Universal Championship

The Universal Championship (previously the World Heavyweight Title) was first introduced to Universe Mode in the first episode of the series, when Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt all fought for the title in a ladder match, where Wyatt emerged victorious. It is the current world championship on Monday Night Raw.

## History

The World Heavyweight Title made its debut in the first post of Universe Mode, when it was fought for on Raw. Bray Wyatt became the first champion, defeating Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns in a ladder match. Wyatt would then successfully defend the belt against Chris Jericho at Extreme Rules that year, after Jericho defeated CM Punk and then Seth Rollins to earn number one contendership. Stone Cold Steve Austin would be next to challenge Wyatt, after defeating Brock Lesnar in an open challenge and earning his title shot by defeating CM Punk. Austin would be crowned champion after defeating Wyatt at King of the Ring in a hard-fought bout, before defending the belt against Sheamus on Raw one night later. Paul Heyman would be named Raw's General Manager, and he gave his client, Brock Lesnar, a number one contender's match against Kane, which Lesnar won. After Wyatt defeated Austin in a rematch on Raw, he was added to their match. At Summerslam, Brock Lesnar would emerge victorious to become the third World Heavyweight Champion.

Lesnar's first title defense came against Seth Rollins of the Shield, which he won thanks to interference from Paul Heyman. Heyman helped Lesnar retain once more against Bray Wyatt on the Raw Season 1 Finale. After the match, new Raw GM Shane McMahon announced that Heyman was fired from his position by the Board of Directors. After Lesnar, angered by having to defend his title at Survivor Series, attacked Shane McMahon, Shane was forced to take a short leave of absence. However, Lesnar's opponent was revealed shortly after to be the debuting Goldberg. The newest member of the Raw roster would defeat Lesnar in the main event of Survivor Series to become the new champion. After capturing the title, Goldberg would make his first defense on the next episode of Raw, defeating United States Champion Kevin Owens. Lesnar would return, putting Goldberg through a tables, which would be the prelude to their Tables Match at Armageddon. At the event, Lesnar would regain the title, putting Goldberg through another table with a german suplex to become a two-time champion.

Lesnar's second title reign would start with a sucessful defense against Rusev to close 2016. He then demanded better competition, and faced all his conquered foes(Goldberg, Rusev and Bray Wyatt) in a handicap match. Lesnar lost, making it a fatal four way match at Royal Rumble. At the event, Goldberg pinned Bray Wyatt to become a two-time World Heavyweight Champion. His first defense of his second reign came at Elimination Chamber, as he defended the belt inside the Chamber. It was at this point he also began a feud with the Royal Rumble winner, Samoa Joe. Goldberg was successful once more, and now turned his focus to the Samoan Submission Machine. The two went back and forth for weeks, before meeting in a No Holds Barred match in the main event of WrestleMania. At the Grandest Stage of Them All, Joe submitted Goldberg with a Coquina Clutch to become the new champion.

At the start of Season Three, the belt was officially re-branded as the Universal Championship, changing design as well. All previous reigns were counted as being part of the same lineage.

Seth Rollins would be the first to take on "The Destroyer", returning to Raw after his injury to defeat Finn Balor. In Joe and Rollins' first ever meeting at Payback, Braun Strowman would ruin their championship match, intent on making a name for himself after joining the red brand via the 2017 WWE Draft. Rollins and Joe would get a rematch at Extreme Rules, this time in a steel cage, which saw Joe retain his championship. After Balor brought out "The Demon" to defeat Braun Strowman, he would be named the new number one contender, and would face Samoa Joe at Bad Blood. Balor would come within seconds of claiming the championship before Strowman's music cost him the win. After months spent as champion, Samoa Joe began to brag that no man alive or dead could defeat him. This brought about the return of The Undertaker, who challenged Joe to a match at Summerslam. At the event, the two men went to war, but ultimately, the reign of Samoa Joe continued.
After doing what many though he couldn't, defeating The Undertaker at Summerslam, Samoa Joe took to Raw just over a week later to deliver a "eulogy" to the Deadman. No one was surprised when Joe just bragged about his win for several minutes, but kharma came knocking, as Braun Strowman set his sights on Joe's championship, taking him out with a running powerslam. After Strowman was declared number one contender, on the go-home show, he took on Rusev. Braun won the match, and Joe tried to get some revenge, but just couldn't take the "Monster Among Men" down, as Strowman once again stood tall. At No Mercy, the reign of Samoa Joe came to an end, as Braun Strowman became the new Universal Champion.

