The Best WWE United States Champion Bracket!

On this episode I’ll be doing a bracket on who I think was the best WWE United States champion.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the SmackDown with Mario. I'm your host, Mario Hobson, and um today we're gonna be doing the the uh greatest WWE United States champions of all time. It's gonna be um this it's a lot of people that held the WWE United States champion, but me personally, I didn't watch it like well, I wouldn't watch Wrestling in the 90s because I was born in the 90s. Um so I didn't see it when it was with the WCW, so I'm not going to I didn't add nobody that was that had the belt in in the 90s when it was with WCW because I didn't watch it, so I can't judge it off of that if I didn't watch it. Um so it's gonna be stars that had it in the WWE from 2003 till now. So I think but still it's still a lot of people that held it from then to now. It's a total of I think 53 people is on this bracket. So before we get started though, if you guys wouldn't mind to um follow me on um on all your um wherever you listen to your podcast, it's either on Spotify, Apple, or iHeartRadio, anywhere you listen to your podcast. Also follow me on X, Facebook, and I'm now on Reddit as well. So if you don't mind, give me a follow then. Uh send me in some questions or um just if you just want to say anything, I'll add it on the show at the end of every show. I haven't got any yet, so once I do, I'll start adding those to the show. If I get a lot, I make my own separate show. And I know that I said that I was gonna bring this episode to y'all um Saturday, but I'm gonna do three episodes this week because I I'm planning on doing um the SmackDown review. Um, I got some family stuff I gotta do, so um hopefully I'll be able to give it to y'all. I'm not making no promises, but um I'm that's my plans is doing three episodes this week. So I'm doing this today, and then I'm going to bring y'all the SmackDown review hopefully Saturday. We'll have to see about that. Uh and you also can check me out over on the WWE uh podcast, that's where I do my NXT review. I also load them on this channel as well. But you can catch me over there every Wednesday. I'll um I'll be doing the WWE NXT reviews over there, and again, that's the WWE podcast. And if you don't mind, please go into Buzz Sprout and showing some support uh for me as well. Um it's free, it's you can gotta pay for nothing, it's completely free. You can also send fan mail over there as well, and like I said, if you do, I will add those to the add them to the show. But um enough of all that. Let's go ahead and get to this. Alright, we got the greatest United States champion of all time, bracket, and let me see how many people. It's 56 people actually, so it's a big one. It's a big one. Again, again, it's um I put them in randomly. I hit the random button, and all these people are put on here randomly, and like the other brackets, some people get a first round by um, and those people are Orlando Jordan, Jeff Hardy, Jacob Fatu, Apollo Cruz, Sami Zayn, Rusaf, Shinsuke Nakamura, Damien Priest. Those are the people that get a first round by. I didn't do that. It's the way this bracket does it on this app I use, is I put the names in, I hit random, and I guess some people have to get a first round by to fit all the names on here. I'm guessing that's how it works. But with that being said, though, we're gonna go ahead and get it started with the first round in the first matchup. We got Carlito versus Kofi Kingston. Um Carlito, um, I remember when he won the belt, he beat John Cena in his first match in uh WWE, uh, which was huge because I know John Cena wasn't like a former world champion at the time, but still it was a big deal. And like I just remember as a kid watching it and how excited I was and how well I wasn't excited, I would say shocking or shocked to see Carlito beat John Cena in his first match. I mean, it was crazy. Um Kofi Kingston, I think he's a multiple-time uh United States champion, and I'm not taking nothing for him uh from him, but just the fatal loan of Carlito you know winning the belt from John Cena in his first match ever in the WWE, and I guess it's gonna be the reason why I give it to him over Kofi Kingston. And not saying Kofi Kingston was a bad United States champion. I think he was. He did good as a mid-card, you know, champion at the time. But Carlito, what he did when he first came in, first match, I have to give it to him. So Carlito moves on to the next round. Next up, we got Adrade versus Randy Orton. Um Adrade, he was a he was a good champion just not too long ago when he came back to WWE, he won the belt. And um, I think him and Carmelo Hayes had those best out of the seven matches or something like that. Um, I don't know if he was a champion then when they did that. I'm not 100% sure. But with me, I think, to me, I think Randy Orton was a better United States champion than Audrade. I remember those matches or that rivalry he had with Jeff Hardy. Um, I think that was great. So with that being said, I'm gonna have to put Randy Orton over Audrade. So Randy Orton moves on to the next round. Next, we got two comedian uh wrestlers, and that's R-Truth versus Santino Morella. Okay. Um I think around the time R Truth was the United States champion, he was a heel. Um And I think he was actually pretty good as the United States champion, as the Midcard champion at that time. Santino, I can't honestly I can't remember his run, if I be honest with y'all. But R-Truth, I can remember, I think he was a heel, and I think he did um a pretty decent job as the United States champion at that time. So with that being said, I'm gonna have to put R truth over to the next round. So there we go. Next we got Jack Swagger versus Kallisto. Um Jack Swagger, I think when he won the United States champion, I I don't remember if it was United States champion or the world heavyweight champion when he uh came up with the gimmick, the