10 REALLY Long WWE Title Reigns That Didn’t Work

The Honky Tonk Man is still, to this day, 'The Greatest Intercontinental Champion Of All Time' by his own longevity measure. The insufferable Elvis impersonator's 454 days with the belt remains a record, and unlike other extended spells with straps enclosed within this list, was easily justified by the most obvious metric of all - money.

Business boomed across the board during Honky's tenure, but he himself was considered a tangible draw in an era where such a thing was still A Thing. Audiences were desperate to see him dethroned, and box office receipts from his house show loops persistently proved it.

From the moment he shockingly toppled the heroic Ricky Steamboat in 1987 to the earth-shattering comeuppance received by The Ultimate Warrior over a year later, Jimmy Hart's man was peak pr*ck, sneaking through every single title defence on the lowest possible road. He took count-outs, caused disqualifications and always cheated on the few occasions he actually won. Being champion wasn't about upholding the prestige of the title, but just getting to gloat about carrying the prize. It was a booking masterstroke performed brilliantly by an old school wrestler unafraid of the heat and unburdened by technical ego.

Honky's reign was aided by the era it occurred in. Few - if any - performers could sustain such a role in 2018's era of the over-serve. A month is often more than enough, let alone the mammoth stretches certain wrestlers have unjustly achieved...

Yes it's another moan about Brock Lesnar's Universal Title reign because yes it's having the most disastrous impact on the company's flagship show and YES characters have either died or been left on life support because of it.

The rationale for 'The Beast' winning any top title in the company was that he offered something special at the top of the card. A motivated and well-deployed Brock Lesnar sh*ts the monolithic star appeal he looks like he'd have no problem eating for breakfast, and yet this version of him seems completely absent since the company awarded him its joint richest prize.

The rationale for winning this particular Universal strap was the need to conclude a legitimately satisfying arc with Bill Goldberg. Their WrestleMania 33 sprint was an unmitigated success worthy of the prestige, but the bulldozing part-timers inadvertently robbed the belt and all the lustre from a programme between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho that had simmered for months.

The rationale for him keeping the belt and seeing off challenges from Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and AJ Styles was to reinvigorate the F5 in time for Roman Reigns to kick out of at WrestleMania 34. And he did, five times, and still ended up examining the Superdome ceiling.

The trail of broken careers in his path reads like a hyperbolic video package rundown, but there's no storyline victory beyond 'The Monster Among Men' giving Lesnar a crushing receipt that could possibly match the cold reality.