List of WWE United States Champions

File:Ilja Dragunov 2019.jpg

Current champion Ilja Dragunov.

The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested in the American promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It was originally known as the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and began as a regional championship created by and defended in Jim Crockett Jr.'s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, a territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Harley Race became the inaugural champion on the title's introduction on January 1, 1975. Turner Broadcasting bought Mid-Atlantic in November 1988 and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) after its primary television program.

In March 2001, the then-WWF bought selected assets of WCW.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This resulted in the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship becoming a championship for the WWF, which referred to it as the WCW United States Championship. At Survivor Series in November 2001, the WCW United States and WWF Intercontinental Championships were unified, resulting in the United States Championship being deactivated. In July 2003, the title was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship. It is the only active WWE championship not created by the promotion. As of the 2023 WWE Draft it is exclusive to the SmackDown brand.

The championship is 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. Ilja Dragunov is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated Sami Zayn in an open challenge on the October 17, 2025, episode of SmackDown in San Jose, California.

Overall, there have been 186 reigns among 107 different champions. Ric Flair holds the record for having the most reigns at six,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while John Cena holds the record for most reigns under the WWE banner at five. Lex Luger holds the longest reign, with his third reign lasting 523 days, while Dean Ambrose holds the longest reign under the WWE banner at 351 days (overall the third longest in the title's history).<ref name="Ambrose's record U.S. Title reign">Template:Cite web</ref> "Stunning" Steve Austin's second reign was the shortest, lasting approximately five minutes. Only two men have held the title for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: Lex Luger and Rick Rude.

Title history

Names

Name<ref name="nwawcwushistory"/><ref name="wtushistory"/>	Years<ref name="nwawcwushistory"/><ref name="wtushistory"/>
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)	January 1, 1975 – January 27, 1981
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Undisputed version)	January 27, 1981 – January 1991
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship	January 1991 – March 26, 2001
WCW Canadian Heavyweight Championship (unofficially)	July 18, 2000 – October 29, 2000
WCW United States Championship	June 24, 2001 – November 18, 2001
WWE United States Championship	July 27, 2003 – present

Combined reigns

Template:Multiple image As of January 28, 2026.

†	Indicates the current champion

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days	Combined days rec. by WWE
1	Template:Sortname	5	950
2	Template:Sortname	5Template:Efn	773	704
3	Template:Sortname	3Template:Efn	509
4	Template:Sortname	5	426
5	Template:Sortname	2	419
6	Template:Sortname	2Template:Efn	512	390
7	Template:Sortname	1	378
8	Template:Sortname	3	362
9	Template:Sortname	5	357
10	Template:Sortname	1	351
11	Template:Sortname	2Template:Efn	333	331
12	Template:Sortname	1	328	327
13	Template:Sortname	3	324	323
14	Template:Sortname	2	321	319
15	Template:Sortname	3	312	303
16	Template:Sortname	2	305	303
17	Template:Sortname	2	302	272
18	Template:Sortname	5	296	295
19	Template:Sortname	1	283	282
20	Template:Sortname	1	273
21	Template:Sortname	4	271	262
22	Template:Sortname	4	265	263
23	Template:Sortname	2	257	227
24	Template:Sortname	3	255	262
25	Template:Sortname	2	240	239
	Template:Sortname	1	240	242
27	Template:Sortname	1	239
28	Template:Sortname	2	234	232
29	Template:Sortname	1	231	232
30	Template:Sortname	3	225	224
31	Template:Sortname	3	220	219
32	Template:Sortname	3	209	207
33	Template:Sortname	2	191	189
	Template:Sortname	1	191
35	Template:Sortname	5	186	181
36	Template:Sortname	3	184	181
37	Template:Sortname	1	183
38	Template:Sortname	1	176
39	Template:Sortname	1	173	170
40	Template:Sortname	2	169	167
41	Template:Sortname	1	167	166
42	Template:Sortname	2	162	160
43	Template:Sortname	2	161	159
44	Template:Sortname	1	160	159
45	Template:Sortname	2(3)Template:Efn	156	148
46	Template:Sortname	1	151	150
47	Template:Sortname	2	147	145
	Template:Sortname	1	147	146
49	Template:Sortname	1	141	140
50	Template:Sortname	3	131	129
51	Template:Sortname	1	130	129
52	Template:Sortname	1	129
53	Template:Sortname	2	120
54	Template:Sortname	3	118	112
55	Template:Sortname	1	106
56	Template:Sortname	1	104	103
57	Template:Sortname	1	100	99
58	Template:Sortname	1	97	96
59	Template:Sortname	3	96	95
60	Template:Sortname	2	95	93
61	Template:Sortname	1	93	92
62	Template:Sortname	2	90	89
	Template:Sortname	1	90	89
64	Template:Sortname	1	88	87
65	Template:Sortname	2	85	84
	Template:Sortname	1	85	84
67	Template:Sortname	1	84	83
68	Template:Sortname	2	78	90
69	Template:Sortname	2	75
70	Template:Sortname	1	70
	Template:Sortname	1	70	69
72	Template:Sortname	2	66	64
73	Template:Sortname	1	62
74	Template:Sortname	2	61	62
75	Template:Sortname	2	56	55
76	Template:Sortname	1	54	53
77	Template:Sortname	1	51	53
78	Template:Sortname	1	50	49
79	Template:Sortname	1	49
	Template:Sortname	1	49	48
	Template:Sortname	1	49	48
	Template:Sortname	1	49
	Template:Sortname	1	49
84	Template:Sortname	1	48	45
85	Template:Sortname	1	44	43
86	Template:Sortname	1	42	41
	Template:Sortname	1	42	41
	Template:Sortname	1	42	41
89	Template:Sortname	1	41	40
90	Template:Sortname	1	35	34
91	Template:Sortname †	1	Template:Age in days nts+
92	Template:Sortname	1	33	32
93	Template:Sortname	1	29	28
	Template:Sortname	1	29	28
95	Template:Sortname	1	28	27
96	Template:Sortname	1	25	24
97	Template:Sortname	1	22	21
	Template:Sortname	1	22	21
99	Template:Sortname	1	21	20
	Template:Sortname	1	21
	Template:Sortname	1	21
102	Template:Sortname	2	19	18
103	Template:Sortname	1	15	14
104	Template:Sortname	1	13	12
105	Template:Sortname	1	8
106	Template:Sortname	1	6	5
107	Template:Sortname	1	1	<1

External links

• Official WWE United States Championship Title History
• NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship Title History at Wrestling-Titles.com (1975–2001)
• WWE United States Championship Title History at Wrestling-Titles.com (2001 – present)