One of the most important championships in WWE is the United States Title. Even going back to when it was part of WCW, it was considered to be the number two title in the company. While it doesn't quite hold that placement with WWE, it is typically the second-tier championship whatever brand it is housed in.

Some of the biggest legends in the industry have held this title. Eddie Guerrero, Edge, and Randy Orton to name a few. On the flip side, there have been some lackluster champions in the past. For this list, we're looking at the 5 best and the 5 worst. We are only including reigns since WWE brought the title around in 2003 and not anything from the WCW era.

10 Worst: Dolph Ziggler

This is a name that may surprise you. Dolph Ziggler first won the United States Championship back in 2011 and he went on to hold it for 182 days. That's a pretty good run. He had some solid matches defending the gold but it wasn't always his primary focus. Ziggler was usually seen trying to pull double duty and win the Tag Titles with Jack Swagger.

RELATED: 5 Matches That Should’ve Made Dolph Ziggler A Star (& 5 That Buried His Career)

Again though, his first run with the title wasn't bad. What drags him down into this section is what happened with his second reign. It came at the tail end of 2017 as Dolph completely changed his personality. But after fighting to earn it, he waited about a week and just laid down the title, forfeiting it. And nothing ever came of this moment.

9 Best: Rusev

Rusev first arrived on the main roster as one of WWE's typical anti-American foreigners. It's a trope they've often used in the past. Thankfully, Rusev was better than your average wrestler. He and Lana combined to make this character work in ways that nobody expected.

For most of Rusev's first year with the company, he went undefeated. During that time, he captured the United States Title from Sheamus in a WWE Network exclusive presentation. Rusev spent the next 146 days sending back all challengers including Jack Swagger, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, and John Cena. It was only when Cena got a rematch at WrestleMania that he ended Rusev's dominance. Rusev also won the title a few more times in later years.

8 Worst: Alberto Del Rio

At Hell in a Cell 2015, Alberto Del Rio made a stunning return to WWE. He was accompanied by an old rival in Zeb Colter and he ended John Cena's reign as United States Champion in an underwhelming match. That started Del Rio' "Mex-America" gimmick as the US Champion.

Considering how fun Cena was as champion, fans wanted the person who beat him to be nearly as good. Del Rio didn't do much with the title. He mostly acted as a forgotten member of the failed League of Nations stable before losing the title to Kalisto. He won it right back only to lose it after 12 more days.

7 Best: AJ Styles

Many fans view AJ Styles as one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot in a WWE ring. His debut year in 2016 was almost untouchable in terms of success and quality. The following year saw him try his hand at something new, challenging Kevin Owens for the United States Championship.

RELATED: The 5 Best AJ Styles Matches (& The 5 Worst)

Styles won it inside of historic Madison Square Garden at a non-televised live event. He went on to trade the belt with Owens before facing off with new opponents like Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger. In 2019, Styles won the title for a third time and has remained a focal point of TV, surviving the likes of Ricochet and Braun Strowman.

6 Worst: Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger WWE United States Champion

2011 ended with the feel-good moment of Zack Ryder winning the United States Title from Dolph Ziggler. Ryder spent the next few weeks getting destroyed by Kane and embarrassed as he watched Eve Torres make out with John Cena. His string of bad luck continued when Jack Swagger dethroned him for the championship.

That got Jack Swagger's title reign off to a rocky start. He wasn't what the fans wanted and he only won it as Ryder was in a huge funk. Swagger went on to do nothing with the title, losing it within two months to Santino Marella, who was kind of a joke at the time. The funny thing is, Santino went on to be a far better champion.

5 Best: Montel Vontavious Porter

A lot of hype surrounded the debut of Montel Vontavious Porter. He was billed as the highest-paid acquisition by Smackdown. To help live up to those lofty expectations, MVP chased the United States Title and eventually earned it at Judgment Day 2007. Despite nagging injuries, MVP spent the next 343 days as champion.

To be fair, some of that reign was lackluster because of a lack of defenses and focus on his tag team with Matt Hardy. However, MVP made up for it. He followed up a massive losing streak in 2008 by climbing the ranks to win the title again in 2009. It was another solid reign for him.

4 Worst: Bret Hart

In his prime, Bret Hart would have made for a stellar United States Champion. He shined as the Intercontinental Champion in the early 90s with WWE and even spent time as US Champion while with WCW in the late 90s. But his one reign with the title in WWE came at the wrong time.

RELATED: The Hitman: 10 Best Matches Of Bret Hart's Career

Bret Hart made up with the company in 2010 and began appearing more frequently for them. He became the rival of The Miz and on a May episode of Raw in Canada, Bret dethroned Miz. By this point, Bret was too old to be champion, so he gave it up a week later. R-Truth won it and dropped it back to Miz within a month, rendering the whole thing pointless.

3 Best: The Miz

Speaking of The Miz, he comes in on the "best" side of things. When Miz first got to WWE, nobody believed in him. Even when he found success as a teammate of John Morrison's, fans thought he'd be forgotten when they split. Instead, Miz took off and it all started when he won the US Title at Hell in a Cell 2009.

Miz held the United States Title for 224 days. During that time, he was the best villain in the entire company. Miz sent back all challengers and even threw in a run as Tag Team Champions with Big Show. Seeing him carry around three titles was quite a sight. Miz added a second reign of 97 days before losing to Daniel Bryan. As US Champion, Miz catapulted himself into superstardom and helped elevate Bryan to the next level. He's also one of the best Intercontinental Champions in recent memory.

2 Worst: Orlando Jordan

Orlando Jordan

We noted that Bret Hart was too past his prime to be a good champion. Orlando Jordan is the opposite. He was in his prime when he won the title in 2005. However, he went on to have an awful reign with zero redeeming qualities. For starters, Jordan only beat John Cena to become champion with help from JBL.

Orlando Jordan ended up holding the gold for more than 170 days. During that time, his most notable accomplishment was being JBL's lackey. It was as if he only had the title so JBL could look like he had someone competent by his side. And the whole thing just led to him losing the title in 25 seconds at SummerSlam.

1 Best: John Cena

John Cena is probably the guy that fans mostly associate with the WWE United States Championship. It was the first title Cena captured in WWE, doing so by beating Big Show at WrestleMania XX. He personalized the belt, giving it a spinning faceplate that was exclusively his.

What cemented Cena at the top spot was his fourth reign. As soon as it began, Cena started offering up open challenges each week. This led to a barrage of good matches that made the title feel important. Cena gave chances to Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Wade Barrett, Sami Zayn, Neville, and more. He was so notable as champion that it led to a clash with WWE Champion Seth Rollins with both titles on the line.