10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About the Universal Championship
9. The First Reign Was 24 Hours
Finn Bálor’s Universal Championship victory should have been the start of something huge. Instead, it lasted less than a day, making his reign the shortest in the title’s history and a moment WWE would rather sweep under the rug.
SummerSlam 2016 saw Bálor defeat Seth Rollins to become the inaugural champion, but the match had consequences. A brutal powerbomb into the barricade left Bálor with a serious shoulder injury, and despite battling through to the finish, he was forced to vacate the title the very next night on Raw. Just like that, the first Universal Champion was left without a reign.
This was a crushing setback for Bálor, who had been positioned as a top star in WWE’s new era. His victory was meant to solidify him, but instead, his injury halted his momentum in its tracks. WWE quickly moved on, crowning a new champion within weeks, while Bálor was left to recover and fight his way back into relevance.
The company doesn’t talk about this moment much... probably because it serves as a reminder that no matter how carefully WWE plans its future, all it takes is one bad landing to throw everything off course.