JBL Reaches Milestone - 2nd Longest Reign As WWE Champion

[I-Hate-You]

John Bradshaw Layfield has now become the second-longest longest reigning WWE Champion since the 358 day WWE Championship reign of Diesel from November 26th, 1994 to November 19th, 1995. As of February 14th, JBL has now surpassed Shawn Michaels' original title reign of 231 days from March 31st, 1996 to November 17th, 1996.

JBL will begin his 8th month as WWE Champion on February 27th, considering he retains the championship at No Way Out in the Barbed Wire Steel Cage match against The Big Show, which he will more than likely do barring a complete booking 180.

Assuming JBL holds on to the title until WrestleMania 21 on April 3rd where he is likely to drop the title to John Cena, here is where JBL's reign would rank among WWE Title reigns since Diesel's.

Diesel
-- November 26th, 1994 to November 19th, 1995 = 358 days

John Bradshaw Layfield
-- June 28th, 2004 to April 3rd, 2005 = 279 days

Shawn Michaels
-- March 31st, 1996 to November 17th, 1996 = 231 days

Stone Cold Steve Austin
-- April 1st, 2001 to September 23rd, 2001 = 175 Days

Brock Lesnar
-- September 16th, 2003 to February 15th, 2004 = 152 Days

Shawn Michaels
-- November 9th, 1997 to March 29th, 1998 = 141 Days

Bret Hart
-- November 19th, 1995 to March 31st, 1996 = 133 Days

The Undertaker
-- March 23rd, 1997 to August 3rd, 1997 = 133 Days

Eddie Guerrero
-- February 15th, 2004 to June 27th, 2004 = 133 Days

Kurt Angle
-- October 22nd, 2000 to February 25th, 2001 = 126 Days

The Rock
-- June 25th, 2000 to October 22nd, 2000 = 119 Days

Brock Lesnar
-- March 30th, 2003 to July 27th, 2003 = 119 Days

Triple H
-- January 3rd, 2000 to April 30th, 2000 = 118 Days

Kurt Angle
-- December 15th, 2002 to March 30th, 2003 = 105 Days

Chris Jericho
-- December 9th, 2001 to March 17th, 2002 = 99 Days

Bret Hart
-- August 3rd, 1997 to November 9th, 1997 = 98 Days

Stone Cold Steve Austin
-- March 29th, 1998 to June 28th, 1998 = 91 Days

Stone Cold Steve Austin
-- June 29th, 1998 to September 27th, 1998 = 90 Days

Brock Lesnar
-- August 25th, 2002 to November 17th, 2002 = 84 Days

Sid
-- November 17th, 1996 to January 19th, 1997 = 63 Days

The Undertaker
-- May 19th, 2002 to July 21st, 2002 = 63 Days

Stone Cold Steve Austin
-- October 8th, 2001 to December 9th, 2001 = 62 Days

Stone Cold Steve Austin
-- March 28th, 1999 to May 23rd, 1999 = 57 Days

Stone Cold Steve Austin
-- June 28th, 1999 to August 22nd 1999 = 55 Days

Kurt Angle
-- July 27th, 2003 to September 16th, 2003 = 51 Days

The Big Show
-- November 14th, 1999 to January 3rd, 2000 = 50 Days

Triple H
-- September 26th, 1999 to November 14th, 1999 = 49 Days

The Rock
-- November 15th, 1998 to December 29th, 1998 = 44 Days

The Rock
-- February 15th, 1999 to March 28th, 1999 = 41 Days

The Undertaker
-- May 23rd, 1999 to June 28th, 1999 = 36 Days

Triple H
-- May 21st, 2000 to June 25th, 2000 = 35 Days

The Rock
-- February 25th, 2001 to April 1st, 2001 = 35 Days

Triple H
-- March 17th, 2002 to April 21st, 2002 = 35 Days

The Rock
-- July 21st, 2002 to August 25th, 2002 = 35 Days

Sid
-- February 17th, 1997 to March 23rd, 1997 = 34 Days

The Big Show
-- November 17th, 2002 to December 15th, 2002 = 29 Days

Hulk Hogan
-- April 21st, 2002 to May 19th, 2002 = 28 Days

Mankind
-- December 29th, 1998 to January 24th, 1999 = 26 Days

Shawn Michaels
-- January 19th, 1997 to February 13th, 1997 = 25 Days

