10 Great WWE Championship Reigns (That Ended In The Worst Way Possible)
3. John Cena - WWE United States Championship
It was the title reign that nobody wanted but everyone ended up loving. When John Cena defeated Rusev for the US Championship at WrestleMania 31, the world groaned as one. Rusev was being buried, Cena didn’t need the title, it was a waste of everyone’s time. Then the United States Championship Open Challenge started, and all of a sudden it was the best title reign in years. The power of good wrestling never fails to amaze.
Cena defended the title in a series of great TV matches that breathed new life into the midcard, allowing stars as varied as Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, Stardust and Zack Ryder the opportunity to shine, and boy did they shine. The reign also made Cena look better than he had in years, removing the eye-rolling parts of his gimmick and focusing purely on wrestling. In short, it was a joy.
WWE can’t allow fans to be happy for too long though, and Cena was soon forced into a feud with then-WWE Champion Seth Rollins. Everything came to a head at SummerSlam that year when the two went title for title in a match that spelt the end of the US Open Challenge. It was a sad way for it to end, a sadness that was only deepened when Jon Stewart (of all people) cost Cena the title. Cena’s reign could have been ended in an attempt to make a new star, but instead, it was used to get a non-wrestling personality over. Classic WWE.