Brock Lesnar’s win over Roman Reigns in the Wrestlemania 34 main event meant The Beast was breathing some rarefied air as one of the few men to hold a major championship in the WWE for over a year.  While the WWE Universal Title has a fairly short lineage, the WWE World Title – WWE’s longstanding premier championship – has only had ten reigns that were over 365 days.  And only two of those happened in the last 30 years, when the title is defended more often.

But it’s that aspect – how often the title is defended – that wrestling fans have tended to raise an eyebrow at during Brock’s reign.  18 WWE PPV events have been held since Goldberg won the Universal Title at Wrestlemania 33, and Brock has only defended at 6 of them.  Add in a handful of house shows and exactly ZERO Raws, and you can see why Lesnar may not be perceived as a fighting champion.

So WWE fans wonder – 6 title defenses in 413 days and counting.  WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 30 DAY RULE??

Well, Good Brothers Wrestling has put in the work, dug into the statistics, and determined that WWE fans may not be seeing the big picture.  I mean, sure, the Universal Title falls under the 30-day rule of all wrestling championships, and you definitely don’t even see Brock every 30 days, much less see the Universal Title defended.  However, WWE is but a global company.

Here’s what we uncovered (thanks in part to the IWD for earth-bound data)

GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. ROMAN REIGNS

King Abdullah International Stadium, Jedda, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA TOUR: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. KANE

United Center, Chicago, IL, USA

ANDROMEDA STRAIN: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. THE PATHFINDER

The Ark, NGC-206, Andromeda Galaxy

ROYAL RUMBLE: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. BRAUN STROWMAN vs. KANE

Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy

“ALIEN VS. MONSTER”: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. SERPENSOR

Hoag Arena, Inner Luminous Ring, Hoag’s Object

ARENA MASSACRE: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. KESHORN WALCOTT

Chaguanas Arena, Chaguanas, Trinidad

NO MERCY: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. BRAUN STROWMAN

Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Earth

SUMMERSLAM: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. BRAUN STROWMAN vs. ROMAN REIGNS vs. SAMOA JOE

Barclay Center, New York, NY, USA, Earth

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. SAMOA JOE

American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX, USA, Earth

CR7 LEGACY “REVENGE”: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. THE ANCIENT ONE

Sextans Palace, Cosmos Redshift 7

IYH MINDF*CK: BROCK LESNAR (c) vs. DAMIEN DEMENTO

The Outer Reaches Of Your Mind

WRESTLEMANIA 33: GOLDBERG (c) vs. BROCK LESNAR

Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL, USA, Earth, Milky Way