10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About the Universal Championship
2. Roman Reigns Held It For 1,316 Days
Roman Reigns’ 1,316-day reign as Universal Champion was one of the most dominant title runs in WWE history. But let’s be honest—it should have been with the WWE Championship.
The WWE title is the company’s flagship championship—the one tied to Bruno Sammartino’s legendary 2,803-day reign, and the icons who built WWE. The Universal Title never had that same lineage. By having Reigns break records with the newer belt, WWE put an asterisk next to his achievements. They even unified the Universal and WWE Championships to make it seem like the record applied to the older belt... but it didn’t.
Now, with the Universal Title quietly retired, Reigns’ historic reign is linked to a championship that no longer exists. Meanwhile, the WWE Championship, the belt that should have been the centrepiece, will never have that record attached to it.
And WWE must surely regret that.