WWE Universal Championship

This article is about WWE's world title created in 2016. For WWE's long-standing world title, see WWE Championship. For other WWE men's world championships, see WWE World Championship (disambiguation).

The WWE Universal Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. Since April 2022, the title has been jointly held and defended with the WWE Championship as the Undisputed WWE Championship, but both titles have maintained their individual lineages. It is one of three world titles in WWE, alongside its companion WWE Championship on SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. The current champion is Cody Rhodes, who is in his first reign. He won the undisputed championship by defeating previous champion Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024.

WWE Universal Championship
Top: The SmackDown version of the Universal Championship belt introduced in 2019, displayed on WWE's official title history. Bottom: The Undisputed WWE Championship belt, which represents both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship (2023–present).
Details
Promotion	WWE
Brand	SmackDown
Date established	July 25, 2016
Current champion(s)	Cody Rhodes
Date won	April 7, 2024
Other name(s)
WWE Universal Championship (2016–present) Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (2022–2024)[a] Undisputed WWE Championship (2024–present)[b]
Statistics First champion(s) Finn Bálor Most reigns Brock Lesnar (3 reigns) Longest reign Roman Reigns (2nd reign, 1,316 days) Shortest reign Finn Bálor (22 hours) Oldest champion Goldberg (53 years, 62 days) Youngest champion Kevin Owens (32 years, 114 days) Heaviest champion Braun Strowman (385 lb (175 kg)) Lightest champion Finn Bálor (190 lb (86 kg))

Named in honor of WWE's fanbase, referred to as the WWE Universe, the championship was established on July 25, 2016, to be the top title of the Raw brand at the time. Its creation came as a result of the reintroduction 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. The inaugural Universal Champion was Finn Bálor. Since its inception, matches for the championship have headlined several pay-per-view and livestreaming events, including eight consecutive SummerSlams from 2017 to 2024, as well as five WrestleManias (34, 37 Night 2, 38 Night 2, 39 Night 2, and XL 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 title moved to SmackDown.

History

The inaugural WWE Universal Champion Finn Bálor

In mid-2016, the professional wrestling promotion WWE reintroduced the brand extension in which the promotion split its main roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands, where wrestlers would exclusively perform on each brands' respective weekly television program (the original brand split ended in August 2011).^[1][2] On July 19, 2016, to coincide with SmackDown shifting to a live broadcast format, the 2016 WWE Draft took place. During the draft, Dean Ambrose, who held the promotion's original world championship, the WWE Championship, was drafted to SmackDown.^[3] At Battleground on July 24, Ambrose retained the title in a triple threat match against Raw draftees Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns,^[4] thus leaving Raw without a world title.^[5] On the following episode of Raw, the brand's Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley 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.^[6]

The inaugural champion was crowned at SummerSlam on August 21 in a pinfall and submission-only singles match. 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.^[6] Finn Bálor won the first fatal four-way by defeating Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Rusev, while Reigns won the second by defeating Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus.^[6] Bálor then defeated Reigns and was added to the title match.^[7] 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 debut as well as winning his first world title in less than a month of his debut on WWE's main roster.^[8][9] During the championship match, however, Bálor suffered a legitimate shoulder injury and was forced to vacate the title the following day.^[10][11]

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 that could not be stopped for any reason, thus transferring the Universal Championship to SmackDown.^[12] The WWE Championship was subsequently transferred to Raw after reigning champion Brock Lesnar quit SmackDown the following day, taking the title to Raw.^[13]

At WrestleMania 38 Night 2 on April 3, 2022, reigning Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match to claim both championships and become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. WWE had billed the match as a championship unification match; however, both titles have remained independently active with Reigns being a double champion, defending both titles together across both brands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.^[14] On the April 24, 2023, episode of Raw, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H announced that regardless of what brand Reigns was drafted to in the 2023 WWE Draft, he and his undisputed championship would become exclusive to that brand. Triple H subsequently unveiled a new World Heavyweight Championship for the opposing brand, which was won by Seth "Freakin" Rollins at Night of Champions.^[15][16] As Reigns was drafted to SmackDown, the World Heavyweight Championship became exclusive to Raw.^[17] On the June 2, 2023, episode of SmackDown, Triple H presented Reigns with a new singular championship belt to represent the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.^[18] Amidst confusion of the lineages, Fightful reported that WWE confirmed to them that the two championships are still in fact separate lineages despite there being only one belt.^[19]

Brand designation

The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the WWE Universal Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands.