all-American American. I think it made more sense that he did that with the United States championship. Carlisto, I remember um his feud with Robach for the United States Championship. Um I can't I can be honest with you right now. I couldn't remember not one match Jack Swagger had as a United States champion, and I'll be completely honest with you. I do remember a bit of a Callisto. He was good in the ring, uh very fast. I think people thought he would be the next Rey Mysterio, but I think he was a better United States champion than Jack Swagger. So I'm gonna put him over to the next round. Next we got Finley, who loves to fight, versus Booker T. Um, this is easy to me because Booker T was a great United States champion. I think around this time that he um he had those matches with John Cena, which were some great matches. I think he had a best out of seven matches with John Cena. I don't know if it was for the United States champion or not. I believe it was, but those matches was incredible. I can't really tell you too much about Finley um United States championship run, but Booker T, I remember his, and it was great. So I'm gonna put Booker T over Finley in this one and move him on to the second round. Next we got LA Knight versus Rey Mysterio. I think uh Ray Mysterio won the United States Championship later on in his career, and that's when he was like feuding with um Logan Paul and uh Santos uh Escobar. Um LA Knight he had a good run with the belt too. He just he was champion not too long ago as well. Um but uh it's kind of horrible because both of them was good United States champion. But if I would say who had the best run with it, like who had the best matches as a United States champion, honestly, Rey Mysterio. I say that because I think he was in his 50s, like he was pretty, like, you know, pretty um old. Or I'm not gonna say old. He was a veteran and he was still putting on great matches. So I'm gonna uh give Rey Mysterio the edge on that because at his age and doing the matches he was doing was incredible as United States champion. So Ray Mysterio moves on to the second or second round. Next we got Dean Ambrose versus Gender Mahal. I remember Dean Ambrose being the United States champion when he was part of the uh SHIELD. And he was supposed to be the leader. Um he I think he was leader of the SHIELD. Um, but I think he had some good matches as the United States champion. Um, better than Jinder Mahal. Um I think it's pretty easy. I'm I'm gonna say uh Dean Ambrose was a better United States champion than Jender Mahal. So we're gonna go ahead and put Dean Ambrose over to the um second round. Alright. Next we got Fan Balor versus Seamus. Um Seamus Fan Balor. Who do I think um if y'all can give me a minute? I'm gonna do just a little research because I'll be honest with you, I can't remember too much of that title run. So let me let me do a little research on that real quick. Let me see. Maybe this will refresh my memory a little bit. Let's see. It says Ben Balor was he defeated Damian Priest in 2022 for the belt on Raw. And then he lost it to Theory in 2022. Hmm. Let's see after the after that's when he joined uh Judgment Day. So he didn't hold the belt long. He didn't really have a he was a one-time champion and he didn't hold it for a long time. But I think Seamus was a multiple-time United States champion. Let me just see real quick. I just don't have memory of his run as United States champion. Let me see. He won in 2011 by beating Daniel Bryan on Raw. Then he won it in a 20-man battle royal. Then he beat Matt Riddle in 2021 for the belt. Yeah, I think his like three of his runs was not memorable at all. Um But I think his was better than Finn because he didn't hold it long. And Seamus was at least what three time United States champion. So I'm gonna put Seamus over Finn Balor because of that. Uh next we got Solo Sokoa versus Bobby Roode. Um, I remember Bobby Roo winning it. Um I think he was on SmackDown when he won it. And he was a he was a pretty good champion. It was uh Solo, he was champion not too long ago, but I don't he didn't hold it for long. And he definitely wasn't a better uh United States champion than Bobby Lashley was back in the day. I even think Bobby Lashley won it later in his career as well, so he's a multiple-time United States champion. And I'm gonna say for those reasons is why I'm gonna put him over solo. So Bobby Lashley moves on to the next round. Next we got Seth Rollins versus Antonio Cesaro. Um, this is pretty easy to me. I think Cesaro, he was a great champion, he was a fighting champion at that as well, and the things he was doing in the ring was like crazy. But Seth Rollins, the what gives the edge that I think to him is the fact that he was United States champion and I think the WWE champion as well. Um and I think he beat John Cena for the United States champion as well. Um and I think to me, him being a double champ and defending both, I think he defended both of them one at the same time at a pay-per-view. I think he defended one against John Cena and one against uh the other championship against Steam. But he was a great champion as a United States champion. Uh so I'm gonna say that Seth Fallon was a better United States champion than Cesaro. So Seth goes on to the next round. Um this is gonna be a long one to this time, like this bracket is still got a whole lot more to go. So this is gonna be a long episode. So let's see. We got Mr. Kennedy versus Carmelo Hayes, which Carmelo Hayes just wanted not too long ago. Mr. Kennedy uh trying to see if I can remember his run. Uh and that's not good because like if I can't remember your run, was you a good United States champion? Let's go see what he did as United States champion. I know Melo was a good champion. Um that was doing like and still doing, I think, those open challenges every week. Um It says he beat Finley and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match to win the United States champion. That