10 Biggest Wrestling Controversies Of 2016
4. The WWE Universal Championship
WWE's decision to unveil a brand new title, post-brand split, was a sound one.
The Big Gold Belt, though beloved, had been stigmatised as a midcard championship. The vast majority of those who held it in its dying days weren't really main event talents. They certainly weren't headliners proper; in the last five years of its existence, it did not go on last. Regrettably, the title has since become synonymous with Jack Swagger more than anybody else. His failed main event dry run was one of too many.
The name of its replacement - the Universal Championship - raised cynical eyebrows, but the design itself caused the biggest furore. The shock of bright red was as garish as it was unimaginative, but WWE at least attempted to position it as equal to the WWE Heavyweight crown by aping its design (and, frankly, it could have been worse). Ultimately, the man maketh the title. Ric Flair could have carried with him a can of kidney beans to the ring at his eighties peak, and it would not have tarnished his standing as The Man. Kevin Owens' Universal Title does not enjoy a tenth of the prestige as the belt worn by AJ Styles, but the fault lies with booking, not the design.
A strong babyface run, complete with successive clean victories, would it establish it as more prize than prop.