WWE United States Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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The current United States Championship belt
(2014–present) |
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Details | |||||||||||||||||||
Promotion |
NWA/JCP (1975–1988) WCW (1988–2001) WWF/WWE (2001, 2003–present) |
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Brand | SmackDown | ||||||||||||||||||
Date established | January 1, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||
Current champion(s) | Kevin Owens | ||||||||||||||||||
Date won | April 2, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Statistics | |
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First champion(s) | Harley Race |
Most reigns |
Ric Flair (6 times) |
Longest reign |
Lex Luger (523 days) |
Shortest reign |
Steve Austin (5 minutes) |
Oldest winner |
Terry Funk ( 56 years, 85 days) |
Youngest winner |
David Flair ( 20 years, 121 days) |
Heaviest champion |
Big Show (500 lb (230 kg)) |
Lightest champion |
Kalisto (170 lb (77 kg)) |
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. Along with the Intercontinental Championship on the Raw brand, it is one of the two secondary titles of the promotion. It is currently held by Kevin Owens, who is in his first reign.
The championship was established as the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship on January 1, 1975 for the regional territory, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, later known as Jim Crockett Promotions and then World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which eventually seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Harley Race was the inaugural champion. This makes the United States Championship the only active championship in WWE that was not originated in the promotion, as well as WWE's second oldest active championship, behind the WWE Championship (1963).
After WCW was purchased by the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2001, the then-WCW United States Championship was defended in the WWF until it was unified with the Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series. After the 2002 brand extension and the promotion being renamed to WWE, the championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship in July 2003 as a secondary title of the SmackDown brand. The title has switched between brands as a result of the WWE draft over the years; the 2017 Superstar Shake-up moved the title back to SmackDown.