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57-540: The teams, which were made up of both male and female wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands, were picked by their respective general managers, Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan . Each team wrestled for the chance to give $ 100,000 to a charity of the winner's choice, while all other charities received $ 10,000 each. During the second episode, Angle and Bryan announced that the first week of Mixed Match Challenge received 35 million total engagements. The Miz and Asuka won

114-401: A heptagon with a enlarged U.S. flag along with the company's scratch logo located at the top of the main plate in white and black paint. Below the logo is a gold banner with the words “WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT” etched inside. In the center of the main plate is a black banner with the words “UNITED STATES CHAMPION” etched in gold. On the bottom of the center plate, the name plate attaches to

171-698: A physical championship belt, and later became the first to wear a newly designed belt, which was used up through WCW's closing in March 2001, after being purchased by rival promotion, the then- World Wrestling Federation (WWF). When WWF purchased WCW, they used the United States title during the WWF's Invasion storyline. The title was deactivated after being unified with the then- WWF Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series , when United States Champion Edge defeated Intercontinental Champion Test , becoming

228-650: A result of the WWE Draft ; the 2023 draft moved the title back to SmackDown. Of WWE's currently active championships, the United States Championship is the only one that did not originate in the promotion. It is the second-oldest active title in the company, behind the WWE Championship (1963), but the third longest-tenured championship, behind the WWE and Intercontinental Championships (1979), as WWE has only owned

285-458: A weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to Raw primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Monday Night Raw , also referred to simply as Raw . It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with SmackDown , collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand extension was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016. In addition to Raw's main television program, less-utilized wrestlers also appear on

342-645: A world title and tag team title, although raw superstars were allowed to challenge for them. Beginning in December 2021, talents from Raw begin to appear on NXT 2.0 . Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio reported that a Raw-NXT crossover between their talents as a way to help boost NXT 2.0 ratings as both shows air on the USA Network. Initially, the WWE Undisputed Championship and

399-550: The United States Championship by defeating defending champion Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode in a triple threat match . On the following episode of SmackDown Live , after recapping all of his previous accolades, Ziggler said that the WWE Universe did not deserve him and he dropped the title in the ring and left. After unsuccessful attempts at contacting Ziggler, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared

456-427: The 2018 Superstar Shake-up , the title briefly returned to Raw when champion Jinder Mahal was drafted to the brand. However, it was immediately returned to SmackDown after Jeff Hardy defeated Mahal for the title and was drafted to SmackDown the next night. The championship definitively returned to Raw in 2019 when reigning champion Samoa Joe was drafted to the brand during that year's Superstar Shake-up . During

513-580: The American promotion WWE , defended on the SmackDown brand division . It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw . The current champion is LA Knight , who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Logan Paul at SummerSlam on August 3, 2024. The championship was established on January 1, 1975, as

570-513: The Mixed Match Challenge playoffs after an elbow injury and was replaced by Curt Hawkins . On December 10, 2018, it was announced that Bálor was unable to compete in the Mixed Match Challenge semi-finals, being substituted by Apollo Crews . R-Truth and Carmella won the final of Mixed Match Challenge Season 2, earning themselves the #30 spots in the 2019 Royal Rumble matches and an all-expenses-paid vacation, which R-Truth chose to be

627-717: The WWE Women's Championship , the United States Championship , and the WWE Tag Team Championship . With the WWE Championship being defended exclusively on SmackDown, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley introduced the WWE Universal Championship to be Raw's world title . At Crown Jewel on October 31, 2019, SmackDown wrestler "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt won the WWE Universal Championship, thus taking

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684-674: The WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut . At the Royal Rumble event, Carmella (along with Bayley ) eliminated Alexa Bliss from the Women's Rumble match before getting eliminated by eventual runner up Charlotte Flair . R-Truth however did not participate in the Men's Royal Rumble match, as he was attacked by Nia Jax (who took the #30 spot) during his entrance. As a consolation prize for having his spot stolen, he

741-449: The " brand extension ". The WWF divided itself into two de facto wrestling promotions with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures . Raw and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the division and essentially compete against each other. The split came about as a result of the WWF purchasing their two biggest competitors, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW); and

798-481: The April 6, 1991, episode of World Championship Wrestling , Nikita Koloff destroyed the classic 1980s United States Heavyweight Championship belt during a post-match brawl with Lex Luger, who was in his fourth reign as champion. Koloff, who claimed to be the true champion, knocked Luger unconscious by striking him with the title belt and then repeatedly smashed the championship belt into a ringpost. Luger would appear without

