Top 10 oldest WWE Champions in history

This list contains some of the biggest names in the industry

WWE Championship is one of the prestigious titles in the wrestling industry, created and promoted by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It is one of the three primary titles of the company and is currently unified with the Universal Championship as WWE Universal Championship. The WWE Championship has witnessed a total of 146 reigns of 54 champions and 11 vacancies. The championship has been held by the WWE Superstars of different age categories from the youngest to the oldest. So here is a list of the Top 10 Oldest WWE Champions in History.

10. The Iron Sheik (41)

Hossein Khosrow Ali, better known by his professional wrestling ring name The Iron Sheik is an Iranian-American Wrestler, who wrestled for WWE in 1980’s. He is one of the villainous wrestlers of the time and had a great feud with Hulk Hogan. In 1983, The Iron Sheik won the WWF Championship at the age of 41 from Bob Backland in a controversial finish, where Buckland's manager Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel to prevent him from major injury.

Which resulted in a disqualification and the championship was awarded to Sheik. After WWE ended its association with NWA the title was renamed to WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Sheik lost his title after 28 days to Hulk Hogan ending his only World Championship reign in WWE.

9. Buddy Rogers (42)

Buddy Rogers is one of the greatest professional wrestlers during the television era and is the inaugural WWE Champion of the company. In 1963, Thesz defeated Rogers to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Soon after the event, wrestling promoters Toots Mondt and Vincent J. McMahon canceled their membership with NWA and founded World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).

They felt Thesz as a weak draw for the company and promoted Buddy Rogers instead of him and awarded him with the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship by claiming that Rogers was awarded the title as he won a tournament at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. While being crowned as the champion, he was 42 years of age. His title reign was cut short to 22 days due to a major heart attack and health concerns.

8. Sgt. Slaughter (43)

Robert Rudolph Remus, better known by his professional wrestling in-ring name Sgt. Slaughter is a retired professional wrestler, voice actor and the current ambassador of WWE. He is known for his Vietnam War Era Military Fatigue, Dark Sunglass and Campaign Hat similar to the U.S. Mariner. Slaughter had multiple pursuits for the WWF World Championship during the 1980’s but was unsuccessful. In 1990, Slaughter returned to the company as an Iraqi Sympathizer to establish himself as a villainous character.

In 1991, Slaughter challenged The Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Where the “Macho King” Randy Savage (who has a rivalry with the Ultimate Warrior) hit the Warrior with his royal scepter, which made Slaughter win the title. He was 42 years old, when he became the WWE Champion. Slaughter soon lost the title to Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VII ending the reign of 64 days..

7. “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair (43)

“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair is one of the well known names in the wrestling industry. He is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time and is one of the two superstars to hold the most number of World Championships in the history of wrestling. In 1991, Ric Flair debuted in WWE with the “Big Gold Belt” of WCW, where he was the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion and defended the championship against WWE wrestlers.

As a result, WCW sued Flair to return the belt to the promotion, but Flair used the loophole in the NWA’s policy and made the belt his own asset. In 1992, Ric Flair entered the Royal Rumble at No.3 and won the match by eliminating Sid justice with the help of Hogan. He was crowned as the WWE Champion at the age of 43 but his title reign was cut short in 77 days by Randy Savage. He then regained his title later the same year on his second reign.

6. “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar (44)

Brock Lesnar is one of the popular professional wrestlers and the former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler and American footballer. Lesnar is known for his aggressive strikes and showcase of power and athleticism. He is also referred to as one of the most prolific athletes in the world. Lesnar is one of the decorated professional wrestlers with high profile matches and longer championship reigns.

He is a ten time World Champion in WWE by holding the Universal Championship three times and WWE Championship seven times. His last two WWE Championship reign marks him as one of the oldest WWE champions at the age of 44. The position might change in future if the Beast wins the WWE championship in the future, as he has always been the championship figure of the company.

