10 Times WWE Waited FOREVER To Break Records
3. Gunther's Intercontinental Championship Reign
The Honky Tonk Man won the Intercontinental Championship after Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat asked for time off.
What looked for all the world like it was going to be a simple transitional reign turned into a record that stood for almost 35 years.
Honky won the strap at a Superstars of Wrestling in 1987, even though it was originally meant to go to Butch Reed, then kept the strap after Jake "The Snake" Roberts got injured and another planned title change was nixed.
The real life Wayne Farris was the worst kind of heel. During his run, he'd often get disqualified or lose by count-out to keep the belt. The tactics made sense from a kayfabe perspective, but was even more repetitive than a Roman Reigns match finish.
When the Ultimate Warrior finally squashed Honky for the strap at SummerSlam 1988, the reign ended at 453 days, slightly more than "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Pedro Morales who also held the championship for over 400 days.
Then, 35 years later The Honky Tonk Man's record fell.
Gunther won the Intercontinental belt on SmackDown in 2022 and hasn't looked back.
It's been well over 600 days and Gunther continues to defend the strap on WWE programming regularly. For a belt that some fans say was massively devalued during the Ruthless Aggression Era, it's got a new lease of life in this monster reign.