I’m sure a lot of the John Cena bashers were excited when it was teased on Raw Monday that he would be stripped of the WWE title. Much to their dismay, however, the champ is still here, and even if he had surrendered the title, he already had achieved a milestone. On Monday, Cena officially passed Randy Savage to become the sixth-longest reigning WWE champion in the company’s 44-year history.

Cena, a three-time champ whose current reign began Sept. 17, 2006, is the longest-reigning WWE champion in nearly 20 years. He trails Bruno Sammartino (May 17, 1963 to Jan. 18, 1971), Bob Backlund (Feb. 20, 1978 to Dec. 26, 1983), Hulk Hogan (Jan. 23, 1984 to Feb. 5, 1988), Sammartino (Dec. 10, 1973 to April 30, 1977) and Pedro Morales (Feb. 8, 1971 to Dec. 1, 1973). As a side note, Backlund actually lost the title to Antonio Inoki in Japan in 1979 and regained it six days later, but that title switch is not acknowledged by WWE.

Whether you love or hate Cena, you have to admit that his title reign is impressive in this era of frequent title changes. The WWE title changed hands 11 times in 1999 alone. And while we all know title changes are decided in booking meetings and not in the ring, it says something about Cena that the WWE powers that be believe enough in him to make him the face of the company.

I’m in favor of WWE going with longer title reigns — although sometimes plans have to be altered due to injuries — because title switches mean more when they don’t happen so often. I’m not saying that anyone should ever hold the title for four or five years at a time anymore, but I’m fine with a year or so if the champion is drawing.

I feel pretty confident that Morales won’t have to worry about Cena surpassing him for the fifth-longest reign. If Randy Orton doesn’t win the title from Cena at No Mercy on Oct. 7, Triple H — and possibly Chris Jericho — is looming. I think taking the belt off Cena for a while at this point would be the best thing for him. It might help quell the backlash against him and would add a new dimension to his character by making him the hunter rather than the hunted.