Ranking EVERY WWE Champion From Worst To Best

6. Pedro Morales

WWE Champions Ranked
WWE

Chosen as the Vince McMahon Sr's next great babyface hope following Bruno Sammartino's shocking loss less than one month earlier, Puerto Rican hero Pedro Morales built on his increasing popularity with a stunning victory over despised Russian heel Ivan Koloff. Pedro's relative youth for the time and an extremely relatable demeanour amongst an ageing population of well-tenured but grizzled veterans made him a comfortable fit in the role, even if he's not quite as celebrated as some of his contemporaries in the present day. 

Totalling 1027 days with the title, only Sammartino, John Cena, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and Roman Reigns can lay claim to holding the gold for more cumulative days. 

And only being able to draw justified such a run back then. Context is everything - Morales had been a revelation for the group dating back to his 1970 debut several months before winning the belt. He snared the United States Championship in short order, and was required to vacate it upon winning the top title shortly afterwards. 

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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