 |  |
| NWA United States Championship (June 1975 - December 1990) |
WCW United States Championship (December 1990 - November 2001) |
WWE United States Championship (July 2003 - ) |
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| Most Times Held | Longest Reign | Shortest Reign | Most Cumulative Time |
|
1. Ric Flair (6) 2. Wahoo McDaniel (5) 2. Lex Luger (5) 2. Chris Benoit (5) 5. 4 Men (4) |
1. Lex Luger (523) 2. Rick Rude (392) 3. Montel Vontavious Porter (343) 4. Nikita Koloff (328) 5. Barry Windham (283) |
1. Steve Austin (1 hour) 2. Paul Jones (1) 2. Raven (1) 2. Bill Goldberg (1) 2. Chris Benoit (1) 2. Terry Funk (1) |
1. Lex Luger (950) 2. Ric Flair (794) 3. Greg Valentine (512) 4. Blackjack Mulligan (460) 5. Montel Vontavious Porter (419) |
| Won By | # | Won From | Date/Location | Days | Notes |
| Harley Race | - | Tournament Final | June 14, 1975 Talahassee, FL |
19 | Defeated Johnny Weaver in a national tournament. |
| Johnny Valentine | - | Harley Race | July 3, 1975 Greensboro, NC |
92 | Vacated when Valentine dies in a plane crash on October 4, 1975. |
| Terry Funk | - | Tournament Final | November 9, 1975 Greensboro, NC |
28 | Defeated Paul Jones in a 16-man Tournament Final. |
| Paul Jones | - | Terry Funk | November 27, 1975 Greensboro, NC |
107 | |
| Blackjack Mulligan | - | Paul Jones | March 13, 1976 Greensboro, NC |
217 | |
| Paul Jones | [2] | Blackjack Mulligan | October 16, 1976 Greensboro, NC |
43 | |
| Blackjack Mulligan | [2] | Paul Jones | November 28, 1976 Charlotte, NC |
14 | |
| Paul Jones | [3] | Blackjack Mulligan | December 1976 | 1 | |
| Blackjack Mulligan | [3] | Paul Jones | December 15, 1976 Raleigh, NC |
221 | Re-instated as champion after appealing to the NWA. |
| Bobo Brazil | - | Blackjack Mulligan | July 7, 1977 Norfolk, VA |
22 | |
| Ric Flair | - | Bobo Brazil | July 29, 1977 Richmond, VA |
86 | |
| Ricky Steamboat | - | Ric Flair | October 23, 1977 Charleston, SC |
70 | |
| Blackjack Mulligan | [4] | Ricky Steamboat | January 1, 1978 Greensboro, NC |
77 | |
| Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods) |
- | Blackjack Mulligan | March 19, 1978 Greensboro, NC |
21 | |
| Ric Flair | [2] | Mr. Wrestling | April 9, 1978 Charlotte, NC |
253 | |
| Ricky Steamboat | [2] | Ric Flair | December 18, 1978 Toronto, Ontario |
104 | |
| Ric Flair | [3] | Ricky Steamboat | April 1, 1979 Greensboro, NC |
133 | |
| VACANT | - | Ric Flair | August 12, 1979 | 20 | Vacated when Ric Flair won the NWA World Tag Team Title. |
| Jimmy Snuka | - | Ric Flair | September 1, 1979 Charlotte, NC |
231 | |
| Ric Flair | [4] | Jimmy Snuka | April 19, 1980 Greensboro, NC |
88 | |
| Greg Valentine | - | Ric Flair | July 26, 1980 Charlotte, NC |
121 | |
| Ric Flair | [5] | Greg Valentine | November 24, 1980 Greenville, SC |
64 | |
| Roddy Piper | - | Ric Flair | January 27, 1981 Raleigh, NC |
193 | |
| Wahoo McDaniel | - | Roddy Piper | August 8, 1981 Greensboro, SC |
30 | |
| VACANT | - | Wahoo McDaniel | Sept 1981 | 30 | Vacated when Wahoo McDaniel was injured by Adullah the Butcher. |
| Sgt. Slaughter | - | Tournament Final | October 4, 1981 Charlotte, NC |
229 | Defeated Ricky Steamboat in a tournament final. |
| Wahoo McDaniel | [2] | Sgt. Slaughter | May 21, 1982 Richmond, VA |
17 | |
| Sgt. Slaughter | [2] | Wahoo McDaniel | October 4, 1982 Charlotte, NC |
229 | Awarded when Wahoo McDaniel was injured. |
| Wahoo McDaniel | [3] | Sgt. Slaughter | August 22, 1982 Charlotte, NC |
74 | |
| Greg Valentine | [2] | Wahoo McDaniel | November 4, 1982 Norfolk, VA |
163 | |
| Roddy Piper | [2] | Greg Valentine | April 16, 1983 Greensboro, NC |
