WWE United States Championship
WWE United States Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||||||||||
Promotion | Jim Crockett Promotions (1975–1988) World Championship Wrestling (1988–2001) WWE (2001; 2003–present) | ||||||||||||||||||
Brand | SmackDown | ||||||||||||||||||
Date established | January 1, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||
Current champion(s) | Logan Paul | ||||||||||||||||||
Date won | November 4, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
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The WWE United States Championship is a men's
The championship was established on January 1, 1975, as the version of the
Of WWE's currently active championships, the United States Championship is the only one that did not originate in the promotion. It is the second-oldest active title in the company, behind the WWE Championship (1963), but the third longest-tenured championship, behind the WWE and Intercontinental Championships (1979), as WWE has only owned the United States Championship since 2001.
History
The United States Championship began as a regional championship called the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, one of several versions of the title allowed in different territories under the
The title remained the primary championship within the Mid-Atlantic territory until 1986 when Crockett gained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The United States title then became the secondary championship of the promotion. After Ted Turner bought the company and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in November 1988, the title continued to be used and recognized as secondary to the World Championship. WCW began to pull itself away from the NWA, demonstrated by the company changing the name of the title to the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship in January 1991.
On the April 6, 1991, episode of
When WWF purchased WCW, they used the United States title during the WWF's
In 2015, WWE introduced an updated version of its
In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension; during the
On the July 6, 2020, episode of Raw, after 17 years since the title's reactivation,
Brand designation history
Following the revival of the United States Championship in 2003, the title was designated to SmackDown. The brand extension was discontinued on August 29, 2011, but it was revived on July 19, 2016. The following list indicates the transitions of the United States Championship between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands.
Date of transition | Brand | Notes |
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July 27, 2003 | SmackDown! | The former WCW United States Championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship to be SmackDown!'s secondary title and the counterpart to Raw's Intercontinental Championship. |
June 23, 2008 | ECW | United States Champion Matt Hardy was drafted to ECW during the 2008 WWE Draft. |
July 20, 2008 | SmackDown | The United States Championship was returned to SmackDown after Shelton Benjamin, a member of the SmackDown brand, defeated Matt Hardy to win the United States Championship. |
April 13, 2009 | Raw | United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter was drafted to Raw during the 2009 WWE Draft. |
April 26, 2011 | SmackDown | United States Champion Sheamus was drafted to SmackDown during the 2011 WWE Draft. |
May 1, 2011 | Raw | The United States Championship was returned to Raw after Kofi Kingston, a member of the Raw brand, defeated Sheamus to win the United States Championship. |
August 29, 2011 | N/A | End of first brand extension. The United States Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. |
July 19, 2016 | Raw | Reintroduction of the brand extension. United States Champion Rusev was drafted to Raw during the 2016 WWE Draft .
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April 11, 2017 | SmackDown | United States Champion Kevin Owens was drafted to SmackDown during the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up. |
April 16, 2018 | Raw | United States Champion Jinder Mahal was drafted to Raw during night one of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up. |
April 17, 2018 | SmackDown | The United States Championship was returned to SmackDown after Jeff Hardy, who had defeated Jinder Mahal to win the title, was drafted to SmackDown during night two of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up. |
April 22, 2019 | Raw | United States Champion Samoa Joe was drafted to Raw during the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up. |
May 8, 2023 | SmackDown | United States Champion Austin Theory was drafted to SmackDown during the 2023 WWE Draft. |
Tournaments
WWE United States Championship Tournament (2003)
The tournament for the vacant WWE United States Championship was held between June 19 and July 27, 2003 for the SmackDown! brand.