The Rock
-- April 30th, 2000 to May 21st, 2000 = 22 Days

Triple H
-- August 23rd, 1999 to September 14th, 1999 = 22 Days

Mankind
-- January 26th, 1999 to February 15th, 1999 = 20 Days

Kurt Angle
-- September 23rd, 2001 to October 8th, 2001 = 15 Days

Vince McMahon
-- September 14th, 1999 to September 20th, 1999 = 6 Days

The Rock
-- January 24th, 1999 to January 26th, 1999 = 2 Days

Bret Hart
-- February 16th, 1997 to February 17th, 1997 = 1 Day

Kane
-- June 27th, 1998 to June 28th, 1998 = 1 Day

Mankind
-- August 22nd, 1999 to August 23rd, 1999 = 1 Day

[Gonzo]

Kane :cool:

[Loose Cannon]

And who is the worst drawing champion of all-time since Diesal.

Yep, you guessed it. :y:

[Loose Cannon]

lol, the 3 worst drawing champion runs of all-time are a top the list.

[Gouda]

Sssssh. Triple H might get wind of this and attempt to beat this record too.

[I-Hate-You]

Well, he sort of has with the World Title (Demcember to September), so...

[Evolution]

Where's Jericho's 3 minute reign when he beat HHH on RAW? I need a date on that one cos I cant find my RAW X mag.

Anyways, erm, nice post, lot of time and effort. :y:

Rep for you.

[Eunos]

Bradshaws overrated ¬¬..

It's his Promos and Gimmick that have been saving him.

[Kane Knight]

And such a quality title reign, too.

[#1-norm-fan]

He's done a good job as champion.

Booking-wise though, just terrible.

I like JBL but fuck him for surpassing HBK in ANYTHING. :mad:

[Kane Knight]

He's done a good job as champion.

Booking-wise though, just terrible.

I like JBL but fuck him for surpassing HBK in ANYTHING. :mad:
He surpassed HBK for shittiest title reign.

He's not done a good job as champion. He's done a decent job at promos with no in ring ability.

[#1-norm-fan]

HBK's title reign was GREAT.

[PorkSoda]

Should he hold onto the title for one full year?

[I-Hate-You]

Well, the way it's went at WM is one champion loses, the other doesn't.

Hmmmmmmmm.

[Eunos]

Should he hold onto the title for one full year?

No

Next Dumb Question.

[PorkSoda]

No

Next Dumb Question.

Why is the sky blue?

[Corkscrewed]

Yet another shred of proof that the writers have resorted to forcing "greatness" down our throats. They're only keeping the belt on him for this long to make us believe he's great. Well, to make those dumb enough to be fooled by such trivialties anyway. But when you really look at "how," JBL's solid reign only dates back to December, when he actually got a "credible" win.

So never mind that 2/3 of JBL's reign has been worse than that of a Cruiserweight Champ... JBL's the Greatest of All Time because he's been around so long, eh writers?

[Kane Knight]

HBK's title reign was GREAT.
And JBL's was shittier. Are you going to complain that HBK's wasn't shitty enough?

[PullMyFinger]

HBKs reign resulted in shite ratings, shite storyline, shite everything. WCW was kicking WWF's ass when the company was centered around Michaels.

[The Answer]

:n: One of the reasons why Smackdown is pretty terrible compared to Raw

[Kane Knight]

Yet another shred of proof that the writers have resorted to forcing "greatness" down our throats. They're only keeping the belt on him for this long to make us believe he's great. Well, to make those dumb enough to be fooled by such trivialties anyway. But when you really look at "how," JBL's solid reign only dates back to December, when he actually got a "credible" win.

