The IWGP United States Championship added another noteworthy mid-card title to the New Japan pecking order. NJPW having such a deep list of talented names led to them wanting to showcase more talents with another title to compete for. The expansion into the United States market inspired the name of the title since NJPW grew a stronger international audience.RELATED: The 10 Best NJPW Matches Of 2021 (According To Cagematch.net)Quite a few noteworthy names have held the title in its short history of the eight champs so far. Both American-born wrestlers and Japanese stars have held the belt to show it isn’t necessarily meant for the American talents to compete over. Anyone can win the mid-card title to help add to its credibility. The following names all held the United States Championship for NJPW with varying results.
8 Cody Rhodes
The addition of Cody Rhodes to the Bullet Club added a familiar heel from WWE to bring in some new viewers. Rhodes scored the biggest win of his New Japan career during one of NJPW’s United States tours in a match against Juice Robinson.
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The United States Championship reign lasted about three months, but Cody never actually successfully defended it. Most of Rhodes’ matches during the reign were in multi-man tag bouts. Ring of Honor didn’t get to have Cody defend the title, so it just felt like a wasted reign with no noteworthy moments. The one positive was that it helped Rhodes validate leaving WWE of his own will.
7 KENTA
Another wrestler to have a short United States Championship run in New Japan was the talented KENTA. The story was similar to Cody Rhodes as KENTA left WWE and instantly proved he was ready to shine again when joining the Bullet Club.
KENTA won the IWGP United States Championship from Hiroshi Tanahashi in a solid match. NJPW did not have KENTA defend the title as he lost it back to Tanahashi in his first defense. The title reign was done to add some momentum before moving on to other things.
6 Lance Archer
The impressive stint of Lance Archer in New Japan helped him get the AEW contract offer to become an upper mid-carder. Archer thrived playing the badass heel who often took part in violent matches offering something different for NJPW.
The two United States Championship reigns of Archer became his biggest achievement in NJPW to help make the title matter more. Archer won the title twice after Jon Moxley during their feud, once winning a tournament for the vacated belt and the other time defeating the top name.
5 Hiroshi Tanahashi
The star power of Hiroshi Tanahashi instantly adds importance to anything he does in New Japan. Comparisons have been made of Tanahashi being the NJPW equivalent of what John Cena has been for WWE over the past seventeen years.
Tanahashi is the current IWGP United States Champion and is having his second stint with the title. Feuds with KENTA and Lance Archer led to Tanahashi scoring victories over both formidable opponents. Tanahashi is in the latter stage of his career, so this is akin to when Cena won WWE’s United States Championship to step out of the main event title picture.
4 Jay White
The past few years saw Jay White breaking out and becoming one of the most important players for the company. White was the second IWGP United States Champion when getting pushed up the card as the latest international talent.
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The victory over Juice Robinson helped White gain credibility before he eventually moved into the main event picture as a member of Bullet Club. Switchblade had three successful United States Championship defenses to make his reign a success.
3 Juice Robinson
Juice Robinson became synonymous with the IWGP United States Championship as the first wrestler to win it twice. The former CJ Parker joined New Japan after his NXT run ended poorly without ever getting a chance to show his worth.
NJPW pushed Robinson as one of the most beloved mid-card faces, and it showed with his title wins. Robinson defeating Jay White and Cody Rhodes scored noteworthy victories over two of the more compelling heels. A total of three successful title defenses made Juice a strong United States Champion.
2 Kenny Omega
New Japan made the right choice when selecting Kenny Omega to become the first IWGP United States Champion. One of the United States tours featured a double-shot weekend with a tournament to crown the first champ when introducing the belt.
Omega defeating Tomohoro Ishii in an instant classic won him the gold as Bullet Club celebrated the night. The United States fans loving Omega saw NJPW going with the name that would make the moment best. Omega held the title for over half a year with four successful defenses to help the title start off as well as it could.
1 Jon Moxley
The end of Jon Moxley’s time in WWE as Dean Ambrose saw him making two huge moves of becoming an AEW main eventer and part-time New Japan star. Moxley won the IWGP United States Championship twice to bring some star power to the mid-card title.
The feud between Moxley and Lance Archer led to some stellar matches that spanned from NJPW to AEW. Moxley defending the title on AEW television added even more credibility to the belt. Even though the pandemic slowed down his run, Moxley deserves to be the top name associated with the United States belt.
