His final reign as WWF champ, this time named WWE, would come after his career went full-circle, defeating Hulk Hogan at Judgement Day 2002. Another short reign followed as he would drop the belt to The Rock in a tremendous triple-threat match at Vengeance two months later.
Though the dead man has cemented his place in history, his title reigns have always been troublingly short.
7.) Mankind (3 Reigns)--
A month after being screwed over by the McMahon's at the 1998 Survivor Series: Deadly Games PPV, Mankind got a WWF Title match against The Rock on the December 29th edition of Raw is War.
The ring would be surrounded by the Corporation and DX, who was there to back up Mankind.
Late in the match, all hell broke loose and the ref was taken out. Austin's music hit as the place erupted. The Rattlesnake charged to the ring, leveled The Rock with a chair and made his exit. Mankind made the cover and picked up the win, celebrating by running around the ring and hugging his wife and kids.
He would lose the belt at the 1999 Royal Rumble in controversial fashion in an "I Quit" match with The Great One. Just two days later, however, he defeated the Rock for his second reign in an empty arena match during half time of the Super Bowl.
After losing the belt back to Rock in a ladder match on an edition of Raw, Mankind wouldn't get another shot until Summerslam 1999 in a triple threat match with Triple H and Austin, who was champion. According to the rumors, Triple H was actually supposed to win but Austin refused to drop the belt to him. So Mankind ended up scoring the win, then dropped the title to Triple H the next night on Raw.
Mankind was arguably the most unlikely WWF Champion in history, but he was certainly one of the most entertaining ever.
6.) "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (3 Reigns)--
The Showstopper, the Icon, Mr.Wrestlmania--Shawn Michaels was "The Man" during the mid-90s and it all began with his legendary victory over Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12 in a 60-minute Iron Man match. He would hold the belt until the Survivor Series of that year, losing to Sycho Sid.
Michaels would regain the title at the 1997 Royal Rumble, setting up a re-match of the previous Wrestlemania between Hart and Michaels. That wouldn't happen, however, as Michaels forfeited the title due to a knee injury. In reality, Hart believes that Michaels feigned the injury so that he wouldn't have to do the job.
The rocky road between the two would come to an end at the 1997 Survivor Series, where Hart defended his WWF Title in his home country of Canada against Michaels. Everyone knows what happened next.
McMahon and Michaels misled Hart into thinking he would retain, resulting in the Montreal Screwjob that ended up with Michaels leaving a very angry Montreal with the WWF title and Bret Hart leaving for WCW.
Michaels would damage his back severely against The Undertaker in a casket match at Royal Rumble 1998 before dropping the title to Steve Austin at Wrestelmania XIV.
He was arguably the greatest showman of all-time and played both heel and face roles tremendously before having his career shortened.
5.) Bret "Hitman" Hart (5 Reigns)--
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