John Cena went on to establish himself as the Franchise Player of WWE for nearly a decade and a half. The Cenation Leader has achieved numerous accolades in his illustrious career including his 16 World Championship titles, being the most glaring statistic. Yet, another title is just as significant in Cena's history, and that is the prestigious WWE United States Championship.

The WWE United States title was the early driving force that would make John Cena a future prospect in the company. Speaking of the past, despite his overwhelming Doctor of Thuganomics gimmick, Cena still hadn't won his first singles title in WWE by early 2004. However, all of that changed at WrestleMania 20 when John Cena won the United States Title by defeating the World's Largest Athlete, The Big Show. The sold-out Madison Square Garden audience stood when the young sensation lifted the five-hundred-pound giant for the Attitude Adjustment. It was a breakthrough occasion and WWE had identified their hero of the future when Cena overcame his obstacle.

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John Cena winning the star-spangled prize was the real start of his rise to the top, however, it wasn't until his third reign as US champion that saw him add a personalized touch to the title and introduced his own version of the WWE United States Championship. So let's dive deep and explore the history of John Cena's customized title, which came to be known as the WWE US Championship spinner belt.

John Cena Introduced The Spinner US Title Belt During The Last Reign Of His Young Career

John Cena was a three-time United States Champion before he ever won a World Championship, and it was during the third reign that he introduced his spinner version of the US Title to the audience. Cena was coming off a huge win over Booker T in 2004, toppling the WWE Hall of Famer in a best-out-of-five series that ended at the No Mercy pay-per-view.

A week later, John Cena would drop the title to the debuting Carlito, with whom he feuded for a month and won back the United States Title for the third time on the November 18, 2004 episode of SmackDown. It was right after that, at the Armageddon 2004 show, that Cena unveiled his spinner WWE United States Championship belt that had a personalized touch of his onscreen personality to it.

The championship belt was coated in jewels and retained the red and blue color scheme of the proud nation. The belt's main selling point was its rotating centerpiece, with "Word Life" and "John Cena" being scripted across the center with the tiny "TM" to the left of Cena's name and circular side plates embossed with USA flags and stars.

The Belt Was Short Lived And Had A Treacherous End

While still the WWE United States Champion, John Cena had earned a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21 against then-champion JBL. The Wrestling God had been an unstoppable force, defeating top names during his reign and being flanked by his faction called 'The Cabinet' comprising Orlando Jordan, Jillian Hall, and The Basham Brothers.

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The heated rivalry between John Cena and JBL saw the former lose his US title to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan on the March 3, 2005 episode of SmackDown. The following week, JBL and his Cabinet berated Cena for ruining the reputation of the prestigious title with his custom-made belt and added insult to injury when he threw spinner belt in a trash can and blew it apart with an explosion. Furthermore, JBL awarded Jordan with the traditional version of the championship belt right after.

With that, Cena's custom title saw the light in WWE only for mere three months and has become a forgotten piece in the history books of WWE.