5 WWE Superstars who could be the next United States Champions
The United States Championship has had a long and storied history. Introduced in the year 1975 by Jim Crockett Jr, Harley Race was the inaugural holder of the title. Since then, a plethora of wrestling legends and WWE Hall of Famers have held the title. Some of the most prominent names include the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Sting, Goldberg, and Ric Flair.
The title was created and defended in Jim Crockett Jr's Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW), which was later purchased by the media mogul Ted Turner and re-branded into World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where it served as a secondary championship to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, and later the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
There are 92 different US Championship runs, with WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair having the distinction of the most number reigns at 5. Shinsuke Nakamura is the current United States Champion, having won the title at Extreme Rules on July 15, 2018.
Nakamura's run has been a bit lukewarm to say the least, as the WWE hasn't been able to produce a long-term opponent for the self-proclaimed 'President of NakAmerica'. But with the arrival of Rey Mysterio, it seems like the reign of 'The King of Strong Style' will eventually come to an end at the hands of Mysterio.
With that being said, here are 5 superstars who we think could win the US title in the near future.
#5 Rey Mysterio
This past Tuesday on SmackDown 1000, Rey Mysterio made his much awaited WWE return as he faced the United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura for a spot in the WWE World Cup. Mysterio was able to weather the early storm, and went on to defeat the US Champion and seal his spot in the WWE World Cup.
Rumors have begun surfacing that the feud between Nakamura and Mysterio is going to continue, with the duo advertised for a US title match at WWE's Starrcade event in November.
Nakamura and Mysterio are arguably two of the best in-ring performers in the company right now, and if done properly, their feud will be nothing short of box office gold.
Mysterio is the perfect candidate to replace Nakamura as the US Champion, as someone like him can put the title back in the spotlight. Nakamura has been the champion for over 3 months, but his title run sadly has been disappointing so far.
Considering the fact that this will most likely be Mysterio's last run in the company, the company needs to put their might behind The Master of 619, as he will undoubtedly make the championship relevant, and bring it back from the slump that it is currently in.