was his only reign, but uh that's I'm looking on Google and they don't really say much about his reign, but okay. Yeah. So with that being said, uh Carmelo Hayes, he deserves to be like going to the next round. He deserves to beat Mr. Kenny as the best, or not the best, a better United States champion than he was, because they didn't say I went to Google and looked it up because I had no memory of it. I didn't even know he did that. Um but when I was looking up all United States champions, they said he had won it, but apparently he didn't do much with it. So Carmelo Hayes goes on to the next round. Next we got JBL versus Daniel Bryan. Um the didn't JBL win it later on in his career? When it after his uh undisputed championship run, I believe. Um I don't really have too much memory of it. But Daniel Bryan, I know he was a uh a pretty good United States champion. And I will say that Daniel Bryan was a better United States champion than JBL. Because I don't think JBL probably held it for long anyway. And Daniel Bryan, I think he held it multiple times, if I'm not mistaken. So I'm gonna say Daniel Bryan was a better United States champion as JBL. Now, was he a better WWE champion JBL? Um, I won't. Um I'm gonna have to do a bracket about that soon. So if you want to know my opinions about that, probably next we gotta do something like that. I don't know. But we just have to see. But I think Dan Bryan was a better United States champion as JBL, definitely. So Dan Bryan goes on to the next round. Next is this is easy because we got Big Show versus Bret Hart. Um, as we know, Bret Hart won it what like 2010 was a thing with the Miz, and then next week he dropped it. So I he was on the they had him on the list, and I put him down. I don't even know why, but I had to. I even got the um United States champion now on the list. I just everybody did it that I saw, I put them on the list. But Brad Hart, he just won it for like a week. It don't care. I'm Bit Show goes on to the next round. That was pretty easy. Like I said, we got the United States champion now, which is Trick Williams versus Roman Reigns. This is easy. Trick Williams just won the belt. He hadn't really done much with it yet. He just wanted it at WrestleMania this year, so it's pretty easy. Roman Reigns goes on to the next round. Uh but next we got Matt Riddle versus Logan Paul. Um Matt Riddle was a pretty good champion, but so was Logan Paul. Um, but who was a better one though? In my opinion, and I think a lot of people might agree with me, I would say Logan Paul was a better United States champion. He did so much more for than Matt Riddle, mostly because of the platform that Matt uh Logan Paul has. So but yeah, he was a better United States champion than Matt Riddle. So I'm gonna say Logan Paul moves on to the next round. Okay. Next we got Austin Theory versus Bobby Rude. Bobby Rude was a great NST champion. Um and uh I think he went pretty high on my uh men's NST championship record that I did. If you haven't heard that, by the way, go and listen to that. But uh, was he a better United States champion than Austin Theory? Um Austin Theory He was a decent champion. I wouldn't say he was the best United States champion, and I don't think Bobby Roo was the best United States champion, but who was the best? Okay, once again, I'm gonna go over to Google and see what they did in their runs. Um I know um Austin Theory tried to cash in his money at bank and lost for the United States Championship. So maybe I should give it to Bobby Roo because of that. But let's see. Let's see what Austin Theory did. I don't be honest with you, I don't really know all he did with the United States Championship. Um let's see. Only reason he won the first time because Vince was trying to push him. Let's see. Oh, okay. He beat John Cena at Raspberry Man 39, talking about Austin Theory. How did I forget about that? That just happened not too long ago. Uh I forgot about that winhead. I ain't honestly, I didn't I couldn't remember if it was for the belt or not, the belt or not, but I guess it was. Um And it said he also beat uh uh Ceph Followers and Bobby Root as well as United States champion. Okay, maybe he did have a better run than Bobby Roode. Let's see what Bobby Root did as the United States champion. And I'm only doing this to refresh my memory, cuz you know, some stuff I don't remember. Um I think it's better this way. Uh they say he won in 2022 Bobby Root. No, that's Bobby Lashley. I said about them. I thought I put Bobby Roode, uh, I guess I didn't. I don't know how I got them two messed up. Let's see. Bobby Roode. Here we go. Uh let's see. Um, but it don't really s say much about what he did as United States champion. Uh let's see. Say he beat Jinder Mahal. But that's in a tournament, but that's basically it. I'm I'm just gonna have to give it to Austin Theory, because the people he beat as the United States champion, um, Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley, that was yeah, impressive. So, and Bobby Roo didn't really do much. Um, so I'm gonna give it to Austin Theory. So he moves on to the second round. Next, we got Chris Manwat versus John Cena for obvious reasons. I'm gonna give it to John Cena. I'm not gonna get into the reasons why. I think you all know John Cena moves on to the next round. Next, we got Ricochet versus Baron Corbin. Um, Ricochet, he was a good United States champion. I think he held it for a while as well. Baron Corbin was a pretty good champion as well. Um But in my onion's opinion, though, I think Ricochet was a better United States champion than Baron Corbin. Um it didn't it didn't really do nothing for both of their careers. It's probably why they ain't there now for. But um Baron Corbin, he was I don't know why WWE didn't do much with him. He was supposed to be like a main event talent. I don't he was good on the mic, he was good in the ring. I don't know what went wrong there. Right now, I'm just I'm going off subject. But like I