WWE United States Title History

Mikk

WC's Sexy Beast

The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling title. It was formerly the National Wrestling Alliance and then the World Championship Wrestling United States Championship but is now a World Wrestling Entertainment title exclusive to the SmackDown! brand as a secondary championship.

History

Although the NWA had crowned a United States Heavyweight Champion in 1950, Buddy Rogers being given the first honor, over the years the many promotions that conformed the NWA began recognizing their own champions. The United States championship recognized by Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling (later World Championship Wrestling) actually started in 1975, with former World champion Harley Race being given the first belt though he was announced as having won it in a kayfabe tournament in Florida. The Mid-Atlantic version became the Undisputed NWA United States Championship in 1981, when the San Francisco promotion (the only remaining NWA promotion to recognize its own U.S. champion) closed down.
From the beginning it had been the top championship in the Mid-Atlantic region and remained as such until about 1986, when the NWA World Heavyweight Championship took center stage due to promoter Jim Crockett, Jr. consolidating it under his control; the United States Championship thus became a secondary championship. In 1991 the title became the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.
When Canadian wrestler Lance Storm held the United States Championship, he renamed it the Canadian Heavyweight Championship for the duration of his reign, and covered the faceplate of the belt with a sticker of the Canadian Flag.
The title was the secondary WCW championship until, after the World Wrestling Federation's purchase of WCW in 2001, United States Champion Edge defeated the WWF Intercontinental Champion, Test, to merge both titles. Edge then held the WWF Intercontinental Championship, and the WCW United States Championship became inactive.
The title was reactivated as a WWE belt by then SmackDown! general manager Stephanie McMahon as the WWE United States Championship. This was done shortly after the RAW brand reactivated the WWE Intercontinental Championship as its secondary championship, and thus the United States Championship would be the equal counterpart for SmackDown!. Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit in the final of a tournament at Vengeance 2003 to become the first WWE United States Champion.
At Armageddon 2004, then-champion John Cena revealed a new redesigned, custom-made, United States championship, resembling a disc on a turntable. However, after Orlando Jordan defeated Cena for the title in March 2005, Cena's belt was unceremoniously dumped into a garbage can and burned by John "Bradshaw" Layfield (ironically a future U.S. Champion) and The Cabinet. Jordan was then presented with the original WWE United States Championship belt, which is still used today.

Statistics

Record:	Record holder:	Record:	Notes:
Most reigns	Ric Flair	6	Lex Luger's reigns sometimes are also counted as six, but his "fourth" and "fifth" reign are delimited by the change in name of the title from NWA to WCW championship, in which no title match or forfeit took place.
Longest reign	Lex Luger	523 days	N/A
Shortest reign	Steve Austin	c. 5 minutes	Austin was awarded a second U. S. title on September 18, 1994 when Ricky Steamboat was unable to defend it against him; Austin lost it less than 5 minutes later to Jim Duggan.
Oldest champion	Terry Funk	56 years	Funk defeated Lance Storm for a second title in 2000. However, due to the title change having taken place at a WCW house show, WCW never officially recognized Funk's second title win; it wasn't officially recognized until after WCW had gone out of business.
Heaviest champion	The Big Show	c. 507 lbs	N/A
Lightest champion	David Flair	204 lbs	Handed the title by then-WCW President Ric Flair

Trivia

• The current NWA/WCW/WWE version of the title is not the first United States Championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history. A previous title existed in the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation, called the WWWF United States Championship. It was a short-lived title that was created in 1970 and abandoned by 1976. It has no connection to this title.
• Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit are the only three wrestlers to win both the WCW and WWE versions of this title.
• The U.S. Championship has been recognized by three different promotions (NWA, WCW, and currently WWE). When the reigns are broken down by promotion, Flair has the most reigns with the NWA version of the title with 5, Bret Hart has held the WCW version the most times with 4 reigns, and Benoit, Booker T (now known as King Booker) and John Cena are tied for the most reigns with the WWE version of the title with 3 each.
• The U.S. Title has been held by 4 different father & son combinations---Blackjack Mulligan & Barry Windham, Johnny & Greg Valentine, Dusty & Dustin Rhodes, and most recently Ric & David Flair.
• When Big Show won the title, in the WWE, it was the 100th recognized title change, making Big Show the 100th champion.

