4 WWE Superstars who elevated the championships that they held

The relevance of championship in professional wrestling has always been a hotly debated topic in the wrestling community. Many feel that in the current era, where there are a plethora of titles and multiple title changes throughout the year, the prestige of holding a championship has gone down drastically. While it is true that today there aren't title reigns which last for years, we believe that it is totally up to the talent when to comes to making the title he/she holds more relevant and add to the lineage of the said championship.

WWE has time and time again come under the scanner for overloading its roster with various championships. Barring the world titles and the women's championships, the company's handling of the secondary and the tag titles have been heavily criticized by both fans and critics.

The latest victim of the company's abhorrent misuse of a Championship has been the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, which was completely overlooked when The IIconics held them.

Despite all that, there have been a few title reigns over the past few years which have been very noteworthy. The holder, in this case, helped elevate the title during the time they held it. Here are four such WWE Superstars.

#4 Seth Rollins (Intercontinental Championship)

Rollins ruled the roost as the IC Champ

Before slaying the Beast twice in 2019, Seth Rollins was setting the world on fire as the Intercontinental Champion in 2018. Rollins started 2018 with a career-making Ironman performance in a seven-man gauntlet match on a February episode of RAW. Rollins would follow it up by winning the Intercontinental Title in a Triple Threat Match against The Miz and Finn Balor in the opening match of WrestleMania 34.

Following his win at WrestleMania 35, Rollins would go on a year having great matches against the likes of The Miz, Finn Balor, Apolo Crews, Elias, Kevin Owens, and even Mojo Rawley. He would drop the title to Dolph Ziggler on an episode of Monday Night RAW, following which the duo would have one of the best feuds of 2018.

After a year and half of wandering around as babyface, Rollins finally found his groove as a singles star as the Intercontinental Champion. Rollins' reign as the Intercontinental Champ helped establish The Kingslayer as the undisputed workhorse on Monday Nights. He not only carried the Intercontinental Title with pride but also help make it the most prestigious champion on the red brand.

#3 John Cena (United States Championship)

Cena as the United States Champion

While we can give John Cena a lot of grief for a lot of things, one thing that cannot be disputed is the fact that the Leader of the Cenation helped make the United States Championship relevant in the grand scheme of things. Cena won the US Title from Rusev at WrestleMania 31 and would go on to have one of the best US title reigns in recent memory.

Following his win, Cena would introduce the 'US Championship Open Challenge', where he would defend the title every single week on RAW. Cena's open challenge saw him take on the likes of Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose, and Zack Ryder just to name a few. Cena's US Championship helped break the myth that Cena wasn't a good in-ring performer as he proved every single week that he could go toe-to-toe with some of the best that the business had to offer.

Cena would lose the US Title to a returning Alberto Del Rio at Hell in a Cell 2015. Cena's reign as the US Champ was his last run as a full-time WWE Superstar, as injuries and a budding career in Hollywood meant that the 16-time World Champion would only make a handful of appearances in the following years.

#2 The Miz (Intercontinental Championship)

The Miz with Maryse

It is safe to say that it was The Miz's Intercontinental title reign from 2016-2018 which endeared him to the fans and ended up being the catalyst for his eventual face turn earlier this year. The former Reality TV star was one of the most despised men in WWE. Despite being a great talker, the Ohio-native was never taken seriously by the hardcore fans. Having Maryse as a valet was a bonus, and The Miz went on to become one of the top heels in the company.

The Miz's feuds against Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose, in particular, went a long way in establishing the A-Lister as a credible in-ring performer. Apart from great in-ring work, Miz's verbal tirade on the then-SmackDown General Manager, Daniel Bryan, on an episode of Talking Smack also garnered him widespread acclaim from both fans and critics.

Miz also surpassed The Honky Tonk Man and Don Muraco, and is currently second on the list of most combined days as the Intercontinental Champion, behind Pedro Morales. The Miz is without a doubt the greatest Intercontinental Champ of the last decade and has done some of his best work while holding the Intercontinental Championship.

#1 CM Punk (WWE Championship)

CM Punk as the WWE Champion

CM Punk won the WWE Championship from John Cena at Money In The Bank 2011 in what is considered one of the best WWE main roster matches of the past decade. The match solidified the Chicago-native as a main-event superstar, and the story surrounding Punk's departure from WWE only added more drama to the match.

The Second-City Saviour would once again beat Cena in the main event of SummerSlam 2011 to become the Undisputed WWE Champion. But, following the match, Alberto Del Rio would successfully cash-in his Money In The Bank contract and walk away with the Championship.

Punk would win back the WWE Championship from Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series and go on to have the most celebrated WWE Championship reign of the modern era. Punk's 434-day reign as the WWE Champion saw him put on classic matches against the likes of John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, Ryback, and The Miz.

One of the biggest highlights of Punk's reign was him turning heel at the height of his popularity as a babyface champion. Punk turned on the WWE Universe after he attacked the Rock on RAW 1000. Following his heel turn, Punk would align himself with his former mentor, Paul Heyman.

By the time he lost the title to The Rock at the Royal Rumble, Punk had already solidified his position as the one of the greatest WWE Champions in the company's history. Not only did his title reign bring in more eyes to a struggling product, but Punk helped elevate the championship which became an afterthought for the longest time.