said, Ricochet was a better United States champion than Baron Corbin. So we're gonna move Ricochet over to the next round. Next, we got Shepton Benjamin versus Kevin Owens. Um this one's pretty hard for me personally because I remember when Shep and Benjamin won the United States champion because he came up with that gimmick, the uh gold standard, which he dyed his hair gold and everything. It was it was I liked it. It was he had some great matches as United States champion. But Kevin Owens, I think when he was the United States champion, he had that gimmick, he had a good gimmick as well as the uh the face of the United States, even though he was from uh Canada. Um and um this one, this when he had that rivalry with Chris Jerko after their uh Friends of Festival thing that was doing when um everybody was making the list. From Chris Jerko. So I think Kevin Owens and that match that Kevin Owens and um Chris Jerko had was incredible as well. So I think with that being said, I think Kevin Owens was um a better United States champion than Shelton Benjamin. Next we got the Miz versus AJ Styles. Even though Miz, I think he won a United States champion probably a hundred times. He won the Mid Card champion so many times. But AJ Styles, I don't think nobody would disagree with me. Is way better in the ring than Miz. And I think nobody disagree with Miz saying that AJ Styles was a better United States champion than any of the Miz's runs. I think Styles is a multiple time United States champion too as well. Um but I'm going to give this to AJ Styles. I think he was a better United States champion than the Miz. So AJ Styles goes on to the next round. Next we got Samoa Joe versus Alberto Del Rio. Um I'll be honest with you. Once again, I don't know too much about their runs as United States champion. Um let's go see. Some people just won the belt and didn't have memorable runs with it. Well, a lot of people. Even though they're great, they great wrestlers. Like Samo Joe is a great wrestler. But I just don't remember his run as United States champion. Let's see what he did. Um They said he defeated R Truth in his first ring, and then he beat defeated Ray Mysterio in the second one. So he was a two-time United States champion. Um he defeated uh Ray Mysterio at Rasmus 35. I don't even remember that match. Uh to be honest with you. Um let's see what um Alberto did. I know a lot of people don't like Alberto, but I think he was alright in WWE. Let's see what he did. It says he he won his first ring by the beating John Cena in the open challenge at Hell Nicell 2015. And he won the second time by beating Callisto. Huh. I think the fact that he beat John Cena, I guess puts him over, like gives him the edge in his. Um, so I guess I give it to Alberto. Both of them didn't have memorable runs. I I guess since he beat John Cena, I give him the edge. I mean, I know that Samoa beat Ray Mysterio, but it's not like beating John Cena, if we're being honest. So, and when John Cena was doing those open challenges matches, that's when um he was putting all putting on those incredible matches. So for Alberto to beat him at that time, must have been pretty impressive. Uh so I would say Alberto Dario is a better was a better United States champion than Samoa Joe. So he moves on to the next round. Okay. Next we got Dolph Zittler versus Ilya Dragonoff. Um there's no doubt Dolph Zittler was a great mid card champion. Ilya, he held the belt for a while. He had some great matches as the United States uh champion, but he was not a better United States champion than Dolph Zittler. I don't I think people would agree with me on that. Uh so I'm I'm gonna say Dolph Zittler was a better United States champion than Ilya Dragon Off. Next we got MVP versus Eddie Guerrero. Um I loved MVP as United States champion. I remember when he first came in and like in the little jumpsuit he was wearing and stuff, and I don't know, but he had his mice, the mice skill was incredible, and he was incredible in the ring as well. So I remember when he first came in. Yeah, I like the MVP, but I'm gonna say Eddie Grero was a better United States champion because I I think I remember those matches that Eddie had with uh John Cena. I remember that parking lot brawl they had with um Eddie Grero and John Cena, which was great. I don't know if it was for the United States Championship or not, but um I just I can remember how great it was because it was like all these cars was like circled around each other and they was like literally literally killing each other and stuff. It was it was crazy. So I'm with that being said, I'm gonna say Eddie Grero was a better United States champion than MVP. Then this is the last matchup in the first round, and we got Matt Hardy versus Chris Jericho. Again, that rivalry with Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens was incredible. Um I think that like just that right there alone, because Matt Hardy didn't really have a memorable run with the United States. I think he was a multiple-time champion, but it wasn't really memorable. He was more memorable as a tag team with Jeff more than anything. I remember his run as ECW champion and stuff, but I cannot remember his run as United States champion if I was to be honest. Um, I remember his run as cruiserweight champion as well. He has some incredible matches as well back in the day as the cruiserweight champion, but as United States champion, I don't I can't really remember his run as United States champion, but Chris Jerko I do. So with that being said, I'm gonna have to say Chris Jerko was a better United States champion than Matt Hardy. Now, here we go with the second round, and we're gonna start with somebody that had a bye in the first round, and that's Orlando Jordan versus Carlito. Again, this is pretty easy to me. Orlando, I think he was a champion I think after he left JBL, that little group they had with Jillian Hall, JBL and Orlando. Um I can remember his run a little bit, but it wasn't