855-544: The August 29, 2011, episode of Raw , it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand. Subsequently, championships previously exclusive to one show or the other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for—this would mark the end of the brand extension as all programming and live events featured the full WWE roster. In a 2013 interview with Advertising Age , Stephanie McMahon explained that WWE's decision to end

912-703: The General Managers of the respective brands hand-picking the wrestlers for their brands. Raw's Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley created a new championship—the WWE Universal Championship . This championship would be exclusive to the Raw brand, as the WWE World Championship had become exclusive to the SmackDown brand. Clash of Champions was scheduled as the reintroduction of

969-611: The November 8, 2024, episode of SmackDown , general manager Nick Aldis introduced the women's counterpart to the United States Championship . The design of the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship from 1991 to 1995 featured five plates. A center plate on the gold background consisted of a map of the Contiguous United States with a flag shown alongside with an eagle. On top of the plate shows

1026-563: The United States Championship became officially recognized as a component of the re-established honor. In August at that year's SummerSlam , United States Champion John Cena faced WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins in a Winner Takes All match , which Rollins ultimately won to become the first wrestler to hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and United States Championship simultaneously. Rollins held both titles until Cena defeated Rollins in his rematch for

1083-582: The United States Championship belt, along with all other pre-existing championship belts in WWE at the time, received a minor update, replacing the long-standing scratch logo with WWE's current logo that was originally used for the WWE Network that launched earlier that year in February. On the July 6, 2020, episode of Raw , after 17 years since the title's reactivation, MVP introduced a completely new belt design for

1140-675: The United States Championship since 2001. The United States Championship began as a regional championship called the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, one of several versions of the title allowed in different territories under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) bylaws. It was created by and defended in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) run by Jim Crockett Jr. Introduced on January 1, 1975, Harley Race became

1197-420: The United States Championship. The belt now features only three plates. The center plate is an upside down heptagon. The top portion of the center plate features the WWE logo flanked by white stars on a gold background. Below this, "UNITED STATES" is written in red, with "CHAMPION" prominently written below that in blue; eight stars divide the two. Below the word champion is an eagle with its wings spread out across

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1254-462: The WCW logo with the two banners reading on the black background "UNITED STATES" along with two stars on each side while the text says "HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION" on the bottom. Both side plates on each side feature one with the U.S. flag with the text "UNITED STATES" while the other shows two wrestlers grappling with the WCW logo on top and the text "CHAMPION" on the bottom. After its minor update in 1995,

1311-408: The belt now featured three plates with the center plate slightly redesigned with the side plates also feature a gold filigree with the text "WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING". This belt would also appear on WWF's programming until November 2001. After its reactivation in July 2003, the newly renamed WWE United States Championship was redesigned. This belt consisted of five plates. The center plate featured

1368-478: The brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms. On May 25, 2016, it was announced that WWE would be reintroducing the brand split in July, with distinctive rosters for both Raw and SmackDown. On the July 11 episode of Raw , Vince McMahon named Stephanie McMahon the Commissioner of Raw . The draft took place on the live premiere of SmackDown on July 19, with

1425-480: The brand's supplementary show, Main Event . Raw's wrestlers also perform on the branded and co-branded pay-per-view and livestreaming events . During the first brand split (2002–2011), Raw wrestlers also competed on the former supplementary show, Heat , and on ECW under a talent exchange program with the former ECW brand, while during the second brand split (2016–present), the brand's wrestlers have appeared in

1482-617: The championship the only one from WCW to be reactivated as a WWE title (although the WCW Cruiserweight Championship had also become a WWE title, it was not deactivated and reactivated; it replaced the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship during the Invasion storyline). Eddie Guerrero became the first champion after its reactivation by winning a tournament at that year's Vengeance , defeating Chris Benoit in

1539-469: The cruiserweight division and the first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view since January 2007 , whereas Elimination Chamber was scheduled as the final Raw-exclusive pay-per-view two years later . Subsequently, this saw all upcoming pay-per-views interbranded after WrestleMania 34 . After SmackDown moved to Fox in October 2019, Raw lost its status as the main "A" Show. Following WrestleMania 38 it also didn't have

1596-530: The final match. This was done shortly after the Intercontinental Championship was recommissioned by the Raw brand, making the title its equal counterpart. The first brand extension ended on August 29, 2011, allowing the United States Championship, as well as all other titles, to be defended on both Raw and SmackDown . In 2015, WWE introduced an updated version of its Grand Slam Championship , and