5. “All Mighty” Bobby Lashley (45)

Franklin Roberto Lashley, professionally known as Bobby Lashley, is one of the most popular professional wrestlers. Lashley is known for his masculine body, enormous strength and athleticism. Lashley is a former U.S. Army Drill Sergeant and a Mixed Martial Artist. Lashley debuted in WWE in 2005 and had a great first run till 2008, by winning the ECW World Championship twice. He wasn’t able to win the WWE Championship and was not pushed as the main eventer on his first run .

He returned in 2018 after a decade by proving his abilities to be the main eventer in TNA/ Impact Wrestling. After his return, WWE gave him the Push as one of the dominating wrestlers, which resulted in his first WWE Championship win in February 2021 at the age of 44 after a long wait. He had a dominating first reign by holding the championship for 195 days. He then won the WWE Championship for the second time in January 2022 by beating Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble 2022 at the age of 45. Unfortunately his second reign ended a month later at Elimination Chamber, where lesnar refined the title.

4. Bob Backlund (45)

Bob Backlund is a retired American Professional and Amateur Wrestler, who is known for his time in World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) / World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1970’s to 1990’s. He is one of the successful wrestlers and has the second longest WWE Championship reign in history. He has won the WWE Championship twice, where he had a 14 year gap between the two reigns.

He won his first WWE Championship in December 1979 by becoming the WWWF World Heavyweight Champion and held the championship for 1470 days. His second reign was in 1994 at the age of 45, where Backlund defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Championship in a Throw in the Towel Submission match. Although winning the championship after a long time, it didn’t last longer as he lost the championship to Diesel in three days in a House Show.

3. “The King of Kings” Triple H (46)

Paul Michael Levesque most popularly known by his professional wrestling name Triple H. He is a retired professional wrestler, business executive and an actor. He is currently the Chief Content Officer and the Creative Head of WWE. Triple H has one of the most successful wrestling careers with monumental victories and championship reigns. The King of Kings is a 14 time World Champion with 9 WWE Championship and 5 World Heavyweight Championship wins.

His last WWE Championship reign was in 2016, where the WWE Championship was defended in a Royal Rumble Match and Triple H entered as the surprise entrant at the 30th spot. Triple H won the match by eliminating Dean Ambrose to win the WWE Championship on the 9th reign at the age of 46, thereby becoming the third oldest WWE Champion. This was his last championship reign in WWE, which lasted for 70 days.

2. “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan (48)

Terry Gene Bollea most popularly known as Hulk Hogan is a retired professional wrestler, television personality and an actor. He is the widely recognized professional wrestler of all time and is known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980’s. He is one of the successful wrestlers with a monumental wrestling career filled with high profile matches and championship victories throughout the run. He is the default main eventer of WWE and headlined WrestleMania for eight times, for which he was called “HulkaMania”.

Hogan has won six WWE Championships, his last reign was in 2002 after his second return to the company from Hollywood and challenged Triple H for the Undisputed WWF Championship at Backlash. Where Hogan defeated Triple H to become the last Undisputed WWF Champion at the age of 48. The reign lasted for 28 days and the title was renamed to WWE Championship as a result of brand renaming.

1. “The Boss” Vince McMahon (54)

Vincent Kennedy McMahon is a businessman, media proprietor and professional wrestling executive. He is the executive chairman of the world’s largest wrestling promotion WWE. Despite being the Boss, who looks after the business from the backstage, McMahon was involved in multiple storylines, wrestled in certain occasions and even won the WWE Championship once. In 1999 McMahon participated in the Royal Rumble as an unannounced surprise entrant and won the rumble match to face The Rock at WrestleMania XV for the WWF Championship but was declined by the WWE Commissioner Shawn Michaels. 

He feuded with the Ministry of Darkness and Stone Cold and was away from television as a part of stipulation. McMahon returned after months as a face and defeated Triple H to become the WWF Champion at the age of 54, which he vacated four days later.