The WWE United States Championship has a rich lineage and Harley Race was the inaugural champion in 1975. It was traditionally seen as the stepping stone to the WCW Championship when WCW had ownership of the title. Nevertheless, since 2003, it has been a mainstay on WWE's roster. Some of the all-time greats have made the United States Championship feel meaningful, and it is a secondary championship like the Intercontinental Championship.
Despite being defended at SummerSlam 11 times, it has only featured on the main show just eight times with the other title defenses happening on the pre-show. Not every United States Championship match has lived up to the hype, but it is a big deal when the US Championship is at stake on the grand stage of SummerSlam.
11 Orlando Jordan Loses In 25 Seconds - 2005
Orlando Jordan was JBL's right-hand man in the Cabinet, and he defeated John Cena for the United States Championship in March 2005. However, Cena had bigger fish to fry as he was going after JBL's WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21. Fast forward five months later, and Jordan rocked up to SummerSlam 2005 still as the reigning United States Champion.
Jordan wouldn't have envisaged that his United States Championship reign would have ended in humiliation though. He dropped the US Title in just 21 seconds in the curtain-raiser, which was the first time that the US Title had changed hands at SummerSlam.
10 Santino Marella Vs. Antonio Cesaro - 2012
Santino Marella and Antonio Cesaro were unable to make it onto the main show at SummerSlam 2012 with Cesaro's United States Championship up for grabs. Cesaro had Aksana in his corner, and he was in control of large portions of the match. Moreover, the crowd was backing Santino.
Marella went for the cobra, but Cesaro avoided trouble by kicking the cobra sock out of the ring. Cesaro was aggressive throughout, and Aksana distracted Marella by appearing on the apron. Cesaro secured the United States Championship with his patented Neutralizer, which was his first piece of silverware on the main roster.
9 Booker T Vs. John Cena - 2004
SummerSlam 2004 featured the first match in the best of the five series between John Cena and Booker T for Booker's US Championship. Despite Booker's experience, he had an off night, and Cena was not at the level, where he was putting in five-star epics.
This was Cena's first match at SummerSlam, and it's not one that he will fondly look back on. The pace was slow, and this bout never caught fire. Nevertheless, Cena nudged the scoreboard in his favor as he put Booker away with an FU to take a valuable 1-0 lead into their best of five series.
8 Apollo Crews Vs. MVP - 2020
MVP was seeking his third United States Championship reign, but he had to go through Apollo Crews on the kick-off show at SummerSlam 2020. Their match was significant as it was the first match to take place inside WWE's ThunderDome. MVP made his entrance with his Hurt Business stablemates Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin, but he sent them back to the locker room.
Apollo wasted no time in executing a beautiful diving senton onto MVP on the outside. There was nothing special about the match, but Apollo retained the US Title after he countered MVP's Playmaker, and he planted him face-first into the mat with a Toss Powerbomb.
7 Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Jeff Hardy - 2018
Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy collided at SummerSlam 2018 with the King of Strong Style's United States Championship on the line. This bout could have been miles better, but the Charismatic Enigma took the fight to Nakamura as he connected with the Whisper in the Wind but Nakamura kicked out.
Hardy managed to execute the Twist of Fate, but he failed to successfully hit the Swanton Bomb on the apron with Nakamura moving out of harm's way. That proved to be the difference-maker with Nakamura retaining his title with Kinshasa.
6 Dean Ambrose Vs. Rob Van Dam - 2013
Surprisingly, there wasn't space for Dean Ambrose and Rob Van Dam's United States Championship match to feature on the main card at SummerSlam 2013. RVD had never held the US Title, and he was looking good to take home the star-spangled championship.
Ambrose's allies Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins made their presence felt, as did Big Show and Mark Henry who evened up the odds. This was a decent bout, and RVD almost clinched the gold with Five-Star Frog Splash. However, Reigns intervened by spearing RVD which allowed Ambrose to retain the title with a DQ loss.
5 AJ Styles Vs. Ricochet - 2019
There's guaranteed to be excellent wrestling when AJ Styles and Ricochet are pitted against each other. North of the border in Toronto, Canada at SummerSlam 2019, the Phenomenal One's US Championship was at stake. Styles didn't come down the aisle on his lonesome as Raw Tag Team Champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson gave him some company.
Styles expertly worked on Ricochet's leg throughout the bout. Ricochet sold his knee injury well here, and he countered the Calf Crusher with the Anaconda Vise. Ultimately, Styles reversed a high-risk maneuver from Ricochet into the Styles Clash to remain as United States Champion.
4 Sheamus Vs. Damian Priest - 2021
Sheamus and Damian Priest's United States Championship match at SummerSlam 2021 was always going to be a hard-hitting contest. The Celtic Warrior sported a mask as he was recovering from a broken nose. Nonetheless, Priest held his own, and he hauled himself over the top rope and just about caught Sheamus.
The defending US Champion had an answer for everything that Priest threw at him. However, Sheamus connected with a Brogue Kick in mid-air but Priest fought a way to kick out. Sheamus pushed Priest all the way, and Priest ripped Sheamus' mask off, and he connected with Reckoning to win the United States Championship for the first time.
3 United States Championship Fatal-4-Way Match - 2003
The WWE United States Championship was defended at SummerSlam for the first time in 2003. Eddie Guerrero entered as the reigning US Champion in a fatal-4-way match with the likes of Rhyno and Tajiri as two of his three challengers. This US Title bout was tons of fun, and the pace was fast.
Unquestionably, this championship match exceeded expectations, and Guerrero applied the Lasso from El Paso on Tajiri. It wasn't enough to put Tajiri away, and Latino Heat walked out as United States Champion after he connected with the Frog Splash on Rhyno.
2 AJ Styles Vs. Kevin Owens - 2017
Shane McMahon was the man in the middle as the special guest referee in AJ Styles and Kevin Owens' United States Championship showdown at SummerSlam 2017. Styles and Owens had their working boots on, and Styles was going for a modified springboard 450 splash but Owens pulled Shane in the way to take most of the impact.
KO connected with the pop-up powerbomb but Styles kicked out. For sure the stipulation hampered part of the match with Shane's involvement. Owens had a refusal to give up as he powered out of the Styles Clash. Nevertheless, it was a valiant effort from Owens, but Styles hit Owens with the Phenomenal Forearm, and he followed it up with the Styles Clash to keep the United States Championship in his camp.
1 John Cena Vs. Seth Rollins - 2015
Unquestionably the greatest United States Championship match in the history of SummerSlam was John Cena and Seth Rollins' mouthwatering collision course at SummerSlam 2015. It wasn't just Cena's US Championship that was on the line, Rollins' coveted WWE Championship was at stake in a Winner Takes All match.
Both men gave it their all, and there was a big fight feel to this championship bout. All thanks to interference from Jon Stewart, Rollins planted Cena with a Pedigree on the chair to become the first man to hold the WWE and United States Championships simultaneously.