The WWE World Heavyweight Championship is one of the most historic titles in pro wrestling history. After splitting off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1963, the esteemed belt has been in use for over half a century. During that time, weve witnessed some mightily impressive reigns. CM Punk recently enjoyed a 434-day reign as the champ, while Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales have each managed to hold onto the strap for over 1,000 consecutive days. And of course Bruno Sammartino, one of the industry's pioneering figures, officially donned the belt for an astonishing 2,803 days. But what about the guys at the other end of the scale? For every Sammartino, theres an unfortunate victim of an ill-timed Money in the Bank cash-in. And despite their brevity, its arguable that these short-lived reigns are just as memorable as the more enduring ones. Of course, given the nature of professional wrestling, these short-lived reigns are by no means a reflection of a wrestlers talents. But nonetheless, that doesnt make them any less shocking. This article looks prove just that with a list of the ten shortest WWE World Heavyweight Championship reigns of all time.
10. 21 Days - Ivan Koloff, The Rock, John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton
Just sneaking onto our top ten list is the 21-day reigna club boasting no less than five members. One of those members, Ivan Koloff, was in fact the man who ended Sammartinos legendary stint as WWE Champion. The Rock also endured just a three-week tenure, though this was somewhat characteristic of the Attitude Era. He controversially surrendered the belt to Triple H at Judgement Day 2000 after the Game won a brutal 60-minute Iron Man match 6-5 under highly dramatic circumstances. More recent names include John Cena and Randy Orton, whose 21-day reigns actually fell back-to-back. Cena won the gold in an I Quit match at Breaking Point 2009, before Orton gained revenge inside Hell in a Cell at the eponymous pay-per-view the following month. Perhaps the most noteworthy instance of all though is that of Edge, as the Rated-R Superstar has been champion for 21 days on three separate occasions. Before you feel too sorry for him though, one of those occasions was the result of a predatory Money in the Bank cash-in, while another came after he had fortuitously replaced Jeff Hardy in a Triple Threat match against Vladimir Kozlov and Triple H. It was this kind of booking that made him so deserving of his Ultimate Opportunist moniker.