14 | |
| Greg Valentine | [3] | Roddy Piper | April 30, 1983 Greensboro, NC |
228 | |
| Dick Slater | - | Greg Valentine | December 14, 1983 Shelby, NC |
129 | |
| Ricky Steamboat | [2] | Dick Slater | April 21, 1984 Greensboro, NC |
64 | |
| Wahoo McDaniel | [4] | Ricky Steamboat | June 24, 1984 Greensboro, NC |
7 | |
| VACANT | - | Wahoo McDaniel | July 1, 1984 Greensboro, NC |
98 | Vacated due to Tully Blanchard's interference during the McDaniel's title win. |
| Wahoo McDaniel | [5] | Tournament Final | October 7, 1984 Charlotte, NC |
167 | Defeated Manny Fernandez in a tournament final. |
| Magnum T.A. | - | Wahoo McDaniel | March 23, 1985 Charlotte, NC |
120 | |
| Tully Blanchard | - | Magnum T.A. | July 21, 1985 Charlotte, NC |
130 | |
| Magnum T.A. | [2] | Tully Blanchard | November 28, 1985 Greensboro, NC Starcade |
182 | |
| VACANT | - | Magnum T.A. | May 29, 1986 | 80 | Stripped of the title for attacking NWA President, Bob Geigel. |
| Nikita Koloff | - | Magnum T.A. | August 17, 1986 Charlotte, NC |
328 | Defeated Magnum T.A. in a Best-of-7 series. |
| Nikita Koloff | - | Wahoo McDaniel | September 28, 1986 |
- | Defeated Wahoo McDaniel to unify the NWA National Heavyweight Title. |
| Lex Luger | - | Nikita Koloff | July 11, 1987 Greensboro, NC |
138 | |
| Dusty Rhodes | - | Lex Luger | November 26, 1987 Chicago, IL Starcade |
141 | |
| VACANT | - | Dusty Rhodes | April 15, 1988 | 28 | Stripped of the title for attacking NWA Commissioner, Jim Crockett. |
| Barry Windham | - | Tournament Final | May 13, 1988 Houston, TX |
283 | Defeated Nikita Koloff in a 7-man Tournament Final. |
| Lex Luger | [2] | Barry Windham | February 20, 1989 Chicago, IL Chi-town Rumble |
76 | |
| Michael P.S. Hayes | - | Lex Luger | May 7, 1989 Nashville, TN Music City Showdown |
15 | |
| Lex Luger | [3] | Michael P.S. Hayes | May 22, 1989 Bluefield, WV |
523 | |
| Stan Hansen | - | Lex Luger | October 27, 1990 Chicago, IL Halloween Havoc |
50 | |
| Lex Luger | - | Stan Hansen | December 16, 1990 St. Louis, MO Starcade |
252 | With the NWA no longer operating as an organization the title officially becomes referred to as the WCW United States Heavyweight title. |
| VACANT | - | Lex Luger | July 14, 1991 | 42 | Vacated when Lex Luger won the WCW World Heavyweight Title. |
| Sting | - | Tournament Final | August 25, 1991 Atlanta, GA |
86 | Defeated Steve Austin in a Tournament Final. |
| Rick Rude | - | Sting | Nov 19, 1991 Savannah, GA Clash of the Champions |
53 | |
| VACANT | - | Rick Rude | December 1992 | 30 | Vacated due to injury. |
| Dustin Rhodes | - | Tournament Final | January 11, 1993 Atlanta, GA |
350 | Defeated Ricky Steamboat in a tournament final. Title is held up after a match against Rick Rude in May 1993. |
| Dustin Rhodes | [2] | Rick Rude | August 30, 1993 Atlanta, GA |
- | Defeats Rick Rude in a rematch to settle who is the real U.S. Champion. |
| - | September 1993 Atlanta, GA |
World Championship Wrestling officially withdraws from the National Wrestling Alliance. | |||
| Steve Austin | - | Dustin Rhodes | December 27, 1993 Charlotte, NC Starcade |
240 | |
| Ricky Steamboat | [3] | Steve Austin | August 24, 1994 Cedar Rapids, IA Clash of the Champions |
25 | |
| Steve Austin | [2] | Ricky Steamboat | September 18, 1994 Roanoke, VA Fall Brawl |
0 | Ricky Steamboat was forced to forfeit the title due to injury. |
| Jim Duggan | - | Steve Austin | September 18, 1994 Roanoke, VA Fall Brawl |
100 | |
| Vader | - | Jim Duggan | December 27, 1994 Nashville, TN Starcade |
117 | |