1653-478: The inaugural Mixed Match Challenge tournament, earning the $ 100,000 for the Rescue Dogs Rock charity. Enzo Amore was originally supposed to take part, but was replaced with Apollo Crews after catching the flu . Samoa Joe was originally Bayley 's tag team partner after winning a fan vote, but was injured and replaced by Elias , who finished second in the fan vote. Alicia Fox suffered a broken tailbone and

1710-638: The inaugural champion. The title quickly replaced the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship as the top singles title in the promotion. While the NWA recognized only one World Heavyweight Champion , there was no single undisputed United States Champion as a number of NWA regional promotions recognized their own version of the title and champion. That changed, however, in January 1981; San Francisco -based NWA territory Big Time Wrestling , which

1767-466: The interbrand Worlds Collide , Mixed Match Challenge , and annual Tribute to the Troops events. Additionally during the second split, Raw's cruiserweight wrestlers competed on 205 Live when WWE's revived cruiserweight division was exclusive to Raw from 2016 to 2018 before 205 Live became its own brand. In early-to-mid-2002, then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) underwent a process they called

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1824-467: The main plate by two screws at the back. One of the side plates featured an light etching of an American bald eagle resting on top of a shield with the WWE logo painted white and red within the shield with an eagleholding a red and white striped banner as well as blue-painted square with a white star at the center is placed above the eagle The other side plate featured an portrait of an Statue of Liberty surrounded by four stars on each corner. In August 2014,

1881-487: The new Intercontinental Champion. In July 2003, a year after the first brand extension went into effect in the promotion renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the title was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship by then- SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon and with a completely new belt design. It was commissioned to be a secondary championship for the SmackDown! brand, making

1938-670: The only two men to have held both the United States Championship and a world championship simultaneously; in Booker T's case, the world title was the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , while Rollins held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (both Lex Luger and Goldberg were the United States Champion when they won their first world championship, but unlike Booker T and Rollins, they vacated

1995-546: The original WWE Women's Championship soon became a Raw exclusive title as well. As a result of the brand extension, an annual " draft lottery " was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups. Raw was the home brand for many top WWE stars including Triple H, Ric Flair , R-Truth , Batista , Randy Orton , Chris Benoit , CM Punk , Goldberg , Booker T , Chris Jericho , Christian , Shawn Michaels , John Cena , Kane , Cody Rhodes , Trish Stratus , Lita and Stacy Keibler . The 2005 draft

2052-535: The original WWE Women's Championship were available to both brands. The other championships were exclusive to the brand the champion was a part of. When the brand extension began, Raw received the Intercontinental Championship and the European Championship when their respective holders were drafted. In September 2002, the WWE Undisputed Championship became the WWE Championship again and

2109-402: The plate, with the red and white stripes of the American flag beneath its wings. Coming in line with WWE's other championship belts, the belt features two side plates with a removable center section that can be customized with the champion's logos; the default side plates consist of a gold WWE logo over a silver globe. Following the revival of the United States Championship in 2003, the title

2166-538: The second season, teams competed in a round robin-style tournament throughout the fourteen 30-minute, two match episodes, in order to qualify for the playoffs. The final of season two took place at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view event on December 16, where the winning team would enter the Royal Rumble at number 30 for their respective Royal Rumble matches and an all-expense-paid trip to anywhere in

2223-474: The secondary championship of the promotion. After Ted Turner bought the company and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in November 1988, the title continued to be used and recognized as secondary to the World Championship. WCW began to pull itself away from the NWA, demonstrated by the company changing the name of the title to the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship in January 1991. On

2280-503: The subsequent doubling of its roster and championships . The brand extension was publicly announced by Linda McMahon during a telecast of Raw on March 25 and became official the next day. At the time, this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship as those WWE titles would be defended on both shows. In September 2002, then WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar refused to defend

2337-448: The title at Night of Champions the following month. In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension; during the draft , United States Champion Rusev was drafted to the Raw brand. Days later, he successfully defended the title against SmackDown draftee Zack Ryder at Battleground , keeping the title exclusive to Raw. On April 11, 2017, United States Champion Kevin Owens , along with

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2394-400: The title on Raw , in effect causing his title to become exclusive to SmackDown! . The following week on Raw , Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated World Heavyweight Championship to Raw's designated number one contender Triple H . Because the WWE Undisputed Championship was now a SmackDown! exclusive title, it was no longer referred to as "undisputed". Following this,

2451-443: The title to SmackDown. On the next night's episode of SmackDown , WWE Champion Brock Lesnar quit SmackDown and moved to Raw, bringing the title with him. A new World Heavyweight Championship was created for Raw after Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was drafted to SmackDown in 2023. WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship promoted by

