The best (worst) WWE Universal Championship Match of All Time

WWE In 2016, the company decided to split Raw and Smackdown again, and Dean Ambrose won the WWE Championship with newly baptized Smackdown Live. This required a world title, allowing us to create the same title as the WWE Championship, but with red straps and minor colour changes.

The title would have a slightly short but bumpy lifespan, as it was held by greats like Rome Reign, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens, and more, but fans can count the number of solid matches the title had with one or both hands. Let’s look back at the eight years of history of this title and talk about its highs and absolute lows.

The fifth best: Roman rule vs. Edge vs Daniel Brian

WrestleMania 37

WrestleMania 37 has finally allowed fans to attend live shows after the pandemic locked people in for over a year. WWE decided to appear in a solid event, but one of the matches that helped was the main event of two nights when the Roman rulers faced Edge and Daniel Brian for his universal title.

Brian and the Ruler had rebutted before WrestleMania in the match at Elimination Chamber and Fast Rain 2021 the past few months ago, but Edge won his spot for his second Royal Rumble match. The match was intense, a big triple threat and usually difficult to do, with a unique finish that integrated Brian and Edge to pin both men.

The fifth worst: Brockle Lesnar vs. Brock Rome reign

WrestleMania 34

It is right to go from the performance of the great Roman ruler Wrestlemania to one of his worst. WrestleMania 34 had ruled such things for Brock Lesnar and Roman for the 100th time since their first battle at WrestleMania 31. Fans have been tired of this feud for a long time, but WWE has not stopped doing it.

It also didn’t help that this was the main event of WrestleMania, and that a great series of matches appeared. Notoriously there was this post-match clip, where the fierce Brock Lesnar walked into the gorilla position and threw the Universal Championship belt at Vince McMahon, as how poor this match was.

Fourth: Kevin Owens vs. Rome’s Reign vs. Big Cass vs. Seth Rollins

Raw on Monday night, August 29th, 2016

Summerslam 2016 saw the Universal Championship announced before Seth Rollins and Finn Valor played a rather solid match to determine the first champion. Valor won, but was injured during the match and had to free up the title at Raw the following night.

Seth Rollins will earn a place with filling other spots in a match against Big Cass, Kevin Owens and Rome’s reign, creating a fatal four-way elimination match. In this match, despite the reception received when Belt made his debut, the crowd was quite hyped in this match, with Kevin Owens winning the crown as champion – his first and sole reigning of the world title so far in WWE – a sight seen for longtime independent wrestling fans.

The fourth worst: Brown Strowman vs. Ms & John Morrison

Backlash 2020

Backlash 2020 was a strange event that almost remembers the “best wrestling match ever” between Randy Orton and Edge. But elsewhere on that card, Brown Strowman had an unusual universal title defense that didn’t include Bray Wyatt when he faced the Ms and John Morrison in a 2-on-1 handicap match.

The match lasted just seven minutes, far from the most exciting one on the cards. Brown used his size advantage and dissent between Miz and Morrison to hold the title in what many consider to be the worst match of the event.

The third best: Brock Lesnar vs. Brock Brown Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Rome reign

Summerslam 2017

Brock Lesnar took the Universal Championship hostage in 2017 due to his part-time schedule, but he made a rare appearance to feud with Samoa Joe, Brown Strowman and the Rome Reign. At Summerslam that year, it seemed like all three of Lesnar were in the ring in the match and couldn’t go out with the title.

Joe was off the red-hot story he had with Lesnar in the strange Great Ball of Fire PPV, but Strowman and Reign were always picking up big victories. In their fatal four-way match, all men beat each other an absolute living hell, and Lesnar barely escaped to retain the title.

The third worst: Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin

Step stool 2019

Now, in 2019, many people are thinking of a rather rough time for WWE. Seth Rollins held the Universal Championship for much of his reign, rebutting with others such as Brock Lesnar and Baron Corbyn.

Lacey Evans of All People played a major role in Rollins’ feud with Baron Corbyn. Evans was a guest umpire in the place where he was stomped down during this match, and was rather boring and had little to talk about.

Second Best: Seth Rollins Vs. AJ Style

Bank 2019 Money

2019 wasn’t entirely bad as it provided fans with a very underrated performance of Seth Rollins and AJ style. They played a match that year with bank money, played between Seth’s match between Corbyn and Lesnar, giving Rollins a much needed break to mean reigning this title.

They tore the house as their wrestling style matched very well and got a match-like match that fans would expect from the two great performers. If only the rest of Rollins’ rule looked like this, he would be considered one of the greatest universal champions of all time.

The second worst: Devil vs. Goldberg

Super Showdown 2020

Despite the rest of this list might make you think, Bray Wyatt is a solid wrestler and his gimmick for the devil was one of the most popular. It just means that his reservations were far from what fans wanted to see.

Maybe only one other match could show anything more, but the few minute squash match featuring Goldberg far beyond his prime is a great example. Wyatt removed the Universal Championship after it became like a kind of dominant monster with little or no fanfare.

Best: Roman rule vs. Cody Rhodes

WrestleMania 40

Speaking of fanfare, it’s exactly what follows this match, with Cody Rhodes taking over WWE after a shocking return with the idea of ​​finishing his story. He attempted to abdicate the historic rule of Rome at WrestleMania 39, but was deceived from victory due to his bloodline.

WrestleMania 40 saw Lord reach the same place again after a complicated story involving Lock, but this time Rhodes seemed a little more ready. The action in the ring was decent, but most people remember this match before Rock, John Cena, Usos and the Undertaker’s insane intervention and Cody ultimately won Championship Gold and defeated Roma.

Worst: Seth Rollins vs. Devil

Hell’s Cell 2019

Now many people are considering not only the worst tenure of the Universal Championship, but one of the worst WWE matches ever. As I said before, the Devil’s bookings are very inconsistent and almost meaningless, and Cell’s hell against Seth Rollins was one of the most ridiculous decisions that could be made for the character.

Overall, this red light covered the match, making things difficult, but the action in the ring was a match intended to be zero, and we couldn’t see the contest. The use of a sledgehammer has cancelled the match and Wyatt has become the new champion in a rematch at Crown Jewel.