John Cena's Open Challenges Do Not Add Value to United States Championship

United States champion John Cena is a future WWE Hall of Famer, but that's just not good enough.

WWE seems to think that by attaching his name to a promotional free-for-all, its embattled championship will suddenly mean something. This isn't the case.

In fact, Cena's open challenge for the United States Championship does more to hurt its interchangeable challengers than add anything to the title.

As I mentioned on this week's PodNasty Wrestling Podcast, building credibility for a championship is not as easy as regularly defending it against anybody with a dressing room. There needs to be rules, regulations and backstories that weed out the unqualified and trumpet only the fiercest contenders, thereby trumpeting the title itself.

WWE Failed to Establish Eligibility Requirements to Compete for U.S. Championship

Nobody gets paid to play pickup games at the YMCA. If a Gallup Poll asked sports fans who would be on the Mount Rushmore of pickup basketball, every single answer would be different, with no commonalities for even one player. That's because in the grand scheme of things, the men and women of pickup basketball have no identity past an enthusiasm for cardio and/or reliving their glory days.

Cena's open challenge is nothing more than a pickup wrestling match for a secondary championship—no rules, no eligibility and no identity among the challengers. Cena simply waits for anybody who shows up to the building that day and fights him like Frank Gotch fighting townies at the circus.

Cena's first two opponents since winning the U.S. title at WrestleMania were Dean Ambrose and Stardust. Both are used to being lumped into a faceless mass of talent competing for a meaningless title. The problem is, neither of them won the Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania 31.

Not even close.

This further undermines the legitimacy of Cena's open challenge. Literally anybody seems to be eligible.

The fighting champion is overrated. What makes a championship, and more importantly a division, is the credible challenger, somebody who turns heads and connects with fans en route to earning a championship opportunity that many believe he can win.

The plight of the credible challenger is why UFC champion Jon "Bones" Jones is widely considered the best fighter in the world. Not only has he successfully defended his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship a record nine consecutive times, but his defenses came against quality fighters—sometimes living legends—who earned their spots as No. 1 contenders.

If select WWE Superstars are able to earn their way to title shots, a loss wouldn't be as debilitating. These individuals will maintain residual support from fans who appreciated their journey.

Daniel Bryan became the darling of a fervent championship chase during WrestleMania XXX because The Authority told him he wasn't good enough to be world champion. The term "B-plus player" represented a standard that just didn't meet the lofty credentials of a world title. 

This played into the psychology of fans rallying behind Bryan. They wanted him to be considered worthy of winning the WWE World Championship. As a result, the title's value increased.

Without a meritocracy, however, the United States Championship division is nothing more than a Cena exhibition. Taking on all comers, while valiant in theory, dilutes the importance of a championship match. Here's a list of activities that require little to no eligibility:

• Riding the Matterhorn at Disneyland
• Free credit reports
• Joining a fight club

Has it really come to this for the United States Championship? 

Losers of John Cena's Open Challenge Are Worse Off Than When They Started 

One week after a random title match against Cena, Ambrose was nowhere to be seen on Raw. This isn't surprising, because there's really nowhere for him to go after a one-off match. Ambrose was lost in the shuffle before he stepped up. Now, not only is he still lost in the shuffle, but he lost another match to boot.

A few short months ago, Ambrose was main eventing pay-per-views. Now he's just fodder for Cena's erratic title defenses.

This theme will persist with almost anybody who answers Cena's challenge. One unannounced appearance is not nearly enough time to tell a challenger's story and discuss why he deserves a title shot. At best, he's a pleasant surprise; at worst, just another one destined to bite the dust. 

Challenger	Event	Cena U.S. Open Challenge Date	W/L, WrestleMania 31	W/L, Cena U.S. Open
Dean Ambrose	Raw	March 30, 2015	L	L
Stardust	Raw	April 6, 2015	L	L
Rusev	Extreme Rules (Scheduled)	April 26, 2015	L	Pending

To accept Cena's open challenge is to accept one's role as the good hand whose imminent loss will keep him in purgatory. It's like the Andre Memorial Battle Royal extrapolated over several weeks.

Even if the challenger in question wins, so what? If Cena builds up an impressive win streak, like many suspect he will, it will look like the challenger simply caught the champ on an off-day.

United States Championship contenders did nothing to establish themselves as threats before facing Cena. After losing, they will only solidify their roles as harmless combatants. In fact, the division is slowly degenerating into a refuge for struggling WWE Superstars desperate to regain their momentum.

John Cena Is the Only WWE Superstar Who Can Get Over with This Formula

Cena is so deeply rooted in these open challenges that he's the only WWE Superstar who will get over when all is said and done.

Cena, not the championship or any challenger, is the focal point of all these matches. He has his own U.S.-title-themed T-shirt, and according to PW Insider (h/t Wrestling Inc), he requested a new belt design.

The division, the championship and even WWE merchandise for the U.S. title all revolve around Cena now. This is Cena's division; everybody else is just losing in it.

Cena's winning the championship sounded good on paper, but it might cast too large of a shadow. Who cares if an unheralded WWE Superstar has a great match with Cena for the title? He can have a great match with just about anybody. Having in-ring chemistry with one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time does little to enhance one's legacy.

Except, of course, Cena's.

WWE would be wise to take the focus off Cena and begin to invest in the select few contenders who can dethrone him. Give them a story, a win streak and a purpose. Only then would a United States Championship match come off as a true title bout rather than a vanity project.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @ThisIsNasty and listen to his weekly wrestling podcast.