Five longest Championship droughts in WWE ft. Kevin Owens, Randy Orton & more
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These stars have not held a title in WWE for a long time.
Winning a championship is one of the biggest milestones in a WWE Superstar’s career. Many wrestlers dominated the title reigns and even held the prestigious heavyweight title for long periods. While some performers regularly return to the title picture, others have spent years chasing singles gold.
Sadly, these title reigns define the careers of many wrestlers, but some remained on top of fans’ choices with their past performances, even without any title around their waist. Yet a title certainly gives a wrestler another level of authority in the promotion. Here are the top five longest singles championship droughts among active WWE wrestlers.
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WWE’s five longest singles championship droughts
5. Rey Mysterio – Nearly three years
Rey Mysterio’s last singles championship in WWE was the United States Championship, which he lost to Logan Paul at Crown Jewel on November 4, 2023. He had won the championship from Austin Theory in August 2023 but lost it to Logan Paul.
A legendary WWE Hall of Famer, Rey Mysterio has had a storied career in WWE, having won many World Championships and some secondary championships too.
Despite all his success, he has failed to win any singles championship again after losing his United States Championship. The drought that Rey Mysterio is currently facing is not as long as some of the others mentioned here.
Also Read: OPINION – Why must WWE reintroduce the 30-day title rule?
4. Finn Balor – Over five years
His latest singles title reign came to an end on April 8, 2021, when he lost the NXT Championship to Karrion Kross at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Finn Balor took the championship off Adam Cole in September 2020 after a 212-day title reign.
Even though Balor has been an integral member of WWE and has been featured in some of the biggest feuds and rivalries in recent times, he still has not won another singles title. One of the greatest accomplishments in his wrestling career was his victory in the Universal Championship title in 2016. However, with more than five years passing since his last singles title reign, Balor is ranked fourth.
3. The Miz – Over five and a half years
The Miz’s most recent singles title reign was during his second WWE Championship title reign, which came to an end on March 1, 2021. The Miz used his Money in the Bank contract against Drew McIntyre on February 21, 2021, and his championship reign lasted for eight days, until he lost to Bobby Lashley on Monday Night RAW.
The Miz is a two-time WWE Champion and eight-time Intercontinental Champion, becoming one of the most successful wrestlers of his era. He has also been regularly appearing on programming and has won some tag team championships. His latest singles championship reign ended more than five and a half years ago, and he ranks third on the list.
2. Randy Orton — Nearly six years
The last time Randy Orton held a singles championship was on November 16, 2020, when he lost his WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre on the show RAW. Orton had won the WWE Championship in October 2020 from McIntyre at Hell in a Cell.
Randy Orton is undoubtedly one of the most decorated performers in the Stamford-based promotion, with numerous world championship victories as well as many other championship matches. However, Orton has not managed to win any other singles championship since that time.
Randy Orton is still active and still has the chance of winning another championship sometime in the future. However, he has reached a five-year and eight-month drought, which makes him the second-best in terms of the active wrestlers listed above.
1. Kevin Owens – Over 10 years
Kevin Owens is number one on this list after over nine and a half years without a singles championship victory. Kevin Owens’ last reign was from August 2016, when he won the Universal Championship, until March 2017, when Goldberg beat him for it. His reign lasted for 188 days.
Owens has remained a very significant figure in the company with participation in feuds against some of the company’s most significant wrestlers. However, Kevin Owens has won several tag-team titles, but this does not affect his standing in this ranking.
According to the official bio provided by WWE, Owens has been away due to an injury. However, he has been using his experience to help develop talent within WWE LFG.
Who has the longest singles championship drought among active WWE wrestlers?
Kevin Owens’ last singles championship reign ended on March 5, 2017, when Goldberg defeated him for the Universal Championship at Fastlane, and he has not won any singles title since then.
Who holds the record for the longest reign as Heavyweight champion in WWE?
Seth Rollins holds the record for the longest reign as WWE Heavyweight Champion for 316 days.
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