The 5 most irrelevant titles in WWE and NJPW

#5 IWGP United States Championship

NJPW officials unveiled the IWGP United States title in May 2017. The plan was for the title to be defended on NJPW US shows and Ring of Honor events. The IWGP Intercontinental title had the same concept when it was introduced in 2011, but it ended up just becoming a regular NJPW singles title, just like the IWGP US title has become.

The tournament to crown the first champion took place at NJPW’s G1 Special in Long Beach California. The title started promisingly, the tournament final between Kenny Omega and Tomohiro Ishii was one of the best matches of last year. Omega triumphed, and as the inaugural champion, he had one incredible match after another. Most notably, he defended the title against Chris Jericho in the Tokyo Dome in a classic.

Omega shockingly dropped the title to ‘Switchblade’ Jay White earlier this year. The prestige of the title fell suddenly. Around the waist of Omega, the title was a legitimate main-event attraction. The unproven White has a tough act to follow.

At NJPW’s return to California in March, White’s US title defense against Hangman Page was slotted high, and the bout itself was good, but it was overshadowed by The Young Bucks vs Golden Lovers tag match.

When NJPW returns to California in July at the 10-000 seat Cow Palace, they’ll need a strong main event. White and his US title don’t cut it.

The only way the title can be relevant is in a unification match.