WWE Universal Championship

WWE Universal Championship
The Universal Championship belt with default side plates
Details
Promotion WWE
Brand Raw
Date established July 25, 2016
Current champion(s) Roman Reigns
Date won August 19, 2018

The WWE Universal Championship is a world heavyweight championship[lower-alpha 1] created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand.[9] It is one of two world titles for WWE's main roster, alongside the WWE Championship on the SmackDown brand. The current champion is Roman Reigns, who is in his first reign.

Named in honor of the WWE Universe,[10] the championship was established on July 25, 2016 to be the world championship of the Raw brand. Its creation came as a result of the re-introduction of the brand split and subsequent draft on July 19, 2016 in which the WWE Championship, the promotion's original world title, became exclusive to SmackDown.[11] The inaugural Universal Champion was Finn Bálor. Since its inception, matches for the championship have headlined several pay-per-view events, including SummerSlam in 2017[12] and 2018,[13] and WrestleMania 34,[14] both being two of WWE's "big four" pay-per-views, the latter of which is WWE's flagship event.

History

The inaugural Universal Champion Finn Bálor
Brock Lesnar, the longest reigning Universal Champion; his 504-day reign is the sixth longest world championship reign in WWE history and the longest since 1988[15]

With the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension,[16][17] a draft took place on the SmackDown Live premiere episode on July 19, 2016 and then-WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to the SmackDown brand.[11] At Battleground on July 24, Ambrose successfully defended the title in a triple threat match against Raw draftees Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns,[18] leaving Raw without a world title.[19] On the following episode of Raw, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and then-Raw General Manager Mick Foley created the WWE Universal Championship to serve as the brand's top championship.[10] According to Foley, the title was named in honor of the WWE Universe, the name WWE uses to refer to its fan base.[10]

The inaugural champion was crowned at SummerSlam in a 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 matches on Raw, with the winners wrestling each other in a singles match.[10] Finn Bálor won the first fatal four-way by defeating Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Rusev while Roman Reigns won the second by defeating Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus.[10] Bálor then defeated Reigns and was added to the title match.[20] At SummerSlam on August 21, Bálor defeated Rollins to become the inaugural champion. Bálor was the first WWE wrestler to win a world title in his pay-per-view debut as well as winning his first world title in less than a month of his debut on WWE's main roster.[21]

Championship belt design

The title belt was unveiled at SummerSlam and is similar in appearance to the WWE Championship, with a few notable differences. The strap is red, to symbolize its exclusivity to the Raw brand, with the underline of the WWE logo in the center plate being black to make it visible (essentially the reverse of the WWE Championship belt). As the championship belt is similar to the WWE Championship, the center plate is a large cut out of the WWE logo with diamonds sitting inside an irregular heptagonal plate, with the capital words "Universal Champion" in small print sitting underneath the logo. Each side plate, sitting on the other side of gold divider bars, features the same default side plates of the WWE Championship, with the champion's logo able to be customized for the side plates as a similarity of the name plate feature.[22]

Reception

The Universal Championship design was heavily criticized.[23] Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net referred to it as "a title belt that no one likes".[24] Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports described it as "ugly"[25] while the live SummerSlam audience in Brooklyn, New York gave derisive chants, including "This belt sucks",[26] an assessment with which New England Sports Network reporters agreed.[27] 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".[28] 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.[29] The design was also unpopular with online wrestling fans.[26]

WWE employees responded in the aftermath of the title's debut. Seth Rollins chastised the SummerSlam crowd's reaction, writing on Twitter: "More important than a title's appearance is what it represents for the men fighting over it. You really let me down tonight, Brooklyn".[28] 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, a title belt made of broken metal pieces held together by duct tape, which challengers "made [...] mean something by busting [their] asses".[30] In a kayfabe promo on the following episode of Raw, the then-villainous Rollins called the championship belt "beautiful".[24]

Later in 2016, Jim Vorel of Paste ranked the title as the worst of nine then contested in WWE, noting its "obnoxious" design.[23] On the other hand, Nick Schwartz of Fox Sports wrote: "It's really not as bad as fans made it seem at SummerSlam. It's fine".[31]

Title history

Current Universal Champion Roman Reigns, shown here with the WWE Championship

Reigns

As of October 24, 2018, there have been 5 reigns and 1 vacancy. Finn Bálor was the inaugural champion, but he was forced to vacate the title due to suffering a legitimate injury in winning the title. Due to this, his reign is the shortest at 22 hours while Brock Lesnar has the longest reign at 504 days. Kevin Owens is the youngest champion at 32 years old while Goldberg is the oldest when he won it at 50.

Roman Reigns is the current champion in his first reign. He won the championship by defeating Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam on August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days
recog.		 Number of days held recognized by the promotion
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDays recog.
1 Finn Bálor August 21, 2016 SummerSlam Brooklyn, NY 1 11 Defeated Seth Rollins in a pinfall and submission-only match to become the inaugural champion. [32]
— Vacated August 22, 2016 Raw Brooklyn, NY — —— Vacated after Finn Bálor suffered a legitimate shoulder injury during his match at SummerSlam. [33][34]
2 Kevin Owens August 29, 2016 Raw Houston, TX 1 188188 This was a fatal four-way elimination match for the vacant title also involving Big Cass, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. [35]
3 Goldberg March 5, 2017 Fastlane Milwaukee, WI 1 2828 [36]
4 Brock Lesnar April 2, 2017 WrestleMania 33 Orlando, FL 1 504504 [37]
5 Roman Reigns August 19, 2018 SummerSlam Brooklyn, NY 1 66+66+ [13]

