10 REALLY Long WWE Title Reigns That Didn’t Work

8. Dean Ambrose - United States Champion (351 Days)

Jinder Mahal Sami Zayn
WWE.com

It took Dean Ambrose losing the United States title to Sheamus to remind the audience that he'd even been carrying it around for nearly a year during the height of The Shield's original success.

The trio's post-WrestleMania XXX babyface turn had seen them wage war with Triple H's revived Evolution for two consecutive pay-per-view brawls, but Ambrose was robbed of his prize the night after 'The Hounds Of Justice' first took down the main event trio at May's Extreme Rules supershow.

Cheated out of it by his malevolent gaffer, the future 'Lunatic Fringe' was forced to put the belt up for grabs in a 20-man battle royal that he ended up losing to Sheamus. The gutsy display was presented as cynical gamesmanship by 'The Game' in robbing Ambrose of reaching a year, though most were astonished he'd had it that long.

The group's multi-person matches (as well as their involvement in the original Authority Vs Daniel Bryan arc) had rendered singles title matches more of an inconvenience - much like the metal trinket itself at airports across the United States. Ambrose was perhaps quietly pleased to be robbed of it.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett