Do you know what the longest match in WWE history is? The true answer may surprise you!
With the 60-minute Iron Man match main eventing AEW Revolution 2023, longer and longer matches are becoming the norm in wrestling in the United States.
This is also true in WWE where time-limit draws, and 30 minute epics are becoming the norm. Not just on pay-per-view, but also in incredible Raw, Smackdown or NXT main events.
Wrestling fans want to see the best wrestlers wrestling for as long as possible. This has meant that WWE matches have gotten longer, and longer, which is usually great but sometimes a detriment to the match.
In this article, we’ll go through the longest matches in WWE history, detailing how they lasted and which WWE stars but their all on the line in this hour-long epics.
We will not be including Royal Rumble matches in this list, although none of them would top this list if they were included.
To read about the longest Royal Rumble matches of all time, click the link below;
Longest WWE Matches
While you may remember a number of Iron Man matches in WWE lasting the full hour, you may be shocked to know that none of them came close to being in the top 5 longest matches in WWE history.
While Bret Hart’s match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII went into overtime and passed the full hour, it still didn’t make it.
This list contains some insanely long matches in WWE history, including a few you may never have seen before.
5. Tag Team Turmoil Match – 65:15
Ahead of their match at Fastlane 2015, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns teamed up to take on six teams back to back in a Tag Team Turmoil Match.
This match was the longest match in Smackdown history, lasting over an hour. The two main event stars took on all comers, eliminating every single man in the match to run out the victors after 65 minutes.
The seven teams that took place in the tag team turmoil match were;
- Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns
- Miz & Mizdow
- The Usos
- Los Matadores
- Slator Gator
- The Ascension
- Big Show & Kane
A veritable “who’s who” of “who were they again”? Lasting 65 minutes each, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns wrestled in one of the longest matches in WWE history on that episode of Smackdown, on February 12th 2015.
4. Bruno Sammartino vs. Gorilla Monsoon (70 Minutes)
Bruno Sammartino and Gorilla Monsoon had a legendary professional wrestling match that lasted for 70 minutes on October 4, 1963, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The match was a classic battle of strength and endurance between two of the most popular wrestlers of the era.
Sammartino was the reigning World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) Champion at the time, and Monsoon was his challenger. The two men had a long-standing rivalry, and the match was highly anticipated by wrestling fans around the world.
Both men are two of the biggest legends in WWE history, although Gorilla Monsoon is more remembered for his time on commentary than in the ring.
The match ended in a 70-minute curfew draw which meat that Bruno Sammartino retained the WWE Championship in what was the longest ever WWE match at the time.
3. Pedro Morales vs Bruno Sammartino (75 Minutes)
Very little is known about this match for the WWE Championship, but one thing is for sure – it is one of the longest matches in WWE history.
In the legendary Madison Square Garden arena, WWE Champion Bruno Sammartino broke his own record for the longest match in WWE history (at the time). He took on Latino icon Pedro Morales in a match for the title.
While Morales would later win the belt from “Superstar” Billy Graham, this was not his day. The pair went to a 75 minute draw, neither man managing to get the pin fall or submission that would win them the belt.
Due to the champion advantage, Bruno Sammartino walked away from the incredibly long match still as the titleholder.
2. Bruno Sammartino (c) vs Waldo Von Erich (81 Minutes)
Before reading this list of the longest WWE matches, you may have thought of Ric Flair as being the king of the broadway matches. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer was famous for his 60 minute draws all across the country as the NWA Champion.
However, he had nothing on WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino.
For the third and final time on this list, the Italian icon’s longest matches are celebrated for the world to see. He saw no issue in wrestling for over an hour, with his longest match lasting an incredible 81 minutes.
Bruno Sammartino wrestled Waldo Von Erich on August 22nd 1964, on a WWE house show. Defending his coveted WWE Championship, the match went to a draw after 81 minutes due to the show running out of time,
This was known back in the day as a “curfew draw”, as the show was breaking the curfew of the venue if they decided to continue. This could have huge ramifications and as such was treated seriously.
This match was the longest match in WWE history, until it was blown to smithereens in 2018 by one of the all-time classic matches on Monday Night Raw.
1. 7-Man Gauntlet Match (146 Minutes 55 Seconds)
Here it is. The longest match in WWE history. While not a time-limit draw between two legends of old, it is still a historical piece of action between some all-time great legends of the wrestling ring.
Almost doubling the previous longest match, the clash on Monday Night Raw between 7 tip WWE Superstars lasted an astonishing 146 minutes – or just under two and a half hours.
The bout took place on Raw prior to the 2018 Elimination Chamber event. All 7 men in the titular Elimination Chamber match were pitted against one another in a gauntlet match to see how they measured up prior to the show.
The seven men taking part in the longest match in WWE history were;
- Roman Reigns
- Seth Rollins
- John Cena
- Finn Balor
- The Miz
- Braun Strowman
- Elias
The match started with Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins inside the ring. Amazingly, Rollins managed to eliminate both Roman Reigns and John Cena, and lasted over 65 minutes in the ring.
He was eliminated by Elias, who was immediately taken out of the match by Finn Balor. Balor was then pinned by The Miz, who was beaten by Braun Strowman to end the match at just shy of two and a half hours.
As you can see, it absolutely shattered the previous record. The performance of Seth Rollins was heroic and thoroughly deserves to be remembered as the starring performance in the longest WWE match in history.