WWE: Who Was The Best Champion For Each Title In 2018?

Credit: WWE.com

United States Championship: Jeff Hardy

It wasn’t long ago that the United States Championship was arguably the top workhorse title in all of the WWE.  Even 2017 was a stellar year for the red, white, and blue belt, but 2018 has seen it diminish in importance and creative direction.

Bobby Roode began 2018 by winning the vacated title, only to lose it to Randy Orton at Fastlane.  The Viper would lose the belt at WrestleMania 34 to Jinder Mahal, but on the April 16 edition of Raw, The Modern Day Maharaja dropped the title to Jeff Hardy, who would take the belt to the blue brand through the superstar shakeup.  The Charismatic Enigma would go on a stellar title reign from there.

Hardy retained the U.S. Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble against Mahal and then against Orton at Backlash, but after a few more matches along the way on SmackDown, his reign would meet its end.  At Extreme Rules, Hardy lost the title to Shinsuke Nakamura thanks to a pre-match low blow by The King Of Strong Style.  He was unable to recapture the title in the coming weeks.

Hardy’s reign made the U.S. Championship feel more important than it had earlier in the year, but unfortunately, since Nakamura has been champion, the title has rarely even made it on TV.  Heading into 2019, the title should be in line for a much-needed change of pace courtesy of Rusev Day.  The recent shortcomings of the championship make Hardy’s reign look that much better.

In his first-ever reign as U.S. Champion, The Charismatic Enigma made it count throughout a year that was very unkind to one of the longest-running championships in the WWE.