WWE Universal Championship
| WWE Universal Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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The WWE Universal Championship belt with default side plates
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| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | Raw | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | July 25, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Kevin Owens | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | August 29, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics | |
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| First champion(s) | Finn Bálor |
| Most reigns | Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens (1 each) |
| Longest reign | Kevin Owens (149+ days) |
| Shortest reign | Finn Bálor (22 hours) |
| Oldest winner | Finn Bálor (35 years, 27 days) |
| Youngest winner | Kevin Owens (32 years, 114 days) |
| Heaviest champion | Kevin Owens (266 lbs) |
| Lightest champion | Finn Bálor (190 lbs) |
The WWE Universal Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand. It is one of two world titles in the WWE, alongside the WWE Championship on the SmackDown brand. The title is currently held by Kevin Owens, who is in his first reign.
Named in honor of the WWE Universe, 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 extension and subsequent draft on July 19, 2016, in which the WWE Championship, the promotion's original world title, became exclusive to SmackDown. The inaugural WWE Universal Champion was Finn Bálor.
With the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension, a draft took place on the SmackDown Live premiere episode on July 19, 2016 and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown. At Battleground on July 24, Ambrose successfully defended the title in a triple threat match against Raw draftees Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. When Ambrose retained the title, Raw was left without a world title. On the following episode of Raw, Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon and Raw general manager Mick Foley created the WWE Universal Championship to serve as the brand's top championship. According to Foley, the title was named in honor of the WWE Universe, the name WWE uses to refer to its fan base. In response, the WWE Championship was subsequently renamed to WWE World Championship before reverting back to the former name in December 2016.
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