WWE United States Championship

The **WWE United States Championship** is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling title. It has mostly been the exclusive secondary championship of WWE's weekly TV show, _SmackDown_.

## History

The WWE United States Championship was originally known as the **NWA United States Heavyweight Championship** of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling run by Jim Crockett Promotions. Following the title's introduction in 1975, Harley Race became the inaugural champion on June 14. The title became "Undisputed" in January 1981 when no other United States title was recognized in other promotions governed by the National Wrestling Alliance. In 1986, the title became a secondary championship in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling when Jim Crockett Promotions gained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The title was renamed the **World Championship Wrestling (WCW) United States Heavyweight Championship** in 1991 when Jim Crockett Promotions became World Championship Wrestling.

In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling from AOL Time Warner. Soon after, "The Invasion" took place in which the WCW/ECW Alliance was ultimately dismantled. During this time, the title was referred to as the **WCW United States Championship**. At Survivor Series 2001, the title was unified with the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The United States Champion, Edge, defeated the Intercontinental Champion, Test, becoming the new Intercontinental Champion while causing United States Championship to become inactive.

In July 2003, the title was reactivated as the **WWE United States Championship** by SmackDown General Manager, Stephanie McMahon, and was commissioned to be a secondary championship to the SmackDown brand. This was done shortly after the WWE Intercontinental Championship was recommissioned by the Raw brand, making the title its equal counterpart.

The United States Championship was drafted to ECW as part of the 2008 WWE Draft on June 23, 2008 when then champion Matt Hardy was drafted to ECW. It then followed Shelton Benjamin back to SmackDown the following Sunday at The Great American Bash. One year later it was brought to the Raw brand when then champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) was drafted to Raw as part of the 2009 WWE Draft.

On August 29, 2011, the "brand extension" that was in effect ended when all WWE programming became "Supershows" that featured wrestlers from both _Raw_ and _SmackDown_. All WWE titles, including the United States Championship, could then be defended at any WWE event.

In July 2016, Rusev was sent to _SmackDown Live_ in the 2016 WWE Draft, bringing the championship to that show. In April 2017, the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up happened at the champion at the time Kevin Owens was drafted to _Raw_. Since then, the championship has been on that show except for when day when then champion Jinder Mahal was sent to _SmackDown Live_ in the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up. The next day, he lost the title to Jeff Hardy who was drafted and brought the title to _Raw._

## Brands

|Date of transition|Brand|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|July 27, 2003|style="background-color:#bbf;"|SmackDown!|The former WCW United States Championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship to be SmackDown!'s secondary title and the counterpart to Raw's Intercontinental Championship.|
|June 23, 2008|style="background-color:#ddd;"|ECW|Reigning champion Matt Hardy was drafted to ECW in the 2008 WWE draft.|
|July 20, 2008|style="background-color:#bbf;"|SmackDown|The championship returned to SmackDown after Shelton Benjamin, a member of the SmackDown brand, defeated Matt Hardy to win the championship.|
|April 13, 2009|style="background-color:#fbb;"|Raw|Reigning champion MVP was drafted to Raw in the 2009 WWE Draft.|
|April 26, 2011|style="background-color:#bbf;"|SmackDown|Reigning champion Sheamus was drafted to SmackDown in the 2011 WWE Draft.|
|May 1, 2011|style="background-color:#fbb;"|Raw|The championship returned to Raw after Kofi Kingston, a member of the Raw brand, defeated Sheamus to win the championship.|
|August 29, 2011|N/A|End of first brand extension. The United States Champion could appear on both _Raw_ and _SmackDown_.||
|July 19, 2016|style="background-color:#fbb;"|Raw|Start of the second brand extension. Reigning champion Rusev was drafted to Raw in the 2016 WWE Draft.|
|April 11, 2017|style="background-color:#bbf;"|SmackDown|Reigning champion Kevin Owens was drafted to SmackDown during the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up.|
|April 16, 2018|style="background-color:#fbb;"|Raw|Reigning champion Jinder Mahal was drafted to Raw during night one of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up.|
|April 17, 2018|style="background-color:#bbf;"|SmackDown|The championship returned to SmackDown after Jeff Hardy, who defeated Jinder Mahal to win the title, was drafted there during night two of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up.|
|April 22, 2019|style="background-color:#fbb;"|Raw|Reigning champion Samoa Joe was drafted to Raw during the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up.|
|May 8, 2023|style="background-color:#bbf;"|SmackDown|Reigning champion Austin Theory was drafted to SmackDown in the 2023 WWE Draft.|

## Reigns

Right now the champion is Carmelo Hayes, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Ilja Dragunov in an open challenge on the December 26, 2025, episode of _SmackDown_ in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was filmed on December 19.

## Other websites

- WCW/WWE United States Title History

## Infobox (pro wrestling championship)

- **image**: Jacob Fatu 051025 (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Jacob Fatu with the current championship design (2020–present)
- **championshipname**: WWE United States Championship
- **currentholder**: Carmelo Hayes
- **won**: December 19, 2025
- **aired**: December 26, 2025
- **created**: January 1, 1975
- **promotion**: Jim Crockett Promotions, NWA/JCP
(1975–1988)
World Championship Wrestling, WCW
(1988–2001)
WWE, WWF/WWE
(2001, 2003–present)
- **brand**: SmackDown
- **mostreigns**: Ric Flair
(List of WWE United States Champions, 6 times)
- **firstchamp**: Harley Race
- **longestreign**: Lex Luger
(List of WWE United States Champions, 523 days)
- **shortestreign**: Stone Cold Steve Austin, Steve Austin
(List of WWE United States Champions, 5 minutes)
- **oldest**: Terry Funk
()
- **youngest**: David Flair
()
- **heaviest**: Big Show

- **lightest**: Kalisto

- **pastnames**: * NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic)
(1975–1981)
* NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Undisputed)
(1981–1991)
* WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
(1991–2001)
* **WWE United States Championship**
(2003–present)