The WWE Universal Championship is a
world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American
professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
, representing the
SmackDown
''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...
brand division. It is one of two world titles for WWE's main roster, alongside
Raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
's
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown' ...
. The current champion is
Roman Reigns
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (born May 25, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former American football, football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WW ...
, who is in his second reign, which is the longest reign for the title. As Reigns concurrently holds the WWE Championship, he presently defends the titles together across both brands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, although both titles retain their individual lineages.
Named in honor of WWE's fans, referred to as the
WWE Universe
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
, the championship was established on July 25, 2016, to be the top title of the Raw brand. Its creation came as a result of the reintroduction of the brand split and subsequent
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
on July 19, 2016, in which the WWE Championship, the promotion's original world title, became exclusive to SmackDown. The inaugural Universal Champion was
Finn Bálor
Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (), and is a member of The Judgment Day.
Devitt is widely known for his ten ...
. Since its inception, matches for the championship have headlined several
pay-per-view and livestreaming events, including six consecutive
SummerSlams from 2017 to 2022, as well as
WrestleMania 34
WrestleMania 34 was the 34th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on April 8, 2 ...
,
37 Night 2,
and
38 Night 2,
both being two of WWE's "big five" pay-per-views, the latter of which is WWE's flagship event. Following the events of the
2019 Crown Jewel, the Universal and WWE Championship switched brands.
History
![NXT Champion Finn Balor 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/NXT_Champion_Finn_Balor_2016.jpg)
In mid-2016, the
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
promotion
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
reintroduced the
brand extension
Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off.
Organizations use this ...
in which the promotion split its main roster between the
Raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
and
SmackDown
''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...
brands, where wrestlers would exclusively perform on each brands' respective weekly television program (the original brand split ended in August 2011). On July 19, 2016, to coincide with ''
SmackDown
''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...
'' shifting to a
live broadcast A live broadcast, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of media that are broadcast without a significant delay.
The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a news broadcasting.
Ot ...
format, the
2016 WWE Draft
Sixteen or 16 may refer to:
*16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17
*one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016
Films
* '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film
* ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film ...
took place. During the draft,
Dean Ambrose
Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wres ...
, who held the promotion's original
world heavyweight championship, the
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown' ...
, was drafted to SmackDown.
At
Battleground on July 24, Ambrose retained the title in a
triple threat match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
against Raw draftees
Seth Rollins
Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Seth Rollins (often referred to as Seth "Freakin" Rollins).
Prior to signing ...
and
Roman Reigns
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (born May 25, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former American football, football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WW ...
,
thus leaving Raw without a world title.
On the following episode of ''
Raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
'', the brand's Commissioner
Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; ; September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the current chairwoman and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest profe ...
and General Manager
Mick Foley
Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador.
Foley worked for m ...
established the WWE Universal Championship to serve as the brand's top championship. The title was named in honor of the WWE Universe, the name the promotion uses to refer to its fan base.
The inaugural champion was crowned at
SummerSlam
SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...
on August 21 in a
pinfall and submission-only singles match. Seth Rollins was automatically set for that match as he was Raw's number one draft pick and was not pinned in the WWE Championship match at Battleground. His opponent was determined by two
fatal four-way match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
es on ''Raw'', with the winners wrestling each other in a singles match.
Finn Bálor
Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (), and is a member of The Judgment Day.
Devitt is widely known for his ten ...
won the first fatal four-way by defeating
Cesaro,
Kevin Owens
Kevin Steen (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Kevin Owens.
Steen began his career in 2000, at the age of 16. Prior to joining WWE in l ...
, and
Rusev while Roman Reigns won the second by defeating
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...
,
Sami Zayn
Rami Sebei ( ar, رامي سبعي; born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sami Zayn, and is a member of The Bloodline.
Prior to join ...
, and
Sheamus
Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus.
Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European indep ...
.
Bálor then defeated Reigns and was added to the title match. At SummerSlam, Bálor, wrestling under his "Demon" persona, defeated Rollins to become the inaugural champion. Bálor was the first WWE wrestler to win a world title in his
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
debut as well as winning his first world title in less than a month of his debut on
WWE's main roster. During the championship match, Bálor suffered a legitimate shoulder injury and was forced to vacate the title the following day.
At
Crown Jewel on October 31, 2019, SmackDown wrestler
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt won the Universal title by defeating Seth Rollins in a
Falls Count Anywhere match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
that could not be stopped for any reason, thus transferring the Universal Championship to SmackDown.
The WWE Championship was subsequently transferred to Raw after reigning champion
Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...
quit SmackDown the following day, taking the title to Raw.
At
WrestleMania 38
WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as a two-night event ...
Night 2 on April 3, 2022, reigning Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a
Winner Takes All match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
to claim both championships and become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. WWE had billed the match as a
championship unification
Championship unification is the act of combining two or more separate professional wrestling championships into a single title.
History
In professional wrestling, championships may be unified to consolidate the number of championships in a giv ...
match; however, both titles remain independently active with Reigns being a double champion, defending both titles together across both brands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Brand designation
The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the WWE Universal Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
Championship belt design
The Universal Championship belt is similar in appearance to the WWE Championship belt (
introduced in 2014), with a few notable differences. Like the WWE Championship belt, the center plate is a large cut out of the WWE logo with diamonds sitting inside an irregular heptagonal plate, but with the capital words "Universal Champion" in small print sitting underneath the logo. Just the same, there are gold divider bars that separate the center plate from its two side plates. Each side plate features the same default removable center section as the WWE Championship (the WWE logo over a red globe), which can be customized with the champion's logo.