2508-452: The title vacant and announced a tournament to crown a new champion. The final was originally scheduled to occur at the 2018 Royal Rumble , but was moved up to the January 23 episode of SmackDown Live . However, on the January 16 episode, after Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode won their respective semifinals matches, Roode challenged Mahal to have the final that night and Bryan scheduled it for that episode's main event. The inaugural champion

2565-504: The title, moved to SmackDown as a result of that year's Superstar Shake-up . Owens was already scheduled to defend the title against Chris Jericho at the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view Payback on April 30. Then-SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared that regardless of who won at Payback, the United States Championship would remain on SmackDown; Jericho defeated Owens for the title at Payback and he transferred to SmackDown. During

2622-552: The version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in Jim Crockett Promotions , and later assumed by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which eventually seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Harley Race was the inaugural champion. After WCW was purchased by the then- World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2001, the then-WCW United States Championship

2679-417: The world. During the tournament, several wrestlers were replaced due to injuries or storyline related reasons. Alexa Bliss was originally supposed to take part in the tournament again alongside her partner, Braun Strowman , however, due to an arm injury, Ember Moon replaced Bliss. Mickie James replaced Sasha Banks as Lashley's partner. Kevin Owens was also originally partnered with Natalya , but he

2736-480: Was Harley Race . There have been 102 different champions, with Ric Flair having the most reigns at six. The longest-reigning champion is Lex Luger , who held the title for 523 days from May 22, 1989, to October 27, 1990. "Stunning" Steve Austin 's second reign was the shortest, lasting approximately five minutes. Dean Ambrose is the longest-reigning champion under the WWE banner at 351 days, lasting from May 19, 2013, to May 5, 2014. Booker T and Seth Rollins are

2793-549: Was a SmackDown wrestler. Triple H, who was the WWE Champion at the time, got drafted to SmackDown while Kane, who was the then ECW Champion , got drafted to Raw. After the draft lottery in 2009 , the WWE Championship was brought back to Raw when Triple H was drafted from SmackDown while the World Heavyweight Championship was brought back to SmackDown when Edge defeated John Cena to win the title at Backlash . On

2850-461: Was awarded a WWE United States Championship match against new champion Shinsuke Nakamura on the January 29, 2019 episode of SmackDown , which he won becoming a two-time champion. Raw (WWE brand) Raw is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on

2907-404: Was defended in the WWF until it was unified with the Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series . After the 2002 brand extension and the promotion being renamed WWE , the championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship in July 2003 as a secondary title of the SmackDown brand. The United States Championship has switched between brands over the years, usually as

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2964-482: Was designated to SmackDown. The brand extension was discontinued on August 29, 2011, but it was revived on July 19, 2016. The following list indicates the transitions of the United States Championship between the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The tournament for the vacant WWE United States Championship was held between June 19 and July 27, 2003 for the SmackDown! brand, with the final being at Vengeance (2003) . At Clash of Champions 2017 , Dolph Ziggler won

3021-496: Was held on the June 6 episode of Raw . The first draft lottery pick was then WWE Champion John Cena , thus moving the WWE Championship to Raw and having two titles on the brand. Eventually, then World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown! as the last draft pick, leaving only the WWE Championship on Raw . In the 2008 draft lottery , CM Punk got drafted to Raw and then won the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge , who

3078-497: Was moved to SmackDown, prompting Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff to create the World Heavyweight Championship for Raw. Shortly thereafter, Raw became the exclusive brand for the World Tag Team Championship , the Intercontinental Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship. On July 19, 2016, the brand extension was brought back and for the first time ever the draft was held on SmackDown Live . Raw drafted

3135-441: Was replaced by Mandy Rose . Big E became the partner for Carmella after winning a fan vote between all three members of The New Day . The full tournament bracket was revealed on January 11, 2018 on WWE.com. In one of the semifinal matches, fans were able to vote on a Facebook poll, for an eliminated team to be given a second chance in the tournament. The second season premiered on September 18, 2018 on Facebook Watch. In

3192-401: Was replaced by Bobby Roode after a surgery in both knees. On November 13, 2018, SmackDown General Manager Paige announced that AJ Styles was not going to compete on that night's episode of Mixed Match Challenge following his controversial WWE Championship loss to Daniel Bryan on SmackDown Live , being substituted by Jeff Hardy . It was announced that Strowman was unable to compete in

3249-565: Was the last remaining promotion outside the Mid-Atlantic territory that recognized its own United States Champion, ceased operations around that time, leaving the Mid-Atlantic version as the only remaining United States Championship. The title remained the primary championship within the Mid-Atlantic territory until 1986 when Crockett gained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The United States title then became

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