So never mind that 2/3 of JBL's reign has been worse than that of a Cruiserweight Champ... JBL's the Greatest of All Time because he's been around so long, eh writers?
Never mind that he got along with the same weak finishes either. Or the Overused "Shannon Moore" card.

[mike627]

BJL's title reign just proves that kissin ass works wonders even if you have little or no talent. :foc: :nono:

[MVP]

The top of that list really proves how meaningless a prolonged title reign can be.

[Esoteric]

somehow i think that list is wrong
Bret Hart New York Wrestlemania X - March, 20, 1994
Bob Backlund San Antonio Survivor Series - Novemeber 23, 1994
so in theory Bret should in the 3rd postion another example of them trying to screw Bret

[McLegend]

somehow i think that list is wrong
Bret Hart New York Wrestlemania X - March, 20, 1994
Bob Backlund San Antonio Survivor Series - Novemeber 23, 1994
so in theory Bret should in the 3rd postion another example of them trying to screw Bret
If you notice it says 2nd longest title range SINCE Nash's reign. So the list isn't all time longest title reign it's since Nash long title reign.

[Esoteric]

yeah i just realized that....top three sucks even as a kid i thought shawn michaels was a good champion

[V]

Where's Jericho's 3 minute reign when he beat HHH on RAW? I need a date on that one cos I cant find my RAW X mag.

Anyways, erm, nice post, lot of time and effort. :y:

Rep for you.
if that's counted as a reign, shouldn't RVD's 1 minute reign be counted when he beat undertaker before flair reversed the decision

[V]

also, how is it the second longest reign, why is diesal's reign a start point?

what about when the first few title holders held it for years?

[Kane Knight]

also, how is it the second longest reign, why is diesal's reign a start point?

what about when the first few title holders held it for years?
BEcause they're trying to illustrate recent history?

[BlackDawn2024]

I like JBL but fuck him for surpassing HBK in ANYTHING. :mad:

:rofl:

That gave me good chuckle.

[Disturbed316]

What about Bob Backland, didn't he hold it for 8 years or something?

[hithit]

I am actually starting to enjoy JBL as champ, but i really don't think he should have this long of a title reign. I really hope he doesn't last a year as champ, i just don't think he is good enough to have that long of a run.

[Deceit]

Almost 300 days and still 0 credibility!

[McLegend]

What about Bob Backland, didn't he hold it for 8 years or something?

If you notice it says 2nd longest title range SINCE Nash's reign. So the list isn't all time longest title reign it's since Nash long title reign.

[#1-norm-fan]

HBKs reign resulted in shite ratings, shite storyline, shite everything. WCW was kicking WWF's ass when the company was centered around Michaels.

Just because HBK's title reign happened to conflict with the birth of the NWO and WCW's uprising doesn't mean HBK's title reing was not a great one. Too many new fans didn't care about WRESTLING in '96. Those days were pretty much gone. As far as WRESTLING goes, HBK's title reing was brilliant.

If you're going to bash JBL's reign because he doesn't put on good wrestling matches with clean finishes, then you can't ignore the same factors when judging Michael's reign.

During his 8 month reign, he had two great defenses against the British Bulldog, an entertaining match with Vader following a great 2 month feud and a match with Mick Foley that Mick calls one of the best matches he's ever had. Not to mention the fact that his title reign began at WM XXII in one of the greatest matches of all time.

[Innovator]

Bruno Sammartino, 8 year title reign anyone?

[The CyNick]

Just because HBK's title reign happened to conflict with the birth of the NWO and WCW's uprising doesn't mean HBK's title reing was not a great one. Too many new fans didn't care about WRESTLING in '96. Those days were pretty much gone. As far as WRESTLING goes, HBK's title reing was brilliant.

If you're going to bash JBL's reign because he doesn't put on good wrestling matches with clean finishes, then you can't ignore the same factors when judging Michael's reign.

