10 Youngest WWE Champions Ever

6. Bruno Sammartino - 27

The Rock
WWE.com

Date First WWE Title Won: May 17th, 1963

Age: 27 years, 7 months, 11 days

Recent WWE Hall-Of-Famer Sammartino kicked off what would be the longest reign in the title's history with a victory over maiden champion Buddy Rogers following the then-WWWF's split from the National Wrestling Alliance earlier that year.

The original 'Nature Boy' was the choice of North East territory doyens Vince McMahon Sr and Toots Mondt, but his advancing years and diminishing health (Rogers succumbed to a heart attack shortly after the start of his reign) called for the wildly popular Sammartino to supplant him as brand leader for the organisation going forward.

Emphatically kicking off his 2803 day reign as top dog, Sammartino took just 55 seconds to submit Rogers with a backbreaker in front of a rabid Madison Square Garden crowd.

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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