better than Carlito. Like when Carlito first came in and he did what he did, it it's it just overdoes Orlando's run altogether. So with that being said, I'm gonna say Carlito moves on to the next round. Next we got Randy Orton versus R2. And as great as I said that R2 was um a great med card champion. I don't think he was better than Randy Orton. Um yeah, Randy Orton was he his run was better, and the the matches he had with Jeff Hardy was better. I think R2 had some um great matches with John Morrison as the United States champion, and he was a great heel, but he was not better than Randy Orton. So with that being said, Randy Orton moves on to the next round. Next we got somebody else that had a buy, and that's Jeff Hardy, and he goes up against Kalisto. Kalisto, he the person he had in the first round was Jack Swagger, and that's why I put him over because I remember Kalisto run. Jack Swagger's not so much. Um, I just know he was like the all-American American, but when I put him up against Jeff Hardy, Jeff Hardy, he was a good main defender, and he was a good tag team, and he was a great mid-card champion. And I think when he had to be up, he also like that's I don't think he had it before him and Randy Orton had that rivalry together. I'm not 100% sure about that, but I do know that um he was a great United States champion when he was champion, and he definitely was a better United States champion than Callisto. So with that being said, Jeff Hardy moves on to the second round. Next we got Booker T versus Rey Mysterio. This one's pretty tough. Well, not really, because like I said, Booker T was in his prime when he won it. Rey Mysterio, he won it when he was a little bit older. But in the first round, I put him over LA Knight. But he did have a better run than LA Knight to me. But he did not have a better run than Booker T. Those matches he was having as United States champion with John Cena and um and Chris Ben White as well. Even those matches was incredible. So um, with that being said, I think Booker T had a better run as the United States champion than Rey Mysterio. So I'm gonna go ahead and move Booker T over to the next round. Next, we got somebody else they had to buy in the first round, and that was Jacob Patu, and he will be going up against Dean Ambrose. Um Jacob won the belt not too long ago, of course. Um didn't really do too much as the champion. Um Dean Ambrose was a great mid card champion as part of the shield, as I said before. Um he was a better champion than Jacob, I'll say that. So I don't think nobody would disagree with me on that. So with that being said, I'm gonna say Dean Ambrose was a better United States champion than Jacob Fatu. So Dean Ambrose goes on to the second round. Next we got Seamus versus Bobby Lashley. Um I had to look up Seamus run a while ago, but I didn't have to look up Bobby Lashley. Bobby Lashley had a good run, even back then when he won it, and when he won it in 2022, I think I said earlier. Um so with that being said, Bobby Lashley to me had a better run um as the United States champion than Seamus did. So I'm gonna say Bobby Lashley was a better United States champion and uh than Seamus was. So Bobby Lashley moves on to the second round. Next we have somebody else that had a buy, and that's Apollo, Apollo Crews. He be going up against Seth Rollins. Um Apollo Crews, he won the United States Championship whenever they brought the new one in. And he was doing his little uh gimmick. I can't remember exactly what it was. It was like some He had a spear and stuff, and I think that Trick Williams was his bodyguard. Um I think during this run is when he had that robbery with Big E, which put like I think the robbery that put Big E out with his injury and the reason why he can't wrestle no more. Um I think there's the robbery they had with each other that that happened. But I don't think clearly to me, I don't think he was a better United States champion than Seth Rollins because like I said, it was Seth Rollins was carrying carrying the um United States champion and WWE championship at the time. Like he definitely was a better United States champion than Apollo Crews to me. So Seth Rollins moves on to the next round. Next, we got Carmelo Hayes versus Daniel Bryan. Carmelo Hayes moved on to this round because he went against Mr. Kennedy who didn't have a memorable United States championship run. Like even Google was confused by it when I searched it. But um Dani Bryan was a great United States champion when he was champion. Um but was Dani Bryan better than um Carmelo? That's the question. Mello was a fighting champion, he had some great matches. Daniel Bryan, he was a great it's gonna be an unpopular opinion by a lot of people. Um but if you think about it, if you really think about it, Carmelo Hayes had a better United States run than Daniel Bryan did. He had I know Bram Bryan, Daniel, Daniel Bryan was a um a good in-ring competitor, but so was Carmelo Hayes. In my opinion, and this is my opinion, Carmelo Hayes had a better um United States championship run than um Dan Bryan. So I'm gonna put Carmelo Hayes over to the next round. And if you don't if you disagree with that, let me know. Um you can let me know on X, Facebook, and I'll respond to you. So just let me know. Or I'll feature them the show. Next show. Next we got we got a lot of people in the second round is what we got. But but anyway, we got Sami Zayn, which I think he had a buy from the first round, yeah, he did, versus Big Show. Um Big Show had a uh um had Bret Hart in the first round, so that's the only reason I put him over. Um Sami Zayn was a better United States champion than Big Show. Big Show didn't have a memorable run. I just put him over because Bret Hart literally won it and dropped it the next week. But Sami Zayn, he was doing the open challenges stuff as well, and he had some great matches, way better matches than Big Show had, I'm pretty sure. Uh no, Big Show did have a memorable run because