WWE United States Championship Open Challenge Status Following Sami Zayn Defeat Major Update

An update on the status of the WWE United States Championship open challenges following Sami Zayn’s defeat to Ilja Dragunov.

After a two month reign as United States Champion, Sami Zayn was knocked off the throne on last week’s episode of SmackDown, when a returning Ilja Dragunov defeated Sami to capture the championship.

During his run as champion, Sami had brought back the United States Championship open challenge made famous by John Cena in 2015, which saw him face off against many names such as Carmelo Hayes, Je’von Evans and Aleister Black before ultimately falling to Dragunov.

With Sami no longer reigning as champion, many fans had wondered about the status of the open challenges, and whether they would continue with Dragunov now reigning as champion, or if they ended alongside Sami’s reign.

Ahead of tonight’s show, Ilja Dragunov was shown entering the arena with his championship, where he said it his duty to keep the legacy of the open challenges alive, before issuing one for tonight’s show.

It seems that, at least for tonight, the United States Championship open challenges will continue with Ilja’s run with the belt.

"It is my duty to keep the legacy of the open challenges alive."

New United States Champion @UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR is looking for a fight, who will step up TONIGHT on #SmackDown?

📺 8e/7c on @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/0E9BOFKJX7

— WWE (@WWE) October 24, 2025