| VACANT | - | Vader | April 23, 1995 | 56 | Stripped of the title by WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel. |
| Sting | [2] | Tournament Final | June 18, 1995 Dayton, OH Great American Bash |
148 | Defeated Meng in a Tournament Final. |
| Kensuke Sasaki | - | Sting | November 13, 1995 Tokyo, Japan |
44 | |
| One Man Gang | - | Kensuke Sasaki | December 27, 1995 Nashville, TN Starcade |
33 | Sasaki defeated One Man Gang, but then left to go back to Japan, therefore vacating the title, which was awarded to One Man Gang. |
| Konnan | - | One Man Gang | January 29, 1996 Canton, OH |
160 | |
| Ric Flair | [6] | Konnan | July 7, 1996 Daytona Beach, FL Bash at the Beach |
116+ | |
| VACANT | - | Ric Flair | November 1996 | 45 | Vacated due to injury. |
| Eddie Guerrero | - | Tournament Final | December 29, 1996 Nashville, TN Starcade |
77 | Defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Tournament Final. |
| Dean Malenko | - | Eddie Guerrero | March 16, 1997 Charleston, SC Uncensored |
158 | |
| Jeff Jarrett | - | Dean Malenko | June 9, 1997 Boston, MA Nitro |
73 | |
| Steve McMichael | - | Jeff Jarrett | July 21, 1997 Nashville, TN Clash of the Champions |
25 | |
| Curt Hennig | - | Steve McMichael | September 15, 1997 Charlotte, NC Nitro |
104 | |
| Diamond Dallas Page |
- | Curt Hennig | December 28, 1997 Washington, DC Starcade |
112 | |
| Raven | - | Diamond Dallas Page |
April 19, 1998 Denver, CO Spring Stampede |
1 | |
| Bill Goldberg | - | Raven | April 20, 1998 Colorado Springs, CO Nitro |
77 | |
| VACANT | - | Bill Goldberg | July 6, 1998 Atlanta, GA Nitro |
14 | Vacated after defeating Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Title. |
| Bret Hart | - | Diamond Dallas Page |
July 20, 1998 Salt Lake City, UT Nitro |
21 | Match to fill vacated title. |
| Lex Luger | [4] | Bret Hart | August 10, 1998 Rapid City, SD Nitro |
3 | |
| Bret Hart | [2] | Lex Luger | August 13, 1998 Fargo, ND Thunder |
74 | |
| Diamond Dallas Page |
[2] | Bret Hart | October 26, 1998 Phoenix, AZ Nitro |
35 | |
| Bret Hart | [3] | Diamond Dallas Page |
November 30, 1998 Chattanooga, TN Nitro |
70 | |
| Roddy Piper | [3] | Bret Hart | February 8, 1999 Buffalo, NY Nitro |
13 | |
| Scott Hall | - | Roddy Piper | February 21, 1999 Oakland, CA SuperBrawl |
25 | |
| VACANT | - | Scott Hall | March 18, 1999 | 24 | Stripped by WCW President Ric Flair due to injury. |
| Scott Steiner | - | Tournament Final | April 11, 1999 Tacoma, WA Spring Stampede |
85 | Defeats Booker T in Tournament Final. |
| VACANT | - | Scott Steiner | July 5, 1999 Atlanta, GA Nitro |
- | Stripped of the title. |
| David Flair | - | Awarded | July 5, 1999 Atlanta, GA Nitro |
35 | Awarded the vacant title. |
| Chris Benoit | - | David Flair | August 9, 1999 Nampa, ID Nitro |
44 | |
| Sid Vicious | - | Chris Benoit | September 12, 1999 Winston-Salem, MA Fall Brawl |
42 | |
| Bill Goldberg | [2] | Sid Vicious | October 24, 1999 Las Vegas, NV Halloween Havoc |
1 | |
| Bret Hart | [4] | Bill Goldberg | October 25, 1999 Phoenix, AZ Nitro |
7 | |
| VACANT | - | Bret Hart | November 1, 1999 Nitro |
7 | Vacated title. |
| Scott Hall | [2] | Ladder Match | November 8, 1999 Nitro |
41 | Defeats Bret Hart, Bill Goldberg, and Sid Vicious to fill the vacated title. |
| VACANT | - | Scott Hall | December 19, 1999 Washington, DC Starcade |
0 | Stripped of title due to injury. |
| Chris Benoit | [2] | Ladder Match | December 19, 1999 Washington, DC Starcade |
1 | Defeated Jeff Jarrett to fill vacated title. |
| Jeff Jarrett | [2] | Chris Benoit | December 20, 1999 Baltimore, MD Nitro |
27 | |
