Holding a World Championship in WWE in three different decades is a ridiculous achievement. The longevity of some superstars in the WWE has meant that they have won numerous World Championships. However, some wrestlers who have achieved this feat have been part-timers and held the gold for a short stint.
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Randy Orton is the latest to have joined this elusive club with a 14th World Championship reign at Hell in a Cell 2020. The Viper's World Championship reigns spanned between the 2000s-2020s, which is a testament to his passion for the business.
9 Bob Backlund
The first man to hold World Championships in the WWE in three different decades is Bob Backlund. Mr. Backlund first won the WWE Championship back in 1978 when it was known as the WWWF Championship. Backlund was a babyface World Champion and his reign lasted over five years before The Iron Sheik beat him for the title in December 1983.
Backlund returned to the WWF in 1994 and completed his achievement with a surprising second WWF Championship run at the 1994 Survivor Series. Mr. Backlund was now a heel and he defeated Bret "The Hitman" Hart for the title. Backlund was one of the worst WWE Champions in the '90s and in truth, he was a transitional champion. Three days later, Diesel defeated him and in a matter of seconds for the WWF Championship.
8 Hulk Hogan
Professional wrestling and Hulk Hogan go hand in hand. Hulkamania was born in the 1980s when Hogan ended The Iron Sheik's WWF Championship reign in 1984 to hold the title for the first time. Subsequently, Hogan walked into the first three WrestleManias as World Champion. The Hulkster would win the title again from Randy Savage at WrestleMania V and three more title reigns followed in the 9'0s including victories at WrestleMania VII and IX.
The Hulkster left the WWF for WCW in 1993 but he was welcomed with open arms again on arrival in 2002. Hogan received a huge pop in his blockbuster match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8 despite being a heel. Furthermore, WWE took note and simply could not resist temptation by giving him a sixth WWF Championship reign, when he defeated Triple H for the championship at Backlash. Whilst, Bob Backlund was the first man to hold a World title in three decades in WWE, Hogan was the first to win it in three different decades.
7 The Undertaker
The Undertaker arguably had one of the greatest first years in WWE history. The Phenom debuted at Survivor Series 1990 and a year later at the 1991 Survivor Series, he won his first WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan. Unfortunately, Taker's reign lasted just six days when he dropped the gold back to Hogan.
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Undertaker won the WWF Championship two more times before the century ended. However, in 2002, Undertaker in his Big Evil persona, he once again overcame Hogan for a fourth and final WWE Championship reign. Taker would go on to win the World Heavyweight Championship three times by defeating Edge and Batista at back-to-back WrestleManias in 2007 and 2008. His seventh and final World title reign started in 2009 when he defeated CM Punk at Hell in a Cell, and it ran into 2010 when he dropped it to Chris Jericho at the first Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February.
6 Big Show
Despite flipping from a face and heel more than anyone in WWE history, Big Show is one of the most reliable workers. The World's Largest Athlete filled in for Steve Austin at the 1999 Survivor Series, where he won his first WWF Championship from Triple H. The Rock was also involved in that triple threat encounter. Show entered the new millennium as the WWF Champion but dropped the title back to The Game on the first Raw in 2000.
However, the majority of Show's four World title reigns are unexpected. He upset Brock Lesnar at the 2002 Survivor Series for a second WWE Championship reign. Show beat Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight title at TLC 2011 and ended Sheamus' six-month reign as champion in 2012. Unfortunately, all four of his World title reigns were dismal but Show made history as the first man to win a world title in the '90s, 2000s, and 2010s in the WWE.
5 The Rock
One of the greatest heel turns in WWE history took place at the 1998 Survivor Series. The Rock claimed his maiden WWF Championship in the final of the "Deadly" Game tournament against Mankind. Rock, now coined as the "Corporate Champion," traded the WWF Championship with Mankind.
Rock vyed with Triple H for the top spot in 2000 with Stone Cold Steve Austin on the shelf. Nevertheless, before Hollywood came calling, Rock became the first man to win the WWE Championship a record seven times at Vengeance 2002. 11 years later, The Great One was responsible for ending CM Punk's historic 434-day reign as WWE Champion at the 2013 Royal Rumble for an eighth WWE Championship run. Inevitably, this was done so he could drop the title to John Cena in a rematch at WrestleMania 29.
4 Triple H
Triple H finally won his first WWF Championship the night after SummerSlam on the August 23rd, 1999 edition of Raw. The Game beat Mankind, who had just won the title the night earlier. Before 1999 ended, Triple H won another WWF Championship but lost it to Big Show at Survivor Series.
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The Cerebral Assassin did not dwell on that loss for too long as he kicked off 2000 in a big way when he regained the WWF Championship from Big Show on the January 3rd episode of Raw. The Game dominated Monday Night Raw in the 2000s and he won the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships an astonishing 11 times. Triple H won a 14th World Championship at the 2016 Royal Rumble, which was his second Royal Rumble victory. Inevitably, he got his comeuppance and dropped the WWE Championship back to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32.
3 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar's rise to superstardom was a thing of beauty in 2002. Lesnar sent The Rock off to Hollywood when he upset him at SummerSlam to become the youngest WWE Champion at the age of 25. Brock remained unbeaten until Big Show defeated him for the title at the 2002 Survivor Series.
Lesnar won two more WWE Championships in 2003 and departed from the WWE after his lackluster WrestleManiaXX bout with Goldberg. The Beast Incarnate returned in 2012 and reigned supreme once more when he beat John Cena at the 2014 SummerSlam to win his first WWE Championship in a decade. Lesnar also has a record three Universal Championships to his name and is the longest-reigning Universal Champion. Brock also won a fifth WWE Championship in 2019 which he would carry into 2020 but dropped the title to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36.
2 Goldberg
Goldberg's WWE career has been incredibly short but very successful. Goldberg won his first World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at Unforgiven 2003. Whilst his World Title reign was not memorable, he managed to hold the title for three months.
Goldberg had more title aspirations as he dethroned Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017 to win the Universal Championship but lost to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33. Goldberg became a two-time Universal Champion when he defeated Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown in February 2020. Thus he became the first man to win a world title since entering into the Hall of Fame, with Braun Strowman ending his reign at WrestleMania 36. Since Goldberg is a part-timer, many fans were not happy with Goldberg winning the title from current talent.
1 Randy Orton
Randy Orton's love affair with World Championships began in 2004. The Viper defeated Chris Benoit at SummerSlam to become the youngest World Champion at 24, a record which still stands 16 years later. Unfortunately, he dropped the title to Triple H a month later and Orton would not hold a World Championship for another three years.
The Viper's stranglehold on the World Heavyweight Championship continued in 2011 when he defeated Christian for the title twice. He unified the WWE and World Heavyweight Titles in 2013 after he defeated John Cena at TLC. However, Orton's latest exploits have seen him become a 14-time World Champion after he ended Drew McIntyre's six-month reign as WWE Champion at Hell in a Cell 2020.
