5. Hulk Hogan - 48 Years, 253 Days
Date: April 21st, 2002 Event: Backlash Age Of Champion: 48 years, 253 days This one is a bit different, because it probably wasn't supposed to happen. When Vince McMahon made the decision to bring Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to his company to reprise their roles as the nWo, fans were expecting to see another heel run, just like the group had in WCW. A funny thing happened on the way to that, however... live fans were not ready to boo Hogan. At all. After his thunderous face reaction at WrestleMania 18, against The Rock, who may have been the biggest face in the business, and then some more epic face pops in different cities, it was time to change things up. Not only would Hogan move forward as a face, but he would get the WWE Title, his first in nearly a decade. His matches exposed one major flaw in the plan, though. He was approaching 50 years of age, and the decades of wear and tear on his body had made his matches difficult to watch. He was never the fastest person, but now he was painfully slow, and he couldn't take moves properly because his body wouldn't let him. It was a mess, but the crowds still cheered for him. It was a telling sign of the true power of Hulkamania, as well as the power of nostalgia.
Aaron Hyden
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Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
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Aaron