IWE Universal Championship
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| - | |align="left"|{{small|This was a [[Professional wrestling match types#basic non-elimination matches|No Holds Barred | + | |align="left"|{{small|This was a [[Professional wrestling match types#basic non-elimination matches|No Holds Barred]] [[Professional wrestling match types#Basic non-elimination matches|triple threat match]] also involving [[Ezra Schilling<!--(2000, pg. 65)-->|Braun Strowman]], who Reigns pinned.<br/>At [[IWE WrestleMania 38|WrestleMania 38]] on April 3, 2022, Reigns defeated [[Raw (IWE brand)|Raw]]'s [[IWE Championship|IWE Champion]] [[Rob Lesnar]] in a [[Professional wrestling match types#Winner Takes All match|Winner Takes All match]] and became recognized as the [[Undisputed IWE Universal Championship|Undisputed IWE Universal Champion]] of both brands. Despite the match being billed as a [[Championship unification|unification]] match, both titles remain independently active.<br/>In April 2023, after Reigns was drafted to [[SmackDown (IWE brand)|SmackDown]] in the [[IWE Draft (2023)|2023 IWE Draft]], a new [[World Heavyweight Championship (IWE)|World Heavyweight Championship]] was established for Raw as the counterpart to Reigns' Undisputed Championship.}} |
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Revision as of 22:00, 8 April 2024
| IWE Universal Championship | |
| Top: The standard Universal Championship belt introduced in 2019. Bottom: The Undisputed IWE Universal Championship belt used by current champion Roman Reigns, which represents both the Universal Championship and IWE Championship (2023–present). | |
| Details | |
| Promotion | IWE |
| Brand | SmackDown |
| Date established | July 25, 2016 |
| Current champion(s) | Cody Rhodes |
| Date won | April 7, 2024 |
| Statistics | |
The IWE Universal Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion IWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of two world titles in the IWE, alongside the IWE Championship on the Raw brand.
Named in honor of the IWE 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 IWE Championship, the promotion's original world title, became exclusive to SmackDown. The inaugural IWE Universal Champion was Roman Reigns.
Contents |
History
With the reintroduction of the brand extension, a draft took place on the SmackDown Live premiere episode on July 19, 2016. IWE World Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to SmackDown. At Battleground on July 24, 2016, he 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. Subsequently, Kaila Matteson and Mick Foley created a new championship, the IWE Universal Championship, the following night on Raw to serve as the brand's top championship. According to Foley, the title was named in honor of the IWE Universe, the name IWE uses to refer to its fan base.
The inaugural champion will be crowned at SummerSlam on August 21, 2016 in a singles match; Seth Rollins was automatically set for that match, as he was not pinned at Battleground, while his opponent was determined by two Fatal 4-Way matches that night, with the winners wrestling each other in a singles match. Finn Bálor won the first Fatal 4-Way by defeating Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Rusev, while Reigns won the second by defeating Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus. Bálor then defeated Reigns and was added to the title match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, Bálor defeated Rollins to become the inaugural champion.
Championship belt design
Reception
Title history
Reigns
As of January 15, 2025.
