Randy Orton could give the U.S. Title a much needed boost

WWE has an opportunity to elevate their often-abused secondary championship now and in the future, starting with a strong title run for Randy Orton.

When Randy Orton defeated Bobby Roode to win the United States Championship earlier this month at Fastlane, I was happy. Not because I was a big Orton fan. Not because I thought Bobby Roode was a terrible U.S. Champion. It was because I was excited about the future of the championship.

Orton is a 13-time World Heavyweight Champion. He has held just about every title that has existed within the WWE canon. He has faced and beaten a plethora of current and future WWE Hall of Famers. The fact that a superstar of his stature coveted the U.S. Title immediately elevated the status of the belt.

Now that Orton has won the title, WWE has a chance to erase some of the damage they have done to it over the years. A strong Orton U.S. Title run with memorable defenses could restore some of the belt’s lost prestige. Plus, it could elevate some of the wrestlers, especially the one who eventually beats Orton for the championship.

Poor treatment.

In wrestling, championships are often the most vital storytelling tool a promoter has at his or her disposal. They are the physical validation of the sacrifices a performer makes both in and out of the ring. Without championships, wrestlers wouldn’t have anything tangible to fight over. Matches wouldn’t mean as much and fans wouldn’t be as interested. In kayfabe, a championship gives a wrestler credence when he or she proclaims him or herself as one of the best in the world.

Unfortunately, WWE frays from this formula far too often, especially when it comes to the United States Championship. Resurrected in 2003, the U.S. Title has gone through some peaks and valleys in regards to WWE’s treatment of it. Fans fondly remember John Cena’s U.S. Title open challenge from 2015 as the championship’s high point. Yet, they also remember lengthy title reigns from the likes of Dean Ambrose and the Big Show, where the gold was seldom defended.

One of the lower points for the title came as recently as last December. After defeating Roode and Baron Corbin for the gold, perpetual choker Dolph Ziggler decided he would rather walk away from WWE rather than defend the U.S. Title. Let that sink in. Dolph Ziggler thought he was too important to hold the United States Championship. That more or less told the fans exactly what WWE thought of a title once held by the likes of Cena, Eddie Guerrero, Ric Flair and Steve Austin.

The title should mean more.

Of course, WWE has a history of misusing all of their titles. The current Intercontinental Champion, the Miz, is basically the 2018 version of The Honky Tonk Man. Aside from some exceptions, the company usually treats the tag team titles as an afterthought until they put them on two singles stars. Even the top titles aren’t immune to this, as Jinder Mahal’s five-month stretch as WWE Champion proved.

This occasionally runs counter to how other wrestling promotions book their championships. Ring of Honor always treats their champions as the elite talent that they are. New Japan Pro Wrestling used Shinsuke Nakamura to elevate the IWGP Intercontinental Title during the belt’s infancy. Now, it’s almost on par with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

They did the same thing with Kenny Omega and the IWGP U.S. Title. Omega was fresh off of two classics with Kazuchika Okada, and the promotion used that momentum to build up their new title. NJPW then tried to use the cache Omega built with the belt to get a new star in “Switchblade” Jay White over. Time will tell how well that move works, but it beats the heck out of putting it on a watered down midcarder that thinks he is above the title.

Can Orton rehabilitate the U.S. Title?

Orton doesn’t have to have six-star classics to restore the prestige of the U.S. Title. He doesn’t even have to do a carbon copy of Cena’s open challenge. He simply has to have entertaining title defenses against worthy contenders where the fans are invested in who wins and who loses. If WWE follows that simple blueprint for several months before moving the belt to a worthy successor, then the company could have a legitimate 1-A championship that could headline most episodes of SmackDown Live.

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That means WWE would have to emphasize wins and losses and protect the champion in non-title matches, things the company usually fails to do. But if Vince McMahon and his creative team want to position the U.S. Title as a strong secondary belt, they have to do those two things. Putting the title on a star the caliber of Orton was a good start. Hopefully, future titleholders benefit from it.