A 12 month reign is a very very difficult thing to pull off
First you need a deserving champ who just seems to fit the bill - Triple H is a believable long term champion, JBL was not
Second, the reign needs a purpose - is this the unstoppable monster withhe gimmick being - who will beat him?
Third - you need title defences against intresting opponenents in significant matches, when our champ retains it needs to have been following a war, not a Backlash style 'oh god, not this PPV again' style event
Ultimately WWE probably has no one that is worth a long reign at the mo - 12 months of Cena would probably half the ratings, infact a single further reign might just bankrupt WWE - guy is hated as champ, I like him - but not as champ
The title does need to be about length not number - a 200 time champion just means he's lost 199-200 times
Personally I'd restrict the champions to no more than a handful
Thats not to say their opponenents are always the same though!
1998-2001 - how many champs were there? HHH, Rock, Austin, Angle, Big Show, Mankind, Kane (1 night), Michaels, Vince *cough* - not that many more?
How many champs have we had 2008-2009....