WWE Championship: Bruno Sammartino

Today I am going to continue the series on WWE Championship title reigns. The next title reign on the list involves the longest title reign to date for the WWE Championship and it is held by Bruno Sammartino. I am changing my formula for this time and all future posts in this series. I will instead give the history of their title reign and then I will give my thoughts at the end on the score and then I will score them.

Bruno Sammartino: May 17, 1963-January 18, 1971

Bruno Sammartino beat Buddy Rogers on May 17, 1963 in a match that lasted 48 seconds. The rumor was that Buddy Rogers was tricked into the match and did not know he was going to lose until he was already in the ring. This started a real feud between Sammartino and Rogers. The next time the two were in a ring together was two months later in a tag team match. This match pitted Bruno Sammartino and Bobo Brazil against Buddy Rogers and Handsome Johnny Barend. Rogers and Barend won the match, but Sammartino and Rogers were not in the ring very much because of their grudge against each other. 

Sammartino eventually was suppose to have a rematch against Buddy Rogers on October 4, 1963, but Rogers retired before the match could take place. Instead he faced the new #1 contender, Gorilla Monsoon. Monsoon ended up winning the match due to a disqualification. 

In 1965, Sammartino was picked to be in a match against Lou Thesz that would put both the WWWF title and NWA title on the line. Sammartino, who already had a hectic schedule decided to opt out of the match. On September 28, 1965 he had a match with Tarzan Tyler. When he went back to his car that night he found his window smashed and somebody stole his championship belt. 

Bruno Sammartino defended his belt all over the world in Australia, United States, Spain, and Japan. He defeated such opponents as Killer Kowalski, Gene Kiniski, Gorilla Monsoon, George "The Animal" Steele, and many others. He was even presented with a private audience with the Pope. 

On January 18, 1971 he lost the championship to Ivan Koloff. After he was pinned the crowd was so shocked that they stayed perfectly silent. Fearing a riot, the referee did not even hand Koloff the belt. Sammartino stayed in the ring to try and draw the attention from Koloff. People were crying as Bruno Sammartino left the ring. 

Scores:

Strength: He retained the title all around the world and against the greatest wrestlers of that time period. 10/10 

Length: He held the title for seven years, eight months, and one day. 10/10

Opponents: Bruno Sammartino defeated some of the greatest wrestlers of that day. 10/10

Matches: He performed great in his matches while he was the champion. 10/10

Final Score: 40/40=100% A+