Notes

  1. ↑ WWE has referred to the Universal Championship as a "world title", both on its programming[1] and in print.[2] This designation has been corroborated by WP:PW/RS-preferred sources Pro Wrestling Dot Net,[3] Pro Wrestling Torch,[4] ESPN,[5] Fox Sports,[6] Sky Sports,[7] and Slam! Sports.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "SummerSlam (2016) (Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins)". SummerSlam. August 21, 2016. 200 minutes in. WWE Network. Finn Bálor becomes the first Superstar to ever win a world title in his debut match on a pay-per-view.
  2. ↑ Benigno, Anthony (March 3, 2018). "Breaking down five insults from Reigns' verbal attack on Lesnar". WWE. Retrieved May 31, 2018. Lesnar is the franchise player of the moment. He's Raw's reigning World Title holder.
  3. ↑ Powell, Jason (July 25, 2016). "7/25 Powell's WWE Raw Live TV Review: New World Title, the brand split begins, Finn Balor and Nia Jax debut". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ Tucker, Ben (August 9, 2016). "8/8 Raw". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  5. ↑ Fiorvanti, Tim (August 30, 2016). "Kevin Owens wins WWE Universal Championship in Fatal 4-way elimination match". ESPN. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  6. ↑ Schwartz, Nick (October 20, 2016). "8 WWE stars that have won a World Championship more recently than John Cena". Fox Sports. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  7. ↑ Ruse, David (July 26, 2016). "WWE Raw: Finn Balor earns world title shot with big win on Raw debut". Sky Sports. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  8. ↑ Hillhouse, David (June 28, 2017). "Countdown to Great Balls of Fire". Slam! Sports. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Universal Championship". WWE. August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Tedesco, Mike (July 25, 2016). "WWE RAW Results – 7/25/16 (Live from Pittsburgh, fallout from Battleground, new era of RAW begins)". Wrestleview. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  11. 1 2 "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  12. ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE SummerSlam 2017 live review: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship, Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, Sheamus and Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins for the Raw Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  13. 1 2 Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE SummerSlam 2018 live review: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship, Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship, Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  14. ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WrestleMania 34 live review: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship, Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  15. ↑ Koontz, Joey (August 13, 2018). "Key stats that tell you everything about SummerSlam 2018 and its Lesnar-Reigns main event". ESPN. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  16. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  17. ↑ "WWE's destiny to be determined during SmackDown's Live premiere". WWE. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  18. ↑ Caldwell, James (July 24, 2016). "7/24 WWE Battleground Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  19. ↑ Melok, Bobby. "WWE Champion Dean Ambrose def. Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins (Triple Threat Match)". WWE. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  20. ↑ Clapp, John. "Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins to crown the first WWE Universal Champion". WWE. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  21. ↑ Laboon, Jeff. "Finn Bálor def. Seth Rollins". WWE. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  22. ↑ "An up-close look at the all-new WWE Universal Championship: photos". WWE. August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  23. 1 2 Vorel, Jim (October 10, 2016). "Ranking Every Current WWE Title Belt, From Best to Worst". Paste. Retrieved February 14, 2017. The most recent WWE world title, exclusive to Raw, has had a lot of shit thrown at it.
  24. 1 2 Powell, Jason (August 22, 2016). "8/22 Powell's WWE Raw Live TV Review: Finn Balor injury and the WWE Universal Championship, SummerSlam fallout". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  25. ↑ Silverstein, Adam (August 21, 2016). "WWE SummerSlam 2016 results: Brock Lesnar gets savage, Finn Balor wins title". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  26. 1 2 Meltzer, Dave (August 21, 2016). "WWE SummerSlam live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton". Wrestling Observer. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  27. ↑ http://nesn.com/2016/08/wwe-summerslam-2016-live-results-highlights-from-every-match-in-brooklyn/
  28. 1 2 Doyle, Ricky (August 22, 2016). "Seth Rollins Rips Barclays Center Crowd After WWE SummerSlam Reaction". New England Sports Network. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  29. ↑ Johnson, Mike (August 21, 2016). "What happened after SummerSlam went off the air and more". PWInsider. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  30. ↑ Werner, Barry (August 22, 2016). "Mick Foley laces WWE fans for their reaction at SummerSlam". Fox Sports. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  31. ↑ http://www.foxsports.com/wwe/gallery/wwe-championship-belt-ranking-best-121516
  32. ↑ Caldwell, James. "8/21 WWE Summerslam Results – Caldwell's Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  33. ↑ "UPDATE: Finn Bálor relinquishes WWE Universal Championship due to injury, undergoes successful surgery". WWE. August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  34. ↑ Caldwell, James. "8/22 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  35. ↑ Keller, Wade. "KELLER'S WWE RAW REVIEW 8/29: Ongoing coverage of fatal four way for the WWE Universal Title". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  36. ↑ Powell, Jason. "3/5 Powell's WWE Fastlane Live Review: Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg for the WWE Championship, Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman, Bayley vs. Charlotte for the Raw Women's Championship, Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  37. ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WrestleMania 33 live review: Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns, Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon, Seth Rollins vs. Triple H in an unsanctioned match". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  • "Official Universal Championship Title History".
  • "Wrestling-Titles.com: WWE Universal Championship".
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