WWE Championship leading up to WrestleMania 21, Jordan faced off with Cena on the March 3 edition of SmackDown!. Jordan defeated Cena with the help of JBL to win the United States Championship, his first and only title in WWE. In a dark match before WrestleMania 21, Jordan competed in a 30-man battle royal, won by Booker T. His first major successful title defense was against Heidenreich at Judgment Day. At The Great American Bash, Jordan began feuding with the newly drafted Chris Benoit. Jordan defeated Benoit and retained his United States Championship after removing the turnbuckle pad and shoving Benoit head-first into the exposed steel and covered him for the win. Benoit continued to chase Jordan for the title. He finally defeated Jordan (in a record 25.5 seconds) at SummerSlam to win the title. Following this quick match, Jordan attempted to win the United States Championship back on multiple occasions, leading to 3 consecutive losses with all matches lasting less than a minute. The first rematch lasted 23.4 seconds. During the second rematch, Jordan actually almost knocked out Benoit with a punch in the opening moments but still lost at 22.5 seconds, which was even faster than the first match. During the third match, Jordan stalled until the time, which was being displayed on the TitanTron, went over 25 seconds. He got so excited when his time went over 30 seconds that he dropped his guard and Benoit took the opportunity to lock on the Crippler Crossface for a win at the 49.8 second mark. On the October 14 edition of SmackDown!, Jordan stated that he mastered every counter to Benoit's signature Crippler Crossface. Jordan also stated, if he tapped out to the Crippler Crossface, Jordan would quit this business. Jordan lived up to his words by countering every Crippler Crossface attempt by Benoit. The match ultimately ended after Jordan tapped out to Benoit's Sharpshooter. After those unsuccessful rematches, Jordan later broke away from JBL, although both later made a few appearances together later on. Various feuds and departure (2005–2006) When Booker T got injured halfway through his Best of Seven series for the United States Championship, he needed a replacement to face Chris Benoit. As the series was at 3–1 in Booker's favor, Booker T only needed his replacement to win one match in order to become the United States Champion. Jordan approached him about the position, but