Global InformationWWE Universal Championship information
| WWE Universal Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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  Top: The SmackDown version of the Universal Championship belt introduced in 2019, displayed on WWE's official title history. Bottom: The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt, which represents both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship (2023–present). | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | SmackDown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | July 25, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Cody Rhodes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | April 7, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The WWE Universal Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. Since April 2022, the title has been jointly held and defended with the WWE Championship as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, but both titles have maintained their individual lineages. It is one of three world titles in WWE, alongside its companion WWE Championship on SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. The current champion is Cody Rhodes, who is in his first reign. He won the undisputed championship by defeating previous champion Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024.
Named in honor of WWE's fanbase, referred to as the WWE Universe, the championship was established on July 25, 2016, to be the top title of the Raw brand at the time. Its creation came as a result of the reintroduction of the brand split and subsequent draft on July 19, 2016, in which the WWE Championship, the promotion's original world title, became exclusive to SmackDown. The inaugural Universal Champion was Finn Bálor. Since its inception, matches for the championship have headlined several pay-per-view and livestreaming events, including seven consecutive SummerSlams from 2017 to 2023, as well as five WrestleManias (34, 37 Night 2, 38 Night 2, 39 Night 2, and XL Night 2), both being two of WWE's "big five" pay-per-views, the latter of which is WWE's flagship event. Following the events of the 2019 Crown Jewel, the title moved to SmackDown.
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