Rollcall Of Champions

CHAMPION	DEFEATED	LOCATION	DATE
Harley Race	Johnny Weaver	Tallahasse, FL	01-01-75
Johnny Valentine	Harley Race	Greensboro, NC	07-03-75
Terry Funk	Paul Jones	Greensboro, NC	11-09-75
Paul Jones	Terry Funk	Greensboro, NC	11-27-75
Blackjack Mulligan	Paul Jones	Greensboro, NC	03-13-76
Paul Jones	Blackjack Mulligan	Greensboro, NC	10-16-76
Blackjack Mulligan	Paul Jones	Greensboro, NC	12-15-76
Bobo Brazil	Blackjack Mulligan	Norfolk, VA	07-07-77
Ric Flair	Bobo Brazil	Norfolk, VA	07-29-77
Ricky Steamboat	Ric Flair	Greensboro, NC	10-23-77
Blackjack Mulligan	Ricky Steamboat	Greensboro, NC	01-01-78
Mr. Wrestling	Blackjack Mulligan	Greensboro, NC	03-19-78
Ric Flair	Mr. Wrestling	Greensboro, NC	04-09-78
Ricky Steamboat	Ric Flair	Toronto, ON	12-18-78
Ric Flair	Ricky Steamboat	Greensboro, NC	04-01-79
Jimmy Snuka	Ricky Steamboat	Charlotte, NC	09-01-79
Ric Flair	Jimmy Snuka	Greensboro, NC	04-19-80
Roddy Piper	Ric Flair	Raleigh, NC	01-27-81
Wahoo McDaniel	Roddy Piper	Greensboro, NC	08-08-81
Sgt. Slaughter	Ricky Steamboat	Charlotte, NC	10-04-81
Wahoo McDaniel	Sgt. Slaughter	Richmond, VA	05-21-82
Sgt. Slaughter	n/a	Greenville, SC	06-07-82
Wahoo McDaniel	Sgt. Slaughter	Charlotte, NC	08-22-82
Greg Valentine	Wahoo McDaniel	Norfolk, VA	11-04-82
Roddy Piper	Greg Valentine	Greensboro, NC	04-16-83
Greg Valentine	Roddy Piper	Greensboro, NC	04-30-83
Dick Slater	Greg Valentine	Shelby, NC	12-14-83
Ricky Steamboat	Dick Slater	Greensboro, NC	04-21-84
Wahoo McDaniel	Ricky Steamboat	Greensboro, NC	06-24-84
Wahoo McDaniel	Manny Fernandez	Charlotte, NC	10-07-84
Magnum T.A.	Wahoo McDaniel	Charlotte, NC	03-23-85
Tully Blanchard	Magnum T.A.	Charlotte, NC	07-21-85
Magnum T.A.	Tully Blanchard	Greensboro, NC	11-28-85
Nikita Koloff	Magnum T.A.	Charlotte, NC	08-17-86
Lex Luger	Nikita Koloff	Greensboro, NC	07-11-87
Dusty Rhodes	Lex Luger	Chicago, IL	11-26-87
Barry Windham	Nikita Koloff	Houston, TX	05-13-88
Lex Luger	Barry Windham	Chicago, IL	02-20-89
Michael Hayes	Lex Luger	Nashville, TN	05-07-89
Lex Luger	Michael Hayes	Bluefield, WV	05-22-89
Stan Hansen	Lex Luger	Chicago, IL	10-27-90
Lex Luger	Stan Hansen	St. Louis, MO	12-16-90
Sting	Steve Austin	Atlanta, GA	08-25-91
Rick Rude	Sting	Savannah, GA	11-19-91
Dustin Rhodes	Ricky Steamboat	Atlanta, GA	01-11-93
Dustin Rhodes	Rick Rude	Atlanta, GA	08-30-93
Steve Austin	Dustin Rhodes	Charlotte, NC	12-27-93
Ricky Steamboat	Steve Austin	Cedar Rapids, IA	08-24-94
Jim Duggan	Steve Austin	Roanoke, VA	09-18-94
Steve Austin	n/a	Roanoke, VA	09-18-94
Vader	Jim Duggan	Nashville, TN	12-27-94
Sting	Meng	Dayton, OH	06-18-95
Kensuke Sasaki	Sting	Tokyo, Japan	11-13-95
One Man Gang	Kensuke Sasaki	Nashville, TN	12-27-95
