Many former WWE United States Champions held the championship with pride. Unfortunately, the efforts of some US Champs have never led to a world championship victory in WWE.
Since July 2003, the WWE United States Championship has been seen as a secondary title alongside the Intercontinental Championship. Without a doubt, WWE's US Title is one of the most prestigious titles in history. Many former US Champions have etched their names in history as a world champion.
However, some United States Champions have failed to elevate themselves to the next level as a world champion and settled in a mid-card role in WWE. Without further ado, let's revisit the 10 best WWE United States Champions to never hold a WWE World Championship.
10 Santino Marella
The final championship Santino Marella held in his WWE career was the United States Championship. Santino defeated Jack Swagger on an episode of Raw in March 2012 to capture the title, and he would go on to hold the gold for an impressive 167 days.
Santino thrives in a comedic role but he is an incredible worker. Marella is a former two-time Intercontinental Champion, and he joins an illustrious group of wrestlers to hold both the IC and US titles. Eventually, his reign came to a halt by Cesaro on the SummerSlam pre-show.
9 Matt Hardy
Unlike his brother Jeff, Matt Hardy has never been viewed as a genuine world championship contender, but he has been consistent when he holds a singles championship. Matt feuded with MVP, with who he would partner to win the WWE Tag Team Championship in the summer of 2007. Moreover, MVP knew that Matt was a threat to his United States Title.
Finally at Backlash 2008, Hardy clinched the biggest title in his career at the time by defeating MVP for the US Championship. Hardy's reign wasn't the greatest, but he was champion for a respectable 84 days, dropping it to Shelton Benjamin at The Great American Bash.
8 Andrade
Andrade tasted US Gold for the first time in his career at the back end of 2019. Andrade dethroned Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship at a live event at Madison Square Garden. Whilst, many expected great things from Andrade's overdue title run, it was largely underwhelming.
For the majority of his reign, Andrade feuded with Humberto Carrillo, and he retained the title against him on PPV at the 2020 Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. Andrade failed the Wellness Policy, which saw him suspended for 30 days, which left the championship in limbo.
7 Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe finally made his main roster debut in 2017, and fans anticipated big matches for Joe. The Samoan Submission Machine captured the WWE United States Championship twice in 2019. Joe defeated R-Truth for the title in March in a fatal 4-way clash, and quickly successfully defended the title against Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 35.
Joe and Mysterio traded the title with Ricochet ending Joe's stranglehold of the United States Championship at Stomping Grounds. Furthermore, Joe has suffered a few injuries which have seen him step away from the ring to do an outstanding job on commentary on Raw. However, once Joe is healthy, he has the credentials to be a world champion in WWE.
6 Shinsuke Nakamura
2018 was a banner year for Shinsuke Nakamura. The King of Strong Style won the 2018 Royal Rumble match and was tipped to win the WWE Championship from AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34. He did not win the title, and their match was lackluster, failing to live up to the heights of their clashes in Japan.
Nevertheless, Nakamura recovered, and at Extreme Rules, he defeated Jeff Hardy in six seconds to kickstart his 165-day reign as United States Champion. Nakamura feuded with Jeff Hardy and Rusev over the title before Rusev ended his reign on SmackDown in December 2018. Nakamura briefly regained the title at the 2019 Royal Rumble but dropped the championship to R-Truth two days later on Smackdown.
5 Bobby Lashley
"The Almighty" Bobby Lashley is thriving on a rejuvenated run in WWE. Lashley is the CEO of the Hurt Business and he is the current and two-time WWE United States Champion. Lashley defeated the soon-to-be retiring John Bradshaw Layfield for his maiden United States Championship in May 2006.
For Lashley's standards, it was not a great title run by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, Lashley reclaimed the title, some 14 years later from Apollo Crews at Payback 2020. The Almighty is doing a magnificent job as United States Champion, and once his reign ends, he is more than capable of being a world championship contender once more.
4 Cesaro
Cesaro will go down as one of the most criminally underrated Superstars in WWE history. The Swiss Sensation ended Santino Marella's lackluster reign on the pre-show of SummerSlam 2012. The title change was desperately needed, and Cesaro certainly restored the championship to its former glories with a lengthy 239-day run as champion.
Whilst, the feuds weren't the greatest, Cesaro could only beat what was put in front of him. Kofi Kingston was the man responsible for bringing his reign to an end on the April 15, 2013 episode of Raw. The US Championship should have been a stepping stone for Cesaro to be a WWE World Champion but it seems increasingly unlikely that he will never get his hands on the top prize, which many would love to see achieved.
3 Rusev
Rusev is another underutilized talent in WWE, who sought greener pastures in AEW under the moniker of Miro. The Bulgarian Brute is a three-time United States Champion, capturing his first title when Raw went off the air in November 2014 against Sheamus.
Rusev's first reign as United States Champion was by far his best run with the title. He held the championship for 146 days, and he entered a high-profile feud with John Cena over the title. Despite retaining the gold at Fastlane 2015 against Big Match John, Cena got the last laugh by ending his run at WrestleMania 31. Unfortunately for Rusev, he was buried in his feud with Cena, which halted his chances of becoming a legitimate WWE World Champion.
2 Shelton Benjamin
The peak of Shelton Benjamin's career was when he captured the Intercontinental Championship on three occasions between 2004-2006. Shelton is one of the most gifted talented superstars, whose athleticism is out of this world.
What's held Shelton back from becoming a world champion in WWE is his lack of mic skills. A WWE World Champion needs to have all-around skills and Shelton lacked in the talking department. Nevertheless, Shelton gained another push as the Gold Standard, and he defeated Matt Hardy for the United States Championship. Shelton is one of the best to have successful title runs with both the IC and US Championships. The likes of MVP and R-Truth were his closest challengers with MVP bringing his brilliant 243-day reign as champion to an end.
1 MVP
When you think about the all-time great WWE United States Champions, MVP comes to mind. MVP ended Chris Benoit's reign as United States Champion at Judgment Day 2007, and he embarked on a sensational 343-day reign as champion.
MVP oozed confidence as a heel, and the host of the VIP Lounge was the perfect combination for MVP which allowed him to garner more heat from fans. Moreover, MVP was a double champion for three months as he won the WWE Tag Team Championship with his successor Matt Hardy. MVP deserves a lot of credit for his run as United States Champion on Smackdown, giving the title credibility it needed.
However, MVP became a two-time United States Champion in 2009 when he defeated Benjamin for the title but that reign was nowhere near as good as his first one. Furthermore, no man in WWE history has held the WWE United States Championship longer than MVP who has held it for a combined 419 days as champion, which is the fifth all-time longest US Title reign in history.