14 Shortest Wrestlers To Ever Become WWE Champion
The WWE Championship is the most prestigious championship that WWE has at its disposal as it has been in operation since 1963. Some of the all-time greats have held the WWE Championship with the likes of John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H among others having stellar runs as WWE Championship.
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While many tall wrestlers have held the WWE Championship, that hasn't stopped smaller wrestlers from winning the title. Some of the greatest matches in WWE history have featured the WWE Championship, and it's a title that every wrestler aspires to win.
14 Bret Hart - 6'0"
Bret Hart is one of the greatest technical wrestlers in WWE history. The Hitman became the second man after Hulk Hogan to win the WWE Championship five times. Hart defeated Ric Flair for his first WWE Championship in October 1992, and he beat the likes of Yokozuna, and Diesel for his second and third WWE Title reigns.
Hart stands 6 feet 0 inches tall and packs a punch. Hart won the WWE Championship twice in 1997 as he won the vacant title in a fatal-4-way match, and he defeated The Undertaker at SummerSlam with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. He lost his fifth WWE Championship controversially to Michaels in the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series before he headed to WCW.
13 Chris Jericho - 6'0"
Chris Jericho made history at Vengeance 2001, becoming the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion. Jericho defeated The Rock and Steve Austin in back-to-back matches to clinch the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Y2J only won the WWE Championship once, and he held the championship for three months. He defeated The Rock at the 2002 Royal Rumble and Austin at No Way Out 2002 to remain as Undisputed WWE Champion. Unsurprisingly, he dropped the gold to Triple H in his lone WrestleMania main event at WrestleMania 18.
12 Kurt Angle - 6'0"
Kurt Angle had an outstanding 2000, and the highlight of his year was defeating The Rock for his first WWE Championship reign at No Mercy. Angle had a steady run with the WWE Championship as he retained the gold in a six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon. That match involved the likes of The Undertaker, Triple H, The Rock, and Steve Austin.
Angle dropped the WWE Championship to Rock at No Way Out 2001, narrowly missing out on the main event of WrestleMania 17. Nevertheless, Angle won the WWE Championship a total of four times, and he defeated Steve Austin, Big Show, and Brock Lesnar for his other three WWE Title reigns.
11 Kofi Kingston - 6'0"
Kofi Kingston was in the right place at the right time as Mustafa Ali was receiving a push in the WWE Championship title picture but he sustained a concussion. At WrestleMania 35, Kingston defeated Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship.
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Kingston became a Grand Slam Champion with the victory, and he had solid WWE Title defenses against the likes of Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton. However, Brock Lesnar ended his six-month WWE Championship run in a matter of seconds.
10 Rob Van Dam - 6'0"
Rob Van Dam won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22, and he successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at ECW One Night Stand 2006 at John Cena's expense to become WWE Champion. Unfortunately, RVD's WWE Championship title reign went downhill rapidly.
RVD held the WWE and ECW Championships simultaneously but he was caught having marijuana with Sabu by the cops. He dropped the titles in back-to-back nights to Edge and Big Show respectively, and Van Dam's WWE career never recovered from that.
9 The Iron Sheik - 6'0"
The Iron Sheik challenged Bob Backlund for the WWE Championship on December 26, 1983, in Madison Square Garden, and Sheik ended Backlund's five-year WWE Championship run with the Camel Clutch. Sheik's WWE Championship reign wasn't long for this world.
He defended the gold against Hulk Hogan in January 1984 a month later, and Hulkamania began when Hogan beat Sheik for the WWE Championship.
8 Buddy Rogers - 6'0"
Buddy Rogers is in the history books as the first-ever WWE Champion in April 1963. He didn't win a fictional tournament in Rio De Janeiro, as they refused to recognize Lou Thesz as the inaugural WWE Champion.
Rogers' WWE Championship reign only lasted 22 days. Bruno Sammartino defeated him for the WWE Championship which was historic as Sammartino went on to become the longest-reigning WWE Champion at 2,803 days.
7 AJ Styles - 5'11"
AJ Styles made his WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble, and the Phenomenal One clinched his first WWE Championship at Backlash when he beat Dean Ambrose for the title. Styles' run in WWE has been nothing short of extraordinary.
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Styles became a two-time WWE Champion in November 2017 when he dethroned Jinder Mahal for the title in Manchester, England. Styles held the title for 371 days with Daniel Bryan beating him for the gold in November 2018. Styles is a Grand Slam Champion in WWE and, arguably, his WWE career has been the best stint of his wrestling career.
6 Big E - 5'11"
Big E won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match in 2021, and Big E successfully cashed in the Money in the Bank contract on Bobby Lashley to win the WWE Championship. Big E held the WWE Championship for 110 days.
He beat Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel 2021 to remain as WWE Champion, but Big E dropped the WWE Championship in a fatal-5-way match to Brock Lesnar.
5 Pedro Morales - 5'10"
Pedro Morales is one of the youngest WWE Champions in history as he won the WWE Championship at 28, and he beat Ivan Koloff for the championship in February 1971.
Morales almost held the WWE Championship for almost three years but his reign was ended by Stan Stasiak in December 1973. Morales was the first man to be a Triple Crown Winner and he was a popular figure in the '70s.
4 Bruno Sammartino - 5'10"
"The Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino's record as the longest-reigning WWE Champion in history is unlikely to be broken. Sammartino held the WWE Championship for a whopping 2,803 days which is a phenomenal achievement.
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Sammartino is a two-time WWE Champion and his second run as WWE Champion lasted 1,237 days. Sammartino stood at 5 feet 10 inches tall, and he did a magnificent job as WWE Champion.
3 Daniel Bryan - 5'10"
Daniel Bryan is one of the greatest technical wrestlers to grace a WWE ring. Bryan's popularity in WWE in 2013 and 2014 was unrivaled. Bryan won the WWE Championship twice in 2013 by beating John Cena and Randy Orton respectively but his title reigns were short-lived.
Bryan's third WWE Championship victory came in the main event of WrestleMania 30 and the WWE Universe rejoiced. The injury bug struck Bryan and he was forced to relinquish the WWE Championship. Nevertheless, Bryan clinched the WWE Championship for the fourth time in 2018 as a heel.
2 Eddie Guerrero - 5'8"
The late great Eddie Guerrero stunned Brock Lesnar at No Way Out 2004 to become WWE Champion for the first time. Latino Heat's victory in the Cow Palace was emotional, and he carried the WWE Championship for four months.
One of the highlights of Guerrero's WWE Championship reign was seeing off Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 20. Guerrero only stood at 5 feet 8 inches tall, and JBL ended his championship run in a Texas Bullrope match at The Great American Bash 2004.
1 Rey Mysterio - 5'6"
There's no surprise that WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio is the shortest WWE Champion in the history of professional wrestling. The Ultimate Underdog defeated The Miz for the vacant WWE Championship in a tournament final on the July 25, 2011 edition of Raw.
Mysterio's WWE Championship victory was surprising considering Miz was a former WWE Champion a few months ago. Unfortunately for Mysterio his sole WWE Championship reign was abrupt as he dropped the title to former champion John Cena in the main event.