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Chris Benoit | Sub | |||||||||||||
Rhyno | ||||||||||||||
Chris Benoit | Sub | |||||||||||||
Matt Hardy | ||||||||||||||
Matt Hardy | Pin | |||||||||||||
Rikishi | ||||||||||||||
Chris Benoit | 22:14 | |||||||||||||
Eddie Guerrero | Pin | |||||||||||||
Billy Gunn | Pin | |||||||||||||
John Cena | ||||||||||||||
Billy Gunn | ||||||||||||||
Eddie Guerrero | Pin | |||||||||||||
Eddie Guerrero | Pin | |||||||||||||
Último Dragón |
WWE United States Championship Tournament (2017–18)
At Clash of Champions 2017, Dolph Ziggler won the United States Championship by defeating defending champion Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode in a triple threat match.[12] On the following episode of SmackDown Live, after recapping all of his previous accolades, Ziggler said that the WWE Universe did not deserve him and he dropped the title in the ring and left.[13] After unsuccessful attempts at contacting Ziggler, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared the title vacant and announced a tournament to crown a new champion.[14] The final was originally scheduled to occur at the 2018 Royal Rumble, but was moved up to the January 23 episode of SmackDown Live. However, on the January 16 episode, after Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode won their respective semifinals matches, Roode challenged Mahal to have the final that night and Bryan scheduled it for that episode's main event.[15]
First round SmackDown Live (12/26/17,[14] 1/2/18,[16] 1/9/18[17]) | Semifinals SmackDown Live (1/16/18[15]) | Final SmackDown Live (1/16/18[15]) | ||||||||||||
Bobby Roode | Pin | |||||||||||||
Baron Corbin | 10:44 | |||||||||||||
Bobby Roode | Pin | |||||||||||||
Mojo Rawley | 3:05 | |||||||||||||
Zack Ryder
| 4:34 | |||||||||||||
Mojo Rawley | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bobby Roode | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jinder Mahal | 5:32 | |||||||||||||
Tye Dillinger | 8:41 | |||||||||||||
Jinder Mahal | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jinder Mahal | Pin | |||||||||||||
Xavier Woods | 3:05 | |||||||||||||
Xavier Woods | Pin | |||||||||||||
Aiden English
| 5:25 |
Reigns
The inaugural
See also
- Secondary championships in WWE
- Professional wrestling in the United States
- WWWF United States Tag Team Championship
References
- ^ a b "WWE United States Championship Title History". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ISBN 042518594X.
- ^ Graser, Marc (August 15, 2014). "WWE Rebrands With New Logo Tied to Digital Network". Variety. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (July 6, 2020). "7/6 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Raw Women's Champion Asuka vs. Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley in a non-title match, Rey Mysterio and Aleister Black vs. Seth Rollins and Murphy, Big Show and The Viking Raiders vs. Randy Orton, Andrade, and Angel Garza". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (July 19, 2016). "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James (July 24, 2016). "7/24 WWE Battleground Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
- ^ Keller, Wade (April 11, 2017). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 4/11: Superstar Shake-up Night 2 details". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
- ^ Powell, Jason (April 16, 2018). "WWE Raw Live TV Review: The Superstar Shakeup Night One, Sasha Banks vs. Bayley, Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. The Revival for a shot at the vacant Raw Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Keller, Wade (April 17, 2018). "Keller's WWE SmackDown Report 4/17: Superstar Shake-up concludes, tracking which Raw wrestlers will be added to Smackdown roster". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Powell, Jason (April 22, 2019). "4/22 WWE Raw Results: Powell's review of the first episode following the WWE Superstar Shakeup". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ^ Jenkins, H (July 7, 2020). "New WWE United States Title Design revealed". Ringside News. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Clash of Champions 2017 live review: AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn put their WWE careers on the line vs. Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan as referees". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
- ^ Keller, Wade (December 19, 2017). "KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 12/19: Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon fallout from Clash of Champions, Shinsuke & Orton & Styles vs. Sami & KO & Jinder". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ a b Barnett, Jake. "12/26 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens, the final edition of 2017". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c Keller, Wade. "KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 1/16: U.S. Title Tournament semi-finals with Xavier vs. Jinder, Roode vs. Mojo, Shane-Bryan drama continues". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
- ^ Barnett, Jake (January 2, 2018). "01/02 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn in a non-title match, The Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable for the Smackdown Tag Titles, U.S. Title tournament continues on the first Smackdown of 2018". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ Barnett, Jake. "01/09 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: AJ Styles addressed handicap match title defense at the Royal Rumble, U.S. Title tournament continues, Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Ascension, Ruby Riott vs. Becky Lynch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 9, 2018.