Winning a world championship is the pinnacle of someone's career. There's nothing bigger than capturing a world title but some have found it extremely hard to stay right at the top. The WWE Championship remains to be the most prestigious title in the business which has been around since 1963. Moreover, the World Heavyweight Championship was WWE's other world championship which was around from 2002-2013.RELATED: 10 Wrestlers Whose Last WWE World Title Reign Was Better Than Their FirstThe WWE Championship may be bigger than the World Heavyweight Championship or the Universal Title in terms of prestige but regardless wrestlers are thrilled to have won a world title. There have been many iconic world championship victories with Shawn Michaels beating Bret Hart for his first reign at WrestleMania XII, and Edge cashing his Money in the Bank contract on John Cena at New Year's Revolution 2006 to become WWE Champion. However, the most recent, and in some cases final, world title victories for some of these great world champions have been amongst the best in WWE history.
10 Big Show - Hell In A Cell 2012
At Hell in a Cell 2012, Big Show challenged Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship. This match had no right to be as good as it was, with it being one of the best matches in The World's Largest Athlete's career.
Show was extremely dominant throughout the match and he set the tone of this bout. The Celtic Warrior wasn't going down without a fight as he countered Show's thunderous Chokeslam. However, Sheamus kicked out of one WMD but a second WMD sealed the deal with Show capturing the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time.
9 Mankind - SummerSlam 1999
The WWE Championship was on the line in a marquee match to close out SummerSlam 1999. Steve Austin's injuries resurfaced, and he defended his coveted title against Triple H and Mankind in a triple threat match with Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the special guest referee.
Three of the all-time greats put on an entertaining match with the trio brawling. Triple H was hellbent on securing his first WWE Title reign, and he thought that he did enough by executing a Pedigree on Austin. Ultimately, Mankind intervened, and he planted the Texas Rattlesnake to become a three-time WWE Champion. This title victory of Mankind's often gets overlooked but he defeated two of the all-time greats.
8 Triple H - Royal Rumble 2016
For just the second time in history, the WWE Championship was up for grabs in a Royal Rumble match at the 2016 Royal Rumble. WWE Champion Roman Reigns had a long and arduous road to retain the gold as the number one entrant. It looked increasingly likely that he would retain but Triple H emerged as the 30th participant.
The Game was a man on a mission and he eliminated Bray Wyatt along with Sheamus, and Dolph Ziggler. The Cerebral Assassin ended Reigns' title run by eliminating him much to the delight of the fans, and he became a 14-time WWE World Champion after he lastly eliminated Dean Ambrose, who was the reigning Intercontinental Champion.
7 Daniel Bryan - SmackDown 11/13/18
Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles always had great chemistry together, and this match was superb on the November 13, 2018, edition of SmackDown. The Phenomenal One entered his 371st day as WWE Champion but Bryan was seeking a fifth WWE World Championship run.
RELATED: Every WWE Championship Reign Of Daniel Bryan's Career, Ranked
Styles executed the Calf Crusher but Bryan fought back and reversed it into the Yes Lock. However, Bryan unexpectedly turned heel as he hit Styles with a low blow and executed the Running Knee to become WWE Champion once again. This was a significant title win as Bryan went on to have the best world title run in his WWE career.
6 CM Punk - Survivor Series 2011
CM Punk's quest to become WWE Champion continued at Survivor Series 2011 against Alberto Del Rio. Punk was unquestionably the biggest babyface that year with fans inside Madison Square Garden desperate to see Punk end Del Rio's WWE Title reign.
This is one of the most underrated matches in Punk's WWE career. They went back and forth with Del Rio giving Punk a run for his money. Nonetheless, there was a sense of inevitability with The Second City Saint dethroning Del Rio which kickstarted his historic 434-day run with the WWE Championship.
5 Bret Hart - SummerSlam 1997
Bret Hart's heel run in 1997 was one of the best years in The Hitman's storybook WWE career. The Excellence of Execution was looking to continue his momentum by taking WWE Championship away from The Undertaker at SummerSlam. However, there was a third party involved, and that was Hart's bitter rival, Shawn Michaels who assumed the role of special guest referee.
Two of the all-time greats put on a slugfest for fans to enjoy. Whilst, it wasn't their best meeting together they still managed to tell a good story. Hart goaded Michaels, and he spat in his face which led to Michaels accidentally hitting Undertaker with a chair. HBK didn't want to do it but he counted Taker's shoulders down with Hart capturing his fifth and final WWE Title.
4 The Rock - Royal Rumble 2013
For the first time since 1998, the WWE Championship match headlined the 2013 Royal Rumble. That's because CM Punk amid his 434-day reign as WWE Champion put the gold on the line against The Rock.
RELATED: Every WWE Championship Title Change At The Royal Rumble, Ranked
The Great One attempted to put Punk through the announce table but the table gave way. Their chemistry together was decent but all good things must come to an end, and The Rock's People Elbow was enough for Rock to capture a remarkable 10th World Title.
3 Shawn Michaels - Survivor Series 2002
The inaugural Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002 is arguably the best iteration of the match. Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship was at stake with Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Kane looking to unseat The Game as champion.
Michaels rolled back the years after a strong showing at SummerSlam, and he put on another vintage performance at Survivor Series. The Game's larynx was crushed but he managed to reach the final two with Michaels. The former DX stablemates turned rivals battled back and forth with Michaels capturing his fourth world title.
2 Randy Savage - WrestleMania VIII
Randy Savage and Ric Flair were very unlucky to not main event WrestleMania VIII with Naitch's WWE Championship on the line. Macho Man and Flair put on an instant classic with their styles meshing exceptionally well.
As expected with Flair's marquee matches, he wore the proverbial crimson mask. Savage weathered the storm from interference by Mr. Perfect and Flair's cunning plan failed with Macho Man reclaiming the WWE Title in one of the best WWE Title clashes in history.
1 John Cena - Royal Rumble 2017
There was a changing of the guard moment with John Cena defeating JBL for his first WWE Championship run at WrestleMania 21. Whilst, it wasn't one of his best world championships wins it was certainly a significant one. Nevertheless, at the 2017 Royal Rumble, Big Match John was looking to dethrone AJ Styles for a record-equaling 16th WWE Championship reign.
This match was breathtaking as soon as the bell sounded. There were several false finishes with both kicking out of each other's respective finishers. Not even an Avalanche AA was enough to keep Styles down. Styles applied himself here well once again but it was Cena's night as he was WWE Champion for a record 13th time. It remains to be seen if Cena will become a record-setting 17th-time world champion.