only thing I what I remember about Big Show is uh him versus John Cena, I believe was at WrestleMania. And that's when John Cena uh picked Bishop up for the first time and filed him. So that was a that was a good moment. Um that's the only moment I really remember in Big Show's United States championship run. But other than I think Sami Zayn still had a better United States championship run than Big Show, so because the matches he had, especially even he had a good match with John Cena uh last year as the United States as John Cena was the United States champion. No, hold up. What's no Sammy was who who was the same champion when that happened? Was it Sammy or was it John? I think John was the United States champion, was he not when they were doing the opening challenges? I think he was. So anyway, um even that match last year that Sami Zayn and John Cena had, uh, that was a great match. And he had many more after that. So with that being said, I I'm gonna say Sami Zayn was uh a better United States champion than Big Show. I believe Sami Zayn was a United States champion. He was doing the open challenges and John Cena came out. But that match was incredible though. And it was on SmackDown, but still it was incredible. Next we got Roman Reigns versus Logan Paul. Um not taking anything away from what Logan Paul did as the United States champion because he was a great United States champion, but was he better than Roman Reigns as United States champion? I'm gonna say yeah. Surprisingly, I'm gonna say Logan Paul was a better United States because Roman Reigns was more of a he he had he was more remembered as a you know universal champion or WWE champion or you know, he wasn't really known as like a med car champion. He didn't really because at the time people didn't really like him at the time. Um his run as the med car champion wasn't really that good. That's his United States championship run wasn't really memorable either. So I think Logan Paul had a better run as the United States champion than Roman Reigns did. So I'm gonna have to put Logan Paul over to the next round. Um next we got Russof versus Austin Theory. Um like I said, Austin Theory was a great champion, but Russof, I believe, um I know he was fighting John C fought John Cena when he came out of the NST and won his open challenges as when John Cena was the United States champion. Um and Russo was a great mid card champion, and I'm I'm I think he was a better one. Let me look up real quick, but I don't think he beat John Cena for United States champion. I remember the match they had. Um let me see. Maybe he did beat uh John Cena. Let's see. Um, John Cena had won that match. Um well maybe Russo wasn't a better United States champion than Austin Theory, because according to this, he didn't really do nothing much as the United States champion. And Austin Theory did way more. He did way more because Vince, he was chosen by Vince, but still though, he did way more as the United States champion than Russo did, apparently. So I guess what that man said, um I'm gonna have to say Austin Theory was a better United States champion than Russo. Austin Theory going pretty far in this. Uh all thanks to Vince. Um anyway, next we got John Cena versus Ricochet. This one's pretty easy as well. What John Cena did for United States Championship, what he did for the future of the company when he did those open challenges and stuff was way better than what anything Ricochet did. So John Cena moves on to the next round. Uh next we got Shinsuke Nakamura versus Kevin Owens. This one was pretty easy as well. Just that whole robbery with Chris Jericho and that gimmick he had as face of the United States champion. I mean not champion, but the face of the United States is kind of like something that um Chelsea Green is doing now as the women's, well, when she was the women's United States champion, but yeah. I think Sinsky Nakamura uh run, and also he had a buy in the first round, but his run was wasn't that good. It came to the main roster, they didn't do much with him. Um Kevin Owens to me obviously to me had a better run as United States champion than Shinsuke Nakamura did. And I'm saying his name wrong. Shinsuke Nakamura. I'm sorry. I talk fast a little bit, so when I talk fast, I just words be getting smooshed together and stuff. So I be trying to slow down, but you know. Anyway, next we got AJ Styles versus Alberto del Rio. Um, again, pretty easy. Alberto won the first round because he went up against some old Joe. He did he did nothing as United States champion, but AJ Styles easily to me was a better United States champion than Alberto Del Rido. So AJ Styles moves on to the next round. Next, we got somebody else. I think this is the last person who got a bye in the first round. That's Damien Priest. He's going up against Dolph Ziggler. Um yeah, there's no way that Damian Priest was a better United States champion than Dolph Zittler. Um, yeah, I don't think Damian Priest did much as United States champion. Um Dolph Zittler, he's obviously to me, he's better than he was a better United States champion than Damien Priest. So I'm gonna put Dolph Zittler over to the next round. And next we got a pretty hard one to me. Um Eddie Guerrero versus Chris Jericho. Uh like I said, Eddie Guerrero, I think he brought back the United States Championship back in 2003. Um Chris Jericho, the matches and stuff he had with Kevin Owens was great, but I do not think that Chris Jericho was a better United States champion than Eddie Guerrero. So I'm gonna have to put um Eddie Guerrero over to the next round over Chris Jericho. And I know a lot of y'all might disagree with me with that one as well, but that's how I feel, and that's my opinion. Let me know your opinion. Next, we got the third round, and we're gonna start off with Carlito versus Randy Orton. Yes, I know Carlito's been getting by pretty easy because he had a matchup with Orlando Brown and then Kofi Kingston, which Kofi Kingston wasn't