Konnan	One Man Gang	Canton, OH	01-29-96
Ric Flair	Konnan	Daytona Beach, FL	07-07-96
Eddie Guerrero	Diamond Dallas Page	Nashville, TN	12-29-96
Dean Malenko	Eddie Guerrero	Charleston, SC	03-16-97
Jeff Jarrett	Dean Malenko	Boston, MA	06-09-97
Steve McMichael	Jeff Jarrett	Nashville, TN	08-21-97
Curt Hennig	Steve McMichael	Charlotte, NC	09-15-97
Diamond Dallas Page	Curt Hennig	Washington, DC	12-28-97
Raven	Diamond Dallas Page	Denver, CO	04-19-98
Goldberg	Raven	Colorado Springs, CO	04-20-98
Bret Hart	Diamond Dallas Page	Salt Lake City, UT	07-20-98
Lex Luger	Bret Hart	Rapid City, SD	08-10-98
Bret Hart	Lex Luger	Fargo, ND	08-13-98
Diamond Dallas Page	Bret Hart	Phoenix, AZ	10-26-98
Bret Hart	Diamond Dallas Page	Chattanooga, TN	11-30-98
Roddy Piper	Bret Hart	Buffalo, NY	02-08-99
Scott Hall	Roddy Piper	Oakland, CA	02-21-99
Scott Steiner	Booker T	Tacoma, WA	04-11-99
David Flair	n/a	Atlanta, GA	07-05-99
Chris Benoit	David Flair	Boise, ID	08-09-99
Sid Vicious	Chris Benoit	Winston-Salem, NC	09-12-99
Goldberg	Sid Vicious	Las Vegas, NV	10-24-99
Bret Hart	Goldberg	Phoenix, AZ	10-25-99
Scott Hall	Bret Hart	Indianapolis, IN	11-08-99
Chris Benoit	n/a	Washington, DC	12-19-99
Jeff Jarrett	Chris Benoit	Baltimore, MD	12-20-99
Jeff Jarrett	n/a	Columbus, OH	01-17-00
Scott Steiner	Sting	Chicago, IL	04-16-00
Lance Storm	Mike Awesome	Auburn Hills, MI	07-18-00
Terry Funk	Lance Storm	Amarillo, TX	09-22-00
Lance Storm	Terry Funk	Lubbock, TX	09-23-00
Gen. Rection	Lance Storm	Las Vegas, NV	10-29-00
Lance Storm	Gen. Rection	London, England	11-13-00
Gen. Rection	Lance Storm	Milwaukee, WI	11-26-00
Shane Douglas	Gen. Rection	Indianapolis, IN	01-14-01
Rick Steiner	Shane Douglas	Tupelo, MS	02-05-01
Booker T	Rick Steiner	Jacksonville, FL	03-18-01
Chris Kanyon	Booker T	Pittsburgh, PA	07-26-01
Tajiri	Chris Kanyon	San Antonio, TX	09-10-01
Rhyno	Tajiri	Pittsburgh, PA	09-23-01
Kurt Angle	Rhyno	Kansas City, MO	10-22-01
Edge	Kurt Angle	Boston, MA	11-12-01
Eddie Guerrero	Chris Benoit	Denver, CO	07-27-03
Big Show	Eddie Guerrero	Baltimore, MD	10-19-03
John Cena	Big Show	New York, NY	03-14-04
Booker T	Rob Van Dam	Cincinnati, OH	07-29-04
John Cena	Booker T	East Rutherford, NJ	10-03-04
Carlito	John Cena	Boston, MA	10-07-04
John Cena	Carlito	Dayton, OH	11-18-04
Orlando Jordan	John Cena	Albany, NY	03-03-05
Chris Benoit	Orlando Jordan	Washington, D.C.	08-21-05
Booker T	Chris Benoit	Reno, NV	10-21-05
Booker T	Chris Benoit	Philadelphia	01-13-06
Chris Benoit	Booker T	Baltimore	02-19-06
JBL	Chris Benoit	Chicago	04-02-06
Bobby Lashley	JBL	Bakersfield, CA	05-26-06
Finlay	Bobby Lashley	Minneapolis, MN	07-14-06
Mr. Kennedy	Finlay	Reading, Penn.	09-01-06
Chris Benoit	Mr. Kennedy	Jacksonville, Florida	10-13-06