Strowman's first title defense came against Finn Balor at Halloween Havoc, and it came in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, the first in Universe Mode history. By item retrieval, Balor became the new Universal Champion. At Survivor Series, he made his first defense, pinning Samoa Joe in a triple threat match that also involved Braun Strowman. At Armageddon, Balor and Strowman faced off for the final time, inside Hell in a Cell. "The Monster Among Men" got the win, becoming a two-time champion. He then defeated Kurt Angle at Elimination Chamber, and was challenged by Royal Rumble winner Aleister Black. In their match at WrestleMania, Black was victorious, ending Season Three as champion.

Black was then engaged in what would become a very personal rivalry with new Raw competitor Randy Orton, defeating Orton at Backlash  and then again in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules . After debuting to defeat Braun Strowman at the same event, "The Almighty" Bobby Lashley was named number one contender, and would challenge Aleister at Money in the Bank . But their match would end in chaos, as Strowman attacked both men, and then Seth Rollins would cash in to steal the championship. Black would get his chance to defeat Rollins, but was unsucessful at Vengeance , where Strowman defeated Lashley in a cage match. This would lead to Rollins vs Strowman, in a David vs Goliath style match-up. The match would take place at Summerslam , where Seth's former Shield buddies Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns would attack Seth and cost him his title, making Braun a three time champion.

Shinsuke Nakamura would become number one contender for the first time, but failed to defeat Strowman at Unforgiven , thanks to a distraction from Aleister Black. Lashley got another shot at Strowman at No Mercy , but was defeated once again, and at the same event, Nakamura defeated Black in a Falls Count Anywhere match. This gave Shinsuke another chance, and at Survivor Series in his homeland of Japan, Shinsuke Nakamura won his first world title. Later on in the night, Team Raw lost, meaning Shane McMahon was fired. In his place was former champion Goldberg, who took over as the red brand's General Manager.

Goldberg was quick to give Seth Rollins a title match, as Rollins had previously been screwed out of the title and was coming off of a big win over both Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns at Survivor Series. However, at Armageddon, Rollins came up short as Nakamura made his first title defense. "The King of Strong Style" was far from done with former Shield members, though, as his next challenger was none other than Roman Reigns. Nakamura did his best to get into Reigns' head with taunts about all of Reigns' most prolific losses, and at the Royal Rumble, Reigns would lose his concentration in the waning moments and allow Shinsuke to remain champion. At Elimination Chamber, Nakamura was forced to defend his title inside of the Chamber, and did so successfully once more, last eliminating Johnny Gargano. As Shinsuke looked to keep his now three month title reign going all the way to the end of Season 4, Roman Reigns would once again stand in his way, as the "Big Dog" was number one contender for a second time. This time, Nakamura's mind games were ineffective, leaving both men on even ground. Or so it seemed, because at WrestleMania III, Dean Ambrose(to be known as Jon Moxley going forward) made a shock return to cost Reigns yet another title shot.

Still champion largely through luck, Shinsuke Nakamura was far from finished with familiar challengers, as next up was Aleister Black, who had lost twice previously to Nakamura. At Backlash, it would be 0-3 for Black, as Nakamura once again got an assist to retain his title, this time from the "Big Red Machine" Kane. It seemed like Nakamura's luck was running out, as Goldberg booked the champion into a very unfavorable spot, defending his title against Jon Moxley in an Extreme Rules match. But at Bad Blood, Moxley missed an elbow drop from the top of a ladder to crash through a table and Nakamura scraped through yet another title defense. Black defeated Kane inside Hell in a Cell earlier at the event, and would be declared number one contender once more, earning his fourth shot at defeating Nakamura. In the build-up, Black stated that he would retire if he lost, leaving Nakamura with a golden chance to get rid of one of his greatest rivals for good. But at Money in the Bank, the third Black Mass would spell the end of Nakamura's impressive seven month long title reign and making Aleister Black a two-time champion.

Following his victory, Black would encounter a returning figure to Raw, Bray Wyatt! Wyatt was a changed man after his time spent teaming with Matt Hardy and worked his way to a number one contender's spot, showing new found respect and humility. But Wyatt would come up short in his title match against Black, and a new threat emerged in Brock Lesnar. Incredibly upset following his loss to Samoa Joe at WrestleMania III, Lesnar held court over Raw for weeks, but fell short in his title match against Black at Summerslam. Immediately following that match, a new monster emerged, Bray Wyatt's deadly alter-ego, "The Fiend". This most deranged and devastating part of Wyatt's already twisted psyche got Wyatt his revenge at No Mercy, dismantling Aleister Black in a squash match and making Bray a second time champion.

Wyatt, as "The Fiend", continued his reign of terror at Survivor Series, taking on a very game Jon Moxley and getting an assist from Moxley's blood rival, Roman Reigns, who hit three Spears on the challenger. The three men would face off in a triple threat match at Armageddon, where Bray was in his "Firefly Fun House" persona, and successfully convinced his two challengers to take each other out, allowing him to retain his title.