50 Fascinating Facts About WWE in The 1980s
48. Iron Sheik Had Shortest Singles Reign Of The Decade
Nobody can erase the fact Iron Sheik was WWF Champion, but context is important. He was only champ for 28 days between 26 December 1983-23 January 1984. To put that into context, no other WWF World Title reign in the 80s lasted less than 100 days. Most surpassed that number by a huge margin, which makes Sheik's run with the belt stand out as an oddity for the era.
For reference, gimmicky storylines like Andre The Giant "winning" the title then trying to sell it to pal Ted DiBiase aren't officially recognised as reigns by WWE, so they won't be here either. That means Sheik's time on top was the shortest singles reign of the entire 10 year span. Somewhat incredibly, it was even shorter than every Intercontinental Title stint too. The only one that comes close is Ricky Steamboat's 65-day run with that secondary strap in 1987.
Iron Sheik was only thrust into the title hot seat at all because the WWF didn't want Hogan to beat Bob Backlund. McMahon reasoned (quite rightly) that it'd mean more if Hulk won his first major belt from a hated heel rather than someone who'd carried the can as a babyface hero since the late-70s. Hogan dropping Bob was never on the cards.
This did, however, carve out a pleasing and rather unique piece of history for Sheik. Things going on politically in the pro wrestling biz around the time he became champion meant he could point to his title reign as a true WWF/WWE first forevermore.