| VACANT | - | Jeff Jarrett | January 16, 2000 | 1 | Stripped of title due to severe concussion. |
| Jeff Jarrett | [3] | Awarded | January 17, 2000 Columbus, OH Nitro |
83 | Returned by WCW Commissioner Kevin Nash. |
| VACANT | - | Jeff Jarrett | April 10, 2000 Denver, CO Nitro |
6 | WCW Executives, Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo, declared a new beginning for WCW and demanded all titles be returned to them. |
| Scott Steiner | [2] | Tournament Final | April 16, 2000 Chicago, IL Spring Stampede |
84 | Defeats Sting in Tournament Final. |
| VACANT | - | Scott Steiner | July 9, 2000 Daytona Beach, FL Nitro |
9 | Stripped of the title. |
| Lance Storm | - | Tournament Final | July 18, 2000 Auburn Hills, MI Nitro |
66 | Defeats Mike Awesome in 8-man Tournament and declares himself WCW Canadian Heavyweight Champion. |
| Terry Funk | [2] | Lance Storm | September 22, 2000 Amarillo, TX Nitro |
1 | |
| Lance Storm | [2] | Terry Funk | September 23, 2000 Lubbock, TX Thunder |
36 | |
| General Rection | - | Lance Storm Jim Duggan |
October 29, 2000 Las Vegas, NV Halloween Havoc |
12 | |
| Lance Storm | [2] | General Rection | November 10, 2000 London, England Nitro |
16 | |
| General Rection | [2] | Lance Storm | November 26, 2000 Milwaukee, WI Mayhem |
49 | |
| Shane Douglas | - | General Rection | January 14, 2001 Indianapolis, IN Sin |
22 | |
| Rick Steiner | - | Shane Douglas | February 5, 2001 Tupelo, MS Nitro |
41 | |
| Booker T | - | Rick Steiner | March 18, 2001 Jacksonville, FL Greed |
128 | |
| - | - | - | March 26, 2001 Panama City Beach, FL Nitro |
- | The final WCW Nitro broadcast. WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation. Current U.S. Champion, Booker T, defeats WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Scott Steiner, in the final match on Nitro. |
| Kanyon | - | Booker T | July 24, 2001 Pittsburgh, PA Smackdown |
48 | Booker T and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley decide to give the U.S. Title to Kanyon since Booker T is also the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. |
| Yoshihiro Tajiri | - | Kanyon | September 10, 2001 San Antonio, TX Raw |
13 | |
| Rhyno | - | Yoshihiro Tajiri | September 23, 2001 Pittsburgh, PA Unforgiven |
29 | |
| Kurt Angle | - | Rhyno | October 22, 2001 Kansas City, MO Raw |
21 | |
| Edge | - | Kurt Angle | November 12, 2001 Boston, MA Raw |
6 | |
| Edge | - | Test | November 18, 2001 Greensboro, NC Survivor Series |
- | Survivor Series 2001 was a Winner-Take-All showdown between WWF and WCW with all titles being unified and the final match of the evening deciding which company would live on. Edge, the current WCW U.S. Champion, defeated Test, the current WWF Intercontinental Champion to unify the titles. WWF won the final match and Edge was then the WWF Intercontinental Champion. |
| DEFUNCT | - | - | - | 616 | |
| Eddie Guerrero | [2] | Chris Benoit | July 27, 2003 Denver, CO Vengeance |
84 | After Raw co-GM, Steve Austin, brought back the WWE Intercontinental Title to Raw, the GM of Smackdown, Stephanie McMahon, decided to bring the United States Heavyweight Title back to life and a tournament began. |
| The Big Show | - | Eddie Guerrero | October 19, 2003 Baltimore, MD No Mercy |
147 | |
| John Cena | - | The Big Show | March 14, 2004 New York City, NY WrestleMania XX |
114 | |
| VACANT | - | John Cena | July 6, 2004 Winnipeg, MB SmackDown |
14 | Cena had been put on probation for inadvertantly attacking Angle, who was in a wheelchair at the time, and for basically being Angle's antagonist. In a match with Booker T, Booker ducked and Cena clotheslined Angle. After the match, Angle announced that he was stripping Cena of the title. |