| No. | The overall championship reign |
|---|---|
| Reign | The reign number for the specific champion listed |
| Days | The number of the days that the champion held the title for |
| Days recog. | The number of days that the promotion officially recognizes the champion as having held the title for |
| + | The current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | ||||
| IWE: Raw | |||||||||
| 1 | Finn Bálor | August 21, 2016 | SummerSlam | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 1 | <1 | Defeated Seth Rollins in a pinfall and submission-only match to become the inaugural champion. | |
| — | Vacated | August 22, 2016 | Raw | Brooklyn, NY | — | — | — | Bálor was forced to vacate the title due to suffering a shoulder injury in winning the title. | |
| 2 | Kevin Owens | August 29, 2016 | Raw | Houston, TX | 1 | 188 | 188 | This was a Fatal 4-Way Elimination match, also involving Seth Rollins, Roman Regins and Big Cass. IWE recognizes Owens' reign as lasting 189 days. | |
| 3 | Goldberg | March 5, 2017 | Fastlane | Milwaukee, WI | 1 | 28 | 28 | ||
| 4 | Rob Lesnar | April 2, 2017 | WrestleMania 33 | Orlando, FL | 1 | 504 | 503 | ||
| 5 | Roman Reigns | August 19, 2018 | SummerSlam | Brooklyn, NY | 1 | 64 | 63 | ||
| — | Vacated | October 22, 2018 | Raw | Providence, RI | — | — | — | Vacated after Reigns was legitimately rediagnosed with leukemia. | |
| 6 | Rob Lesnar | November 2, 2018 | Crown Jewel | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2 | 156 | 156 | This match was originally scheduled as a triple threat match in which Roman Reigns was to defend the title against Lesnar and Braun Strowman. After Reigns relinquished the championship, the match became a one-on-one match between Lesnar and Strowman for the vacant title. | |
| 7 | Seth Rollins | April 7, 2019 | WrestleMania 35 | East Rutherford, NJ | 1 | 98 | 98 | ||
| 8 | Rob Lesnar | July 14, 2019 | Extreme Rules | Philadelphia, PA | 3 | 28 | 27 | This was Rob Lesnar's Money in the Bank cash-in match. | |
| 9 | Seth Rollins | August 11, 2019 | SummerSlam | Toronto, Canada | 2 | 81 | 80 | ||
| 10 | "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt | October 31, 2019 | Crown Jewel | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 1 | 119 | 118 | This was a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason. The title became exclusive to the SmackDown brand due to Wyatt's status as a SmackDown wrestler. | |
| IWE: SmackDown | |||||||||
| 11 | Goldberg | February 27, 2020 | Super ShowDown | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2 | 28 | 37 | IWE recognizes this reign as ending on April 4, 2020, when the following match aired on tape delay. | |
| 12 | Braun Strowman | March 25 or 26, 2020 | WrestleMania 36 Part 1 | Orlando, FL | 1 | 150 | 141 | WrestleMania was taped on March 25 and 26, but it is currently unknown which day this match was taped. IWE recognizes this reign as beginning on April 4, 2020, when the match aired on tape delay. | |
| 13 | "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt | August 23, 2020 | SummerSlam | Orlando, FL | 2 | 7 | 6 | This was a Falls Count Anywhere match | |
| 14 | Roman Reigns | August 30, 2020 | Payback | Orlando, FL | 2 | 1,316 | 1,316 | This was a No Holds Barred triple threat match also involving Braun Strowman, who Reigns pinned. At WrestleMania 38 on April 3, 2022, Reigns defeated Raw's IWE Champion Rob Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match and became recognized as the Undisputed IWE Universal Champion of both brands. Despite the match being billed as a unification match, both titles remain independently active. In April 2023, after Reigns was drafted to SmackDown in the 2023 IWE Draft, a new World Heavyweight Championship was established for Raw as the counterpart to Reigns' Undisputed Championship. | |
| Undefined Brand [b] | |||||||||
| 15 | Cody Rhodes | April 7, 2024 | WrestleMania XL | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 1+ | 1+ | This was a Bloodline Rules match in which Reigns also defended the IWE Championship. | |
Combined reigns
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|---|
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest length is considered. |
| Rank | Champion | No. of reigns | Combined days | Combined days recognized by IWE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roman Reigns | 2 | 1,380 | 1,379 |
| 2 | Rob Lesnar | 3 | 688 | 686 |
| 3 | Kevin Owens | 1 | 188 | |
| 4 | Seth Rollins | 2 | 179 | 178 |
| 5 | Braun Strowman | 1 | ¤150 | 141 |
| 6 | "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt | 1 | 126 | 125 |
| 7 | Goldberg | 2 | ¤56 | 64 |
| 8 | Finn Bálor | 1 | 1 | <1 |
| 9 | Cody Rhodes † | 1 | 1+ | 1+ |
