A few days after CM Punk was soundly beaten in his second UFC fight, he managed to suffer another loss when his historic run as the longest-reigning WWE champion came to an unceremonious end.
Brock Lesnar, who many imagined would drop the title at WrestleMania 34 or at the Greatest Royal Rumble, has plugged along for a whopping 435 days and counting with a shiny new WWE contract en tow. On Monday, WWE.com published a story on Lesnar’s run at the top, specifically pointing out that his reign eclipsed Punk’s mark.
Brock Lesnar’s long list of WWE accomplishments has now grown by one: The Beast Incarnate has officially notched the longest World Championship reign of the modern era.
Lesnar’s ongoing run as Universal Champion surpassed the previous marker, CM Punk’s 434-day stint as WWE Champion that stretched between 2011 and 2013. Lesnar’s advocate (and, coincidentally, Punk’s former hype man) Paul Heyman commemorated the occasion by taking to Twitter.
While Punk has maintained he’s “done” with pro wrestling, Lesnar’s underwhelming run will apparently continue to plug along. While he’s reportedly training to face the winner of the UFC 226 fight between Daniel Cormier-Stipe Miocic heavyweight title superfight happening in July, Lesnar may be off WWE television until August.
As noted by Wrestling Inc, Lesnar has defended the title 10 times since winning the belt at WrestleMania 33 against Goldberg. If you follow reddit user cheikhyourselfm8‘s logic, it would take Lesnar 16 years and nine months to match the 141 title defenses Punk had during his run at the top.
For now, the reported plan is for Lesnar to defend the title at SummerSlam.
