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Whether it be WWE or all across the board, who would you pick?

WWF/E, and bearing in mind, I may be partial to my era...

5. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels: The two best workers of their generation, Bret held it 5 times and had some fantastic matches, particularly in Reigns 3 and 5, which were totally transitional, whereas Shawn's first reign as a body of work is one of the best ever. I'm a bigger Bret fan, Shawn is objectively, arguably, the better performer, but I couldn't split them here.
4. John Cena: The face of his generation, a 380-day reign and memorable performances under pressure against people like Edge and CM Punk in hostile environments. I may not have always been his biggest fan, nor his worst critic, but he looked the part, worked hard, an amazing promo and had some memorable matches. He defines his era, more so than Edge or Orton.
3. Triple H - Controversial.Randy Savage and Edge were in my thoughts, as was Steve Austin, who I mention later. Even I'm not happy with myself for this, but he had it a bunch of times, won it the first time during a competitive era and deserved it for he was the man in the year 2000, and headlined so many big shows, including multiple Manias. I didn't pick Backlund just for length, nor Austin or Rock for mere popularity.
2. Bruno Sammartino: Two reigns like that, whether I saw him or not, his proven record of sell-outs and being on top. He had to appear on my list.
1. Hulk Hogan: I was a huge Hogan fan as a kid, not so much now, but he was/is the biggest draw/name (taking The Rock's acting career out of it) in the history of the business, and was allowed to carry the championship as such, especially in his first reign. A big part of it, in spite of his own charisma, is the booking. He didn't have the best matches, but unlike Austin and The Rock, who are notable absentees because THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT THAT LONG, he was allowed to run with it, he defined the eagle belt and was thought of as the man/champion in WWF AND WCW. So, yes. The Rock had 7 title runs that lasted 297 days, by the way.

If I were putting a combined list of all North American promotions, Ric Flair would probably be number 1, and Harley Race would feature. From Japan, Okada and many others would probably make this list look very different, but there you go.

Jerry Lawler would be in my thoughts, and I was half-tempted to put Roman Reigns on the top 5 list, but I think the booking has been spotty. God, Keegan, you're one to talk...

of all time..... dang I'm going to try and have a broad view across the entire spectrum

to me this category is not about length (insert Scott joke here) but rather importance and stature...


HONORABLE MENTION (no particular order)...

Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Sting, Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Dusty Rhodes, John Cena, Harley Race, Jerry Lawler, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Triple H, Big Van Vader, Misawa, Nick Bockwinkle, Pablo O'Conner, Frank Gotch, Keji Mutoh, Shane Douglas

NOW MY TOP 5....

5. Verne Gagne - A legitimate wrestler (a multi-time NCAA champion and Olympic team member), who was a Jr World champion for NWA (I believe it is a lightweight title of sorts) and was in line for the NWA title but never got enough support to be allowed to unseat Thesz. Split off and created a company all his own (AWA) and was THE standard bearer for years there (record 4600 total days as champion). So influential that he is credited with being an influential trainer for dozens of men who would go on to wrestling success (including some on this list)

4. Lou Thesz - The man was the centerpiece of the NWA back in the 50s and 60s had one title reign in NWA of more than 2300 days. He was also one of the great champions of the burgeoning TV era of wrestling and helped establish the sport as special as that media source began to exist. Was so good that there is even a move named after him in the wrestling move lexicon.

3. Antonio Inoki - I'm Not a Japanese wrestling fan by any stretch. In fact, that is Shae's department without a doubt. BUT wrestling is global in part because this man was a literally a giant on the other side of the world in the genre of pro wrestling. The fact that he was able to have any event with Muhammad Ali at the peak of Ali's trash talking existence in boxing was spectacular and showed his showmanship and fact of being a draw in that side of the world.

2. Flair - Not only does he have the most reigns, but he was the top for a company that depended on the world champions to sell territories to keep the overall brand strong. He could play heel or face, was part of one of the greatest factions of all time, and had tremendous feuds/,matches with legendary opponents (Dusty, Harley, Steamboat, Savage, Sting, Windham, etc). He was the most dependable champion of the territorial age by far and he single handedly kept wrestling from becoming the WWE show throughout the 80s and into the 90s

1. Hogan - When you are THE face of THE single largest wrestling expansion/explosion in history, it is hard not to be #1.

Brilliant list, Chris.

I often think of Hogan and Flair as 1 and 2, either way round. I avoided commenting on Japanese champions for the reasons above-

This is just in a bubble of how I view a top-five list of World Champions. I thought out eras, reigns, the champion's respect, the magnitude of their matches, who elevated the title, and looking back at their legacy as World Champions.

Note: I also kept this in the US Market.

1 - Ric Flair: I think when you think of the world champion today, the big gold belt, the traveling champion of Ric Flair going into territories and building stars, all his reigns, his legendary battles with Steamboat and Sting, and his runs with both the WWF and NWA/WCW titles make him the ideal legacy of World Champion.

2 - Hulk Hogan: The entertainer of a champion. It can't be denied that Hulk Hogan developed modern professional wrestling. WWF, under Vince and Hulk, defeated the territories and professional wrestling as we knew it. Hogan took the industry and belt as a world champion outside of professional wrestling and into pop culture. He headlined some of the biggest Wrestlemania's ever. He held the WWF and WCW titles and was the face of 80s pro wrestling the champion and can be argued the face of the nWo world champion in WCW in the Monday Night Wars.

3 - Bruno Sammartino: His legacy pre-dates professional wrestling as we know it, but his records stand the test of time. He is the Cy Young of the list, Even if you ignore his era, feuds, and lack of mainstream appeal. Whenever you open a record book, you are reminded of 2 reigns that expanded over 4040 days. This record will never be broken, and his name will stand the test of time.

4 - Lou Thesz: If Bruno is the Cy Young, Lou is the Babe Ruth of professional wrestling. A legit badass that the territories and the traveling champion were built around. He faced the top men in every territory and he was respected worldwide as a badass in and outside the business. He trained a lot of good men and innovated the sport as we know it. If it wasn't for Ric Flair, Lou Thesz is the man you would think of when you mention NWA.

5 - Nick Bockwinkle: I thought long and hard about who I wanted to put at five, and this may be, in time, a pick that will be laughed at. However, AWA was once seen as the top fed in the world. Bockwinkle was the guy it was built around. He was also seen as the only guy in the world who could legit compete with Ric Flair. He was a respected, worthy champion for the only league that competed with NWA and WWF. He had legendary battles with many top stars, including Flair and Hogan, but his top battles that stand the test of time are with Curt Hening. It's a shame AWA's history isn't respected in the same breathe as NWA/WCW, WCCW, and WWE because it should, and if it was, Bockwinkle would be a no-brainer pick for this list.

I know this list lacks a lot of great picks like The Rock, Austin, Cena, Roman, Hart, HBK, Race, and many other worthy wrestlers. But, when I think of world champion and what it means to be a world champion, these are the five men that come to my mind.