During his 8 month reign, he had two great defenses against the British Bulldog, an entertaining match with Vader following a great 2 month feud and a match with Mick Foley that Mick calls one of the best matches he's ever had. Not to mention the fact that his title reign began at WM XXII in one of the greatest matches of all time.

HBK was never a draw, it had nothing to do with the NWO and so on. HBK's big title win at Mania featured people walking out on his title win, a feat duplicated by his Kliq buddy 6 years later.

He did have some great matches during his run, so its just a matter of how you view success. In the ring; good run, out of the ring; terrible.

Nash's was worse than all of them though.

[Marcyo]

Bruno Sammartino, 8 year title reign anyone?

Originally Posted by legend
If you notice it says 2nd longest title range SINCE Nash's reign. So the list isn't all time longest title reign it's since Nash long title reign.

[#1-norm-fan]

Well I would judge his title reign based soley on quality of title defenses and how much credibility was brought to the title during his reing.

Howvever, The ratings during Bret's run didn't change at all during Michael's 8 months. He was the fan favorite going into WM 12 based on crowd reaction alone.

So again, if you're going to be fair and use the same principles to judge all title reigns, then Bret's wasn't good either and, if anything, was worse than Michael's.

[Kane Knight]

Bruno Sammartino, 8 year title reign anyone?
Literacy, anyone?

[BigDaddyCool]

Good for Bradshaw.

[jerichoholic169]

if you want to count the World Heavyweight Championship as well, I'm pretty sure HHH held the title from Armageddon 2002 when he beat HBK to Unforgiven 2003 when he lost it to Goldberg. I'm pretty sure he held it all of that time which is about 9 months ish. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong which I probably am. And we all remember how much we enjoyed that reign.

[DarkAngel]

trips longest reign with the world title was around 258 days if my memory is correct

[jnb3599]

who cares about this recent history nonsense, in the scheme of anything measured in records or title reigns or anything wrestling for that matter, it should always be compared to the history of wrestling, not the last 4 to 5 years. WWE is benefiting right now from two major things: #1 there is no competition anymore, and #2 the majority of the people on wrestling borads and dirt sheets have only been watching wrestling for 8-10 years(meaning they are young)


With the #1 point it means vince can take advantage of the no competition factor to build something or someone out of nothing. Long title reigns are presentable when the fans have no outlet to watch anything else. Hulk Hogan was champion for over 4 years not because there wasn't any other wrestlers to put the belt on at the time but because Hogan needed to be champion to get over as huge as he was, lets face it, Hogan had no skills in the ring much like JBL (both have one move) and both were better on the mic than in the ring. If you sell someone garbage enough times sooner or later a handful will start to believe it is not garbage. I think JBL has done a fair job as champion, good promos, has taken on whoever they threw at him that month , and made the best out of the lame gimmick he has now. what more can you ask for? And as unpopular as my next statement is: I'd rather see him keep the belt at wm21 as opposed to giving it to Mark Mark err John Cena who is even less credible.... the guy is from Massachusettes(same as marky mark) with a fade (same as marky mark) who raps (marky mark) badly (marky mark) and wears sagging denim shorts ALL the time(marky mark).Cena is over so big he will most likely get the title but i feel its a mistake, if cena doesnt win he is still over huge. if jbl loses his character is nothing without the title, much like Hogan.


back in the wwf vs. wcw days title reigns were so short to keep the audience watching you never knew if a title would change hands on any given monday or any ppv, now we can kind of tell when and where things are going to happen, but with no competition i wouldnt be surprised to start seeing longer title reigns out of wwe champions, because let's face it, no matter who is champion or how much we do not like their gimmick, and how much we sit and bitch and moan about it here on the forum, we are still true fans and will watch no matter what.

sorry to offend any john cena or hulk hogan fans, i will take all criticism of my opinions u guys throw at me

[Loose Cannon]

Ok, first of all, Hogan was over with or without the belt. Fans jumped aboard the Hogan bandwago LONG LONG before he won the belt from Sheik. Hogan sold out arena after arena for a dam long time and made the people around him more money. Why does everyone still think a professional wrestler without "Benoit" like wrestling skills can't get over? Hogan, Warrior, Andre, Goldberg, Taker...all guys with a limited movesets in the ring, but all guys that were over HUGE in thier time. Let's face it, having great wrestling skills is fine and dandy sometimes, but it's how you play to the crowd and grasp the audience in the palm of your hands that matters. Putting on 5* matches is great, but if you don't connect with the audience, forget it.