an easy one, but obviously I thought that he was a better one than Kofi Kingston was because of the whole John Cena thing. But now he's going up against Randy Orton, who actually had good matches as the United States champion. Carlito, he won the belt, but he didn't have it long, and that was the only ring he had. Um, with that, he got to the third round with it, but that's as far as he's gonna go because he was not a better United States uh champion than Randy Orton. So I'm gonna say Randy Orton moves on to the next round. And next we got Jeff Hardy versus Booker T. Again, Jeff Hardy was a great mid-card champion, he was a great United States champion, but to me he was not a better United States champion than Booker T. So with that being said, and I know I'm moving pretty fast because this video is almost at 45 minutes now, so but now I'm getting to the point where I know I um where it's getting to the point where it's like people who was great as the United States champion, you know, not saying that other people wasn't, but a lot of people that we had on the list had the United States championship and they didn't have no memorable run with it. But now we're getting to the people that did have great runs with it, so now it's kind of easier for. For me to you know separate it a little bit or you know tell you who who I think was the better United States champion out of the two. Um I wouldn't even say it's easier because it is kind of hard, but from what I've you know seen and stuff as they run and stuff as the United States champion, like Jeff Hardy, he was a great United States champion, but I don't think nobody would disagree when I say that Booger T was a better United States champion than Jeff Hardy, because I think a lot of people would think that as well. So enough. Okay, I'm done. Uh I'm done blabbing now. Um Booger T to me was a better United States champion than Jeff Hardy. So Booker T moves on to the next round. Next we got um Bobby Lashley versus Dean Ambrose. Um this one's a little difficult uh because both of them had great runs, but I think what puts Bobby over Dean is the fact Bobby was a multiple-time champion, and he won it early in his career, and he won it later on in his career. So I'm gonna say for those reasons is why and he had great matches both times, and those are the reasons why I'm gonna say he was a better United States champion than Dean Ambrose. So Bobby Lashley moves on to the next round. Next, we got Seth Rollins versus Carmelo Hayes. Carmelo Hayes had some great matches as the United States champion, but you know what? Seth Rollins did too. He had some great matches, but he did not hold the belt long. And I know what y'all saying, but he made it this far. But the people he went up against was Cesaro and Apollo Cruz in the other two rounds. Um they did not have a better run than Seth Rollins, even though he didn't hold it long, hold it long. I think Seth Rollins had better matches than both of them as United States champion. So now he's going up against Carmelo Hayes, who didn't hold the belt long, but he had great matches. And Seth Rollins is one of my favorite wrestlers in WWE right now. He's been my favorite wrestler since he came in in like 2012 over in NST. But I can't lie when I say that Carmelo Hayes was a better United States champion than Seth Rollins. If you disagree with that, let me know. And I'm pretty sure a whole lot of y'all, but if you think about it and you go back and you look, you'll see that Carmelo Hayes had a better United States championship run than Seth Rollins. So Carmelo Hayes goes on to the next round. As much as that pains me, because like I said, Seth Rollins is my favorite wrestler. But next we got Sami Zayn versus Logan Paul. And Logan Paul beat Roman Reigns last time, but like I said, Roman Reigns wasn't really a like a guy remembered as a United States champion, not like Logan Paul. But Logan Paul did not have a better United States run than Sami Zayn. Sami Zayn had some great matches, and a lot of people that's getting put over now, as you can tell, are people that won the belt like in the last year or two. And uh the matches they had recently has been incredible as United States champion. Those open challenge matches have been incredible, and that's why these guys are like moving on to the next rounds and stuff. So people don't like wrestling, like, well, it's getting bad, it's been bad for a minute, but those matches and what they're doing for the United States Championship right uh right now is pretty pretty great because match-wise anyway, but um enough of the blabbing. I'm just gonna say Sami Zayn was a better United States champion than Logan Paul. So Sami Zayn goes on to the next round. Next we got Austin Theory versus John Cena. This is gonna be pretty easy. John Cena was obviously a better United States champion than Austin Theory, so this one was pretty easy. Austin Theory got here about beating Russo and Bobby Roode, which both of them didn't really do much as United States champion. Like, even I have to go to Google to see what they did because their run wasn't memorable. But Austin Theory, he actually had some big maps, some big wins against people like John Cena as well, for the United States Championship at WrestleMania. But John Cena was a better United States champion than Austin Theory was. Um when um because uh stuff he did when he was champion and bringing young talent up and putting them over and stuff like that. So with that being said, he goes on to the next round. But next we got Kevin Owens versus AJ Styles. Um AJ Styles was a good United States champion, he was a good mid-card champion, but I'll have to say that he was not better than Kevin Owens as a United States champion. So with that being said, I'm gonna say Kevin Owens goes on to the next round from that one. Next, this is the last round in the third round, uh, or last matchup. It's Dolph Zittler versus Eddie Guerrero. Um Dolph Zidler was a good mid card champion, he