Bob Backlund is third in the list of combined days as WWE Champion, with his 2,138 days coming from just two separate reigns. However one of those reigns in question lasted a mere three days. In his second spell with the company, Backlund defeated Bret Hart in a Throw in the Towel submission match. The bout lasted well over half an hour, although much of that was down to Backlund holding Hart in the Crossface Chickenwing for eight and a half minutes. That monumental effort was then laid to waste a few days later when Diesel defeated Backlund at a House Show in New York in just eight seconds. This remained the shortest WWE Championship match of all time until Randy Ortons Money in the Bank cash in at SummerSlam last year. It may look bad for Backlund, but in the grand scheme of things it was mission accomplished; Kevin Nash later praised Backlund for putting him over with his commitment to selling the Jack knife.