Cena HAS "IT" "Don't put the belt on Cena?" That's not very smart as he's the most over guy in company.

Also your comment about people on wrestling boards being "young" couldn't be further from the truth. I did a little poll on this board about a month ago and found out most wrestling fans here are fans from the 80's.

[Marcyo]

:p jnb3599

[#1-norm-fan]

Cena HAS "IT" "Don't put the belt on Cena?" That's not very smart as he's the most over guy in company.


:love:

You're simply speaking the truth, I know.

Still though... :love:

GOD I :HEART: CENA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kane Knight]

who cares about this recent history nonsense,
Let's see...People who have enough common sense to know that different time frame were run differently?

If pro wrestling was static from its inception, you might be onto something. But, it's not, so you just look stupid.

[jnb3599]

In wrestling having "IT" means you dont need a belt to justify your tv time or your characters legitimacy, so you pretty much make my point for me exactly.

In the case of Cena as a heel or face the guy is over either way. You can put in Cena in any number of fueds right now and they get the crowds dollars. Put him in an angle with guerroro, angle, taker, mysterio, booker T or van dam and you have a payday. and that is all with matches where a title is not involved. What do you do with JBL when you take the WWE title off him, where does he go? His only real fued that worked was w/ guerroro and why rehash it? exactly like his ted dibiase rip off gimmick it has played itself out if its not about the title. Dibiase was obsessed with getting the title and once the angle was over dibiase soon was left with no direction, so unless we plan on getting JBL to pay big show to go win the title from cena with hebners twin brother being paid off and seeing if booker t will don the silver sequined vest and pants ala virgil, JBL needs the belt more than cena.

I'm still amazed that people think that taker and goldberg have zero in ring skills. for two guys who go around 300 goldberg was very quick with his feet and kicks and the spear and jackhammer were always nice spots in his matches. The only thing i think that got smart fans aggitated about goldberg was they tried to make him inpervious to pain, even a chair shot wouldnt keep him down and what not that gets old. taker walking the ropes his flying clothesline and others are that many more spots in a given match than hogan could give you.

You could be correct on fans on this board this board seems very educated in terms of most on the net, but we have a mass of people who think rock v. hogan is the greatest wm match ever proving thare are many "freaking idiots"(in napoleon dynamite voice) talking about wrestling on the net.

kane knight not even sure what your babble was saying so i wont even touch on it, have a good night sir

i apologize to all goldberg and taker haters, and to anyone who thinks rock v. hogan was a good match

[#1-norm-fan]

In wrestling having "IT" means you dont need a belt to justify your tv time or your characters legitimacy, so you pretty much make my point for me exactly.

In the case of Cena as a heel or face the guy is over either way. You can put in Cena in any number of fueds right now and they get the crowds dollars. Put him in an angle with guerroro, angle, taker, mysterio, booker T or van dam and you have a payday. and that is all with matches where a title is not involved. What do you do with JBL when you take the WWE title off him, where does he go? His only real fued that worked was w/ guerroro and why rehash it? exactly like his ted dibiase rip off gimmick it has played itself out if its not about the title. Dibiase was obsessed with getting the title and once the angle was over dibiase soon was left with no direction, so unless we plan on getting JBL to pay big show to go win the title from cena with hebners twin brother being paid off and seeing if booker t will don the silver sequined vest and pants ala virgil, JBL needs the belt more than cena.

So basically you're saying the belt should be used to put people over rather than something that signifies how over you already are.