| Booker T | [2] | SmackDown! GM Kurt Angle |
July 20, 2004 - SmackDown |
45 | Kurt Angle presented the title to Booker T but said that he had to get a final confirmation from the WWE Board of Director's. Later in the night, Vince McMahon fired Kurt Angle from his General Manager job. The following week, in Cincinnati, Booker T still had the belt. The new GM, Theodore Long, set up an 8-man Elimination match to name the true champion. Booker T outlasted RVD, John Cena, Rene Dupree, Luther Reigns, Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn, and Kenzo Suzuki to secure his second U.S. Championship reign. |
| John Cena | [2] | Booker T | October 3, 2004 East Rutherford, NJ No Mercy |
2 | Match #5 of a Best of 5 Series for the title. |
| Carlito Caribbean Cool |
- | John Cena | October 5, 2004 Boston, MA SmackDown |
42 | Carlito's first match on WWE TV. |
| John Cena | [3] | Carlito Caribbean Cool |
November 16, 2004 Dayton, OH SmackDown |
132 | |
| Orlando Jordan | - | John Cena | March 1, 2005 Albany, NY SmackDown |
170 | |
| Chris Benoit | [3] | Orlando Jordan | August 20, 2005 Washington, DC SummerSlam |
59 | |
| Booker T | [3] | Chris Benoit | October 18, 2005 Reno, NV SmackDown |
35 | |
| VACANT | - | - | November 22, 2005 Sheffield, England SmackDown |
49 | Due to a double pinfall in the title match between Booker T and Chris Benoit, General Manager Teddy Long vacated the title and set up a Best of 7 series between the two to crown an undisputed champion. The same two men had a Best of 7 series many years before in WCW. |
| Booker T | [4] | VACANT | January 10, 2006 Philadelphia, PA SmackDown |
40 | After going up 3-0 in the series, Benoit avoided elimination by taking it to 3-1. Due to an injury, Booker T was substituted with Randy Orton. After losing two straight matches to tie the series, Orton won the final match with interference from Booker T, so Booker regained the championship. |
| Chris Benoit | [4] | Booker T | February 19, 2006 Baltimore, MD No Way Out |
42 | Booker continued to sell his groin injury and attempted to forfeit the title before the match. Benoit refused to take it that way, After a sneak attack from Booker, the match began. Benoit won with a Crippler Crossface. |
| John Bradshaw Layfield |
- | Chris Benoit | April 2, 2006 Chicago, IL WrestleMania 22 |
51 | |
| Bobby Lashley | - | JBL | May 23, 2006 Bakersfield, CA SmackDown |
49 | |
| Finlay | - | Lashley | July 11, 2006 Minneapolis, MN SmackDown |
49 | |
| Ken Kennedy | - | Finlay | August 29, 2006 Reading, PA SmackDown |
42 | Defeated Finlay and Bobby Lashley in a Triple Threat match by pinning Lashley. |
| Chris Benoit | [5] | Ken Kennedy | October 10, 2006 Jacksonville, FL SmackDown |
222 | |
| Montel Vontavious Porter |
- | Chris Benoit | May 20, 2007 St. Louis, MO Judgment Day |
343 | |
| Matt Hardy | - | M.V.P. | April 27, 2008 Baltimore, MD Backlash |
84 | On June 23, 2008, Matt Hardy was drafted to ECW in the 2008 Draft Lottery, taking the title with him. |
| Shelton Benjamin | - | Matt Hardy | July 20, 2008 Uniondale, NY Great American Bash |
240 | By winning this match, Benjamin brought the title back to the SmackDown brand. |
| Montel Vontavious Porter |
[2] | Shelton Benjamin | March 17, 2009 Corpus Christi, TX SmackDown |
76 | |
| Kofi Kingston | - | M.V.P. | June 1, 2009 Birmingham, AL RAW |
126 | |
| The Miz | - | Kofi Kingston | October 12, 2009 Wilkes-Barre, PA RAW |
- |
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