Welcome to my blog. This is the start of a new series, where I’ll be looking back at the history of WWE World Titles (not counting ECW) and ranking all the World Title reigns since the “Modern Era”. The “Modern Era” goes all the way back to the birth of Hulkamania in 1984, and that’s where we’ll end. Today we look back at the year 2015, and we’ll continue to go back from here.
In front of my star ratings for the matches, you’ll either see “HR”, “R” or “RTA”. “HR” means the match is highly recommended ; “R” means the match is recommended ; “RTA” means recommendation to avoid. In case nothing appears, the match is watchable but nothing spectacular.
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Randy Orton (October 27, 2013 – April 6, 2014)
- Televised matches: 25
- Record: 12-12 (1 draw)
My match ratings:
- Randy Orton def. Daniel Bryan in a HIAC Match – Hell in a Cell 2013 (***1/4)
- Randy Orton(c) def. Big Show – Survivor Series 2013 (*) *RTA*
- Randy Orton(c) def. John Cena in a TLC Match – TLC 2013 (***)
- Randy Orton(c) def. John Cena – Royal Rumble 2014 (**1/2)
- Cesaro def. Randy Orton – SmacKDown Feb. 14, 2014 (***3/4) *R*
- Randy Orton(c) def. John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Christian, Sheamus and Cesaro in an Elimination Chamber Match – Elimination Chamber 2014 (***1/2)
- Daniel Bryan def. Randy Orton(c) and Batista – WrestleMania XXX (****1/4) *HR*
After cashing in his Money in the Bank on Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam 2013 to win his first title in two years, Orton dropped the gold in his first title defense at Night of Champions back to Bryan. The title would be vacated due to a fast count, though, and soon the feud between the two lost all its magic, especially after that super dumb no-contest finish at Battleground. Orton would win the vacant title against Bryan in a HIAC Match thanks to special ref Shawn Michaels. A pointless feud with Big Show followed and the two went on to have a horrible match at Survivor Series, followed by another feud with John Cena. The matches were okay, but no one wanted to see these two wrestle each other ever again. Orton went on to lose to all of his challengers at Elimination Chamber on TV, before retaining in that match thanks to The Wyatt’s AND Kane. Because that’s how you book a World Champion just before the biggest show of the year. Orton had lost all his heat heading into WrestleMania, as everyone wanted Bryan to win, nobody wanted to see Batista win and Orton… well, Orton would be there too. I don’t get why heels have to be booked like this in modern wrestling, it helps absolutely nobody. Orton would unify both titles and be called “WWE World Heavyweight Champion” after TLC 2013, by the way.
Rating: 5/10
Daniel Bryan (April 6, 2014 – June 9, 2014)
- Televised matches: 5
- Record: 3-0 (2 draws)
My match ratings:
- BONUS Daniel Bryan def. Triple H – WrestleMania XXX (****3/4) *HR*
- Daniel Bryan def. Randy Orton(c) and Batista – WrestleMania XXX (****1/4) *HR*
- Daniel Bryan(c) def. Kane in an Extreme Rules Match – Extreme Rules 2014 (***1/2) *R*
This reign is a hard one to rate. Bryan was forced to vacate the title after only his first successful title defense on PPV against Kane, and after only three matches on TV. However, the reign was pretty good while it lasted. Out of the three matches rated above, all of them are (highly) recommended. And one of them being against Kane, who was unquestionably in the worst stage of his career as the “Director of Operations”. It’s really a shame the reign had to end so soon and in the way it did, because it was really solid up until that point.
Rating: 5/10
John Cena (June 29, 2014 – August 17, 2014)
- Televised matches: 7
- Record: 6-1
My match ratings:
- John Cena def. Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Kane, Sheamus, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt and Alberto Del Rio in a Ladder Match – Money in the Bank 2014 (***3/4) *R*
- John Cena(c) def. Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Kane – Battleground 2014 (***1/4)
- Brock Lesnar def. John Cena(c) – SummerSlam 2014 (****1/4) *HR*
Daniel Bryan’s WWE Championship would be vacated after his injury, and it’d be put on the line in a Ladder Match at Money in the Bank. Cena would win the match to capture his fifteenth WWE Heavyweight Championship, and after that he’d retain against Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Kane at Battleground. Cena’s next feud would ultimately be his last as a WWE Champion for almost three years, against non other than Brock Lesnar. The match at SummerSlam was unique and truly one of the memorable wrestling matches of all-time, and it just felt different to everything we see these days. I’m a huge fan of that, and also props to Cena for being a true pro at SummerSlam. As far as this reign goes, though, he was just there to play Daniel Bryan after his injury. He did a good job, but it was never meant to be anything special.
