4 Ups & 3 Downs Of WWE Universal Championship
A new belt is coming, but will it succeed or fail?
Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley finally answered one of the Brand Split’s biggest questions on Monday Night Raw. Fans and media sources alike have been speculating over what would become of WWE’s world title scene since the Split was announced back in May, but now we know: the WWE Universal Championship is on its way.
Instead of having a single WWE World Heavyweight Champion operating independently of the Brand Split and “floating” between Raw and SmackDown, WWE are moving forward with two “top” titles. Dean Ambrose will continue representing SmackDown as the WWE Champion, while one of Seth Rollins and Finn Balor will become the company’s first Universal champ at SummerSlam.
Perhaps WWE were always going to head down this route. This is exactly how they organised their belts during the original Brand Split, and as soon as WWE removed the words “World” and “Heavyweight” from Dean Ambrose’s title name, it was all but confirmed. Time will tell whether it proves to be a wise decision or not, but for now, it’s an inevitability.
The idea of a second “top belt” remains divisive among WWE fans, as with any other big debate, there are a number of credible points on both sides of the argument.
Here are the 4 Ups and 3 Downs of the WWE Universal Championship. We'll start with the Downs..