Photo: WWE Superstar destroys John Cena’s custom Championship

Once upon a time, WWE Superstar John Cena was an up-and-coming star with "Ruthless Aggression." The first title he won in the Stamford-based promotion was the United States Championship. Cena then introduced the spinner US title belt, which was very popular at the time.

Austin Theory has now posted a picture of the classic US title belt on Twitter after he was a guest on this week's WWE The Bump.

Disrespecting John Cena ahead of their high-profile contest at WrestleMania 39, Theory is looking to send a message to the 16-time world champion that he is the now and future of the business, before the latter returns to Monday Night RAW next week to further build up their clash at the Showcase of the Immortals:

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Austin Theory

@_Theory1

@WWETheBump

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@WWETheBump https://t.co/UepKlIQ2NW

While John Cena himself admitted that if it were up to him, he would not be facing Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39. A top WWE star recently revealed he asked Cena for a match in the not-too-distant future.

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John Cena has a special connection to the WWE United States Championship

He may be more used to winning world championships during his epic run in the Stamford-based promotion as a full-time performer, but John Cena is no stranger to the US title as well.

Since his victory over The Big Show on The Grandest Stage of Them All in 2004, the Cenation Leader won the title two more times before moving on to being the main event player from the following year's WrestleMania extravaganza onwards.

Fast forward to 2015, John Cena once again pursued the United States Championship after being caught up in a whirlwind feud with Miro (fka Rusev). Cena won the title from the latter at WrestleMania 31.

This victory began a string of exciting and hard-hitting matches weekly on Monday Night RAW, as John Cena introduced the US Title Open Challenge, beginning with a bout against Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose), bringing life and excitement back into the US Championship.

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Sportskeeda Wrestling

@SKWrestling_

The night after WrestleMania 31 saw a lot of interesting developments and one of them was the 1st ever John Cena US Title Open Challenge!
#WWE #WWERaw #JohnCena #CenaMonth

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The night after WrestleMania 31 saw a lot of interesting developments and one of them was the 1st ever John Cena US Title Open Challenge!
#WWE #WWERaw #JohnCena #CenaMonth https://t.co/UpOkZzHBS2

After dropping the title to then-WWE Champion Seth Rollins at Summerslam later that year, he regained the belt from The Visionary at Night of Champions the following month, thus making John Cena a five-time United States Champion.

Will John Cena win his sixth United States Championship at WrestleMania 39? Sound off in the comments section below.

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