The Top 10 World Champions of 2015

As 2015 comes to a close, I'm inspired to take a look back at the calendar year in terms of world champions. Who was the definitive greatest champion of the past 365 days? Who was the least credible title holder? There's only one way to find out! For the intents and purposes of this countdown, I've only included WORLD champions celebrated around the WORLD . Promotions included are: WWE, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, AAA, and Impact Wrestling. I apologize in advance to the Global Force fringe, CMLL aficionados, or fans of independent wrestling—both in America and abroad—for not including the titles you hold so dear. I also didn't include the NXT Championship, as NXT is a branch of the WWE, and thus their title is not the world championship of the promotion. Plus, it's not called the NXT World Championship. Right? You also won’t find any mention of short-term title holders such as Bobby Lashley or Sheamus, nor have I included Roman Reigns – who as of this writing has been champion for 5 days. The ranking is based upon an individual's length of reign, match quality, historical significance, and various other ancillary factors.

10. Ethan Carter III
June 25, 2015 – October 4, 2015 (101 Days)
Lo and behold, number ten is the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III. Given the company's canned-nature at the moment—meaning prerecorded content released on an incredible delay—it's hard to consider the TNA belt the richest prize in the industry. This was of course Carter's inaugural reign as world champion—a responsibility he made the most of during his 100+ days on top. I have to say I really enjoyed EC3 as champion; he served well as the "Face of Impact Wrestling ." Unfortunately Carter dropped the belt to Matt Hardy —of all people—at Bound for Glory —of all events.

9. Kurt Angle
January 31, 2015 – June 25, 2015 (145 Days)
The only other TNA World Heavyweight Champion on the countdown is Kurt Angle, who follows directly behind his " Impact Compadre" Ethan Carter III. It was EC3 who defeated Kurt Angle on June 25 ^th , ending the Wrestling Machine's 145-day reign as champion. As I mentioned a moment ago, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship has been rather stagnant since the start of the year, with the majority of Impact episodes taped well in advance. Hopefully 2016 is different because—spoiler alert—that's it for TNA Champions on this list.

8. Hiroshi Tanahashi
October 13, 2014 – February 11, 2015 (121 Days)
While Hiroshi Tanahashi's seventh reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion was impressive—and included his successful title defense against Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 9— his reign ended on the eleventh day of February. After losing the championship, Tanahashi went on to have another incredible year nonetheless, and even wrestled a Five-Star Match —the FIFTH of his career—against Shinsuke Nakamura in the G1 Climax Finals .

7. Jay Briscoe
September 6, 2014 – June 19, 2015 (286 Days)
Some might call Jay Briscoe the WORST world champion of the past year. I've heard quite a few people who were downright disgusted with his reign as Ring of Honor World Champion , but I can't figure out why. It couldn't have been the match quality, as Jay delivered stand-out performances on every card he appeared. In addition, Jay was the only undefeated world champion of the past year—or even in recent memory for that matter. His 286 days as champion spanned September to June, making him the second-longest reigning champion of the last year.

6. Brock Lesnar
August 17, 2014 – March 29, 2015 (224 Days)
Like Tanahashi, Brock Lesnar's WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign began in the latter-half of 2014, and concluded within the first months of this year. Brock also only defended his championship TWICE before losing it in an impromptu triple threat match at WrestleMania 31 . He even lost one of those matches via disqualification! But there's something about Brock Lesnar—his mystique, his in-ring style, his trash-talking capabilities—that set him apart from every other world champion in the sport of wrestling. Not to mention he destroyed John Cena not once, but TWICE —and walked into the biggest show of the year with the belt around his waist. That sounds like a champion to me.

5. AJ Styles
February 11, 2015 – July 5, 2015 (144 Days)
AJ Styles became a two-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion on February 11 ^th when he defeated perennial main eventer Hiroshi Tanahashi at The New Beginning in Osaka . It's safe to say AJ has had two of the best years of his entire career—2014 and 2015—since deciding to sign with New Japan Pro Wrestling . His frequency in other promotions around the world, including Ring of Honor and Revolution Pro Wrestling , have made AJ Styles a true international commodity. AJ lost the championship to Kazuchika Okada in July, but has made the most of his wrestling career since—both in NJPW and around the globe.

4. Alberto El Patron
December 7, 2014 – November 7, 2015 (337 Days)
The longest-reigning champion of 2015 is Alberto Del— oh, I mean—Alberto El Patron. Patron left the WWE in 2014 following an incident backstage, and promptly returned to his roots in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración . Within three months, the former Alberto Del Rio won the AAA Mega Heavyweight Championship , defeating El Texano Jr. —a second generation heavyweight who held the belt an unprecedented 735 days. Alberto's reign fell short of a year by exactly one month, when Alberto El Patron disappeared— and Alberto Del Rio reemerged at the Survivor Series .

3. Kazuchika Okada
July 5, 2015 – Present (167+ Days)
Breaking the Top 3 is the CURRENT IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, now 167-days into his third title-reign— Kazuchika Okada. The " Rain Maker " is among the greatest wrestlers currently working today, and has already defended his championship successfully on three high-profile occasions. On January 4 ^th , Okada will defend his championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi , in their second consecutive main event match at Wrestle Kingdom . Should he be successful, and thus prevent Tanahashi from achieving his eighth world title, Okada will be in line for the Top 10 Champions of 2016 .

2. Seth Rollins
March 29, 2015 – November 5, 2015 (221 Days)
I can already hear the click-clack of the keyboards as the internet smart-marks crawl from the wood work with every excuse and reason why Seth Rollins shouldn't be the second greatest world champion of all time. "He never won a match except on pay per-view, " you'll tell me. And you're right! Seth has one of the worst records in WWE World Heavyweight Championship history! But let's also take into account: his main event moment at WrestleMania 31; his lengthy reign atop the ranks for 221-days; his distinction of being the first NXT Champion to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion ; and oh yeah—let's not forget the WWE's place in the hierarchy of professional wrestling. Regardless of storylines or PG-ratings, the WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion on the planet by an exponential margin, and currently employs close to 200 of the top wrestlers in the world. And Seth was the champion of that EMPIRE for 60% of the year.

1. Jay Lethal
June 19, 2015 – Present (183+ Days)
Ring of Honor is currently jockeying for position as the "Number One Alternative" in professional wrestling—with TNA Impact and Lucha Underground , as well as NXT competing within that same niche market. Jay Lethal has been at the top of the " ROH Mountain " since first winning the television championship on April 4, 2014. He held the TV title for 441-days before winning the ROH World Championship from Jay Briscoe—ending Briscoe's unparalleled winning-streak—to become the Undisputed Champion of Ring of Honor . Jay Lethal lost his television title to Roderick Strong, but remains in possession of the Ring of Honor championship, defending successfully against the likes of Kyle O'Reilly, Doug Williams, Noam Dar, and even the "Phenomenal " AJ Styles. While Ring of Honor might not be the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, its championship is among the least convoluted. Just 22-men have held the belt in the company's near-fourteen year existence; the championship has only been vacated once ; and only two men have ever gone on to carry the strap twice—Austin Aries and Jay Briscoe. As of this writing, Jay Lethal has been champion for 183 days and—with Final Battle '15 in his rearview—is likely to remain champion at the start of 2016.

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