Once upon a time, when a WWE/F star held a world title, they actually defended it. It wasn't a situation where they would main event Raw or Smackdown in a tag team match every week. The main event featured the world champion in one on one or some kind of match where the title was defended or they had to fight him to get a shot at the title. What we have is a list of some of the champs that almost always defended their title or made it a point to give someone a shot.
Bret Hart:
You can't have discussion about fighting world champs and not bring up The Excellence of Execution. Bret is an old school guy and because of that he knows you have to fight to stay champion. Bret was one of the few world champs that would appear on Saturday afternoon Superstars and compete against the young up and comers. And when there was a random Saturday Night program on, Bret could be found fighting anyone from Papa Shango, to Skinner, to Lex Luger, and more. Bret is the epitome of what it meant to be a world champion.
John Cena:
You can hate him and chant he sucks all you want, but be honest with yourself when this question is asked. Did anyone defend their title like he did? The answer is no. Night in and night out Cena defended his title. Not just the world title either. When was U.S. champ, he made it a point to call out anyone who wanted to take a shot at him. And when he defended the title he made everyone look good. Most notably was his match against Zack Ryder. Cena and Ryder had an absolutely amazing match (which sadly lead to nothing for Ryder). At the end of the match, Cena looked like he felt bad for beating him.
Stone Cold:
One thing us Attitude Era fans got accustomed to hearing is the sound of glass breaking and Stone Cold making his way to the ring. Stone Cold was around during the time where every night he had to fight someone and not just in a match. Every night Stone Cold was fighting against the McMahons, The Rock, Triple H, DX, and whoever else wanted to take a shot at him or take his title. Not only would he accept their challenges, Austin would constantly go out and call them out if they were hiding or waiting for the pay per view. No running. No hiding. Just punches and Stone Cold Stunners.
Chris Benoit:
Even though Benoit didn't have a lengthy title run, but what he did in that short amount of time was great. Benoit defended his title two times a week and more than likely more than that during house shows. During the beginning of each show it was almost guaranteed Benoit was going to fight and it was going to be for the title. Benoit wanted to work and he wanted to defend his world title so he did. So every night his music would hit and he'd walk down to the ring determined to make whoever his opponent was tap out. Usually, that is exactly what happened. Just ask Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
Cm Punk:
You don't hold the WWE Title for 434 consecutive days without defending it a lot (unless you're the Bella Twins). Despite the Kayfabe of CM Punk ducking challenges, Punk defended his title a ton regardless of which title reign we are talking about. Punk may have spent a good amount of time fighting John Cena over and over, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Punk held the title for as long as he did and still managed to be a fighting champion and appear on both shows at times and then still make the house shows. Even while legitimately injured, Punk gave all of us what we wanted to see. We anted to see CM Punk and we wanted to see him defend his title and every week he delivered.