17 Former WWE United States Champions Who Never Won A World Title
Some wrestlers made it in WWE's midcard, but the top title has still eluded them.
WWE has always promoted its world titles as the most sumptuous prizes in the world of sports entertainment. As they have it, it's the dream of every budding professional wrestler to hold the premier championship of Vince McMahon's company. While some superstars receive a main event push straight away, the others have to prove themselves in the mid-card before gaining promotion.
The commentators market the mid-card belts by calling them "prestigious titles" frequently on the TV, but looking at the way the creative team has used the United States title on RAW, one can say that the prestige of the belt has reduced a lot. Because of some random title changes and lack of proper storylines, John Cena's iconic 2015 reign feels some way removed from the tenures of the champions from the last few years.
In spite of this, the creative team has still not changed its traditional booking pattern. Wrestlers like Dean Ambrose earned a massive push after their US title reign, but, here's a list of 17 former titleholders who could not reach the premier position of the industry.
17. Ricochet
Ricochet captured his first United States Championship last year at the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view event. The high-flying superstar beat Samoa Joe to seize the title. Unfortunately, he could not have a lengthy reign as champion as the creative team booked him to lose the belt to AJ Styles after just 21 days at Extreme Rules.
During his brief stay at the top of the midcard, Ricochet could not make much of an impact and his rivalry with 'The Phenomenal One' did not meet expectations. He then wandered without a proper direction on RAW, until the writers gave him a surprising push ahead of WWE Super Showdown 2020. The former NXT North American Champion defeated Bobby Lashley and Seth Rollins on an episode of the red brand to become the new #1 contender for the world title.
Unfortunately, he could not beat Brock Lesnar in Saudi Arabia and he soon found himself in the lower mid-card, losing a 24/7 Championship match against Riddick Moss.