WWE Universal Championship

Years Active 2016 — 2024

Promotion WWE

Brand RAW / SmackDown

Total Reigns 14

Total Champions 8

Last Champion Roman Reigns

Longest Reign

Roman Reigns

1,316 days as the WWE Universal Champion

Won at Payback 2020 against Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman on August 30, 2020 and held title until April 7, 2024.

Most Reigns

Longest Reigns

Roman Reigns (1,316 days)
Brock Lesnar (504 days)
Kevin Owens (188 days)

About This Championship

The WWE Universal Championship was introduced in 2016 after the WWE Championship became exclusive to SmackDown during the brand split, giving Raw its own top world title. Finn Bálor became the inaugural champion by defeating Seth Rollins at SummerSlam, but he had to relinquish the title the next night due to a shoulder injury.

Kevin Owens then became the first champion to have a substantial reign, and over the next few years, the belt was held by names like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, and Braun Strowman. When Bray Wyatt defeated Seth Rollins in 2019, the championship moved to the SmackDown brand.

Roman Reigns had the longest run with the title, winning it at Payback on August 30, 2020, and holding it until April 7, 2024, giving him the longest reign in the championship’s history at more than 1,300 days. During that same title run, he defeated WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in the Winner Takes All match at WrestleMania 38. After that, WWE presented him as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

Even with that change, WWE still treats the Universal Championship and WWE Championship as separate lineages for that period. In WWE’s current official history, the Universal Championship is recognized as running from 2016 to 2024, with Reigns listed as the final champion. After WrestleMania XL, the ongoing world title lineage continued under the Undisputed WWE Championship.

WWE Universal Championship Complete Reign History

= Reign Distinction = Includes Reign Notes

# Click to sort	Wrestler Click to sort	Date Won Click to sort	Opponent(s) Click to sort	Event Click to sort	Match Type Click to sort	Partner(s) Click to sort
—	Championship Deactivated from April 7, 2024 to Present (2 years, 1 month, 7 days)
14	Roman Reigns	Aug 30, 2020	Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman	Payback 2020	Triple Threat Match	1,316
During this reign, Roman Reigns also won the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 and was recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion while both titles remained active. Reigns’ Universal Championship reign ended when he lost to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania XL, and WWE later recognized that night as the retirement of the Universal Championship, with Reigns listed as the final champion.
13	Bray Wyatt	Aug 23, 2020	Braun Strowman	SummerSlam 2020	Falls Count Anywhere Match	7
12	Braun Strowman	Apr 4, 2020	Goldberg	WrestleMania 36	Singles Match	141
11	Goldberg	Feb 27, 2020	Bray Wyatt	Super ShowDown 2020	Singles Match	37
10	Bray Wyatt	Oct 31, 2019	Seth Rollins	Crown Jewel 2019	Falls Count Anywhere Match	119
9	Seth Rollins	Aug 11, 2019	Brock Lesnar	SummerSlam 2019	Singles Match	81
8	Brock Lesnar	Jul 14, 2019	Seth Rollins	Extreme Rules 2019	Money in the Bank Cash-In Match	28
7	Seth Rollins	Apr 7, 2019	Brock Lesnar	WrestleMania 35	Singles Match	98
6	Brock Lesnar	Nov 2, 2018	Braun Strowman	Crown Jewel 2018	Singles Match	156
Before Roman Reigns announced his Leukemia diagnosis, WWE had been building up a triple threat match at Crown Jewel 2018 with Reigns defending against Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman. Once Reigns relinquished the championship, the match was turned into a singles match between Lesnar and Strowman for the vacant title.
—	Title Vacated from October 22, 2018 to November 2, 2018 (11 days)
5	Roman Reigns	Aug 19, 2018	Brock Lesnar	SummerSlam 2018	Singles Match	64
On Raw on October 22, 2018, Roman Reigns announced that his leukemia had returned and that he needed to step away from WWE. He then relinquished the Universal Championship, which left the title vacant.
4	Brock Lesnar	Apr 2, 2017	Goldberg	WrestleMania 33	Singles Match	504
3	Goldberg	Mar 5, 2017	Kevin Owens	Fastlane 2017	Singles Match	28
2	Kevin Owens	Aug 29, 2016	Big Cass, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins	Raw	Fatal Four-Way Match	188
—	Title Vacated from August 22, 2016 to August 29, 2016 (7 days)
1	Finn Bálor	Aug 21, 2016	Seth Rollins	SummerSlam 2016	Pinfall and Submission Only Match	1
This title was created for the SmackDown brand when the WWE Championship became exclusive to RAW. Finn Bálor became the inaugural champion when he defeated Seth Rollins. However, his reign ended almost immediately because he suffered a shoulder injury during the match and was forced to relinquish the championship on Raw the next night, August 22, 2016.

WWE Universal Championship Historical Reign Leaders

#	Champion	Reigns	Total Days Held	Longest Reign (Days)	Avg. Reign (Days)	% of Career Title Held
1	Brock Lesnar	3	688	504	229	7%
2	Roman Reigns	2	1,380	1,316	690	23.1%
2	Seth Rollins	2	179	98	90	2.2%
2	Bray Wyatt	2	126	119	63	2%
2	Goldberg	2	65	37	33	0.61%
6	Kevin Owens	1	188	188	188	2%
6	Braun Strowman	1	141	141	141	3.1%
6	Finn Bálor	1	1	1	1	0.01%

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