Date of transition	Brand	Notes
July 25, 2016	Raw	The championship was established for Raw after WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown in the 2016 WWE Draft. Finn Bálor subsequently became the inaugural Universal Champion at SummerSlam on August 21.
October 31, 2019	SmackDown	The Universal Championship moved to SmackDown after "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, a member of the SmackDown brand, defeated Seth Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason to win the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel.

Championship belt designs

Two-time champion Roman Reigns in his first reign with the original Raw version of the championship belt used from 2016 to 2019

The Universal Championship belt was based on the "Network Logo" design of the WWE Championship belt introduced in 2014, with a few notable differences. Like the WWE Championship belt, the center plate was 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 were gold divider bars that separated the center plate from its two side plates. Each side plate featured the same default removable center section as the WWE Championship (the WWE logo over a red globe), which could be customized with the champion's logo.^[20] The most prominent difference was the belt's strap, the color of which indicated the brand it was 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).^[20] 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.^[21][22]

Two-time champion Bray Wyatt, shown here as "The Fiend", whose custom version of the Universal Championship belt was based on his mask

In addition to the SmackDown version of the belt, Bray Wyatt also introduced a custom version of the championship for his "Fiend" character on the November 29 episode of SmackDown.^[23] 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 during his first reign (2019–2020); his cheery Firefly Fun House character held the standard blue belt, while his sinister Fiend character held the custom belt.^[24][25]

Roman Reigns with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt (2023–present), which represents both the Universal and WWE Championships. He became undisputed champion during his second Universal Championship reign, which is the longest reign for the title at 1,316 days and the fourth longest world championship reign in WWE history.

After Roman Reigns became the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, both the Universal Championship and WWE Championship belts were used in tandem to represent the undisputed title, although both titles retained their individual lineages. On the June 2, 2023, episode of SmackDown, in celebration of Reigns reaching 1,000 days as Universal Champion, he was presented with a new single title belt to represent the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. It features the same "Network Logo" design on a black strap, but the WWE logo is encrusted with black diamonds, it has a gold nugget-textured background behind the logo which was made as part of the metal plate instead of colored leather, and the text at the bottom of the plate says "Undisputed Champion"; the side plates remained the same.^[18] Despite this, his manager Paul Heyman had continued to carry around the previous Universal and WWE Championship belts until the end of July.^[26] On WWE's website, pictures of the previous title belts were still used for the individual title histories of each championship until April 2024 when the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt replaced the image for the WWE Championship; the Universal Championship title history remains a picture of the previous blue belt.

Reception

The original red Universal Championship design was heavily criticized.^[27] Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net referred to it as "a title belt that no one likes".^[28] Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports described it as "ugly"^[29] while the live SummerSlam audience in Brooklyn, New York gave derisive chants, including "This belt sucks",^[30] an assessment with which New England Sports Network reporters agreed.^[31] 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".^[32] 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.^[33] The design was also unpopular with online wrestling fans.^[30]

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".^[32] 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".^[34] In a kayfabe promo on the following episode of Raw, the then-villainous Rollins called the championship belt "beautiful".^[28]

Later in 2016, Jim Vorel of Paste ranked the title as the worst of the nine then contested in WWE, noting its "obnoxious" design.^[27] 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".^[35]

Reigns

Current champion Cody Rhodes, who holds the title in tandem with the WWE Championship as the Undisputed WWE Championship.

As of November 21, 2024, there have been fifteen reigns between nine champions and two vacancies. Finn Bálor was the inaugural champion. Brock Lesnar holds the record for most reigns at three. Roman Reigns' second reign is the longest singular reign at 1,316 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 1,380 days (1,379 days as recognized by WWE). Kevin Owens is the youngest champion when he won it at 32 years, 114 days old, while Goldberg is the oldest when he won the title for a second time at 53.

Cody Rhodes is the current champion in his first reign. He won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (Universal and WWE Championships) by defeating Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following his win, the undisputed title's name was truncated to Undisputed WWE Championship.

