When Seth Rollins won the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 31, he joined an elite fraternity that only 44 men belong to. What he'll soon realize is that snatching the title is one thing, holding onto it is another matter entirely. For all the Superstars who have claimed the prize, only 14 have carried it for a total of one year or more. More than 1,000 days? Only five have done that.

Check out the esteemed history of WWE World Heavyweight Champions

Point is, the championship is a slippery thing, so we were interested in discovering what 10 Superstars have managed to hold onto it for the longest amount of time. Some specfics: For the purpose of this list, we looked at the cumulative days each Superstar held the championship. So every day of John Cena's 12 total reigns factored into his ranking. Also, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was the only title we looked at it. It's sports-entertainment's most valued prize, and these men refused to let go of it.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin — 529 days as champion

Number of reigns: Six | Longest individual reign: 175 days

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s entry in the No. 10 position may seem underwhelming considering The Texas Rattlesnake’s iconic place in WWE history, but the bulk of the WWE Hall of Famer’s WWE Title reigns occurred during the most tumultuous era for the championship.

The first of Austin’s runs began, famously, at WrestleMania XIV on March 29, 1998, when he beat Shawn Michaels. The Texas Rattlesnake lost that title only 91 days later to Kane, but won it back the next night on the June 29, 1998, edition of Raw. That reign was also a quick one — only 90 days before the title was vacated after Austin was pinned by Kane and The Undertaker simultaneously in a Triple Threat Match.

Watch "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Kane vs. The Undertaker on WWE Network

Austin had two brief reigns as WWE Champion in 1999 — the first lasted 56 days, the second went a day less at 55. His WWE Title victory over The Rock at WrestleMania X-Seven began a 175-day run — the longest of his career — which was followed by a sixth reign on Oct. 8, 2001, that lasted 62 days before he lost to Chris Jericho at Vengeance on Dec. 9. 2001.

Triple H — 539 days as champion

Number of reigns: Eight | Longest individual reign: 210 days

There are pockets of WWE history where it seemed like Triple H was always the WWE Champion. The numbers tell a different story, though. The Game won the title a lot — eight times so far, which ties him with Randy Orton and The Rock for second most reigns behind John Cena’s 12 — but his runs were usually brief. Truth is, Triple H’s greatest virtue as a Superstar has never been his ability to stay champion, it was always his determination to be a contender. 

Watch Triple H win his first WWE Title at Unforgiven 1999 on WWE Network

First breaking into the title picture with a victory over Mankind on Raw in 1999, Triple H only held his title for 22 days before losing it to, believe it or not, Mr. McMahon. Brevity became the name of, well, the game for many of his subsequent reigns, including two which lasted, curiously, for only 35 days. Triple H’s longest WWE Title run was a strong one — 210 days across 2008 — but The Cerebral Assassin has always been at his most captivating when he’s plotting to get the championship back.

Brock Lesnar — 579 days as champion

Number of reigns: Four | Longest individual reign: 224 days

Much was written about Brock Lesnar’s fourth reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. There may not have been another titleholder in WWE history who was as purely dominant as The Beast Incarnate during his 224-day reign of terror. What many missed, however, was that Brock pummeled his way onto this list with his already legendary run.

Watch Brock Lesnar annihilate John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 on WWE Network">Watch Brock Lesnar annihilate John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 on WWE Network

Lesnar won his first WWE World Heavyweight Title from The Rock at SummerSlam 2002 when he was barely six months into the company and only 25 years old, which made him the youngest champion in WWE’s history — a record he still holds to this day. Two more reigns followed during Brock’s first run with the company, but none of them touched The Beast Incarnate’s championship crime spree where he announced himself as the scariest man to ever hold WWE’s biggest prize.

Randy Orton — 609 days as champion

Number of reigns: Eight | Longest individual reign: 203 days

Bet you didn’t realize that Randy Orton has spent more time with the WWE Title around his waist than Superstars like The Rock, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. The Viper doesn’t always receive the admiration that these rarified champions get, which may be owed to the controversies that often surround the title’s journey to Orton’s hands.

Take, for example, The Viper’s first WWE Championship reign, which began when Mr. McMahon literally handed the thing to him. Awarded the vacant title by WWE’s Chairman at No Mercy 2007, Orton immediately lost the championship to Triple H before winning it back the very same night — making him a two-time champion in the course of a few hours.

Watch the insane events of No Mercy 2007 on WWE Network

Eight reigns in the books, Orton stands as the Superstar with the seventh most days as champion. Whether or not this has endeared him to the WWE Universe is another question.

Bret “Hit Man” Hart — 654 days as champion

Number of reigns: Six | Longest individual reign: 248 days

When Bret Hart won the WWE Title from Ric Flair on Oct. 12, 1992, it was the most unexpected title change since Ivan Koloff unseated Bruno Sammartino in January 1971. Not yet accepted as a main event player at the time, the “Hit Man” announced himself as the new face of WWE in quiet fashion. His victory didn’t come with the pyro and ballyhoo of a WrestleMania main event. Instead, it occurred at a small event in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, of all places.

