This weekend John Cena challenges Rusev for the United States Championship at the Fastlane PPV. It is great that the WWE has made this match for the belt and that Cena has made it a point that he wants the title. The US belt has not been to relevant in the recent history but an A level star like Cena actually showing interest in the title could be a shot in the arm that the belt needs.
Like him or not John Cena is easily the greatest champion of this generation. He only 1 world title reign behind Ric Flair for the all-time record. For the past 10 years we have only experienced John fighting for or defending the main prize but now he is reaching back a little. This is only an uncommon occurrence in recent years in pro wrestling.
Guys like Sting, Dusty Rhodes and even Flair have had runs with mid card belts later in their careers. The WWE seemed to have struggled in the past to book Cena away from the main prize. This feud with Rusev has a little more meaning now there is a prize at stake. Too many times the WWE has had main event guys in feuds with mid card talent and were not interested in their belts which devalued the titles. Everybody in wrestling should be there to be a champion in some form and every title should carry some prestige.
For this to work John cannot just simply win the title once and then never revisit the issue. He has to express pride in being the US Champion and he is going to have to lose sometime. Due to his record he can always get pushed back to the world title when needed but for now this is the best thing he can do for the roster. Elevating this belt can boost up the entire mid-level of the roster and a rub from legend could be the take-off that they need.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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