List Of WWE United States Champions
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in and owned by the American promotion WWE. It was originally known as the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and began as a regional championship created by and defended in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling run by Jim Crockett, Jr.. Following the title's introduction in 1975, Harley Race became the inaugural champion on January 1. After Ted Turner bought the company and renamed it World Championship Wrestling in November 1988, the title continued to be used and recognized as secondary to the World Championship. In March 2001, the WWF bought the bankrupt World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The new acquisitions resulted in the WCW United States Championship becoming another championship for the WWF. In 2001 at Survivor Series, the United States and WWE Intercontinental Championships were unified, though in July 2003, the title reemerged as the WWE United States Championship and was commissioned to be a secondary championship to the SmackDown! brand.
The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. Some reigns were held by champions using a ring name, while others used their real name. The first champion was Harley Race, who won the championship in 1975, while as of November 2012 the current champion is Antonio Cesaro, who is in his first reign.
Overall, there have been 77 different champions. Chris Benoit, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Lex Luger, and Wahoo McDaniel are officially tied for having the most reigns at five each (Flair has an unrecognized sixth reign). Luger holds the record for longest reign, with his third reign lasting a total of 523 days. Montel Vontavious Porter holds the longest reign since WWE reactivated the title; his first reign lasted 343 days. This reign is also the third longest in the title's history.
Read more about List Of WWE United States Champions: List of Top Combined Reigns
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