When WWE brought back the brand split in 2016, the\nUniversal Championship was also brought into existence. At the time, the WWE\nChampionship had become an exclusive Smackdown title after Dean Ambrose\u2019s\nvictory over his Shield stablemates Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns at\nBattleground. This left Raw without a top title and thus, the Universal\nChampionship was born. But this title has been wrought with misfortune and some\nhave even come to call the belt cursed. Let\u2019s take a look at the brief history\nof the Universal Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of this writing, there have been eleven reigns between seven different superstars. The title has also been vacated twice and it recently switched brands from Raw to Smackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A match at SummerSlam 2016 between Finn Balor and\nSeth Rollins decided the inaugural Universal Champion, with Balor coming out on\ntop. What was sure to be a fantastic start to his run on the main roster was\nquickly cut short as Balor was forced to relinquish the title less than 24\nhours after his victory as he had suffered a shoulder injury which would put\nhim on the shelf for months. Once he returned, he never reclaimed that\nspotlight and floated about on the mid-card before taking a break to get\nmarried and then re-appearing on NXT where he has been faring significantly\nbetter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Owens enjoyed a rather pleasant reign as Universal Champion that was ended by Goldberg, a decision that still bugs many wrestling fans to this day. Goldberg held the title for less than a month before losing it to Brock Lesnar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lesnar beating Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 began the\n504-day Reign from Hell. Lesnar rarely showed up on WWE television and any\nchallengers were never treated as a credible threat. AJ Styles, Smackdown\u2019s\ncounterpart champion at the time, defended his title more times in a single\nmonth than Lesnar had in about a year. This reign also featured the boring\nsquash match at WrestleMania 34 and the false finish at WWE\u2019s first Saudi\nArabia event. Eventually, at long last, Roman Reigns managed to defeat Brock\nLesnar at SummerSlam 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roman Reigns\u2019 first Universal Championship reign will unfortunately be shrouded in sadness. After working so hard and rallying the fans behind him, Reigns had to vacate the title it had taken him nearly a year to capture. He had been diagnosed with leukemia and would have to step away to battle his returning cancer. It was one of the most emotional nights I have ever experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once Reigns went on hiatus, the belt was hot\npotatoed between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins over three different\npay-per-views in 2019. No one was injured or diagnosed with anything\nlife-threatening during this period but the reigns were heavily damaged by bad\nbooking and feuds that went on for far too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bray Wyatt popped back up with a sinister new alter ego in The Fiend and while their Hell in A Cell catastrophe led to some terrible online backlash, Wyatt was able to defeat Rollins. He even went on to create his own custom version of the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wyatt was dethroned by Goldberg in Saudi Arabia\nearlier this year and many wrestling fans are still upset about this decision.\nMany of the complaints have to do with putting the belt on a part-timer,\ntarnishing Wyatt\u2019s new character, and Goldberg\u2019s recent history of nearly\ninjuring his opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roman Reigns was slated to take on Goldberg for the title at WrestleMania 36, which was originally slated to occur in Tampa, Florida. However, the event was relocated to the Performance Center due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It seems as though Reigns has elected not to go through with the match or the pay-per-view itself in the best interests of his health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, is the Universal Championship cursed? It\u2019s hard to say as some people are superstitious and others do not believe in anything of the sort. I will say, cursed or not, this title has been maligned with injuries, vacancies, and lackluster reigns from the beginning. If something isn\u2019t done soon to correct the perception, the Universal Championship will always be known as a belt of misfortune. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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