The United States Championship, even prior to coming to the WWE, has a rich history that spans well over four decades.
Originating in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in January 1975, the second-tier title has been defended in other companies such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Jim Crockett promotions, and would make its way to the WWE in 2001.
Several iconic superstars have been crowned U.S. Champion over the years, from the likes of the legendary (and inaugural champ) Harley Race, to Ric Flair, Blackjack Mulligan, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat, and a plethora of other larger-than-life talents.
Below is a list of five of the best superstars to hold the United States Championship during the title’s time in the WWE.
Cesaro
Nothing like a non-American heel to really ramp up the heat by enjoying a successful U.S. Championship reign. Most of the WWE Universe acknowledges what an incredible, and sometimes underrated, talent Cesaro is.
When he first hit the main roster back in 2012, his U.S. Championship run was a stellar one. Winning the title during the SummerSlam pre-show that year against Santino Marella, he ripped through Zack Ryder, Justin Gabriel, R-Truth, Tyson Kidd, and Wade Barrett during his reign. After an amazing 239 with that gold, Cesar lost the title to Kofi Kingston on an April 2013 edition of RAW.
Kofi Kingston
A man who has literally done it all, and seen it all in the WWE, as a Grand Slam and Triple Crown Champion, is Kofi Kingston. While he experienced a stellar reign as WWE Champion in 2019, he also had quite the run with the United States title, not one, but three times. Kofi Kingston held the championship in 2009, 2011, and 2013, racking up a total of 209 combined days with the U.S. title.
Jon Moxley
Wrestling under the name of “Dean Ambrose” at the time, the “Lunatic Fringe” had an explosive debut in November 2012 when The Shield entered the land of the WWE. Things would never be the same for fans, stables, and the company, alike.
Everyone knows that the best way to make a stable look strong is to splash some gold on them, and in May 2013 at that year’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV), Ambrose got a taste of his first WWE title in the form of the United States Championship … and what a title run it was!
Dean reigned supreme as the U.S. Champ for an incredible 351 days before dropping it to Sheamus on the May 5 edition of RAW in 2014. Not only did Ambrose have a solid U.S. title run, he, along with fellow Shield brothers Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, enjoyed a nice reign as WWE’s most dominant stables in recent history.
Rusev
As the WWE Universe continues to celebrate Rusev Day, despite the fact that Rusev is no longer part of the company, fans (for the most part) can agree that the Bulgarian Brute had an successful U.S. Championship run.
A three-time holder of this title, his first reign was during a time when his “anti-American” gimmick was an all-time hate-on high, giving him that much more heat for holding the United States Championship, and creating some incredible storytelling along the way. Rusev racked up a total of 303 during his three U.S. title reigns, and scores extra points on this list for his over-the-top program against John Cena.
John Cena
Speaking of the Cenation leader, he hits the top spot on this list for multiple reasons. First and foremost, he holds the longest (combined) days around U.S. title runs (as it relates to WWE’s history, only) at 405 days, within five different runs.
During his sports entertainment career, Cena first scored the United States Championship in 2004 at WrestleMania 20, as he started his journey along a path that would see him eventually become the “face that ran the place”.
As his level within WWE’s proverbial ladder would loosen, Cena was once again be ready for a U.S. title run in 2015, this time at WM 31; although this time the idea around his reign was to help elevate the mid-card championship, where John’s career came full circle in the WWE.
His U.S. Open Challenge helped to bring prestige to this legendary title once again, and John Cena would not only showcase his own abilities in that squared circle, but also help to place on spotlight on up-and-coming superstars, including Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Neville.