Observation: The NWA/WCW/WWE United States championship

Long before the World Wrestling Federation became a household name within sports entertainment nationally and internationally, the pro wrestling business was divided up across different 'territories' via each American state.  The vast majority of these territories combined under a governing banner in 1948 to form the National Wrestling Alliance.  This was pre-cable television - which would later help Vince McMahon's expansion in the 1980s - so each state had their own local TV coverage, thus became familir with local wrestling talent whom would perform in their area, both on the box and, most importantly, at the live events which the television shows promoted.

The NWA territories would recognise one world heavyweight champion who would travel across the country and defend the gold against the top star of the territory he had arrived in.  This was important economically to the wrestling business as the challenger would've been a big draw for his regional box office, so the idea being his name on the posters would result in a good crowd and thus more money being made.  With the world title consistently defended in more than one place, each promotion was therefore able to recognise their own specific heavyweight champ whom would frequently feature in to plans for when the world title holder came to town.

Local top titles would differ in names, such as the North American champion or, e.g. where matches were promoted in Kansas City, the "Missouri State" championship, where the state's name was prominent to the belt's identity.  Another frequent favourite was the 'United States' championship, depicting the top wrestler a champion nationwide even if he rarely left the area.  This was common practice throughout the 1950s and 60s for such a name to be used for a title, with legend having it that a young Kentucky boy named Abraham Lincoln apparently was once recognised as US wrestling champion more than a century prior!

In January 1975, the United States title we recognise today began its lineage with former NWA world champ Harley Race claiming the inaugural title in the Mid-Atlantic territory owned by Jim Crocket Promotions.  A hotbed of athletic action wrapped around the inevitable storylines, the Mid-Atlantic territory was primarily spread across North and South Carolina, drawing packed crowds to their live events.  Men would become huge stars there during this era: from Johnny Valentine, Blackjack Mulligan and Paul Jones to Sgt Slaughter, Bobo Brazil and Jimmy Snuka.  Rivalries were created btween the likes of Rick Steamboat and Ric Flair;  heroes became legends like Roddy Piper and Wahoo McDaniel.  All of these men and more would take turns as the local US heavyweight champion.

The territory system would start to decline with the advent of cable and, to a lesser degree, magazines such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated which would capture images and stories of wrestlers throughout the industry.  For the first time, fans in Portland, Oregon could discover what was happening in Dallas, Texas, or vice-versa and beyond.  After various NWA territories had closed down, Mid-Atlantic would become the only state that recognised a US champion;  San Francisco closed in 1981, which had been the only other to do so.  This resulted in the title now known as the NWA United States championship.  As time progressed, even more territories would close thanks to competition from the WWF.  Jim Crocket Jr, promoter in the Mid-Atlantic area, would purchase a number of the remaining nearby companies, virtually controlling the NWA world heavyweight title, while the Alliance itself was all but finished.

These changes led to the sole world champion being the area's top title.  As a result, the United States belt was now demoted to No.2;  no longer the local main event prize but essentially now a prepatory ground for men considered future kingpins.  Particularly if the champion was a heel (bad guy), the US title may have served as a 'heater' - to help get extra heat with the fans, whilst the world champ was considered a babyface (good guy).  By late 1988, Crockett faced mounting financial issues and was forced to sell his super-promotion to media mogul Ted Turner, on who's television network the Mid-Atlantic show was broadcast.  The name of programme was 'World Championship Wrestling' - and would go on to be the promotion's title for the next 13 years. 

No longer considered main event-level, the US champion would generally be the defacto No.1 world title contender in the absence of an opponent for the top dog.  More often than not, the US title would be a stepping stone towards a future crack with the heavyweight belt.  Whilst Ric Flair was a five-time US champ before winning his first NWA world title in 1981, fans nationally may recall Lex Luger being an early example of this in the WCW era.  Coming off a historic 523-day reign with the US gold, Luger would win the first of two WCW world titles in July 1991 (whilst arguably achieving his greatest fame two years later challenging Yokozuna for the WWF championship).  Around this time, WCW would commission its own physical belt - a design reminiscent of its rival equivalent, the WWF Intercontinental championship, and would remain so for the next decade.

The title's prestige was at an all-time high when held by Ravishing Rick Rude from late '91 until he vacated it over a year later due to injury.  Rude defeated Sting to become the longest reigning heel US champ throughout the title's history.  Whilst other faces held it for lengthy reigns, including the WWE's Dean Ambrose between 2013-14, Rude's bad guy record has yet to be broken.  From 1994 onwards, the title would gradually get lost in the shuffle.  Following Hacksaw Jim Duggan's 35-second victory over 'Stunning' Steve Austin (yep, same guy) at that year's Fall Brawl event, it could be forgiven for viewing the US championship as a joke.  No longer a prize that men fought for in steel cages or iron-man challenges, the title's purpose now seemed to be to elevate men who wore it instead of vice-versa.  Future world champs would continue to adorn the belt:  Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Goldberg and Scott Steiner, whilst established names like Konnan, Ric Flair (for a sixth time), Curt Hennig and Bret Hart would take turns as US champ but with little fanfare.  When Goldberg famously beat Hulk Hogan in 1998 for the WCW world championship, he was the reigning US title holder at the time and was pictured raising both belts post-victory (similar to the Ultimate Warrior's defeat over Hogan at Wrestle Manish VI) but would ultimately vacate you concentrate on being world champion.

In 2001, World Championship Wrestling was purchased from by WWFE Inc.  Vince McMahon now owned his competition and therefore the rights to all WCW trademarks.  The last US champ under the WCW banner was Booker T - also the reigning world champ at the time of the company's closure.  Still lost in the shuffle during the WCW/ECW invasion angle over the summer, the title was eventually retired when Edge unified it with the WWF Intercontinental champ by beating Test at the '01 Survivor Series.  The now-named WWE would reintroduce the title in 2003 to the mid-card scene.  The WWE update of the physical belt was mostly an image of stars and stripes along with a nameplate for the reigning champion.  Highlights would see Booker T and Chris Benoit contest in a best-of-seven series of matches over the title in 2006, whilst in 2010 52-year old Bret Hart would briefly reign again after defeating The Miz on Monday Night Raw.  The title would gain prestige in 2015 when company poster boy John Cena regained it after over a decade and would begin an open challenge to all comers who wanted a shot.  This would end when WWE champ Seth Rollins defeated Cena to hoist both belts and defend the pair for a time.  It was the championship's first spot in the main event scene for many years but has since returned to mid-card activity.

It should be noted that in May 2017, New Japan Pro Wrestling held a tournament to crown its own United States champion as part of their international expansion.  The first champion crowned was Kenny Omega who would take the new title to international heights by defending against Chris Jerico the following January in a showdown that saw record subscribers sign up to NJPW's online streaming service.  Although currently held by Jon Moxley (the former Dean Ambrose), little has been done by WWE in response to develop their own version's profile, aside from introducing a much-needed belt re-design in 2020.  The new belt once again loudly boasts red, white and blue colours across the obligitary gold although upon initial viewing resembles an easter egg.  It remain to be seen if this version will help or hinder future headliners in their path to wrestling stardom.

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