was a good United States champion, but he was not a better United States champion, in my opinion, than Eddie Guerrero. So I'm gonna go ahead and put Eddie Guerrero over to the next round. Now we got the Elite Eight, the last eight. Who's gonna win this, guys? Um let's see. The first matchup we got Randy Orton versus Booker T. Like I said, Booker T was a great uh United States champion. But in my opinion, he was not a better United States champion than Booker T. What Booker T and John Cena did, and Booker T and Chris Minois, those matches they had was incredible. Randy Orton had some good matches too. But he did not have better matches than Booker T when Booker T was United States champion, and that's why I say Booker T was a better United States champion than Randy Orton. So Booker T moves on. Next we got Bobby Lashley versus Carmelo Hayes. Um Carmelo Hayes, he moved on from Seth Orlando earlier because I said that Carmelo Hayes had better or he held the belt. Well, I don't say it longer, but he had better matches than Seth Orlando because Seth Arlen was a double champ. I don't know if he won it again after that. If he did, I can't remember. But he moved on from Seth Orlando, but he's not gonna move on in this round because Bobby Glashley was a great United States champion. He had great matches. Even like I said earlier, in his earlier years, he had great matches as a United States champion. And when he won it like four years ago, he had great matches. Um Carmelo Hayes, he might win the United States Championship again someday. I'm hoping that him and Trick Williams get some kind of rivalry for it soon. Um that would be great because they had some great matches in NST. Um But right now, um I'm gonna say Bobby Lashley had a better United States championship run than Carmelo Hayes. So Bob moves on to the second or to the next round. Um next we got Sami Zayn versus John Cena. Like I said, last year they had that great match last year on SmackDown. Um I cannot remember if it was for the United States championship or not. I just know that was a great match. Um but was Sami Zayn the better United States champion than John Cena? Well, of course not. Sami Zayn had great matches, but he did not hold it long, and he had the open challenges and stuff like that, like John Cena did, but it wasn't like John Cena. Um John Cena run was better, his open challenges was better. So with that being said, John Cena beat Sami Zayn in this one and moves on to the next round. Last matchup got Kevin Owens versus Eddie Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero was a great United States champion, not taking nothing from that, but he was not a better United States champion than Kevin Owens. So with that being said, Kevin Owens moves on to the next round. And now we got the final four. The final four, guys. Who's gonna win this? Who's gonna win this? Okay, we're gonna find out. Uh first matchup, we got uh Booker T versus Bobby Lashley. This one's tough. Bobby Lashley was a great United States champion. Um Booker T was a great United States champion. But Bobby Lashley was not a better United States champion than Booker T. Just the matches he had with John Cena and uh and Chris was incredible. Bobby Lashley had some great matches, but he none of his matches was well I ain't gonna say none of his matches was well maybe. Hmm, maybe. Booker T, those matches that he had was incredible as a United States champion. And his run with it was, in my opinion, was better than Bobby Lashley. So Booker T moves on to the finals, and let's see who would be joining him. Um next we got hold up, I'm trying to this thing is glitching out on me. Wait a minute. I'm sorry, y'all. Okay, there we go. Next we got John Cena versus Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens, he was um don't have I don't think I have to explain it again because I don't say that multiple multiple multiple times about his rivalry with Chris Jericho. I don't say that multiple times about John Cena's matches he had as uh United States champion when he was doing the open challenges and stuff. But I'm just gonna tell y'all who I think was a better United States champion, and I'm gonna say it was John Cena. Yes, to me John Cena was a better United States champion than Kevin Owens. A lot of people might disagree with me on that as well, but uh that's my opinion, and that's why I'm that's why I'm gonna send John Cena over to the finals if this thing will let me. Yeah, there we go. And the finals we got Booker T versus John Cena. And this one is hard, this one is tough. This is real tough. Um Cena, we gotta go back to like to when John Cena won it back in the day and now. Um, and that's gonna be the deciding factor for me. Um, because John Cena was a great United States champion then as well. Even back then, he was putting over over younger talents like Carlito. He was having great matches with Booker T. He had a great match with uh when he won the first time at WrestleMania by picking up Big Show and hitting them with the attitude adjustment back then known as the L5. Uh when he won it later in his career, he had was putting over NST challenge uh challenge uh competitors. He was having great matches with him. Um and I think with all that being said, I'm gonna say, in my opinion, that John Cena was the best WWE United States champion of all time. Yes, John Cena, in my opinion, was the best United States champion of all time. Um if you disagree with me, let me know. You can follow me on X, Facebook, I'm on Reddit. Um please follow me wherever you listen to your podcast at Spotify, Apple, iHeart. I'm everywhere. Uh please follow me on Buzz Sprout or support me on Buzz Sprout. Uh it's completely free to support me, no charges at all. And let me know who y'all think was the greatest United States champion of all time. I'm curious, let me know. Um, but until then, I will see you guys possibly Saturday. But um, yeah. See you guys then, and that's it, guys. I'm signing out. Bye.