Rating: 4/10
Brock Lesnar (August 17, 2014 – March 29, 2015)
- Televised matches: 4
- Record: 2-2
My match ratings:
- Brock Lesnar def. John Cena(c) – SummerSlam 2014 (****1/4) *HR*
- John Cena def. Brock Lesnar(c) by DQ – Night of Champions 2014 (***3/4) *R*
- Brock Lesnar(c) def. John Cena and Seth Rollins – Royal Rumble 2015 (****3/4) *HR*
- Seth Rollins def. Brock Lesnar(c) and Roman Reigns in a MITB cash-in – WrestleMania 31 (****1/2) *HR*
I will start by saying one thing: the fact Brock wasn’t there every week isn’t good and the lack of a World Champion makes the product lack something in the main-events. However, if we look at things in a different way, you can’t tell me that the matches he was in weren’t special. Also, you probably should be able to name each and every Lesnar match during this reign. Not to mention that all of his matches in that list above are recommended – all of them! That is incredible. Also, this reign features one of the best triple threat matches in wrestling history and arguably the most memorable title win and title loss. Apart from that weird DQ finish against Cena at Night of Champions and the fact that Lesnar wasn’t on TV most of the time, this reign was amazing.
Rating: 7/10
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS RANKING
- Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 13/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 9
- AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 11/09/2016 – 29/01/2017) 9
- Brock Lesnar (WWE Championship, 17/08/2014 – 29/03/2015) 7
- AJ Styles (WWE Championship, 07/11/2017 – 13/11/2018) 7
- Kevin Owens (WWE Universal Championship, 29/08/2016- 05/03/2017) 6
- Seth Rollins (WWE Championship, 29/03/2015 – 04/11/2015) 6
- Roman Reigns (WWE Championship, 03/04/2016 – 19/06/2016) 6
- Brock Lesnar (Universal Championship, 02/11/2018 – 07/04/2019) 5
- Randy Orton (WWE Championship, 27/10/2013 – 06/04/2014) 5
- Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship, 06/04/2014 – 09/06/2014) 5
- Seth Rollins (Universal Championship, 11/08/2019 – 31/10/2019) 5
- John Cena (WWE Championship, 29/01/2017 – 12/02/2017) 5
- John Cena (WWE Championship, 29/06/2014 – 17/08/2014) 4
- Dean Ambrose (WWE Championship, 19/06/2016 – 11/09/2016) 4
- Kofi Kingston (WWE Championship, 07/04/2019 – 04/10/2019) 4
- Seth Rollins (Universal Championship, 07/04/2019 – 14/07/2019) 4
- Brock Lesnar (Universal Championship, 14/07/2019 – 11/08/2019) 3
- Brock Lesnar (Universal Championship, 02/04/2017 – 19/08/2018) 3
- Triple H (WWE Championship, 24/01/2016 – 03/04/2016) 3
- Roman Reigns (Universal Championship, 19/08/2018 – 22/10/2018) 3
- Jinder Mahal (WWE Championship, 21/05/2017 – 07/11/2017) 3
- Bray Wyatt (WWE Championship, 12/02/2017 – 02/04/2017) 3
- Roman Reigns (WWE Championship, 14/12/2015 – 24/01/2016) 2
- Goldberg (Universal Championship, 05/03/2017 – 02/04/2017) 2
- Sheamus (WWE Championship, 22/11/2015 – 14/12/2015) 2
- Randy Orton (WWE Championship, 02/04/2017 – 21/05/2017) 1
- Seth Rollins (WWE Championship, 19/06/2016) –
- Roman Reigns (WWE Championship, 22/11/2015) –
- Finn Bálor (WWE Universal Championship, 21/08/2016 – 22/08/2016) –