The entire purpose of the business of pro wrestling is to make the fans happy. Bottom line is the fans all have their favorite wrestler and they want to see that wrestler acknowledged as being the top guy (which is signified with the world title). Sure Cena COULD survive without the world title but that's exactly why he should have it.

The world title should not be used to put people over. That takes away from it's credibility. That puts building a character as a higher priority than the world title and nothing should be a higher priority than the world title. If a character can't succeed without the title, then the character doesn't deserve to be given the title.

Sure, Cena could just stay in a second main event picture not involving the world title. And he would succeed in that. (Sting for example had many stints in early WCW as the main babyface but not in the title picture. But he eventually would go on to win the title everytime because the fans would not have accepted him going too long without it.)

Basically, the title means as much as the people whose waist you are putting it around. If you put it around a guy the fans are incredibly behind like Cena, you are raising the title's credibility, which leads to people caring about him keeping the title, leading to better ratings, etc.

[#1-norm-fan]

I probably worded that terribly btu I'm tired. I'll try again tomorrow.

[Azriel]

That is really very sad when you think about it

[McLegend]

You could be correct on fans on this board this board seems very educated in terms of most on the net, but we have a mass of people who think rock v. hogan is the greatest wm match ever proving thare are many "freaking idiots"(in napoleon dynamite voice) talking about wrestling on the net.

i apologize to all goldberg and taker haters, and to anyone who thinks rock v. hogan was a good match

A good wrestling match doesn't have to be with great technical wrestlers. The whole atmopherse of that match was amzing. Also the fact that no one expected Hogan to get cheered added to it.

The only thing you need to be a good wrestler is to sell. In the Rock vs Hogan match The Rock made Hogan look pretty good. Also Rock and Hogan played to the crowd which too made it a great match.

So much goes into a good match besides ring skills. Like I said it's all about the atmosphere. The Crowd made that match. Sure The Rock Hogan match wasn't a good technical match, but it was definitely one if not the most memorble match of all time.

[jnb3599]

#1 wwf fan i think you worded it just fine. i completely agree that the belt should be the most important thing in wrestling but what we think and what the WWE does , not always the same thing. I just think in a rare instance like this it would behoove wwe business to keep jbl as champion, the longer his reign lasts and the more babyfaces he escapes from and retains the title the more fans hate him. But if he drops it to cena then cant find a fued to work after WM it discredits his character.

it is to a point now where wwe could pull that crap like they did around the time of wm8 where cena is about as over as hogan was and when hogan couldnt be in the title picture they still had his match the main event and savage/flair took a backseat. It wouldn't be that odd right now to see a ppv where it was say jbl/booker t title match followed by a cena/guerroro match after eddie goes heel.

It's just my opinion like i said , i was not trying to piss anyone off about dogging what are good matches or how things should be i am just saying if i am writing smackdown: i have eddie turn heel b4 wm to face mysterio, then have eddie cost cena the belt so jbl retains starting a eddie/cena fued over eddies jealousy of cena replacing him as top face in a years time. jbl brings amy weber back in the picture, keeps his cabinet, and drop the belt to undertaker clean at summerslam to give the old man one last run in the sun. after the match amy weber turns on jbl because her free ride is over, he gives her the clothesline from hell and boom jbl gets a huge pop and has the respect of fans for a title run that lasted so long. amy weber recruits orlando jones to do her fighting for her he attacks jbl, and then we have jbl/orlando jones with jbl as a face now( the only way to continue his character) . that way jbl, orlando ,amy weber, guerroro, and taker are all elevated for the future. Taker can drop the belt to any heel to have cena win the belt later in the year.

it wont happen obviously cena is winning the belt at mania his album comes out in may so what better way to promote the guy mainstream than to have him as champ, but just my opinion on how things could be done a different way to help everyone out.

1 last thing, legend wrote " the only thing you need to be a good wrestler is to sell".... did Hogan ever sell for anyone except for the rock in that one match????