Name	Years
WWE Universal Championship	July 25, 2016 – present
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship[c]	April 3, 2022[14] – April 7, 2024
Undisputed WWE Championship[d]	April 7, 2024 – present

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
<1	Reign lasted less than a day
+	Current reign is changing daily

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics			Notes	Ref.
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days	Days recog.
	WWE: Raw
1	Finn Bálor	August 21, 2016	SummerSlam	Brooklyn, NY	1	1	<1	The title was established for Raw after the WWE Championship became exclusive to SmackDown following the 2016 WWE Draft. Bálor defeated Seth Rollins in a pinfall and submission-only match to become the inaugural champion.	[36]
—	Vacated	August 22, 2016	Raw	Brooklyn, NY	—	—	—	Vacated due to Finn Bálor suffering a legit shoulder injury during his match at SummerSlam.	[10][11]
2	Kevin Owens	August 29, 2016	Raw	Houston, TX	1	188	188	This was a fatal four-way elimination match for the vacant title also involving Big Cass, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins, who Owens last eliminated to win.	[37]
3	Goldberg	March 5, 2017	Fastlane	Milwaukee, WI	1	28	27		[38]
4	Brock Lesnar	April 2, 2017	WrestleMania 33	Orlando, FL	1	504	503		[39]
5	Roman Reigns	August 19, 2018	SummerSlam	Brooklyn, NY	1	64	63		[40]
—	Vacated	October 22, 2018	Raw	Providence, RI	—	—	—	Vacated after Roman Reigns announced that he had a legitimate re-diagnosis of leukemia.	[41][42]
6	Brock Lesnar	November 2, 2018	Crown Jewel	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	2	156	156	Originally scheduled as a triple threat match in which Roman Reigns was to defend the title against Lesnar and Braun Strowman.[43] After Reigns relinquished the championship, the match became a singles match between Lesnar and Strowman for the vacant title.[42]	[44]
7	Seth Rollins	April 7, 2019	WrestleMania 35	East Rutherford, NJ	1	98	98		[45]
8	Brock Lesnar	July 14, 2019	Extreme Rules	Philadelphia, PA	3	28	27	This was Lesnar's Money in the Bank cash-in match.	[46]
9	Seth Rollins	August 11, 2019	SummerSlam	Toronto, ON, Canada	2	81	80		[47]
10	"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt	October 31, 2019	Crown Jewel	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	1	119	118	This was a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason. The title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand due to Wyatt's status as a SmackDown wrestler.	[48]
	WWE: SmackDown
11	Goldberg	February 27, 2020	Super ShowDown	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	2	27 or 28	37	WWE recognizes this reign as ending on April 4, 2020, when the following match aired on tape delay.	[49]
12	Braun Strowman	March 25 or 26, 2020	WrestleMania 36 Part 1	Orlando, FL	1	150 or 151	141	WrestleMania was taped on March 25 and 26, but it is currently unknown which day this match was taped. WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on April 4, 2020, when the match aired on tape delay.[50]	[51]
13	"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt	August 23, 2020	SummerSlam	Orlando, FL	2	7	6	This was a Falls Count Anywhere match.	[52]
14	Roman Reigns	August 30, 2020	Payback	Orlando, FL	2	1,316	1,316	This was a No Holds Barred triple threat match also involving Braun Strowman, who Reigns pinned. At WrestleMania 38 on April 3, 2022, Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match and became recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion of both brands. Despite the match being billed as a unification match, both titles remain independently active. In April 2023, after Reigns was drafted to SmackDown in the 2023 WWE Draft, a new World Heavyweight Championship was established for Raw as the counterpart to Reigns' Undisputed Championship.	[53][14]
15	Cody Rhodes	April 7, 2024	WrestleMania XL Night 2	Philadelphia, PA	1	228+	228+	This was a Bloodline Rules match in which Reigns also defended the WWE Championship. Rhodes won the title as a member of the Raw brand and was subsequently transferred to SmackDown. The undisputed title's name was also truncated to Undisputed WWE Championship.	[54]

Combined reigns

Record three-time champion Brock Lesnar, shown here in his first reign with the original Raw version of the championship belt

As of November 21, 2024.

