WWE introduced the United States Championship as a second mid-card title in 2003. The Intercontinental Championship was associated with Raw, so the brand split required a similar title getting added to Smackdown. A tournament was made to crown the first champion in WWE with the title sticking around for almost two decades as it is still used today.

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The purchase of WCW allowed WWE to use many of its properties and the United States Championship has been among the more successful concepts. WWE tried to make the belt meaningful in the early years with mixed results. Find out which names stood out for the better when WWE made it their own title.

10 Big Show

Big Show as United States Champion.

The heel run of Big Show on the Smackdown brand saw him as the second person to win the United States Championship when defeating Eddie Guerrero. Big Show had a personal rivalry with Guerrero that ended when he became the new champ.

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WWE utilized Big Show as someone a little above the rest of the mid-card picture to add more importance to the title. However, it turned into a weak reign with minimal memories formed as the United States Champion.

9 Orlando Jordan

Orlando Jordan

WWE viewed Orlando Jordan as a promising prospect when placing him with JBL in The Cabinet faction. Jordan had a noteworthy victory when defeating John Cena to win the United States Championship. The finish saw JBL interfering to add to his rivalry with Cena over the WWE Championship.

Jordan added another title to The Cabinet along with the Bashams winning the WWE Tag Team Championship. Cena dropping the belt to Jordan did little to help him even though it made sense on paper. Orlando struggled with the title and fell out of favor with WWE after dropping it to Chris Benoit.

8 JBL

JBL as United States Champion

WWE removing JBL from the main event picture saw him entering the United States Championship scene. WrestleMania 22 featured JBL winning a secondary title for the first time in his career when defeating Chris Benoit for the United States Championship.

There was still a lot of heat for JBL’s character, but he was no longer valued as a credible top superstar. The United States Championship reign was average at best with JBL starting to fall lower in the pecking order before his first retirement.

7 Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley as United States Champion

Bobby Lashley was viewed as WWE’s top prospect in 2006 after the prior wave of developmental stars became main eventers. The first few months of Lashley saw him becoming a heavily pushed mid-card face on Smackdown.

Lashley was the one to end JBL’s United States Championship reign by defeating the veteran. WWE hoped this would elevate Lashley at a faster pace, but even his bigger pushes didn’t work. Lashley struggled with the mid-card title and moved to ECW in the brand split.

6 Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit in WWE

Chris Benoit was heavily involved in the United States Championship picture during the first few years of the title coming to WWE. The mid-2000s saw Benoit back in the mid-card scene after his one World Championship reign ended.

Benoit won the United States Championship three times in WWE with memorable feuds against the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Booker T, Mr. Kennedy, and many others. WWE trusted Benoit to always have good matches to add to the title’s prestige.

5 Carlito

Carlito as United States Champion

WWE viewed Carlito as a future top star when pushing him on the main roster from day one. Carlito’s vignettes saw him arriving with heel heat when confronting John Cena. The two had a fun promo exchange setting up a huge first night in WWE for Carlito.

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Fans were shocked when Carlito defeated Cena to win the United States Championship in his debut. Carlito had a successful reign in terms of gaining heat, but he dropped the belt back to Cena about six weeks later since Cena was the bigger priority.

4 Finlay

Finlay as as United States Champion

The WWE run of Finlay was quite underrated since he was among the older performers on the roster at the time. Finlay returned to the ring in the 2000s after working for WWE as a backstage producer for quite a few years.

The United States Championship was the top accomplishment for Finlay at the time. WWE loved the work and consistency of Finlay to give him a bigger push than expected. Finlay ending Bobby Lashley’s reign gave him a strong run in the summer of 2006.

3 Booker T

Booker T as United States Champion

Booker T moved to Smackdown in a 2004 trade that saw him and the Dudley Boyz dealt from Raw to bring Triple H back. The first promo of Booker was captivating as he referenced the real stigma of Smackdown being viewed as the “B-show.”

Booker’s heel turn allowed him to feud with John Cena for the United States Championship right away. There were three reigns for Booker in WWE with the mid-card title. Booker’s rivalries with Benoit and Cena helped him become associated with the title in the mid-2000s.

2 Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Guerrero

WWE loved the momentum of Eddie Guerrero in the early 2000s of the brand split starting. The United States Championship reign of Guerrero played a huge role in fans starting to view him as someone deserving of a bigger pot.

Eddie proved himself when winning the tournament to become the first man to win the title when WWE brought it back. The title reign paid off as Guerrero moved into the WWE Championship picture just a few months after dropping it to Big Show.

1 John Cena

John Cena as United States Champion

The importance of a wrestler winning a mid-card title can see them setting it up to enter the main event picture. John Cena capturing the United States Championship from Big Show in 2004 was the start of WWE’s plan in making him a face of the company.

The momentum of Cena grew so much during his mid-card title reign that many ranked it as more important than JBL’s WWE Championship run at the time. Cena continued gaining popularity with his rapper gimmick. The timing of Cena losing the United States Championship to Orlando Jordan saw it coming because he was about to win the bigger title from JBL.

NEXT: 10 Former United States Champions With The Most World Title Reigns