thousands. No screwjob. No interference. Just an epic time-limit draw that showcased stamina, pride, and old-school storytelling.
WWE never aired the full match. It wasn’t on pay-per-view (which didn’t exist), wasn’t widely televised, and was never made available on the WWE Network in full. Only clips and summaries survive, buried deep in archives and retrospectives. For the longest match in WWE Championship history, its near-total erasure is as staggering as its runtime.