†	Indicates the current champion
¤	The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest length is considered.
<1	Reign was less than a day

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days	Combined days rec. by WWE
1	Roman Reigns	2	1,380	1,379
2	Brock Lesnar	3	688	686
3	Cody Rhodes †	1	228+	228+
4	Kevin Owens	1	188
5	Seth Rollins	2	179	178
6	Braun Strowman	1	¤150	141
7	"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt	2	126	124
8	Goldberg	2	¤55	64
9	Finn Bálor	1	<1

See also

• World championships in WWE

Notes

1. Name used when defended with the WWE Championship until WrestleMania XL.
2. Name used when defended with the WWE Championship since WrestleMania XL.
3. When defended with the WWE Championship.
4. In tandem with the WWE Championship.

References

1. Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
2. WWE.com Staff (June 20, 2016). "WWE's destiny to be determined during SmackDown's Live premiere". WWE. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
3. WWE.com Staff (July 19, 2016). "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
4. Caldwell, James (July 24, 2016). "7/24 WWE Battleground Results – Caldwell's Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
5. Melok, Bobby (July 24, 2016). "WWE Champion Dean Ambrose def. Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins (Triple Threat Match)". WWE. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
6. Tedesco, Mike (July 25, 2016). "WWE Raw Results – 7/25/16 (Live from Pittsburgh, fallout from Battleground, new era of Raw begins)". WrestleView. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
7. Clapp, John (July 25, 2016). "Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins to crown the first WWE Universal Champion". WWE. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
8. Laboon, Jeff (August 21, 2016). "Finn Bálor def. Seth Rollins". WWE. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
9. "SummerSlam (2016) (Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship)". 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.
10. "UPDATE: Finn Bálor relinquishes WWE Universal Championship due to injury, undergoes successful surgery". WWE. August 24, 2016. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
11. Caldwell, James (August 22, 2016). "8/22 WWE Raw Results – Caldwell's Complete Live TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
12. Benigno, Anthony (October 31, 2019). ""The Fiend" Bray Wyatt def. Seth Rollins to become the new Universal Champion (Falls Count Anywhere Match)". WWE. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
13. Brookhouse, Brent (November 1, 2019). "WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Shocking NXT invasion, Brock Lesnar quits and moves to Raw". CBSSports. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
14. Keller, Wade (April 3, 2022). "4/3 WWE WrestleMania 38 Results: Keller's detailed match report with analysis including Lesnar vs. Reigns, Edge vs. Styles, Knoxville vs. Sami, McAfee vs. Theory". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
15. Thompson, Andrew (April 25, 2023). "Paul Levesque unveils new World Heavyweight Title, champion to be crowned at WWE Night of Champions". POST Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
16. Keller, Wade (April 24, 2023). "4/24 WWE Raw results: Keller's report on Triple H announcement, Bad Bunny appearing in person, Rey vs. Priest". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
17. Bath, Dave (April 28, 2023). "WWE SmackDown live results: The WWE Draft begins". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
18. Rose, Bryan (June 2, 2023). "WWE unveils new Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
19. "More on WWE streamlining titles, future plans". Fightful. June 11, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
20. "An up-close look at the all-new WWE Universal Championship: photos". WWE. August 21, 2016. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
21. Keller, Wade (November 15, 2019). "11/15 WWE Smackdown Results: Keller's report on New Day defending against The Revival, Survivor Series qualification match, Miz TV with Daniel Bryan". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
22. "Universal Title turns blue with "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt's reign: photos". WWE. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
23. Keller, Wade (November 29, 2019). "11/29 WWE SmackDown Report: Keller's report on Bray Wyatt introducing a new Firefly Funhouse character, Survivor Series fallout". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
24. "Bray Wyatt unveils a dark and twisted Universal Title". WWE. November 29, 2019. Archived from the original on November 30, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
25. ""The Fiend" Bray Wyatt's dark and twisted Universal Title: photos". WWE. November 29, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
26. McDonald, Alex (July 29, 2023). "WWE SmackDown TV Results (7/28): McDonald's "alt perspective" report on Roman Reigns and Jey Uso face to face, Mysterio vs. Escobar U.S. Title Invitational Final, Anderson vs. Kross". PWTorch. Archived from the original on July 30, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
27. Vorel, Jim (October 10, 2016). "Ranking Every Current WWE Title Belt, From Best to Worst". Paste. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017. The most recent WWE world title, exclusive to Raw, has had a lot of shit thrown at it.
28. 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. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
29. Silverstein, Adam (August 21, 2016). "WWE SummerSlam 2016 results: Brock Lesnar gets savage, Finn Balor wins title". CBSSports. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
30. Meltzer, Dave (August 21, 2016). "WWE SummerSlam live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