Watch Bret Hart's defining WWE Title victory from WrestleMania X on WWE Network

Humble beginnings aside, Hart earned his place in the record books as he defended the WWE Title for a combined 654 days across five separate reigns between October 1992 and August 1997. Hart was “the” Superstar of that period with multiple reigns that lasted for more than 100 days — although he is a card carrying member of the 24-hour title reign club — and big-time WWE Championship Matches at The Show of Shows. The Best There Is, The Best There Was and The Best There Ever Will Be? Maybe not in this case, but definitely up there.

Pedro Morales — 1,027 days as champion

Number of reigns: One | Longest individual reign: 1,027 days

Pedro Morales often seems like one of the forgotten WWE Champions, which is unfortunate when you consider that he held the WWE Title for nearly three years. An inspiring hero to a passionate Puerto Rican fanbase in New York City, Morales carried the torch for WWE from Feb. 8, 1971 until Dec. 1, 1973, which, when considering the grand history of the title, might seem like a brief exhale between Bruno Sammartino’s two exhaustive reigns.

Go "Old School" with classic matches and legendary Superstars on WWE Network

Still, Morales’ accomplishment should not be overlooked. He’s the only WWE Champion to make this list with a single reign. And — when looking strictly at individual reigns — his run is only eclipsed by those of Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund. The Puerto Rican competitor is also the first Superstar to win the WWE, Intercontinental and World Tag Team Titles. If you didn’t know his name already, it’s about time you learned it.

John Cena — 1,240 days as champion

Number of reigns: 12 | Longest individual reign: 380 days

Thanks to his record 12 WWE World Heavyweight Championship wins, John Cena is the only Superstar of his generation to have carried the title for more than 1,000 days total. The Champ got there by hook or by crook with some of his runs lasting more than a year (him and CM Punk are the only two Superstars of the new century who can make this claim) while others came and went in mere minutes.

Watch John Cena's WWE Title victory over Edge from the 2006 Royal Rumble on WWE Network

Regardless, Cena has already cemented his spot as a defining World Champion — should he win the title one more time, he’ll be tied for Ric Flair with 16 total reigns. (This is a distinct possibility. Flair was still winning World Titles in his fifties.) Still, if The Champ wants to stake his claim as the longest reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion of all time, he’s got a long road ahead of him.

Bob Backlund — 2,138 days as champion

Number of reigns: Two | Longest individual reign: 2,135 days

The most startling narrative that surrounds Bob Backlund’s two WWE Championship reigns is how distinct each of them was. After defeating the flamboyant “Superstar” Billy Graham for the title in 1978, the cherub-faced kid from Minnesota dominated WWE for six years, wiping the mat with despised villains like Sgt. Slaughter, Stan Hansen and former champ Ivan Koloff. But when he was dethroned by The Iron Sheik in 1984, the old-fashioned collegiate wrestling champion took a leave of absence, giving way to the rise of Hulkamania.

Watch Bob Backlund's second WWE Title victory at Survivor Series 1994 on WWE Network

Backlund’s next reign didn’t come until an era-spanning decade later. WWE had changed, and so had the once-beloved hero. Now a bowtie-wearing, dictionary-toting, uptight madman, Backlund won back the title by defeating Bret “Hit Man” Hart at Survivor Series 1994 with his limb-wrenching Crossface Chicken Wing. His second reign didn’t last quite as long as his first (it was 2,132 days shorter, to be exact), but Backlund’s ability to transform made him a relevant champion across three separate decades.

Hulk Hogan — 2,185 days as champion

Number of reigns: Six | Longest individual reign: 1,474 days

As synonymous with the word “champion” as a Superstar has ever been, Hulk Hogan is hard to picture without the WWE Championship around his waist. When The Hulkster dropped a big leg on The Iron Sheik in Madison Square Garden to become WWE Champion for the very first time in 1984, many mark that moment as the beginning of the modern WWE era. For four years, Hulkamania ran wild, until a controversial encounter with Andre the Giant ended a genre-defining reign.

WWE Network: The Hulkster battles The Undertaker for the WWE Title at This Tuesday in Texas

It would be more than a year before Hulk would claim the title again, this time by defeating “Macho Man” Randy Savage in a classic matchup at WrestleMania V. Hogan picked up three more championship runs before departing for WCW in 1994, but The Immortal One wasn’t done. Upon his return to WWE eight years later, Hogan reclaimed his title at Backlash 2002 by defeating Triple H in a dream match. His reign may have only been for one month, but nearly 20 years since he first became champion, it was clear that Hulk did, in fact, still rule.

Bruno Sammartino — 4,040 days as champion

Number of reigns: Two | Longest individual reign: 2,803 days

Consider this: If John Cena wants to catch Bruno Sammartino’s record as the longest reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion ever, he’ll have to hold onto the title for an additional seven years and six months. It’s a feat even Cena might find impossible. In fact, the accumulation of all 12 of Cena’s runs is just beginning to flirt with the 1,237 days of Sammartino’s second, shorter stretch as champion.

WWE Network: Learn more about sports-entertainment in the 1970s

The Living Legend’s stats are untouchable. All told, he spent more than a decade as WWE’s defending champion and he did it against a never-ending supply of lethal villains that included Killer Kowalski, Gorilla Monsoon and Stan Hansen. Across 4,040 days, Bruno was revered as a fighter, a sports-entertainment icon and the WWE Champion against whom all other WWE Champions will forever be measured.