10 Shortest WWE Champions Ever

5. Bruno Sammartino - 5'10"

chris jericho ric flair
WWE.com

The man who ended Buddy Rogers' 22-day reign as the first WWWF Champion would go on to hold that very same belt for quite a bit longer. Bruno Sammartino was WWWF Champion for a whopping 2803 days, which for the curious is over seven and a half years. Bruno would get a second run just under three years after losing it, and would again hold the belt for an age (1237 days).

Quite obviously, these two reigns make Bruno Sammartino the longest cumulative reigning champion in company history, holding the top belt for a total 4040 days, which amounts to over 11 years. He did this whilst standing no taller than 5'10" inches, something that is often forgotten when discussing the career of the Italian Stallion.

It was a different time for sure, but looking back Bruno Sammartino was not a professional wrestler who wrestled like a 5'10" man. He had a presence that was larger than life, and seemed to carry himself like a champion at all times.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.