10 Incredible Wrestling Stats You Won't Believe
3. The Longest Match In WWE History Went 81 Minutes
While Ric Flair and the NWA Championship are often closely associated with hour-long matches, Vince McMahon's company is also no stranger to lengthy bouts.
Perhaps the most famous examples of marathon matches in WWE are the various Iron Man bouts that have taken place over the years. With Bret/Shawn, Rock/Triple H, and Angle/Lesnar the three most famous of all, it's easy to overlook the lengthy matches that have occurred outside of the stipulation.
Prior to the Iron Man label being introduced to Stamford, Bret Hart faced Ric Flair and his brother, Owen, respectively in multi-fall bouts in '93 and '94. Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels famously went 55 minutes with Cena on the London Raw in 2007. However, Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund regularly went long during their title reigns and Sammartino in particular had some monumental scraps.
The Italian strongman went 65 minutes with Pedro Morales for Showdown At Shea in '72, while he also went an 70 minutes with Gorilla Monsoon in the early-'60s. Nevertheless, Sammartino's title defence against Waldo Von Erich in 1964 still stands as the longest bout in WWE history. Clocking in at 81 minutes, the bout was eventually ruled a draw due to curfew.