The Top 10 (WWE) World Heavyweight Champions

The WWE introduced their version of the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002 when Eric Bischoff awarded the title to Triple H on September 2nd's airing of Monday Night RAW. Between September 2002 and December 2013 there have been 25 champions. Unfortunately not all of them have had stellar runs as champion but others rose to the top holding the belt. These ten superstars are what I believe to be the ten best (WWE) World Heavyweight Champions from those eleven years.

10.) Randy Orton

This four time champion was the youngest champion in history but sadly his resume for this specific title isn't as great as the Viper may think it is. His first reign as champion may have made him the youngest (WWE) World Heavyweight champion but it was only 28 days in length and was defended once, when he lost it to Triple H. That first reign was in 2004 and it took him seven years to win the gold again when he beat Christian the first time for the belt, this reign lasting 47 days more than the first. After a hot mess of pass-the-championship with Christian he finally lost the belt to someone else, Mark Henry. He was champion for less than a day in 2013 when he got to be the very first WWE World Heavyweight champion, retiring the World Heavyweight belt. Being the youngest champion in the history of the belt and being the final champion after unifying the WWE and World Heavyweight championships are the only two reasons why Randy Orton is on this list.

9.) Kane

At the 2010 Money in the Bank PPV, Kane won the Money in the Bank contract and, later that night, cashed it in on an injured Rey Mysterio to win his only championship. What makes this title reign memorable is the rivalry he had with his brother, The Undertaker, in a No Holds Barred match, Hell in the Cell, and a Buried Alive match. These three matches alone makes up more than half of Kane's reign and extended the sibling rivalry between the Undertaker and Kane. Kane's impressive 154 day reign is tied with Chris Benoit for the 4th longest reign of all time and places Kane on my top 10 list of (WWE) World Heavyweight Champions.

8.) Sheamus

After winning the Royal Rumble in January 2012, Sheamus went on to WrestleMania 28 to win the championship in the, alleged, 7th fastest match in WWE history at 18 seconds. Sheamus has the second-longest first title run and the third longest reign of all time at 210 days and the best single championship reign superstar of all time. Out of his eight PPV title defenses: he only lost one, 6 were singles matches, one was a 2 out of 3 falls match, and one was a fatal 4-way. 2012 was the year of Sheamus, with his win at the Royal Rumble along with having a long and dominate reign, placing him in 8th on my list.

7.) John Cena

This 3-time champion held the belt for a total 154 days tying with Kane and Chris Benoit, who both held the belt only once. Cena is always known as a fighting champion, especially during his United States Championship Open Challenge, which gives the championship he holds more prestige. He beat Chris Jericho for the belt and, after 84 days, defended it inside an Elimination Chamber before dropping it to Edge. His second reign lasted 21 days between winning it at WrestleMania 25, defeating Edge and the Big Show, and losing to Edge in a Last Man Standing match a a month later. His final World Heavyweight championship reign ended when the two WWE and World Heavyweight titles were unified only holding the belt for 49 days. John Cena was a good champion but was a better WWE champion so maybe he will rank higher on the top 10 list of WWE champions then he did on this list.

6.) CM Punk

Someone who would definitely rank higher on a different top champions list is CM Punk, but along with his historic WWE reign he had a few good World Heavyweight reigns as well. At WrestleMania 24 and 25, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder matches and cashed in his contract successfully both times. In 2008, Punk beat a beaten down Edge after he was attacked by Batista, and, in 2009, he beat Jeff Hardy after Jeff was in a brutal Ladder match, but lost to Hardy only two months later. Punk held the title one more time when he beat Hardy for a second time at SummerSlam in a TLC match. Punk was beaten by The Undertaker in a Hell in the Cell match, and would be Punk's final reign with the World Heavyweight title. Punk was given, virtually, two championship reigns after winning the Money in the Bank contract but those two matches were more risky routs to the title then any other in the WWE, so they were well deserved championships and is the reason why he made this list.

5.) Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio won his first championship against the Big Show in a Last Man Standing match and held it for an impressive 90 days. He lost it to Dolph Ziggler when Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Del Rio was attacked by Jack Swagger. Ziggler lost the belt back to Del Rio in his first title defense on Pay Per View and Del Rio would hold onto the belt for 134 days. He would go on to lose only two of his 6 PPV matches for the championship which makes him a fighting champion and deserving of a spot in the top 5.

4.) The Undertaker

At WrestleMania's 23 and 24 the Undertaker would successfully defend his streak and win the World Heavyweight Championship in the process against Batista, then Edge. After defeating Batista he would hold the title for 37 days before Edge would cash in his Money in the Bank contract to take the belt to Smackdown, while Taker stayed on Raw. His second championship reign lasted a week less than his first reign, after beating Edge for the title at WrestleMania, and was stripped of the title by Vickie Guerrero. His last reign would be much more successful with a Hell in the Cell victory over CM Punk, a controversial win over Batista, and losing it to Chris Jericho inside the Elimination Chamber, after a 140 day reign.

3.) Edge

After winning his second Money in the Bank contract from Mr. Kennedy on an episode of Raw, Edge would cash it in on Batista that same week on Smackdown, cementing his legacy as the "Ultimate Opportunist" and giving him his first World Heavyweight Championship. He held the belt for 70 days before having to vacate the title due to injury. He would come back to defeat Batista and The Undertaker to take the belt for 105 days then dropping it to The Undertaker at WrestleMania. His next run as champion would only be 28 days long and his next two runs after that would add up to less than a hundred days. Although his last two runs weren't that spectacular at 58 and 56 days long, he still was very successful when it came to challenging a champion, or earning a right to fight them, which counts for something. He has the most championship reigns in history but isn't first, or second, when it come to the most days combined and that is the reason why he sits at third on this list.

2.) Batista

With the second most combined days in 507 between 4 reigns by itself lands Batista very close to first in my list. His first reign would start after winning the 2005 Royal Rumble, and defeating Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 21 and would last 282 days, the longest reign in history. It took him several tries to beat Booker T, but at Survivor Series, a year after his first reign, he was able to win his second championship. When the Championship was vacated in 2007 Batista, Rey Mysterio and The Great Khali, the previous champion, were in a Triple Threat match for the championship, which Batista won. He held the title for 217 days between his second and third championship reigns but only held the title for a week and a day in his last run as champion after Chris Jericho beat him on the 800th Anniversary episode of Monday Night Raw. Batista has the #1 and #9 longest reigns in championship history and that alone puts him in second on this list, let alone all of his accomplishments during his championships.

1.) Triple H

In the first 800+ days of the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship's existence, Triple H was champion for 616 of those days. That leaves only 294 days for four other champions between each of his reigns and they, all together, just barely beat his longest reign by two weeks. He was given the title by Eric Bischoff on a Monday Night Raw in 2002 and held it for 76 before losing it to Shawn Michaels in the first ever Elimination Chamber match. He won it back 28 days later then held onto the belt for 280 days, the second longest in reign in history. He lost the title to Goldberg only to regain it 84 days later to have an extremely successful run as champion for 91 days, but would lose at WrestleMania to Chris Benoit in a Triple Threat match involving Shawn Michaels as well and give up the belt to Benoit. In his last two reigns he defeated Randy Orton then had to vacate the title only to be rewarded it back so they added up to 169 days as champion. You have to appreciate all that Triple H did for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship when it was first introduced but he, luckily, doesn't get lost in the shuffle of the other 21 champions that came after him. Triple H deserves this spot and is my #1 pick for the best WWE World Heavyweight Champion of all time.