On this page, you find the full Title History for the WWE Universal Championship, with all Championship Info, Statistics, the Belt Design changes through the years, and the full list of Title Reigns, along with dates, events, and reign durations.
The WWE Universal Championship is a World Title contested in World Wrestling Entertainment on the SmackDown brand, by men wrestlers. The championship was first established on July 25, 2016.
Since April 8, 2024, 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.
The current champion is Cody Rhodes, who won the title at WWE WrestleMania XL on April 7, 2024, and has been reigning for 40 days (The title is being collectively defended with the WWE Championship as the Undisputed WWE Championship.).
WWE Universal Championship: Title History
- Promotions / Brands
Promotion from to Promotion 
WWEBrand
SmackDown
October 31, 2019 Present Promotion WWEBrand
Raw
July 25, 2016 October 30, 2019
WWE- Championship Names & Belt Designs
-
WWE Universal Championship (Undisputed)
June 2, 2023 -
WWE Universal Championship
February 27, 2020
June 1, 2023
-
WWE Universal Championship (The Fiend)
November 29, 2019
February 26, 2020 -
WWE Universal Championship
November 15, 2019
November 28, 2019
-
WWE Universal Championship
July 25, 2016
November 14, 2019
-
WWE Universal Championship: Title Reigns
-
N. Image Champion Reign 15 
Cody Rhodes 1
- April 7, 2024
- Philadelphia, PA
- | WWE WrestleMania XL
The title is being collectively defended with the WWE Championship as the Undisputed WWE Championship.40+- days
14 
Roman Reigns 2
- August 30, 2020
- Orlando, FL
- | WWE Payback 2020
At WrestleMania 38, Roman Reigns defeated the then-WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match. The titles remained independently active, but were collectively defended on any brand as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.1316- days
13 
Bray Wyatt / The Fiend 2
- August 23, 2020
- Orlando, FL
- | WWE SummerSlam 2020
7- days
12 Braun Strowman 1
- April 4, 2020
- Orlando, FL
- | WWE WrestleMania 36
141- days
11 Goldberg 2
- February 27, 2020
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- | WWE Super ShowDown 2020
37- days
10 Bray Wyatt / The Fiend 1
- October 31, 2019
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- | WWE Crown Jewel 2019
The title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand due to Wyatt's status as a SmackDown wrestler.119- days
9 Seth Rollins 2
- August 11, 2019
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- | WWE SummerSlam 2019
81- days
8 Brock Lesnar 3
- July 14, 2019
- Philadelphia, PA
- | WWE Extreme Rules 2019
Cashed in the Money in the Bank contract.28- days
7 Seth Rollins 1
- April 7, 2019
- East Rutherford, NJ
- | WWE WrestleMania 35
98- days
6 Brock Lesnar 2
- November 2, 2018
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- | WWE Crown Jewel (2018)
Defeated Braun Strowman for the vacant title.156- days
Vacant
- October 22, 2018
- Providence, RI
- | Raw
The title was vacated after Roman Reigns announced that he had a re-diagnosis of leukemia.11- days
5 Roman Reigns 1
- August 19, 2018
- Brooklyn, NY
- | WWE SummerSlam 2018
64- days
4 Brock Lesnar 1
- April 2, 2017
- Orlando, FL
- | WWE WrestleMania 33
504- days
3 Goldberg 1
- March 5, 2017
- Milwaukee, WI
- | WWE Fastlane 2017
28- days
2 Kevin Owens 1
- August 29, 2016
- Houston, TX
- | Raw
Defeated Big Cass, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a fatal four-way elimination match for the vacant title.188- days
Vacant
- August 22, 2016
- Brooklyn, NY
- | Raw
The title was vacated due to Finn Bálor suffering a shoulder injury.7- days
1 Finn Bálor 1
- August 21, 2016
- Brooklyn, NY
- | WWE SummerSlam 2016
The title was established for Raw after the WWE Championship became exclusive to SmackDown following the 2016 WWE Draft. Bálor defeated Seth Rollins to become the inaugural champion.1- day
WWE Universal Championship: Info
- Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment
- Gender Male
- Title Type 1 - Primary Title
- Brand SmackDown
- Date Established July 25, 2016
- Defended With
- WWE Championship - Undisputed WWE Championship ( April 8, 2024 - Present)
- WWE Championship - Undisputed WWE Universal Championship ( April 3, 2022 - April 7, 2024)