31. "WWE SummerSlam 2016 Live: Finn Balor, Brock Lesnar Highlight Event in Brooklyn". August 22, 2016.
32. Doyle, Ricky (August 22, 2016). "Seth Rollins Rips Barclays Center Crowd After WWE SummerSlam Reaction". New England Sports Network. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
33. Johnson, Mike (August 21, 2016). "What happened after SummerSlam went off the air and more". PWInsider. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
34. Werner, Barry (August 22, 2016). "Mick Foley laces WWE fans for their reaction at SummerSlam". Fox Sports. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
35. Schwartz, Nick (December 15, 2016). "The best and worst looking WWE Championship belts". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017.
36. Caldwell, James (August 21, 2016). "8/21 WWE Summerslam Results – Caldwell's Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
37. Keller, Wade (August 29, 2016). "Keller's WWE Raw Review 8/29: Ongoing coverage of fatal four way for the WWE Universal Title". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
38. Powell, Jason (March 5, 2017). "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 Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
39. Powell, Jason (April 2, 2017). "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 Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
40. Powell, Jason (August 19, 2018). "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. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
41. Benigno, Anthony (October 22, 2018). "Roman Reigns relinquished the Universal Championship after revealing his battle with leukemia". WWE. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
42. Keller, Wade (October 22, 2018). "10/22 WWE Raw Results: Keller's report on Reigns cancer announcement, final Evolution hype, Ronda Rousey-Nikki Bella contract signing, HBK and Triple H hype DX reunion, Braun-Drew fallout, Tag Title match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
43. Keller, Wade (September 17, 2018). "9/17 WWE Raw Results: Keller's report with the Hell in a Cell follow-up including controversial finish with Brock Lesnar in the main event". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
44. Powell, Jason (November 2, 2018). "Powell's WWE Crown Jewel live review: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman for the vacant WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship, Undertaker and Kane vs. DX, World Cup tournament". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
45. Powell, Jason (April 7, 2019). "WrestleMania 35 results: Powell's live review of Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for the Raw and Smackdown Women's Titles, Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship, Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Batista vs. Triple H, AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
46. Powell, Jason (July 14, 2019). "WWE Extreme Rules results: Powell's live review of Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch vs. Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans in an Extreme Rules match for the WWE Universal Championship and the Raw Women's Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
47. Powell, Jason (August 11, 2019). "WWE SummerSlam results: Powell's live review of Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon, Trish Stratus vs. Charlotte Flair, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 29, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
48. Powell, Jason (October 31, 2019). "WWE Crown Jewel results: Powell's live review of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez for the WWE Championship, Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt in a Falls Count Anywhere match for the WWE Universal Championship, Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury, Lacey Evans vs. Natalya". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
49. Powell, Jason (February 27, 2020). "WWE Super ShowDown results: Powell's live review of "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship, Brock Lesnar vs. Ricochet for the WWE Championship, Big E and Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz and John Morrison for the Smackdown Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
50. "WWE grabará Wrestlemania 36". Solowrestling (in Spanish). March 21, 2020. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
51. Powell, Jason (April 4, 2020). "WrestleMania 36 results: Powell's live review of night one featuring Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship, Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a Boneyard match, Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler for the Raw Women's Championship, Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
52. Powell, Jason (August 23, 2020). "WWE SummerSlam results: Powell's review of Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, Braun Strowman vs. The Fiend for the WWE Universal Championship, Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville in a No DQ, loser leaves WWE match, Asuka challenges for two titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
53. Powell, Jason (August 30, 2020). "WWE Payback results: Powell's review of The Fiend vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat for the WWE Universal Championship, Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton, Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Tag Titles, Matt Riddle vs. King Corbin". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
54. Powell, Jason (April 7, 2024). "WrestleMania XL results: Powell's live review of night two with Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Universal Championship with Bloodline Rules, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 7, 2024.

External links

• "Official Universal Championship Title History".
• "Wrestling-Titles.com: WWE Universal Championship".