The most prominent difference is the belt's strap, the color of which indicates the brand it is exclusive to. When the belt was first unveiled at SummerSlam 2016, the strap was red to symbolize its exclusivity to the Raw brand, and the underline of the WWE logo on the center plate was black to make it visible (essentially the reverse of the WWE Championship belt).
After the title became exclusive to SmackDown in late 2019, Bray Wyatt introduced a blue strap variation and the underline of the WWE logo was changed from black to red.
![Bray_Wyatt_2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Bray_Wyatt_2019.png)
In addition to the SmackDown version of the belt, Wyatt also introduced a custom version of the championship for his "Fiend" character on the November 29 episode of ''SmackDown''.
The custom belt featured The Fiend's face in the place of the center plate. The character's phrases "Hurt" and "Heal" were written in red on black leather strips in the place of side plates while the strap of the belt itself was red and black worn leather with red stitching holding it together. The character's phrase "Let Me In" was also included. Wyatt used both the standard and custom versions of the championship; his cheery Firefly Fun House character held the standard blue belt, while his sinister Fiend character held the custom belt.
Reception
The Universal Championship design was heavily criticized.
Jason Powell of ''Pro Wrestling Dot Net'' referred to it as "a title belt that no one likes".
Adam Silverstein of
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
described it as "ugly" while the live SummerSlam audience in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
gave derisive chants, including "This belt sucks",
an assessment with which
New England Sports Network
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red So ...
reporters agreed. That site's Ricky Doyle wrote that the crowd response turned what should have been a "landmark moment for the company" into an "awkward experience".
Mike Johnson of ''Pro Wrestling Insider'' felt the title looked like a "xerox" of the WWE Championship and did not blame the audience for reacting negatively. The design was also unpopular with online wrestling fans.
WWE employees responded in the aftermath of the title's debut. Seth Rollins chastised the SummerSlam crowd's reaction, writing on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
: "More important than a title's appearance is what it represents for the men fighting over it. You really let me down tonight, Brooklyn."
While acknowledging that he himself might have chosen a different belt design, Mick Foley echoed Rollins's response in a lengthy Facebook post. He recalled being presented with the
WWF Hardcore Championship
The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE which was contested under "hardcore" rules (no disqualifications, no countouts, and pinfalls count anywhere). In the latter part of the title's history, a rule was imp ...
, a title belt made of broken metal pieces held together by
duct tape
Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesi ...
, which challengers "made ... mean something by busting
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
asses". In a
kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...
promo
Promo or promos may refer to:
Promotions and advertising
*Promo (media), a form of commercial advertising used to promote television or radio programs
*Promo (professional wrestling), a televised interview in which a wrestler's on-screen personali ...
on the following episode of ''Raw'', the then-
villainous Rollins called the championship belt "beautiful".
Later in 2016, Jim Vorel of ''
Paste'' ranked the title as the worst of nine then contested in WWE, noting its "obnoxious" design.
On the other hand, Nick Schwartz of
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
wrote: "It's really not as bad as fans made it seem at SummerSlam. It's fine."
Reigns
![Universal Champion Roman Reigns WWE Live event 01-23-2022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Universal_Champion_Roman_Reigns_WWE_Live_event_01-23-2022.jpeg)
As of , , there have been fourteen reigns between eight champions and two vacancies. Finn Bálor was the inaugural champion. Brock Lesnar holds the record for most reigns with three. Roman Reigns' ongoing second reign is the longest singular reign at + days, while Bálor has the shortest reign at 22 hours as he was forced to vacate the title due to suffering a
legitimate injury in winning it. Reigns also holds the record for longest combined reign at + days. Kevin Owens is the youngest champion when he won it at old, while
Goldberg Goldberg or Goldberger may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Goldberg Ensemble, a British string ensemble
* ''Goldberg Variations'', a set of 30 keyboard variations by Johann Sebastian Bach
* ''The Goldbergs (broadcast series)'', American radio ...
is the oldest when he won the title for a second time at 53.
Roman Reigns is the current champion in his second reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and
Braun Strowman
Adam Joseph Scherr (born September 6, 1983) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Strongman (strength athlete), strongman. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDo ...
, who Reigns pinned, in a
No Holds Barred
No holds barred or No Holds Barred may refer to:
* ''No Holds Barred'' (1952 film), a film starring The Bowery Boys
* ''No Holds Barred'' (1989 film), a film starring Hulk Hogan
* ''No Holds Barred'' (Biohazard album) (1997)
* ''No Holds Barred ...
triple threat match at
Payback
Payback may refer to:
* Revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance
Payback may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Payback, a member of the fictional comics superhero team Shadow ...
on August 30, 2020, in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
. After winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 38 on April 3, 2022, Reigns is recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
Combined reigns
![Brock_Lesnar_Universal_Champion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Brock_Lesnar_Universal_Champion.jpg)
As of ,
Notes
See also
*
World championships in WWE
WWE has maintained several professional wrestling world championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to vario ...
References
External links
*
*
{{WWE Championships
World heavyweight wrestling championships
WWE championships